Volume 189/Issue 1
Volume 189/Issue 1
Circulation: One thousand one hundred and eighty-eight. Welcome all!
Note from the Mods: Please encourage friends on your friends list to join and send their news. If you have an announcement you would like to make, a fic you'd like to promote, a question you'd like to ask, we invite you to simply format it according to the rules on the info page and email it to middle_earth_news@yahoo.com. You do not have to be a member to post but we are an open community and encourage everyone to join now. Only the mods may initiate new posts but comments are encouraged.
MEDIA NEWS:
From TORn: The Great Hall of Poets
Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular monthly feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets. [Read more]
Today in Middle-earth, May 1
The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on May 1st: [Read more]
Virtual 5k Week 2: Racing to Rivendell
TheOneRing.net is hosting a series of four VIRTUAL 5K RACES in May. Each race will reflect a leg of the Fellowship’s journey through Middle-earth (though not in actual miles, of course). A new race will be posted on the first four Fridays in May. [Read more]
Collecting The Precious - Weta Workshop’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Party Board Game
If you loved The Unexpected Party sequence from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey then our friends from Weta Workshop have something for you. You can now buy a board game version of this sequence in the film. [Read more]
Virtual 5k Week 2: Racing to Rivendell
If you’re ready for another race, welcome to “Racing to Rivendell” where we are following Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Arwen/Glorfindel, and Asfaloth (the horse who carried Frodo) as they race to outrun the Black Riders from Weathertop to Rivendell. [Read more]
Annual Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature to be an online symposium May 16
The Pembroke College’s annual Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature this year will be turned into an online symposium. This year’s lecture will discuss a particularly timely subject: “…the importance of fantasy in times of crisis: how science-fiction and fantasy literature respond to, and provide inspiration during, moments of despair and personal difficulty.” [Read more]
Watch TOLKIEN with Director Dome Karukoski LIVE
For the one year anniversary of the release of TOLKIEN we are excited to be joined by the director for a LIVE watch-along on #TORnTuesday.
Get your Blu-rays or streaming accounts ready to join Cliff Broadway and director Dome Karukoski for a live discussion of the feature film TOLKIEN on Tuesday, May 12 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET. [Read more]
From BBC News: Coronavirus: Andy Serkis reads entire Hobbit live online for charity
British actor Andy Serkis has raised more than £283,000 ($351,000) for charity by reading The Hobbit in full on a live stream.
More than 650,000 people worldwide tuned in for the online performance of JRR Tolkien's 1937 fantasy adventure.
Serkis, 56, played the corrupted character Gollum in the big-budget film trilogies Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, directed by Peter Jackson.
Viewers followed via YouTube and his Go Fund Me page. [Read more]
COMMUNITY NEWS: Note from the Mods: We would like to invite the moderators of other fandom communities to become 'reporters' or 'scouts' for middleearthnews. All we ask is that you send us formatted updates on your own communities for posting here.
* tolkien_weekly (drabbles) updates:
Woodland Joy (Thranduil/Lasgalen (wife)/ Legolas; rated K) by mirkwoodmaiden1
Over The Hills And Far Away… a quartet (Men; rated G) by Kortirion
"This is home." (Elrond; rated K) by mirkwoodmaiden1
* tolkien100 updates:
Rauros, golden Rauros-falls (Boromir; rated 12) by fredbassett
Walking It Off (Sam Gamgee; rated 12) by fredbassett
Beyond the End of the World (Elrond, Gandalf; rated 12) by fredbassett
The Misty Mountains (Sam, Gimli; rated 12) by fredbassett
Well, We're Back (OFC (Dunedain), Elrohir; rated PG) by hhimring
Cakes and Ale (Thorin Oakenshield; rated 12) by fredbassett
Across So Wide a Sea (Sam Gamgee; rated 12) by fredbassett
* silwritersguild updates:
The May 2020 newsletter has been posted.
CHALLENGES/WORKSHOPS/AWARDS: The current challenge at tolkien_weekly is Great Outdoors: Hills
The current challenge at tolkien100 is A Grand Design.
From silwritersguild: April 29, 30, and May 1 Block Party Prompts So I've been a total slacker in getting prompts posted. (Actually, I've been the exact opposite of a slacker--busy with work, milking goats, and bottle-feeding kids--but I've been slacking on my to-do list for Block Party.) I'm going to roll up the past three days' worth of prompts into one post! Remember that prompts can be done at any time, not only on the day they’re assigned.
Wishlist Wednesday: Work on a project for someone's wishlist!
