I offer a link to the Silmarillion here in the hope that, the next time somebody tries to actually do the Second Age of Middle-Earth, they take the time to go and get the rights to the correct goram book. I could tolerate many things of that show. Not understanding what the names mean is just a bridge too bloody far.
#commissionearned
Specifically, this interview was for Marquette University’s J. R. R. TOLKIEN FANDOM ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION, and it was a lot of fun to do! I did it last year, and they just let me know that my transcript is up. Tolkien’s always been a very important figure for me, both as someone to read and someone to emulate, so getting the chance to focus my thoughts on him was helpful.
If you’d like to do it, too, they’re still looking for people to interview. Sign up here!
The Professor!
(Explanation here. I’m giving everybody half an hour to get themselves a drink.)
[Crud. The scheduling didn’t work. Well, it’s 9 PM somewhere.]
Whether or not it’s a strip mining operation remains to be seen.
Continue reading Warner Bros acquires mining permits for Middle Earth.On a Thursday earnings call, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that newly-installed studio leaders Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy have brokered a deal to make “multiple” films based on the beloved J. R. R. Tolkien books. The projects will be developed through WB label New Line Cinema. The first “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, helmed by Peter Jackson, grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide; Jackson’s follow-up trilogy based on Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” matched those grosses.
Fairly short, but fun. For those that don’t remember: there’s a Tolkien Fandom Oral History Collection project going on out of Marquette University. I just did an interview; I basically just talked about how I got into Tolkien, what he means to me, why he’s important, that sort of thing.
The guy running the project is looking for more folks who can talk about why they’re Tolkien fans, and who can connect via Zoom. You can use this link to find out more about scheduling your own interview. The questions aren’t intrusive, and thinking about the answers beforehand proved good for my own self-awareness. It never hurts to articulate why you love something.
This is going around.
I’m picking The Silmarillion because I’ve been finishing up Rings of Power (of which more anon). So, on the oft chance that you haven’t yet read the collated worldbuilding notes of a man who could have been the greatest GM in the universe, here you go. Enjoy.
[UPADTE: Patreon!]
That is indeed news. I suspect that many will not see this as good news, but I guess we’ll have to wait until the first episodes become available for review. Reportedly, the nudity that had been reported earlier will not be titillating, but instead be “very dark thematic material suggestive of concentration camp-type visuals of victims, a harrowing portrayal of the corruption of the Elves by dark powers to ultimately become Orcs.” So if you were dreading hot nekkid Noldor-on-Sindar action, that at least might not be actually happening.
Or it might be nothing but elf-orgies* all season. It’s kind of up to Amazon at this point.
Continue reading So. Amazon has rights to The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.https://twitter.com/TeawithTolkien/status/1053022255180128261
Note that I did not type ‘inaccurate.’
Air quotes deliberate: “If you’re a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth novels, you’ll be excited to hear that there’s a new unpublished book that will be released soon called The Fall of Gondolin. The book was edited and revised by Tolkien’s son Christopher.” …or, more accurately: “Tolkien never actually wrote The Tale of Eärendel, but The Fall of Gondolin will contain Christopher’s best sketch of it based on his father’s outlines.”
OK, look.
