There’s an armed crowd of Men and Elves approaching the Lonely Mountain, but Thorin is still in control of Smaug’s horde. Will he willingly share the wealth with anyone traveling with his former captors?
The week the Book Club moves on, in our discussion of the Hobbit, to chapter XV, The Gathering of the Clouds.
Greetings! The April edition of the Realm newsletter, presented by the Realm of Ulmo, can be found here.
According to sources including; Publishers Weekly, New York Times and Times Online, The Children of Hurin is now the number one hardcover fiction bestseller.
Jane Fryer, of the Daily Mail discusses the preparations for the London premiere of the stage version of the Lord of the Rings. You can read the article and view some pictures of the cast here . The show opens on 19th June 2007.
After the world was made through the music of Ilúvatar and the Ainur, the Valar entered into it, and began to shape the Kingdom of Arda. And though Melkor tried to claim the land for his own, he was thwarted. After this he left for a time, and the seven lords of the Valar and the seven Queens, the Valier, laboured in peace.
When they entered into Arda the Valar took on shapes very like to those of the coming Children of Ilúvatar, Elves and Men, and they shaped the world of Arda that it might be fit for the Children to inhabit. They took great joy from their labours and they walked on the Earth in great delight. Yavanna, Giver of Fruits, planted her seeds in the ground, and many things fair and beautiful began to grow. Aulë, spouse of Yavanna and master of all crafts, formed two mighty lamps, so that Middle-earth might be lit; they were filled by the power of the Valar and hallowed by Manwë, lord of Arda. One lamp was set in the north of the world, and it was named Illuin; and the other stood in the south, and was called Ormal.
Where the light of these two lamps met was the Isle of Almaren, in the Great Lake, and here the Valar dwelt happily, fearing nothing, marvelling at all that surrounded them. And this was the Spring of Arda; a time of peace and growth and joy. And Manwë ordained a great feast as they rested from their labours, and at that feast Tulkas the Valiant, and Nessa, who delights in dancing, were joined together. And all were content, unaware that the Spring of Arda would soon be marred by the works of Melkor.
For the Valar, the Spring of Arda was a time of great peace and happiness; and just as it is now, it was also a time of growth and new life. The Valar celebrated their Spring with a feast; we celebrate our own spring each year with a wide variety of traditions and customs.
April Fool’s Day is a holiday celebrated in many countries on April 1st. It is a day to play nice pranks, such as putting salt in the sugar pot, or setting someone’s alarm clock an hour early or late. The French traditionally celebrated this holiday by placing a dead fish on the back of friends. Unfortunately, these days the fish is substituted by a paper cut out. However, you have to play the pranks before noon or you’re the fool!
Another popular celebration is Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday). Different countries hold it on different dates, for example, in France it is usually held on the last Sunday in May, whereas in Panama it is held on December 8th. In the UK, this day is a holiday for honouring mothers, and in the US it is a memorial day for women.
The main Christian festival during the spring is Easter, when they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the son of God, following his crucifixion. The eggs which are given and received at Easter are a symbol of new life and have gone through many stages of development before becoming the chocolate versions we all think of, from the painted hen eggs which were their origin, right through to the famous Fabergé eggs, encrusted with jewels.
In India, they celebrate Holi (aka Festival of Colours), a Hindu spring festival.On the first day, bonfires are lit at night to signify burning Holika (sister of King Hiranyakashyapu, who agreed to try and kill the King’s son by burning him, but instead was burnt herself). On the second day (Dhulandi,) people throw coloured powder and water at each other. A special drink called ‘thandai’ is prepared and people invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations later in the evening. Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on the fifth day of the full moon( Panchami). This marks the end of the festival.
Wiccans celebrate no less than three festivals during spring. The first, Imbolc, is celebrated right at the beginning of the season, and is held in honour of the goddess Brigid. The next is Ostara, the spring equinox, celebrated around the same time as Easter. It is held in honour of the goddess Eostre, the Saxon goddess of fertility, and is thought to be a time of fertility, growth and new life. Some of its traditions have now also become associated with the Christian festival of Easter.