Thursday: Together & By Ourselves: Beginning in late March, the Poetry Foundation ran a twelve-day series of poems that captured varying perspectives on hope, solitude, and communal spirit. For the final day of Poetry Month, choose a poem from the Poetry Foundation’s "Together and By Ourselves" series and use all or part of that poem as inspiration for a fanwork. Poems are linked on the Block Party page.
Feedback Friday: Leave feedback on a fanwork with no feedback yet. (Which I will also point out satisfies a few wishes on the wishlist! Double-dipping is totally permitted!)
Also I want to note that we'll be pushing the Team Storytelling reveal to some as-yet-undetermined time in the future.
As always, all prompts, guidelines, etc etc can be found on our Block Party page!
May 2 Block Party Prompt: Hiding in Plain Sight Today's Block Party prompt is Hiding in Plain Sight: We all know Galadriel and Fëanor, but there are many characters who get far less screen time. Create or comment on a fanwork featuring a rare character.
As we've done in the past, we're defining a rare character as one who has five or fewer stories on our archive. There is a list of those characters on the Block Party page, and I will post it as well below the jump.
May 3 Block Party Prompt: Potpourri Day! Today was originally our Team Storytelling reveal party. However, it quickly became apparent to the teams involved that we wanted more than one week to work our magic. We're in the process of rescheduling, which means no new prompt for today. However, since prompts are not limited to the day they are posted, today becomes the perfect potpourri day to work on any prompt or project you want! Prompts are on our Block Party page.
From hobbit_kink:
RPF prompt post #3
Prompt post #19
FIC/ART NEWS:
From AO3 - Archive of Our Own:
-- TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works
-- Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
-- Lord of the Rings RPF -- The Hobbit - All Media Types
-- The Hobbit - Jackson movies
-- The Hobbit (2012) RPF
-- The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
DISCUSSIONS OF INTEREST: * Via /r/Tolkienfans:
‘No oath or bond is laid on you to go further than you will’. Lessons learned from the Oath of Feanor
I’ve always thought it was interesting what Elrond says to the Fellowship at their departure, that none of them are under oath to see this mission through. I saw it as a recognition of how dangerous a task was before them and just as Frodo had to volunteer to take the ring, it’s too great a thing to put on someone else, they have to accept it of their own free will and that continues even after they have agreed to it at first.
But during my current rereading it occurred to me for the first time that this could stand in direct contrast to the Oath of Feanor. It serves as a lesson well learned from the past that such an oath even made with the best intentions cannot account for certain eventualities and setting such a thing in stone can lead to much more harm than good. Elrond wasn’t present for the making of Feanor’s Oath but he was around to see its disastrous conclusion. One is at the center of the events of the First Age and the other the events of the Third Age. Do you suppose Elrond (or Tolkien) had it in mind when making his speech?
CLASSIFIED: Your friendly middleearthnews mods are constantly on the lookout for all things LotR-related, from fics to fandom events, comics to current news. Make them happy by emailing them at middle_earth_news@yahoo.com.
RESEARCH AIDS:. From TOR:
Exploring the People of Middle-earth: Fëanor, Chief Artificer and Doomsman of the Noldor (Part 3)
Let’s pick up the story now with Fëanor’s troubled relationship with his half-brothers, Fingolfin and Finarfin. Fëanor was never pleased with his father’s second marriage, and “had no great love for Indis, nor for […] her sons. He lived apart from them” (Sil 56). It was said by many that the breach which divided the house of Finwë was unfortunate, and had it not occurred, Fëanor’s actions might have been different, and thus the fate of the Noldor might have been less dark than it eventually was (57).
TRIVIA: Last week's MOVIE question: What part of Merry's body does the Orc grab to haul him out of the 'tree' in Fangorn?
Answer: His leg. (Foot or ankle are also acceptable answers, since we all know the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone and the ankle bone's connected to the leg bone... ;) )
addie71, gilli_ann, elwenlj, frolijahfan and disthrainsdotte all answered correctly.
Today's MOVIE question contributed by special_majick: Which Hobbit says he doesn't usually like foreign food?
All comments are screened so that only the mods can see the answers. Comments will be unscreened when the next edition is posted. Any comments on a different subject will be unscreened ASAP.
SEND MATHOMS: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, gentlehobbit, topani_sahara, engarian and llinos, AND HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY, damodred AND lost_spook!
The mods would like to wish anyone having a special day the very best. Please send your special wishes to middle_earth_news@yahoo.com.
COMICS: (Link contributions are welcome)
From Memebase:
That's it for this edition. Please send your formatted post for Friday's edition by 8:00 a.m. (Eastern time) to middle_earth_news@yahoo.com. Thanks for joining us and tell your friends!
