Winter’s Hope

Winter has come
Winter has fallen.
Here I reside, far from
Home and family’s calling.
Its chill swirls around me,
Like an endless white sea.
And on the wind’s mournful cry,
I hear its truth; it does not lie.
It comes across the hill and down the slope,
And tells of one shining hope:
Spring will come again.

by Lady_Tolwen

A Winter’s Homecoming

The cold bite of winter’s breath hurries the weary travellers home,
From round windows bright a glimmer of fire shakes the darks grasping hold,
A reminder of the long past toil to bring the harvest gathered
The mug of mead that cheers the soul joins the waft of fresh baked bread
Above in bedrooms tucked up safe, infants fall into deep sleep
Outside the snow with crispy scrunch awaits their joyous little feet.
Tho winter’s bite can chill ‘n numb, her icy hand still mortal life
There’s nothing better on this fair earth than coming home to kids and wife.

by Happy Hobbit

Cold

We wait for the chill,
We lovers of the snow
Yet pray to stay warm.

by Propertyoflegolas

Now that a new year has started it seems a proper time for an essay on the Shire Reckoning; the calendar comonly in use in the Shire. This calendar shares some similarities with our own, but also contains a lot of differences. The Hobbits divided the year into 12 months, as we do, but in order to keep things simple, all of their months contained 30 days. As there are 365 days in a year, this resulted in 5 days left over. These days were designated as holidays and were inserted into the calendar, outside of the months, as follows; one day at the end of the year (1 Yule ), one day at the beginning of the year (2 Yule ) and three days in the middle of the year, between the 6th and 7th month (1 Lithe, Midyear’s day and 2 Lithe), except on leap years when an additional day (Overlithe) was added after Midyear’s day.

The Hobbits didn’t like the way that each year would start on a different day of the week, finding it to be a bit inconvenient, so in the time of Isengrim II they changed their calendar by no longer assigning a weekday name to midyear’s day (and Overlithe on Leap years). This change, known as the Shire Reform resulted in a calendar that always started on the first day of the week and ended on the last day of the week. These aren’t necessarily the same days as in our calendar; as in many Islamic countries, the shire week started on Saturday and ended on Friday and their equivalent to our weekend of Saturday and Sunday would be Thursday and Friday.

One final difference between the Shire Reckoning and our calendar is the actual seasonal days where the year starts and ends. While our year ends 10 days after the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year), the Shire year ends right on the solstice, meaning that the Shire year actually starts ten days earlier than ours.

For reference, here are the Hobbit names for the days of the week and the months of the year (from Appendix D of The Return of the King) The days of the week were Sterday (Saturday), Sunday, Monday, Trewsday, Hevensday (or sometimes Hensday), Mersday, and Highday (Friday). The months of the year are: Afteryule (January) Solmath, Rethe, Astron, Thrimidge, Forelithe, Afterlithe, Wedmath, Halimath, Winterfilth, Blotmath and Foryule (December). Remember that two Yule days are inserted between Foreyule and Afteryule and three more days; 1 Lithe, Midyear’s day, and 2 Lithe (plus Overlithe on Leap Years) are inserted between Forelithe and Aterlithe.

These differences between our two calendars become important when we celebrate various middle Earth events. I’ll use the destruction of the ring as an example. In the Shire Reckoning, the date the ring was dropped into the Cracks of Doom (March 25th) is the 86th day of the year (Lithe plus 30 days in each of Jan. and Feb. plus 25 more in March). This would correspond to March 27th on our calendar (31 days in Jan. plus 28 in Feb. plus 27 more in March). But the Shire year actually started 10 days earlier than our year, so the corresponding day in our calendar would then become March 17th; so we would be perfectly correct in celebrating the great accomplishments of the Hobbits on St. Patrick’s Day. To me this also suggests some possible relationship between Hobbits and the Leprechauns we often think about when considering St.Patrick’s Day (don’t Leprechauns and Hobbits both like riddles?), but that discussion can be saved for some future date.

by PotbellyHairyfoot

The next time you feel a Hobbit-sized hunger and are in the mood for some Middle-earth cuisine, try dropping by The Hobbit Café in Houston, Texas. Nestled beneath a huge oak tree, this cosy little Tudor-style building is the new location for this over 32-year-old business. When the weather cooperates you can even enjoy your meal on their tree-shaded outdoor patio.

