TTRT: The Silmarillion – Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

In which these tales and this series come to an end

The fourth and final of the short works that make up The Silmarillion, deals primarily with the events taking place in the Third Age, most of which are recounted in The Lord of the Rings.

It’s fascinating to know that Tolkien wanted to include this work along with the others, thereby producing a book that stretched all the way from the beginning of Arda (in the Ainulindalë) right through the end of the Third Age.

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The Lay of the Children of Húrin … in Sindarin

Tolkien + Poem + Sindarin = Epic 

Every once in a while comes a long a proper piece of dedicated fan work. This week I was introduced to the extraordinary work being undertaken by fan, Cillendor Edenion.

The ambitious project attempts to translate Tolkien’s ‘The Lay of the Children of Húrin’ into Sindarin; or more specifically, Neo-Sindarin.

Check it out for yourselves …

The Hobbit Trilogy Extended Edition Trailer! New Scenes!

In case you missed it . . .

Yes, so a certain trailer for a certain trilogy was released online in anticipation of the cinema release of all three extended editions of The Hobbit. Here’s the result.

Below we take a look at the new shots in store.

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In the meantime, here are some of the extended/new scenes we can expect in The Battle of the Five Armies.

The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition Details!

Announcing the long-awaited Extended Edition

It’s been known for a while now, but we can finally confirm that the extended edition of The Battle of the Five Armies will be released on November 17.

The gates of these long-kept details have been burst open and have confirmed some information on what we can except with this final release from The Hobbit trilogy.

Dragonslayer for a day … Archery!

Tangado haid! Leithio i philinn!

The sun descended towards the West. It’s piercing rays of light protruded through the swaying trees on my left. I winced as it shone in my eyes.

Sweat formed on my forehead. The heat was stifling. Before me lay the red creature, swaying mockingly in the refreshing breeze. The tension in my arms was beginning to take its toll. My left hand gripped the black bow firmly, while I drew back the last arrow from my set. The feathers touched my right cheek. My eyes were set on the target …

TTRT: The Silmarillion – Akallabêth

The Downfall of Númenor

As already stated at the beginning of the TTRT series, although the Akallabêth is a separate account from the History of the Silmarils, it is nonetheless part of The Silmarillion as a book: presenting us with the continuation of events at the end of the First Age, with a perspective on the island of Númenor.

It is a fact that from all the works related to Middle-earth, the Second Age is perhaps the least accessible due to the lack of any substantial information.

Our primary sources as to what happens during this 3000-year period consist of a timeline in Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings, a brief account and story in Unfinished Tales, and the ‘Akallabêth’.

My view is that the ‘Akallabêth’ is our most comprehensive account we have available of the Second Age, and is the key to filling up the gap between the events at the end of the ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ and the earliest histories of the Third Age as recounted in The Lord of the Rings.

TTRT: The Silmarillion – Chapter Twenty-Four

“We come to it at last … the Great War of our time”

Believe it or not, we’ve come to the end of the ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ account that brings with it the end of the First Age.

Cataclysmic events are about to unfold and one of the greatest characters in Middle-earth will make his introduction.

The Thorin vs Azog Duels: An Analysis

Why AUJ’s scene works better than BOTFA’s

The comparisons are obvious and the decision to include an initial confrontation between Azog and Thorin at the end of An Unexpected Journey, cleverly foreshadows the eventual meeting at the end of film 3.

It is my intention to analyse the two scenes and work out why one works better than the other.

For the purposes of this analysis, I will be referring to the Thorin/Azog scene at the end of An Unexpected Journey as the “Pine Forest Confrontation”; whilst the scene in The Battle of the Five Armies will be referred to as the “Ravenhill Conflict”.

Time and time again, I have found that the Pine Forest Confrontation has been a constant tear-jerker since my very first viewing of the film. With the Ravenhill Conflict, the emotional resonance lies only AFTER the conflict has ended.

I do not want to go into much detail on the Ravenhill Conflict, as I’ve already said much in a previous post (The Problematic Climax of ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’).

What follows is a personal opinion and is not meant to generalise the overall feeling of any fans or viewers of the film.

TTRT: The Silmarillion – Chapter Twenty-Three

The Third of the Great Tales

We’ve come to the climax of the ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ story. ‘Of the Ruin of Doriath’ started the ball rolling which led to the events in this coming chapter.

However, the seed had long been planted way back in ‘Of Maeglin’, the elf who was one of the causes of this disaster.

Through its vast geography, politics and characters, Tolkien manages to fuse one seemingly unrelated event a 100 pages earlier and expand on the consequences of that occurrence later on.

‘Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin’ marks the continuing tremendous decline of the Free Peoples in Beleriand.

So I Just Saw ‘The Hobbit’ Trilogy … Backwards

Where endings begin and beginnings end . . .

As something more akin to a Doctor Who episode, I’ve watched the entire The Hobbit trilogy in reverse.

What started out as a desire to re-watch The Battle of the Five Armies, ended up transforming itself into a spontaneous impulse to follow-up with a viewing of The Desolation of Smaug, followed by An Unexpected Journey.

It’s not the way these films were designed to be seen (nor any other trilogy, for that matter). Nonetheless, the results were surprising.