Welcome to the Council of Elrond!

Click here to read about Christopher Lee’s new ‘Heavy Metal’ music release. (submitted by BerethEdhellen)

Oxford’ Bodleian Library has just opened it’s new summer exhibition, “Magical Books: from the Middle Ages to Middle-earth”. The exhibits include a number of manuscripts and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien and features the manuscript of ‘The Fall of Arthur’. More information on the exhibit can be found here.

For the official HarperCollins announcement of the release of ‘The Fall of Arthur’ you can look here.

Click here for an early look at some of the characters to be found in ‘The Hobbit; The Desolation of Smaug’.

On his ‘Facebook’ page, seen here, Peter Jackson has announced gathering everyone for the last bit of filming for the ‘Hobbit” trilogy.

Click here for part 1 of the ‘Into The West’ interview with Tolkien artist Jef Murray. Once you read Part I you can click here for Part II.

Click here for an explanation of Benedict Cumberbatch’s enthusiasm to able to take a role in ‘The Hobbit’ and click here

Click here to read about Sean Bean’s next series.

Click here to read about what new role Benedict Cumberbatch is about to play.

You can Click here to learn where Hugo Weaving will be this June.

Click here to learn more about Azog the Defiler and the actor that plays him.

For information about James Nesbitt’s next visit to New Zealand and the TV Travel show he is to host, click here.

In June Peter Jackson is planning on shooting more footage for the ‘Hobbit’ films. For more information click here, and for casting call info click here.

For a first look at what may be a statue of Smaug you just have to click here.

Click here for another view on whether Tolkien’s writing was influenced by his many visits to Ireland.

Emil Johansson of lotrproject.com has now added a ‘Periodic Table of Middle-earth’ to the site. Information on this new feature can be found here and you can click here to go to lotrproject.com and see all of their Middle-earth genealogical work.

This year we will once again see a huge Middle-earth scene constructed for the Lego Brickworld convention. Details on the scene can be found here.

The Popularity of J.R.R.Tolkien’s books and the film adaptations of them have lead many fans to find ways to create their own tributes. Click here for a brief look at some of these tributes.

Click here for Willie Nelson`s humorous Gandalf audition.

Click here for The Tolkien Library`s interview with Mark Atherton, author of `There and back Again, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Origins of The Hobbit

For the reported results for Time-Warner`s first Quarter, significantly helped by box office earnings from ‘The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey’, click here.

Martin Freeman was recently interviewed concerning season two of ‘Sherlock’. The interview can be found here. Information on Freeman’s upcoming nuptial can be found here.

Click here to find out who was selected by The Sun as the sexiest man of the year.

Click here for c/net’s interview with Richard Armitage.

Cornell University Press has just released ‘J. R. R. Tolkien, Scholar and Storyteller’ Details can be found here. (CoE members can use the Promo Code CAU6 to get a 20% discount when purchasing the book)

Although fans are eager to see the sets where Peter Jackson did his filming, visitors to Watomo would be making a big mistake if they didn’t also visit the incredible scenery found underground in the area. For more info click here.

In the EMP museum’s ‘Fantasy’ exhibit’s center lies a treasure, borrowed from Marquette University: original manuscript pages from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” in which you can see the author’s handwritten revisions. Click here to read more about it.

The Australian singer known as Example was very particular about the design for his wedding cake. For the details click here.

The forums are back. This is new software (very similar to what was there before). If you come across any issues, please report them in the Announcements & Feedback area.

The forums have been disabled for the next day or two, for security reasons. You will not be able to post at this time. This should be resolved by Sunday or Monday at the latest. Thank you for your patience.

UPDATE: We’ve run into some technical difficulties with upgrading the forum. This may take another day to resolve, but it should hopefully be up and running by Tuesday. Sorry for the delay!

Apologies for the downtime, folks, but we were hacked. We’ve rolled the site back to a backup from a few days ago, so if you’re wondering why any of your posts or anything are missing, that’s why.

Click here to hear the cast discussing the contrasts between ‘An Unexpected Journey’ and ‘The Desolation of Smaug’.

A majority ofMTV voters picked a Hobbit to win the hero category. Click here to read about it.

Click here to see 13 unusual ‘Hobbit’ holes built in various countries all over the world.

To be taken to the site promoting Stuart Anderson’s new book, ‘Lord Of The Ring Dings,’ click here.

A video has been posted online showing a man miming to a rendition of Les Misérables’ ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ sung inthe voice of a Lord of the Rings character. To watch the video just click here.

Click here for DIY’s recent interview with Andy Serkis.

Click here for Contact Music’s article about ‘The George Clooney of Dwarves’.

To read The Observer’s recent article about Peter Jackson click here.

Click here to read about the PJ endorsements from some of the actors that have played Dr. Who.

Does `The Hobbit`promote smoking? To read about one anti-smoking crusader’s opinions click here.

Click here to read about Viggo Mortensens interest in once again playing Aragorn

Click here to read about Luke Evans’ next role.

The Popularity of Peter jackson`s Films has lead many Schools to stage productions of ‘The Hobbit’. Read about one amazing group of students by clicking here.

To hear cast members discussing the lack of visibility of Smaug the dragon click here.

Is it possible that a cursed Roman Ring discovered in 1785 was the inspiration for ‘The One Ring’? Click here to read about the Vyne Ring and here to find out about the U.K.’s National Trust site where the Vyne Ring is on display.

To read Sir Ian McKellen’s answers to 5 questions posed to him by ‘Metro’ click here.

For information about New Zealand’s ‘Hobbiton Tours’ click here.

Click here to listen to some ‘Hobbit’ stars explain why PJ needed to make three films to tell the story.

For Peter Jackson’s explanation of what is causing Hollywood’s new F/X crisis click here.

Orlando Bloom is taking a surprising new role. You can read about it by clicking here.

For Digital Spy’s interview with Radagast actor Sylvester McCoy click here.