The casual atmosphere inside is most definitely Hobbit-friendly. Small 4 to 5 table dining rooms with every table and chair a different style lend to its cosiness. Low ceilings, aged hardwood floors and candlelight add to its Hobbit-hole ambience. The walls are earthy ones and adorned with not only current LOTR artwork and posters on the wall, but older artwork and maps of Middle-earth as well.

Though voted ‘Best Vegetarian Restaurant’ in 2001 and 2004 by The Houston Press, this eatery caters to the carnivorous as well. With huge portions of specialty sandwiches such as ‘Bilbo the Magnificent’, ‘Thorin Oakenshield’, ‘Smaug’s Delight’, ‘Valinor’, and ‘The Gandalf’, to name just a few, you can see why this restaurant keeps a loyal following of repeat customers, Tolkien fans and others alike. It is also known for its Sunday brunches with favorites such as Gingerbread pancakes and excellent fresh smoothies. They also have a wide variety of desserts, though I could not find a review for one (evidently the entire portions are so big that many Hobbits never see dessert).

Overall, it seems, the general reviews for this restaurant are positive for vegetarians and meat eaters alike, making it a must-stop for all Hobbits if ever in Houston!

by Jesalyn

The three Oscars he has received for his work on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy were probably the highlight of Howard Shore’s more than 35 years as a professional musician and composer. Here’s a little of the trail that lead to those Oscars.

Howard Shore was born in Toronto, Canada on Oct 18, 1946. He started writing and composing his own music by the age of ten and even attended Boston’s Berklee School of Music. In 1969 he started his professional career in music off by joining the Canadian rock band Lighthouse. In Lighthouse, Shore wrote some songs and also played both flute and saxophone. After three years with Lighthouse, Shore left the band in 1972, shortly after playing Carnegie Hall.

For his next career move he teamed up with a friend from summer camp. That friend was Lorne Michaels and Howard worked with him in summer camp in 1960 to do a little weekend variety show. Shore became Musical Director and Bandleader for the first two seasons of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. While with SNL he played saxophone in the Saturday Night Live band, wrote the closing theme, and also made a few appearances in some of the skits, including one as a ‘Killer Bee’. He was also instrumental in helping Belushi and Ackroyd set up the Blues Brothers band, and even appeared as the featured musical guest, ‘Howard Shore and his All Nurse Band’.

Shortly after leaving SNL, Shore wrote his first score for a movie when Canadian Director Murray Markowitz had him do the score for the 1978 release ‘I miss you Hugs and Kisses’, a rather mediocre murder mystery that starred Elke Sommer. Shortly after that, another Canadian Director, David Cronenberg, sought him out to do the score for the 1979 film ‘The Brood’. Cronenberg apparently liked his work, as Howard Shore has now written the music for every one of his films, with the exception of ‘The Dead Zone’.

Howard Shore was then well established as a film score composer and he went on to compose the scores for more than 60 films, including such memorable films as ‘Big’, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, ‘Mrs Doubtfire’, ‘Striptease’, ‘Dogma’, ‘Se7en’, ‘The Cell’, ‘Panic Room’ and Martin Scorsese’s ‘Gangs of New York’, as well as many, many others.

You would think that writing the scores of this many films would take all of the man’s time, but Shore has still found time to keep active with television, including writing the theme for ’Late Night with Conan O’Brian’.

After working four years on the scores for The Lord of The Rings and winning three Oscars, you’d think that it would be time for a break. But Howard Shore is still busy, conducting The Lord of The Rings Symphony and continuing to compose scores for movies. He wrote the score for the recently released ‘Aviator’ and is also working on both ‘A History of Violence’ and Peter Jackson’s ‘King Kong’ remake.

by PotbellyHairyfoot

Coney Stew – by Happy Hobbit

As winter nights are drawing in, it’s now that home cooking comes into its own. There’s nothing better in a Hobbit’s way of thinking than coming home to a warming stew on a cold winters evening. This wholesome meal is most often made using cheap cuts of meat, a few root vegetables and a good stock.

