News Archive

My favorite character in the books and the movies was Boromir. At first I liked him because I kind of pitied him; first to die, and to die after being corrupted, not a great way to go. But then, in those TTT extended scenes we saw a new part of him. A part that was completely different from him in the first movie, and so poetic and beautiful. You saw that he really was a great man, a great warrior, and a great brother. He believed in his brother when no one else did. He saved his country from the big bad orcs. He did all of this, and then he went to Rivendell. His orders were to get the Ring to Gondor. He just wanted to please his father. And he believed that Gondor really did deserve it. When evil was taking over, you could see him fight it. Fight the part of him that wanted so much just to be able to make his father happy, and to be able to save his country. That’s not evil, that’s courage.

by Elbereth339

In the book version of The Two Towers when Faramir’s company stumbled upon Frodo and Sam, he let them go without too much of a struggle. In the movies he went as far as taking them to Osgiliath. He was portrayed this way for a reason. The question is, what is that reason? His brother, considered the stronger of the two, fell to the ring’s power rather quickly. So here he, with the most powerful weapon right in front of him, has to make a very important decision very fast. He also had his father to consider. His father who always considered him as weak when compared to his brother. Then Boromir died and he had to try to fill his brother’s shoes. Faramir thought that in order to be loved by his dad he had to get that weapon and win the war. So he did. He “showed his quality,” though it wasn’t the quality that he wanted to show, and he soon realized this. At least that’s my opinion.

by Elbereth339

Debate 1

Okay, the issue is Peter Jackson’s decision to give Arwen the part that in the book belonged to Glorfindel.

On the one hand, no movie is exactly like the book it’s based on. Certain things must be altered in order to make a good movie. Giving Arwen a larger role added to the films significantly. It gave us more insight into Aragorn’s decision. This was an essential part of the movies, and without it they would be on the brink of plotless.

On the other hand, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote it so Arwen’s role was rather small. We credit him as being a genius, and in my opinion he is, there must be a reason for this. And, let’s face it, Glorfindel was an interesting character. Some of us were extremely excited about seeing how he would be portrayed in these movies. Then to go to the theater and have him cut completely? I’m sure many people were disappointed, to say the least.

Debate 2

The Scouring of the Shire is probably one of the biggest changes that Peter Jackson made. He cut out a reasonably large part of Return of the King. Was this a good change? The world may never know, but let us begin to weigh the two sides.

Peter Jackson was completely right; the Scouring of the Shire was a second ending. All of the characters gathered at the first ending for Aragorn’s coronation, why not let this be the only ending? Most of the loose ends had been tied. This was a legitimate way to end this trilogy that we have grown to love.

But (you just knew there was a but, didn’t you?) this was an important contributor to character development. All through the trilogy the focus was on Aragorn and Frodo mostly. The Scouring of the Shire put the spotlight over to Merry and Pippin, who had been slightly ignored. It showed the thing they were fighting for-the shire-put into grave danger, and it gave Merry and Pippin a chance to shine, to “show their quality.” It also gave a nice ending to poor old Saruman, who didn’t have a single minute of screen time in the theatrical version of Return of the King.

Debate 3

Tom Bombadil is one of the most loved characters in the books, in my opinion. Why would Peter Jackson cut him out completely? They didn’t even mention him!

Those chapters in the Old Forest weren’t exactly the most interesting chapters in the book. I know a lot of people who skip them completely. They slowed down the story. If they were going to take away some of the suspense of the film, they had good reason to cut it.

He was an excellent character. My own brother was named after him. Also, the Hobbits got their swords from the Barrowdowns. The very sword that killed the Witch King of Angmar was found there. Leaving all of that out, Bombadil and his boots, Old Man Willow, the Barrowdowns, all of these things were crucial parts of the story. I don’t know why he cut them out completely. He could have slimmed them down a bit; I think that would have been great. To have Tom and his wife, and Old Man Willow, but not make it nearly as long as it was in the books.

by Elbereth339 and DiamondxOfxLongxCleeve

Hello, all Council Members! This is Nev, and I’ll give you the latest LotR-news from Sweden.

