A blog for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, from complete beginners to avid enthusiasts, exploring the author's imaginary world, influential writing and cinematic adaptations.
I’m chuffed by the eager response asking me to post the paper I presented at this year’s Oxonmoot. Well, here it is in full (with a few additional notes) for your enjoyment, if such be its fate. Continue reading ““The Shadows Where the Mewlips [really] dwell” – Mapping the road to Mordor?”
To me there’s only one fantasy world where I feel most at home. Middle-earth was, and will remain my primary destination for the tired mind and heart that long to seek solace and comfort from the real world. Continue reading “Returning to Middle-earth: from one fantasy world to another”
The evidence for the existence of both snow-rolls and stone-giants haunting the deep, shadowy passes of Middle-earth is, at best, poor.
To begin with, we have a stronger argument in favour of giants. Continue reading “Snow-Trolls and Stone-Giants in Middle-earth”
Following my last post on discovering the first “fragmented” poem I ever wrote about The Hobbit, some of you kindly requested I put my appalling poetry skills back into use and complete the poem I had started.
That is exactly what I have done.
Continue reading “The entire novel of ‘The Hobbit’ in just 76 verses”
I thought it would be a good idea to spend just a few minutes understanding the concept of “dragon-talk” and “dragon-sickness”. I have always found that many people confuse the two as being one and the same. Moreover, with the advent of the film trilogy, this distinction between them seems to have disappeared completely.
So, whilst I claim to be no Tolkien expert, here’s my take on the issue.
Continue reading “Explained: Dragon-talk and Dragon-sickness”
Well, here it is. Almost two years later, here follows the continuation of the massive The Lord of the Rings review.
I’m ashamed to state it took me so long. But finally, here it is.
Mind you, this is only Part 2 of 3 of The Fellowship of the Ring, which I’m hoping won’t take as long to write. In the meantime, you’ve got much reading to do in this second part.
I hope you enjoy 🙂 … Continue reading “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition – Review (Part II)”
I love Tolkien-related questionnaires. They’re always so difficult to respond and to pinpoint a specific character of text to like; but they’re fun and a great way to learn about yourself and your love for Middle-earth.
So, in honour of the second day of Tolkien Week, here’s a nice little set of questions put forward by fellow blogger, Hamlette on her blog.
I’ve been waiting for you to join in my festivities on this blog for over two weeks now! 😉
It’s 22 September and that means two things: Birthdays and Celebrations.
That’s right. If you’re in the loop of who’s who in Middle-earth, then you may or may not know that both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins celebrate their birthday today.
In honour of these two milestones in Middle-earth history, fans worldwide get to celebrate Hobbit Day (and Tolkien Week) in any way possible that demonstrates our love for the fandom. Continue reading “Happy Hobbit Day!”
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. Continue reading “The Thorin vs Azog Duels: An Analysis”
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. Continue reading “So I Just Saw ‘The Hobbit’ Trilogy … Backwards”
A Tolkienist's Perspective 