Have you always dreamed of being a knight? Imagined you were in a Tolkien story? Wished you were armed with more than dice? If you have a killer costume on the drawing board, in the works, or in your head, …
Continue ReadingOur friends over at TheOneRing.net report on a German art student named Benjamin Harff who spent a year and a half creating a one-of-a-kind, hand-made version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. Harff’s gorgeous book contains hundreds of illustrations, illuminated pages, and calligraphic pages; the …
Continue ReadingEarlier this week, I found myself in a discussion about the lengths of various novels. It was spurred by two similar conversations I’ve found myself in repeatedly, based on the recent Game of Thrones TV show and the release of the final Harry Potter film. They go like this: Game of Thrones Harry Potter Friend: […]
Continue ReadingMarty Allen of geek rock juggernaut Uncle Monsterface described Peter Jackson’s cinematic retelling of Tolkien’s classic trilogy as “a nearly perfect adaptation.” Even now, nearly a decade after the first film hit theaters, those words still ring true. But I …
Continue ReadingFor more-detailed pictures of this amazing Lego replica of Barad-Dûr, by Kevin J. Walter, see Walter’s page on the project. You can see even more detail in his Flickr set.
Continue ReadingFrench author Daniel Pennac listed 10 Rights of the Reader : The right not to read The right to skip The right not to finish a book The right to read it again The right to read anything The right to mistake a book for real life The right to read anywhere The right to […]
Continue ReadingI know a lot of moms hate Disney, and specifically the Disney Princesses, for feminist reasons. The lack of strong female role models. The helpless girl who needs to be rescued by a big, strong man. But my Disney problems started before Andy Mooney launched the Princess franchise, increasing both his consumer products division’s sales […]
Continue ReadingJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the father of modern fantasy writing, was born January 3, 1892 in what is now South Africa. Best known, of course, for his works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, Tolkien served …
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Ethan Gilsdorf is the celebrated geek author of the very awesome book, Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks. It’s the sort of book that, if you’re a lifelong geek like me, you can’t put down. The book chronicles Ethan’s life as a young geek, his escape from his roots, and then his return. From Tolkien to […]
Continue ReadingEthan Gilsdorf is the celebrated geek author of the very awesome book, Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks. It’s the sort of book that, if you’re a lifelong geek like me, you can’t put down. The book chronicles Ethan’s life as …
Continue ReadingPeter Jackson’s two-part movie of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, set to start filming in February, may not have a firm filming location — but it finally has a cast! There are still several important roles to be filled, but with Bilbo …
Continue ReadingBeneath the tree called Grandfather, standing tall in a small copse of trees amid the sweet grass of the eastern plains of Colorado, I listened to leafy tales. Hiding in a lilac hedge along the fence-line in my backyard, I made my home with faeries and many insects, closely observing the natural world. More often […]
Continue ReadingTheir luck could only be worse if they’d hired Terry Gilliam to direct it. There seems to be no end to the calamities befalling the new two-part film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic The Hobbit. But there is yet a …
Continue ReadingCheck out this amazing interactive map of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, programmed by Kris Kowal. It’s like Google Maps for the Third Age of Arda; zoom, pan and even search (in English, Sindarin, Westron, et al.) for locations. The labels are in …
Continue ReadingIf earlier this afternoon you felt a lightness in your step, if you thought you faintly heard the collective geek consciousness of the world let out a relieved sigh, we know the reason why. Rejoice, friends, for it seems the …
Continue ReadingToday is September 22nd, otherwise known as Frodo and Bilbo’s birthday for those of us more hobbit-minded. What, you don’t have anything planned yet? Well, no worries. While not (yet) a nationally recognized holiday, here are seven easy ways to …
Continue ReadingNine facts about the Nine Nazgûl: The Quenya word for Nazgûl is Úlairi. Their leader is known as The Witch-King of Angmar. The only one of the Nazgûl whose name is given by the Tolkien is Khamûl. He was a …
Continue ReadingIt’s well known that George Lucas used Joseph Campbell’s writings as the basis for Luke Skywalker’s heroic journey in Star Wars. But to the people of Mythopoeic Society, Campbell is just a short paragraph in a long-running book of how …
Continue ReadingWhat do you get when a group of passionate amateurs tackle beloved material with reverence and zeal? In some cases, hokey fan-fic and short films that demonstrate clearly both the zeal and the amateur status of the creators. But once …
Continue ReadingI just saw this start making the rounds of the geekier sites (I forget which of my RSS feeds I saw it on, but probably theonering.net), and I’m so there! Just like Star Trek New Voyages, a team of “amateur” …
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