Ingredients

2 fresh coneys (rabbits) skinned & cleaned

½ pound pork (bacon can be used)

2 large onions – sliced

1 medium turnip – sliced into ½ inch cubes

6 carrots – sliced into ½ inch thick slices

6 potatoes – quartered

flour for rabbit pieces

rosemary – a few sprigs – for seasoning

Directions

Soak coneys overnight in cold water, dry well and cut into serving sized pieces and roll in flour to coat lightly.

Cube pork (again ½ inch chunks work best) and fry in a skillet. When browned remove pork to stew pot (or slowcooker).

Add floured rabbit pieces to hot pork grease and brown on all sides. Place in stew pot and add just enough water to cover the pieces. Simmer for 1 ½ hours.

Add vegetables and simmer until tender. Remove rosemary sprigs and serve.

Optional dumplings

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1tsp baking powder

1tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp butter

½ cup milk

Directions

Add all ingredients but milk and stir until crumbly. Add milk and stir until a good doughy mixture forms. Having previously removed the Rosemary sprigs, drop spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture to the top of the stew and cover tightly with lid for about 15 minutes.

Serve hot and with an accompanying mug of mulled wine. This is a meal fit for any Hobbit table.

Potbelly’s Gooseberry pie – by PotbellyHairyfoot

Potbelly isn’t a great cook but he loves his pie, especially when it is made with berries from his own garden. His gooseberry bush gives him a couple of gallons of berries each year but they cook up almost as tart (sour) as Rhubarb, so he’s found that adding other berries results in a better pie. He also likes to make sure that the filling tastes good, so he precooks it, adjusting it as necessary, before adding it to the pie shell. As a result, this is a really simple pie to make.

Filling (this makes enough for two 9 inch pies)

4 cups gooseberries

3 cups strawberries

1 cup strawberries

1 cup sweetener (PB uses Splenda, but sugar will work fine if you aren’t counting calories or carbs)

1/2 cup flour (cornstarch or tapioca can be substituted here) as a thickener

your favorite pastry recipe. Enough for top and bottom crusts for two pies. (Pb has tried making pastry – and now finds it better to have one of the ladies of Hairyfoot House make it for him.)

Making the pies

1 – cook the pie shells until browned and flaky (about 15 minutes at 400º F)

2 – in a microwaveable bowl add all the berries and the sweetener. Then stir them up and microwave on high for about 10 minutes

3 – taste the mixture and make sure that it is not too tart. If it is, then add a few more tablespoons of sweetener. Either way, microwave on high for about 5 more minutes.

4 – stir in the flour until thoroughly dissolved and then spoon the mixture into the pie shells

5 – cover with top crusts, cut a few decorative slices into them for steam to escape and bake in the 400º oven to brown (about another 15 minutes)

Now take them out, allow them to cool a bit and serve them with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

If you don’t like tart tasting pies or you don’t have access to gooseberries, you can substitute any other type of berry; like raspberries or blackberries. When you do so, you’ll find that you need only 1/2 cup of sweetener.

Hot Mulled Wine – by Jesalyn

Ingredients

1 bottle red wine

12 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1 lemon rind

2 tablespoons sugar

Add all ingredients to a pot and steep gently over a medium heat until hot. Avoid boiling the mixture. Strain out solids and serve in mugs. Simple but delicious!

There was a time when I believed Estë could only be found in the books written by J.R.R Tolkien, yet recent events have made me change my mind. I would like to share my experience with you, who knows, perhaps we will find that more than one member of the Valar dwells amongst, or perhaps within us.

Earlier this year I became very depressed, the reasons for this I prefer not to reveal, suffice to say I have a sad past and finally despite all the care of friends here and family members, it caught up with me.

I knew what was happening in the early stages at least, I’d been there before, but I was reluctant to admit I’d come full circle. I wanted to get better but I slipped further and further down. All the time I was slowly cutting the threads between myself and those about me until finally I felt completely isolated, unwanted and, well, the thoughts I had mirrored the despair I felt.