Beltane, which runs from sundown to sundown on April 30th to May 1st, is a festival of fire, dancing about the Maypole and Morris Dancers. The Dancers direct origin is lost to time but is strongly rooted in the Pre-Christian/Pagan mythology. Supposedly their was a fear that winter wouldn’t loosen its grip until Dancers with sticks or clubs would tap the earth to awaken Spring. In England this tradition has survived in the May Day celebrations which take place on the first Monday of every May, usually in the form of village fairs.
Of the many customs associated with Beltane, the bonfire is probably the most recognizable. Couples would pass between two such fires to insure the strength of their union, fertility and good fortune. Livestock also was led between them to receive the blessings of the Goddess and God. There is a wonderful custom in Germany where ‘Wild’ water is collected from any rushing stream, ocean or even dew in the moonlight and used throughout the year as a component of healing drinks and potions. Also the last of the years harvest of the corn husks were shaped into crude dolls and planted along with the first seeds sown to represent the continual cycle of death and rebirth which is the foundation of all Earth-based religions.
This year the realm of Ulmo added a new celebration to the spring festivals, which we named Elf Day. Since we all enjoy exchanging cards at Christmas, we decided to do it again. We chose March 25th, but that’s no reason why you shouldn’t celebrate it now – it’s still spring after all! There are plenty of beautiful e-cards available in the multimedia section just waiting to be sent. And since there are four seasons, we decided we should have four celebrations too – so we hope you’ll join in our Midsummer’s Day celebrations on June 20th and our Hobbit Day merry-making on September 22nd!
I’m gondolinian, also know as Errandir of Gondolin. I am the newbies moderator for over two months almost. I never would have thought being worthy of becoming a mod, I was very surprised and honoured when they asked me to. It gave me quite a thrill :D. So you’ll find me welcoming newbies and giving them a helpful hand in discovering the site. The forum has been updated and cleaned out a bit recently, and more new threads are coming to help the newbies on their quest for Tolkien and LOTR 🙂 . It’s a small forum, but everyone has to start somewhere and the newbiesforum is the place to get acquainted to the older members and to ask for a buddy to help you out. But questions about how to create signatures, or ‘what in Eru’s name is a PM??’ are answered there also with a big smile 😀 . (And coming up soon: a thread introducing all the forums and sections of the site!) I like helping people out and guiding uncertain newbies that aren’t comfortable yet on such a big site. It’s always nice for them and me to make new friends if they feel like it, I’m honoured to be their guide for as long as they need me.
I found the site like a lot of members: by scanning the net for pictures. I didn’t join immediatly but came to visit once in a while. One night I discovered there was a chat and I joined to check it out. I had a wonderful evening on it, but didn’t return to it for over four months… then I became hooked on it, my life changed completely. I met my best friends there, and without them I wouldn’t be the same person that I am today, nor would I have been here as your humble newbies moderator. To me CoE is a foundation, a place I can call home and feel comfortable on. Both the community as well as the site itself give me a great feeling, it’s good to know that once real life will finally give me a bit more time, I have got hundreds of things about LOTR waiting for me to read and learn, if I haven’t done so yet.
I got in contact with LOTR and Tolkien when the movies came out, but my interest was aroused in a not so common way: I bought the soundtrack first and loved it the second I heared it. I checked the internet to find out more about the movie and discovered it was a trilogy, went to see it and my life changed forever… since then I have read all the books, seen the movies, extended editions included, played the soundtracks numerous times and am now anxiously awaiting the release of the Complete Recordings of the ROTK, as you can see I’m very fond of the music.
I love Tolkien, his love for myths and lore, his history and his life. LOTR opened up my life and to me is a way of living. There are so many good values and other things in the movie worth striving for, to lift up your life to higher levels and that’s what appeals me so much. It will always be part of my life, it is the main thread through it, visible or hidden.
I’m from Belgium, a tiny little country in Europa that has without doubt the best chocolate and invented the ‘french’ fries (bleh, so hate that name 😛 ). I’m a student at university here, I love nature, reading, music (soundtracks mostly but other works appeal to me too), ….
