Volume 190/Issue 5

[caras_galadhon]

Volume 190/Issue 5

Circulation: One thousand, one hundred and eighty-eight. Welcome all!

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MEDIA NEWS:

• From The Washington Post:

~Lose Yourself in the Places that Inspired J.R.R. Tolkien
After months of lockdown, political unrest and the inescapable threat of environmental collapse, some of us long for a glimpse of a world other than our own. Readers can find one in John Garth's The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, a fascinating, gorgeously illustrated and thought-provoking examination of the landscapes, cities and architecture that inspired Tolkien during his lifelong creation of Middle-earth. [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:

A Tale of Two Hobbits: It Never Rains, But It Pours (Pippin; G) by kortirion

CHALLENGES/WORKSHOPS/AWARDS:

• From silwritersguild:

~ June Challenge: Laws and Customs
From the Statute of Finwë and Míriel to the ruffian's curfew in The Scouring of the Shire, Middle-earth is governed by laws -- laws of the various people living there, or laws of nature like the Gift of Eru. Sometimes they are invisible to the reader; sometimes they can only be gleaned through the characters' actions and attitudes; and at other times, they are spelled out for us. Some are negotiable, like the tradition of male primogeniture in Númenor; others appear to be set in stone, like the idea that an oath must be kept no matter what. For this month's challenge, we challenge you to make these laws, customs, traditions and guidelines the focus of a fanwork. You can write about a character breaking or upholding the law, speculate about the law code of a specific place in Arda, explore the unwritten laws underneath the surface, create art for one of the prompts...or, of course, take the law into your own hands. [ More]

FIC/ART NEWS:

• From AO3 - Archive of Our Own:

- TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works
- Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
- The Hobbit - All Media Types
- The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
- Lord of the Rings RPF
- The Hobbit (2012) RPF

DISCUSSIONS OF INTEREST:

• From TOR:

~Valinor Darkens (and Ungoliant Sucks)
In Which the Valar Throw a Party, Melkor Takes a Friend, Then Tells the Residents of Valinor Where They Can Stick It (Hint: It's Where the Light Don't Shine). In "Of the Darkening of Valinor," things are about to get real gloomy in the Blessed Realm. But since its residents don't know it yet, why not throw a big party? There’s been too much tension in the air; this could be an opportunity to come together in peace and solidarity. Meanwhile, there's an APB out for Melkor. He knows he can't stick around, but before he skedaddles for good, he's got one last trick for his old buddies. To pull it off, he recruits a particularly unsavory and many-legged ally. Remember old Shelob? In The Two Towers, we were told that she was "the last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world." But who, exactly, is that? [More]

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 Ask About Middle-earth:

~Gondolin: The City of Seven Names
Though it's not really mentioned in The Silmarillion, in the older Book of Lost Tales version of Gondolin, Tolkien makes a point of telling the reader that Gondolin was known as the City of Seven Names. And, true to Tolkien's unflappable love of names, he proceeds to actually list the seven names. [More]

TRIVIA:

No trivia today! It will return in the next issue.

SEND MATHOMS:

• HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY, candream and vlucia!

The Happiest of Birthdays,
empy!!!!

Your fellow co-mods, past and present, wish you utter joy and happiness in the year ahead, and send our sincerest thanks for everything you do, and everything you are. You're the best, madame. The absolute best. ♥♥♥

Happy birthday! May you experience nothing but happiness, laughter, and the most magic the Maia have ever managed to conjure. ^_~
*many, many birthday hugs* from abby_normal, caras_galadhon, elanorgardner and estelanui. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
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 Travis Hanson:


That's it for this edition. Please send your formatted post for Friday's edition by 8:00 a.m. Tuesday (Eastern time) to middle_earth_news@yahoo.com. Thanks for joining us and tell your friends!