Right now, it’s LotR-fever over here – everyone’s talking about it, and the ones who haven’t seen the trilogy, well, let’s just say that they’re out. Seeing people having the exact same hairstyle as Legolas is not very unusual anymore. The papers have pages after pages of LotR articles and the country that the most Swedes want to travel to is – not very unexpected – New Zealand; actually, my sister and I will be going there next year.

When it comes to LotR, the thing the most Swedes are talking about is the new translation of it that will come out this year.

From the beginning, a man called Åke Ohlmarks has translated the trilogy. He wasn’t very picky, and he practically did what he wanted. He changed rhymes, names, spelling and totally ruined the books. Tolkien, who knew Swedish, wasn’t too happy about Ohlmarks’ translations, and he has said some not very flattering things about Ohlmarks. I do understand Tolkien’s reaction though; for example, in The Return of the King, Éowyn kills the Witch-King. Probably that’s very obvious to all of you non-Swedes. Well, actually we Swedes thought for a long that time that Merry killed him. This has to do with the fact that Ohlmarks mixed up the pronouns, and he read “he” instead of “she”. Later, he defended his action with the fact that “It is more likely that the boy kills the monster”. You can just imagine that we Swedes aren’t very fond of him.

Also, Frodo Baggins became “Frodo Bagger”. This translation is just all wrong. If we shall go with what Tolkien thought, Frodo would be called the same thing in Swedish as in English. So in Sweden we have two ways to spell Frodo’s last name. The other correct way to translate it would be “Frodo Secker”. But since we’re so used to the “Baggins” and “Bagger”, this translation will be very hard to accept.

The ring verse is completely different in Swedish. At least, the meaning and the rhyming should be the same, but it’s not. This is something that Tolkien-fans have been disturbed about for a long time. Also, Tolkien disliked this verse, yet, the old verse is so common so it’s hard to change now.

Ohlmarks also did not know how to spell “Isengard” correctly; in the chapter “The Council of Elrond” you can read several ways of spelling it.

At times, he made up own names for places. For example, “Ford of Bruinen” is as different as possible in Swedish.

I could give examples of lots and lots more faults that Ohlmarks did, but I will end this article with a quote by Tolkien. And remember, all native English-speakers, be happy that you’ve never read the Swedish translation…

“Ohlmarks is a very vain man, as I discovered in our correspondence, preferring his own fancy to facts and very ready to pretend knowledge which he does not possess”
– J.R.R Tolkien

by Nevthónîel

Eärendil’s journey and the battle of anger

Eärendil was a ruler of the people who lived near Sirion’s river mouth. He was married to Elwing and had two sons, Elrond and Elros. He had two wishes; he wanted to find Tuor and Idril, who hadn’t returned from the sea, and to bring an epistle in the name of elves and men to the Valar in the West, to beg for mercy because of misfortune on Middle Earth.

Eärendil was a friend of Círdan and with his help Eärendil made a boat called Vingilot. He went out on the sea to seek Tuor, but didn’t find him. He missed Elwing too much so he decided to return home.

At the same time, Maedhros heard that Elwing was still alive and that she had one Silmaril. He went to her and her people, but they didn’t give him the Silmaril. That brought the last cruel battle between elves. Elros and Elrond were taken in to slavery; Elwing and Silmaril were drowned in the sea.

But Elwing was saved; Ulmo brought her back on the earth in the body of mighty white bird, with the Silmaril on her chest. Some day, Eärendil saw her on the sky and she rushed to him, but it seemed that she died. Eärendil hugged her very much and the next morning, he saw Elwing sleeping on him. They were sad because of the tragedy at Sirion, and were afraid that Maglor would kill their sons, but that didn’t happen, Maglor instead took care of them, he was tired of vow’s burden.

