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Hobbits, elves and Middle-earthlings across the globe will mark the 50th anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s death this weekend. The English scholar and author best known for the worlds he created in “The Lord of the Rings” and other books died of pneumonia on Sept. 2, 1973, at age 81. Tolkien had a remarkable career, one which continues to touch lives, not only in his literature, but through the relationships he fostered, including one with his fellow Oxford don C.S. Lewis. Last year, an article in the lifestyle magazine Town & Country said “It is impossible to overstate how much Lewis...

A furious dispute has erupted among fans of The Lord of the Rings over a decision to make the fictional character Aragorn black in a new collectible card game. The new Aragorn will feature on a collectible card which will make up part of a series of Lord of the Rings-themed cards by Magic: The Gathering. Artwork featuring the character was unveiled in a tweet on Monday from an account run by the franchise, which was released in 1993 and is now a subsidiary of Hasbro.

In a first-look profile of Amazon’s eagerly anticipated The Lord of the Rings TV series, The Rings of Power, the project’s creative team had some words about online trolls who have been outraged that the show will feature a far more diverse cast than Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films. “It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of [author J.R.R.] Tolkien’s work would reflect what the world actually looks like,” executive producer Lindsey Weber told Vanity Fair, which also published several new photos from the series. “Tolkien is for everyone. His stories are about his fictional races doing their...

The Beatles attempted to make a big-screen adaption of "Lord of The Rings" in 1968, but the band was denied rights to the fantasy books by J.R.R. Tolkien, according to filmmaker Peter Jackson. Jackson — who is best known for his sprawling trilogy based on Tolkien's "Lord of The Rings" series — is currently on the press run for his latest work "The Beatles: Get Back," a docuseries crafted from footage of the band recording their last album, "Let It Be," when he told the BBC that he had discovered the fab four had been keen on adapting Tolkien. "I've...

Actor Sir Lenny Henry has shared some new insight on Amazon's The Lord of the Rings TV show, which will feature a diverse multicultural cast and a "very strong female presence." Speaking to the BBC, Henry said he plays a Harfoot, a type of hobbit described by Tolkien in his writing as having darker skin. "I'm a Harfoot, because J.R.R. Tolkien--who was from Birmingham!...--suddenly there were Black hobbits. I'm a Black hobbit. It's brilliant," Henry said (via WeGotThisCovered). "And what's notable about this... it's a prequel to the age that we've seen in the films and the books. It's about...

Fans of Middle-earth may not be too miffed about where Amazon Studios shoots its yet-to-be-titled The Lord of the Rings television series. It is a different story for those whose paycheques are tied to bringing JRR Tolkien’s books to life on the big screen. On Friday, Amazon Studios announced that it will film Season Two of its Rings series in the United Kingdom rather than New Zealand, where shooting on Season One recently wrapped.

A historic pub in the centre of Oxford that has served students, scholars and literary greats for over 450 years is to close. The Lamb and Flag, once frequented by the likes of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien and his friend C.S. Lewis, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, has suffered a disastrous loss of revenues since the start of the pandemic. It first opened in 1566 and moved to its present location on St Giles, a broad thoroughfare in the city centre, in 1613. It is owned by St John’s College, one of 45 colleges and private...

MOUNT DOOM—Governor Gretchen Whitmer is refusing to throw the Ring of Power back into Mount Doom, despite the Michigan Supreme Court ordering her to return it into the fires whence it came. "Throw it into the fire! Destroy it!" shouted a judge sitting on the court, after leading Whitmer to the Cracks of Doom. "We can end this all right now!" "Nooo! Not my precious!" Whitmer screamed as the state Supreme Court handed down the order to destroy the Ring. "Nasty, nasty Constitution! We don't likes it! Nasty, fat Founding Fathers!" She turned and left.

Amazon Prime’s “Lord of the Rings” series set to release in 2021 has been eagerly anticipated by devoted LOTR fans around the world. The $1 billion series will be set in the Second Age of Middle Earth, which spans 3441 years, before the events of the LOTR movies. Unfortunately, it looks like the creators of the series, which they claim is based on J.R.R Tolkien’s original work, may be trying to imitate “Game of Thrones”-type nudity and “rapey” storylines. This, no doubt, will delight the left, who have long detested Tolkien’s writing and distinctive Christian influence on popular culture.According...

Amazon may be adding some unexpected nudity to Middle-earth in its upcoming Lord of the Rings television series. The massive project resumed filming in New Zealand in September after a pandemic-induced halt. Now a casting call has gone out for various actors, including those "comfortable with nudity." The casting call from the BGT talent agency caught the eye of Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net. It reads, "Comfortable with Nudity? Up to $500 per day. Use reference NUDE. We need Nude people based in Auckland - age 18 plus, all shapes and sizes (Intimacy guidelines will always be followed on...