You can find me around the Games Forum too at times, I love it 😉 and I met a lot of wonderful people there too, I have got a lot of good friends on the site, with whom I pm or that I meet on msn. So thank you CoE for giving me a social life! 😀 😉
Hello all! I’m fogriipus, or fog, from Finland, a small persistent dreamer, interested mainly in astronomy, nature, LotR, war history and sports. I’m friendly, although sometimes maybe a bit hard to approach, because I’m quiet and like to be alone. But I definitely don’t bite! I love reading, just contemplating and being at home, but fortunately I also feel like at home in a forest, so I get some fresh air occasionally.
As the Movies Admin my duties are in the Movies Section, so that is I take care of everything related to the movies, basically. That includes the Cast List, Film Articles, Film Scripts, and all Reviews, and I believe there’ll be even more subjects in the Movies Section in the future. I also moderate the Movies Forum. At the moment my biggest project is updating the Cast List, so if your favourite actor or crew member doesn’t have a bio yet – now you have a great opportunity to contribute to it! If you have any questions, suggestions or submissions regarding the Movies Section, just PM me!
Hi! My name is Fealome, but I like to go by Fea. I imagine that I’m something of a light-hearted idealist, bouncing along in a wild world. My friends sometimes accuse me of being “high on life.” I love asking questions, getting answers, reading epic stories, and experimenting with words (otherwise known as writing). Fat, lazy cats claim my eternal adoration. As Humor Admin, I spend lots of time laughing my head off in the Humor Section. I also review submissions to the Humor Section, post new caption contests, and get to read all the funny things people come up with before anybody else does! CoE already has one of the best Tolkien humor resources on the web, and it’s hard to think of anything that needs to change. I do want to add more organization to the section, open up some dusty corners, and let a few of the lesser-known features see some light. Over time, I hope to see more book parodies and comic submissions take renowned stands on the shelves and walls of this frightfully funny section. For those, however, I’ll just have to wait impatiently for all you fantastically creative CoEers out there!
Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar launches today. The game is the first and only massively-multiplayer online game based on the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien. Click Read More to learn more.
Hello! I’m Cirdaneth. You can read how I came to Ulmo in the Newbies Section above. Anyway, despite having been a member of CoE for only six months, I seem to have been “fast-tracked” and was recently offered the post of co-moderator of Books, to assist PotbellyHairyfoot. I have accepted, and at the time of writing am awaiting my training.
I read my father’s copies of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as a child and expect they were Tolkien’s translations, though I was not aware of it at the time. Then I read LotR in 1956 soon after it was published, and have read it every two years since, so about 27 times with 14 of them being aloud to someone else.
Like Linwe I have also read The Hobbit, The Sil, The Unfinished Tales, and HoME. I bought that in three hardback volumes reckoning that paperbacks would quickly fall apart from handling. I’m into them all the time. I also have the Biography and the Letters. Recently I acquired Hammond and Scull’s Chronology and Readers’ Guide which is a revelation. Next stop is Tales from the Perilous Realm, Finn and Hengest, Tree and Leaf and a recap on Sir Gawain and Beowulf. Not exactly “chick-lit” for the beach, but I always did like something meatier … Sean Bean would do, except that he’s young enough to be my son. Heigh-ho!
The films have added more to my enjoyment and Howard Shore’s music is a joy and a solace. Music is another of my loves. At one time I was a professional folk singer specialising in the big English and Celtic Ballads, that tell “the great tales; the ones you always remember” Tam Lynn, Clerk Saunders, Childe Maurice etc. It’s a specialised area and won’t earn anyone a living so it was combined with running a climber’s hostel and mountain rescue post in NW Scotland. I can still sing a bit, but I don’t rescue mountains any more. I am a widow now and live in a hobbity little cottage in the Peak District National Park, UK. Surrounded by rolling green hills.
Moderating will be another new experience and I hope I’ll justify everyone’s faith in me.