Eärendil didn’t have peace in the lands of Middle Earth, so he tried once again to come to Valinor. He had the Silmaril on his forehead. That helped him. Elwing and three sailors had to go through the seas, which other boats hadn’t known, and finally, they came to Immortal lands. Eärendil and Elwing went to the shore, but only Eärendil went to Calacirya.

He wandered through the Blessed kingdom, but there was no one. Suddenly, Eönwë greeted him and they went to halls of Valimar. His request was granted. Then he went back to Elwing and she decided for both of them to count them as first-borns children (elves).

When Vingilot came back to Arda, all the people were wondering what shone so much. Maglor was happy, that the Silmaril came back and it was in a safe place.

It was told, that Morgoth hadn’t expected the attack from the West. His armies were big, but not enough to defeat the army of the West. Even the dragons weren’t enough. Morgoth was defeated, his feet were cut, and his crown was changed into a necktie and they took his two Silmarils, which were still on his crown.

The consequence of battle was a change of surface, the mountains fell down and rivers found other channels.

The vow of Fëanor’s sons was broken, Maglor became reconciled, but Maedhros didn’t give up. He convinced Maglor to take the Silmarils. But they were burning their hands, and so Maedhros threw himself with a Silmaril in the cleft, and Maglor threw the other Silmaril in the sea. From that moment on, he wandered and sang about the pain and regret.

The Vanyar were sad because they didn’t carry the Silmarils back to Valinor. The Noldor, who came back to Valinor were again sharing love of Manwë and the Teleri forgot their offence.

But some elves stayed in Middle Earth and some of them were Círdan, Celeborn and Galadriel, Elrond and Gil-galad. Elrohir decided to be a man.

Morgoth hurled through the Gates of the night in Timeless emptiness. But his seed of evil was sowed in hearts of elves and men and it never died.

by RainBow

1) Frodo Baggins: Ring’s Bad goof
2) Lord of the Rings by Tolkien: Hot! Trendy! Filling three books
3) Legolas: All egos
4) Witch King of Angmar: Knighting a farm cow
5) Middle earth: Mildhearted

by astarielle

*number 1 and 2 came from www.anagramgenius.com, number 4 from another website, and 3 and 5 are by astarielle

The next up-and-coming game for LotR fans is “The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age”. It is due for release soon, and is compatible with PS2.

The storyline: The game is set in the third age of Middle Earth, and spans the action of all three LotR films. However, the characters are new; a party of 6 adventurers who, like the original fellowship, come from right across Middle Earth. These will include:
-Berethor (Gondorian Citadel Guard)
-Hadhod (dwarf)
-Elegost (ranger)
-Idrial (elf of Lorien)

The quest includes parts of the original story of LotR, and involves your characters occasionally fighting alongside members of the Fellowship.

Gameplay: The game is RPG based, and so includes exploration, character interaction, party development, and a good deal of combat. Your party can gain two types of experience, standard experience and skills points which count towards learning new abilities like magic. The magic in the game is based on elemental forces (earth, fire, air, water, light and shadow), which will vary in power depending on the situation. For more about specific gameplay such as combat, party management and abilities, go to gamespot.com

While protective fans of the books of LotR (like myself) may be dubious of the liberties taken with both storyline and characters, this game promises to be a cut above its more action-orientated predecessors.

by Beruthiel

A link you may have missed while checking CoE is the “Let the Hobbit Happen” site. This site was set up by a now large group of loyal fans of LotR who want to see a live-action make of “The Hobbit” come out. Thus, the site is a “call to arms (or pens)” for others who would enjoy seeing “The Hobbit” on the big screen.

The site’s specific aim is to campaign for a live-action make of “The Hobbit”, to be created by Peter Jackson and Co. They hope to achieve this by sending waves of letters and postcards to the studios who own the rights to LotR: namely New line Cinema and MGM/UA.

There are several ways you can support the site’s efforts. You can write a letter to one of the addresses listed on the site, or download a postcard to print off and send. There are even 5 kinds of letter templates that are easily accessed and filled out. If you’re pressed for time, the site also has an online petition and a newsletter.