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Ian Holm, best known for his roles in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “Alien”, has died aged 88, the Guardian newspaper said on Friday. The actor, who received an Oscar nomination for his performance in the 1981 film “Chariots of Fire”, had died from a Parkinson’s related illness, the paper said. “It is with great sadness that the actor Sir Ian Holm CBE passed away this morning at the age of 88,” his agent told the paper. “He died peacefully in hospital, with his family and carer. Charming, kind and ferociously talented, we...

Maybe it’s because of Amazon’s upcoming TV series, but lately we seem to be learning a lot of hitherto unknown facts about The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, or at least, some old facts are getting spread around anew. Just recently, author John M. Bowers posited that Tolkien may have written his genre-defining trilogy while procrastinating on his academic work. (Would that all our procrastinations were that fruitful.) Now, the @SecretsOfDune Twitter account has posted a page from Tolkien’s Library: An Annotated Checklist by Oronzo Chili, which seeks to understand this literary titan by perusing his bookshelf. And...

Last week, amid churning news cycles about impeachment and Iran and global trade deals, an era quietly ended. Christopher Tolkien, the third and youngest son of “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien, died at the age of 95. The younger Tolkien, who spent the last four decades of his life completing his father’s grand artistic vision, was one of the great unsung literary heroes of the last century. For countless readers whose imaginations were molded in part by the legendarium of Middle Earth, his passing severs the last living link to another existential plane.His obituaries variously describe Tolkien as...

Drinking to the spirit of the season - Lord of the Rings. And another drinking carol, Castle - Wassail - Bad Santa Episode - Barry-Phillips.

The Lord of the Rings series has been branded 'racist' by a science fiction writer who claims orcs are discriminated against and written as inferior. American author Andy Duncan said British author JRR Tolkien depicted evil creatures such as orcs as 'worse than others' and said this had 'dire consequences for society'. The criticism comes despite Tolkien being known as a fierce critic of racism, particularly the Nazi Germany regime in the 1930s and 40s.

Forty years after Ralph Bakshi's animated classic hit theaters, the filmmaker recalls courting Mick Jagger and Led Zeppelin and speaks candidly about the extreme pressure he was under: "I nearly died." Mick Jagger as Frodo. A Led Zeppelin soundtrack. Battles on the field and behind the scenes before a three-film saga went bust. Forty years after his animated classic The Lord of the Rings hit theaters Nov. 15, 1978, these are some of the things on director Ralph Bakshi's mind during a candid conversation about what happened, and what could have been...

The Finnish Epic Behind Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Brian Handwerk for National Geographic News December 19, 2001 Generations of readers have cherished Middle Earth, the fantasy universe sprung from the mind of storyteller J.R.R. Tolkien. Now, his magical world has been brought to life with the premiere of the first film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring. While the author's imagination was vast, Tolkien's world and its cast of characters do have roots in real-world history and geography, from the world wars that dominated Tolkien's lifetime to the ancient language and legends of ...

Has Amazon found the Game of Thrones it’s been seeking? A Lord of the Rings TV series is in the very early development stages, according to The Hollywood Reporter, from Warner Bros. Television, whose feature-film division produced the LOTR movies. There’s no writer attached to the project yet — Warner Bros. is still looking to nail down the rights from the estate of book author J.R.R. Tolkien — but Amazon Studios has already emerged as an potential home. Rings, of course, has already been adapted into a trilogy of films directed by Peter Jackson, which grossed nearly $3 billion at...

Her relative, Gabriela Brandão, a freelance makeup artist from Florianópolis, Brazil, made the discovery after taking a look at the great-grandmother’s figurine, and realising something wasn’t quite right. Following her gut instinct, Gabriela searched online for the figure – and found one exactly identical to the great-grandmother’s. However, there was only one problem – the figure wasn’t listed under ‘Saint Anthony’, it was in fact listed under ‘Elrond’. Oops.

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis wants the faithful to recognize God’s mercy toward each individual soul, and then in turn to show increased mercy toward one another. In his bull proclaiming the Jubilee, our Holy Father affirms “we are called to show mercy because mercy has first been shown to us. Pardoning offences becomes the clearest expression of merciful love, and for us Christians it is an imperative from which we cannot excuse ourselves.” Mercy can, however, seem rather abstract to us; the imagination may need some prodding. Few books provide a better depiction of mercy...