Circulation: One thousand one hundred and eighty-eight. Welcome all!
Note from the Mods: Please encourage friends on your friends list to join and send their news. If you have an announcement you would like to make, a fic you'd like to promote, a question you'd like to ask, we invite you to simply format it according to the rules on the info page and email it to middle_earth_news@yahoo.com. You do not have to be a member to post but we are an open community and encourage everyone to join now. Only the mods may initiate new posts but comments are encouraged.
MEDIA NEWS:
From TORn: The Great Hall of Poets
Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular monthly feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets. [Read more]
Today in Middle-earth, May 1
The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on May 1st: [Read more]
Virtual 5k Week 2: Racing to Rivendell
TheOneRing.net is hosting a series of four VIRTUAL 5K RACES in May. Each race will reflect a leg of the Fellowship’s journey through Middle-earth (though not in actual miles, of course). A new race will be posted on the first four Fridays in May. [Read more]
Collecting The Precious - Weta Workshop’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Party Board Game
If you loved The Unexpected Party sequence from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey then our friends from Weta Workshop have something for you. You can now buy a board game version of this sequence in the film. [Read more]
Virtual 5k Week 2: Racing to Rivendell
If you’re ready for another race, welcome to “Racing to Rivendell” where we are following Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Arwen/Glorfindel, and Asfaloth (the horse who carried Frodo) as they race to outrun the Black Riders from Weathertop to Rivendell. [Read more]
Annual Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature to be an online symposium May 16
The Pembroke College’s annual Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature this year will be turned into an online symposium. This year’s lecture will discuss a particularly timely subject: “…the importance of fantasy in times of crisis: how science-fiction and fantasy literature respond to, and provide inspiration during, moments of despair and personal difficulty.” [Read more]
Watch TOLKIEN with Director Dome Karukoski LIVE
For the one year anniversary of the release of TOLKIEN we are excited to be joined by the director for a LIVE watch-along on #TORnTuesday.
Get your Blu-rays or streaming accounts ready to join Cliff Broadway and director Dome Karukoski for a live discussion of the feature film TOLKIEN on Tuesday, May 12 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET. [Read more]
From BBC News: Coronavirus: Andy Serkis reads entire Hobbit live online for charity
British actor Andy Serkis has raised more than £283,000 ($351,000) for charity by reading The Hobbit in full on a live stream.
More than 650,000 people worldwide tuned in for the online performance of JRR Tolkien's 1937 fantasy adventure.
Serkis, 56, played the corrupted character Gollum in the big-budget film trilogies Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, directed by Peter Jackson.
Viewers followed via YouTube and his Go Fund Me page. [Read more]
COMMUNITY NEWS: Note from the Mods: We would like to invite the moderators of other fandom communities to become 'reporters' or 'scouts' for middleearthnews. All we ask is that you send us formatted updates on your own communities for posting here.
* tolkien_weekly (drabbles) updates:
Woodland Joy (Thranduil/Lasgalen (wife)/ Legolas; rated K) by mirkwoodmaiden1
Over The Hills And Far Away… a quartet (Men; rated G) by Kortirion
"This is home." (Elrond; rated K) by mirkwoodmaiden1
* tolkien100 updates:
Rauros, golden Rauros-falls (Boromir; rated 12) by fredbassett
Walking It Off (Sam Gamgee; rated 12) by fredbassett
Beyond the End of the World (Elrond, Gandalf; rated 12) by fredbassett
The Misty Mountains (Sam, Gimli; rated 12) by fredbassett
Well, We're Back (OFC (Dunedain), Elrohir; rated PG) by hhimring
Cakes and Ale (Thorin Oakenshield; rated 12) by fredbassett
Across So Wide a Sea (Sam Gamgee; rated 12) by fredbassett
* silwritersguild updates:
The May 2020 newsletter has been posted.
CHALLENGES/WORKSHOPS/AWARDS: The current challenge at tolkien_weekly is Great Outdoors: Hills
The current challenge at tolkien100 is A Grand Design.
From silwritersguild: April 29, 30, and May 1 Block Party Prompts So I've been a total slacker in getting prompts posted. (Actually, I've been the exact opposite of a slacker--busy with work, milking goats, and bottle-feeding kids--but I've been slacking on my to-do list for Block Party.) I'm going to roll up the past three days' worth of prompts into one post! Remember that prompts can be done at any time, not only on the day they’re assigned.
Wishlist Wednesday: Work on a project for someone's wishlist!