Some facts:
-The site has already won the support of New Line Cinema in the form of a letter that you can read on the site
-This leaves two more addresses to send letters and postcards to, also listed at the site
-The online petition now has 10 000 names
-300 sites (including CoE!) have joined the site’s cause

by Beruthiel

With Lord of the Rings posters everywhere you look, you often wonder which one to buy? Well that is why I have decided to write this article. I have searched through many posters and have found four that I find the most enjoyable. These posters are the covers of the three movies, and the new character poster. I chose these because they represent the films as a whole.

First I would like to talk to you about the Fellowship of the Ring poster I enjoy. This poster has an excellent layout, having what some people would the most important character in the story up front, Frodo. Clearly this poster had well chosen pictures as well. If you take the time to look into each character’s face, you can see their struggle, their mysteriousness, and their wisdom. Of course the movie is not all about the good in Middle Earth, so I find it very fitting that this poster has the evil Nazgul on it, and some of the elvish script from the one ring.

The second poster is on the cover of The Two Towers. As the film goes into its middle section, it gets a lot darker. You can see this just from the poster. As you look at it, one of the first things you see is the towers on each side. It represents the looming darkness that is approaching not only Frodo, but all of the people of Middle Earth. Each person in this excellently made poster fits perfectly in place, as do the words as well. It obviously follows the same format as the first poster.

The Return of the King poster is a classic poster, one that shows the whole story of the Lord of the Rings. It shows the fierce fighting and tremendous sadness. This is where everything ends in the movies, and this poster is a great way to end it. As you glance at it, you feel a surge of war inside of you that makes you want to help Aragorn on his journey to become King, help Frodo destroy the ring, and overall, help save Middle Earth. This poster would look great on a wall by itself, or with the two other posters I have just described above.

There is one other poster I would like to tell you about however. It is one of the newest, if not the newest poster for the Lord of the Rings; Return of the King. If you were disappointed that your favorite character has never been on a poster, this is the poster you will want. It shows 20 members of the cast from the Lord of the Rings starting with Elrond and ending with Bilbo. It also lists the actor or actresses name and the character they played. You will not be disappointed at this five foot long poster because its creators gave it a wonderful flow.

Here are the first three posters
Here is the fourth poster

In conclusion, you now have an excuse to go out and get a Lord of the Rings poster to hang up on your wall because you know which ones are good. Of course there are many more good ones, but these are the best that cover the entire films. For the fangirls that are out there, there are many Legolas posters that you can find.

by Gimli_and_Gollum

When people think of Tolkien, they think of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. They don’t think of a lover, linguist, professor, father, or soldier, but he was just as much those as a writer.

When Tolkien was a boy he loved languages. He had a running knowledge or spoke over 20 languages, modern and ancient, not counting elvish and the other bits of language he created.

Tolkien had four children. When Michael was a young boy, he lost his favorite toy, a dog, and Tolkien weaved a story about a real dog, Rover that was turned into a toy to console his son. He was a loving father.

Tolkien fought in WWII with many of his friends from a club called “Tea Club, Barrovian Society (T.C.B.S.)”. In the war, all but one of these friends died.

He taught at Oxford for many years, teaching Anglo-Saxon. While teaching, he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

John and Edith Tolkien were lovers in life and death. On Tolkien’s grave, where they were buried together, it is inscribed:

Edith Mary Tolkien, Lúthien, 1889-1971
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Beren, 1892-1973

Such true love, for anyone who read has read the Tales of Beren and Lúthien, is so rare… Beren and Lúthien were based on the Tolkiens. True love conquers all.

So, is Tolkien just another author? Maybe… but I don’t think so… He is a man with so much passion in his life. Such deep sadness… such deep love… He was a one of a kind man, with a one of a kind story and a one of a kind life.

This article is dedicated to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Beren, and his true love, Edith “Lúthien” Tolkien.

by Fëathoron