If people were trying to help, I was unable to respond to them. I’d become totally lost in my own world, and that was dark and cold and immensely sad. To be honest I had no idea I was so ill until I finally went to see my doctor and he signed me off work.. He put me on medication, sent me to talk to a counsellor.

Not much changed, I kept waiting, hoping the day would come when I would feel better, no matter how small the feeling, I wanted it. I kept taking the medications I was given, I kept going to the counselling, but I still felt ill and tired, basically I was just worn out and not wanting to face the rest of my life.

About this time I received a gift from a friend overseas, beautiful flowers, they were so pretty and I felt happy for the first time in almost six months, I knew then that I wanted to get well. Was this a message from Estë? It was a very kind thought, and Estë does have a garden, another coincidence perhaps was that the flowers were Stargazer Lilies. However, this was only the first sign of Estë’s presence in our world today.

I went to see my counsellor again, he suggested I take a self-esteem course. I was ready to try anything by then, the tablets stopped me feeling, but I wasn’t making any progress, perhaps this course would help to lead me out.

The first time I walked into the room, I was so nervous, maybe even scared. People would learn about me, what if they truly didn’t like me, what if I really was the person I thought I was. The first lesson was basically a get to know you session, there are seven members of the group, all of us have arrived by different routes, yet many of our experiences were the same.

The course is almost over now, next week is our last lesson, but I am ready, I have the answers I need now, I’m looking forward to many wonderful things.

So I hear you ask what of Estë, did she magically appear, is she the person who takes the session? The self-esteem course has led me to find Estë, I have found her in many places, in the other members of the group, in friends, in my boss, in family, but also within me. I didn’t expect to find her there!

She was in the words on the board that explained why low self-esteem occurs. She was in the wisdom that helped me understand what my triggers are. She is in the friendships I have made, both new and old. She was in the message that said ‘I hope you are feeling better’.

She’s the voice that speaks calmly to me at times when I feel panicked. She tells me my fears are part of my past, that I can’t help what happened then, that it’s time to move on, she’s the one who, when I sit down to write my positive log each day, counsels me to turn small things into success; for example, if I talk to my neighbour, I am being friendly and open, or if I get to work on time, I am being reliable.

Slowly I am stepping back into the world, finding again the friends I lost when I was ill. They never left me, I just couldn’t see they were there. Now thanks to Estë I am finding them again and that is truly magical.

by Happy_Hobbit

The Last Homely House has some great hairstyles for the girls and those of you seeking Elven braids, but we thought that some more were needed for the guys. So here are a few tips for those of you seeking that perfect Middle-earth hairdo.

A Dwarven delight ~ by Lady_Tolwen

Have you ever wanted to have the stylish hair of Dwarves? Well, here’s how it’s done:

1. Grow out your hair and beard. They should be at least past your shoulders.

2. You have two options, braid hair and two sides of your beard or leave loose.

3. Spend a few months mining to get that desirable dirt-lover look. Recommended places are Erebor (aka the Lonely Mountain), the Mines of Moria, or if you want some extra sparkly, the Glittering Caves.

4. After spending some time in the mines of your choice, rejoin the top world and go on a quest. Never bathe during steps 3 and 4.

5. Congrats! You now have Dwarven hair! Now find an Elven queen and impress her with your new ‘do.

A hair-style fit for a King ~ by morwenna

Just follow the simple steps below to achieve the Aragorn look!

1. Grow hair to shoulder length.

2. Sleep in the woods for a couple of months.

3. A few twigs or leaves in the hair will add to that “just got up” look that some Elvish maidens find so irresistible.

4. Resist the urge to wash, brush or comb hair or to apply any girlie or Elvish products to hair unless about to be crowned as King.

5. If the latter applies, rush to Minas Tirith barbers to get spruced up.

6. Once crowned revert to old habits.

Gollum’s crowning glory ~ by Happy_Hobbit

1. First grow hair to shoulder length.

2. Shave off all hair apart from a few choice strands.

3. Liberally apply fish oil to each strand.

4. Comb strands over to sparsely cover head.

This is the idea for a wet look style, goes well with minimal clothing and is known to attract the attention of Elves!!!