Thursday: Together & By Ourselves: Beginning in late March, the Poetry Foundation ran a twelve-day series of poems that captured varying perspectives on hope, solitude, and communal spirit. For the final day of Poetry Month, choose a poem from the Poetry Foundation’s "Together and By Ourselves" series and use all or part of that poem as inspiration for a fanwork. Poems are linked on the Block Party page.
Feedback Friday: Leave feedback on a fanwork with no feedback yet. (Which I will also point out satisfies a few wishes on the wishlist! Double-dipping is totally permitted!)
Also I want to note that we'll be pushing the Team Storytelling reveal to some as-yet-undetermined time in the future.
As always, all prompts, guidelines, etc etc can be found on our Block Party page!
May 2 Block Party Prompt: Hiding in Plain Sight Today's Block Party prompt is Hiding in Plain Sight: We all know Galadriel and Fëanor, but there are many characters who get far less screen time. Create or comment on a fanwork featuring a rare character.
As we've done in the past, we're defining a rare character as one who has five or fewer stories on our archive. There is a list of those characters on the Block Party page, and I will post it as well below the jump.
May 3 Block Party Prompt: Potpourri Day! Today was originally our Team Storytelling reveal party. However, it quickly became apparent to the teams involved that we wanted more than one week to work our magic. We're in the process of rescheduling, which means no new prompt for today. However, since prompts are not limited to the day they are posted, today becomes the perfect potpourri day to work on any prompt or project you want! Prompts are on our Block Party page.
From hobbit_kink:
RPF prompt post #3
Prompt post #19
FIC/ART NEWS:
From AO3 - Archive of Our Own:
-- TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works
-- Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
-- Lord of the Rings RPF -- The Hobbit - All Media Types
-- The Hobbit - Jackson movies
-- The Hobbit (2012) RPF
-- The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
DISCUSSIONS OF INTEREST: * Via /r/Tolkienfans:
‘No oath or bond is laid on you to go further than you will’. Lessons learned from the Oath of Feanor
I’ve always thought it was interesting what Elrond says to the Fellowship at their departure, that none of them are under oath to see this mission through. I saw it as a recognition of how dangerous a task was before them and just as Frodo had to volunteer to take the ring, it’s too great a thing to put on someone else, they have to accept it of their own free will and that continues even after they have agreed to it at first.
But during my current rereading it occurred to me for the first time that this could stand in direct contrast to the Oath of Feanor. It serves as a lesson well learned from the past that such an oath even made with the best intentions cannot account for certain eventualities and setting such a thing in stone can lead to much more harm than good. Elrond wasn’t present for the making of Feanor’s Oath but he was around to see its disastrous conclusion. One is at the center of the events of the First Age and the other the events of the Third Age. Do you suppose Elrond (or Tolkien) had it in mind when making his speech?
CLASSIFIED: Your friendly middleearthnews mods are constantly on the lookout for all things LotR-related, from fics to fandom events, comics to current news. Make them happy by emailing them at middle_earth_news@yahoo.com.
RESEARCH AIDS:. From TOR:
Exploring the People of Middle-earth: Fëanor, Chief Artificer and Doomsman of the Noldor (Part 3)
Let’s pick up the story now with Fëanor’s troubled relationship with his half-brothers, Fingolfin and Finarfin. Fëanor was never pleased with his father’s second marriage, and “had no great love for Indis, nor for […] her sons. He lived apart from them” (Sil 56). It was said by many that the breach which divided the house of Finwë was unfortunate, and had it not occurred, Fëanor’s actions might have been different, and thus the fate of the Noldor might have been less dark than it eventually was (57).
TRIVIA: Last week's MOVIE question: What part of Merry's body does the Orc grab to haul him out of the 'tree' in Fangorn?
Answer: His leg. (Foot or ankle are also acceptable answers, since we all know the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone and the ankle bone's connected to the leg bone... ;) )
addie71, gilli_ann, elwenlj, frolijahfan and disthrainsdotte all answered correctly.
Today's MOVIE question contributed by special_majick: Which Hobbit says he doesn't usually like foreign food?
All comments are screened so that only the mods can see the answers. Comments will be unscreened when the next edition is posted. Any comments on a different subject will be unscreened ASAP.
SEND MATHOMS: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, gentlehobbit, topani_sahara, engarian and llinos, AND HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY, damodred AND lost_spook!
The mods would like to wish anyone having a special day the very best. Please send your special wishes to middle_earth_news@yahoo.com.
COMICS: (Link contributions are welcome)
From Memebase:
That's it for this edition. Please send your formatted post for Friday's edition by 8:00 a.m. (Eastern time) to middle_earth_news@yahoo.com. Thanks for joining us and tell your friends!