Gimli son of Glóin is one of those movie characters you’d love to hate – but can’t. He’s rather small, being a Dwarf, and possesses a mass of wavy coppery hair (including a beautiful braided beard).

He becomes a part of the Fellowship of the Ring, which has to accompany the Ringbearer to Mordor, at the Council of Elrond, where he also makes a vain attempt to break the Ring.

During the journey the Dwarf becomes a good friend of Legolas, holding contests with him. He also proves his worth during the Battle of Helm’s Deep and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, when he joins Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead.

by Figwit

Gimli son of Glóin (one of the dwarves who helped reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug in “The Hobbit”), also called ‘Elf-friend’ and ‘Lockbearer’, was born in TA 2879, and became part of the Fellowship of the Ring after travelling to Rivendell with others of his race to participate in the Council of Elrond.

He travelled with the Fellowship through the dark of Moria, grieving greatly for the loss of Balin and the Dwarven colony of Khazad-dûm, and then into the light of Lothlórien, where, so taken by Galadriel’s beauty, he asked for a lock of her hair.

When the Fellowship was broken, he travelled across Rohan with Aragorn and Legolas, chasing Orcs. Gimli fought at the Battle of the Hornburg, where he proved the battle prowess of the dwarves, even having a private contest with Legolas, comparing who slew more enemies. Having to fight his way out of the caves, he eventually was able to pass Legolas’ score of 41 by one.

Gimli then accompanied Aragorn, Legolas and the Grey Company through the Paths of the Dead, and from there to the havens of Pelargir. He stayed at the front of the battles both on the Pelennor Fields and the Black Gate.

After the War of the Ring, Gimli and Legolas visited Fangorn Forest and then the Glittering Caves of Aglarond. He was so struck by their beauty that he decided to live there and brought some of his people south from Erebor to the Glittering Caves. While there, he and his people did much for Gondor and Rohan to help repair the damage and destruction caused by Sauron’s forces.

Gimli was strange among dwarves for his friendship with the elf Legolas, a friendship that started in Lothlórien and grew stronger through their travels together. It is said that Legolas took Gimli with him when he sailed to the Undying Lands.

If this is true, Gimli was thus the first and only dwarf ever to have made this journey. It is said he went not only to be with Legolas, but also to see again the beauty of Galadriel.

by atalante_star

What is the average person who spends time here at CoE like? Well, let’s see…if you had the chance to ask J.R.R. Tolkien one question, you’d really like to ask him what happened to the Entwives. If you could have one prop from the movies, it would be either Aragorn’s sword or Legolas’ bow. When watching the movies you were most grossed out by the close up of Gollum eating raw fish, most startled by Bilbo going ballistic seeing Frodo with the Ring and you thought that the most memorable kiss was Aragorn and Arwen kissing at the coronation.

Does this really describe the average CoE member ? Well, probably not, but these are just some of the top responses in the front-page polls, a popular area here at CoE.

Now for some facts and figures about the front-page polls.

1. Since CoE started there have been 70 polls.

2. The first poll was a test poll and asked the question, “So. Who’s the hottest?” With over 48% of the votes Legolas was your clear favourite.

3. In excess of 196,000 votes have been cast in the polls.

4. Polls never close, you can still vote in old polls.

5. The most popular poll so far, with in excess of 6300 votes, was, “If there were presidential elections in Middle-earth who would you cast your vote for?” Over 39% of voters thought Aragorn would make the ideal president. This poll was suggested by ~Mirimë~.

6. The second most popular, with in excess of 5700 votes was, “Which of these is your favourite song from the LotR movies?” Most of the voters felt they just could not chose, but of those who did 22% voted for Into the West. This poll was suggested by Celebrian_Kementari.

7. The third most popular poll, with in excess of 5500 votes was, “Apart from walking, which of these ways would you pick to travel around Middle-earth?” The majority, over 49%, chose to travel by horseback. This poll was suggested by Happy_Hobbit.

Any member can submit an idea for a front-page poll. Just post in this thread in the CoE Announcements, Rules and Feedback forum.

by morwenna