Welcome to the Council of Elrond!

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.

For those of us that haven’t purchased the DVDs of ‘The Hobbit;An Unexpected Journey’ and weren’t able to see the special ‘Live Event,’ Peter Jackson has just posted a six minute excerpt from ‘The Hobbit; The Desolation of Smaug Live Event’. The excerpt can be viewed here.

Daily Mail Online`s Barry Norman has released his list of the top ten epic films. Click here to see which of Peter Jackson`s `Tolkien`; movies made the list.

Sir Ian will be presiding at the wedding of his friend Patrick Stewart. Wizards can do that, you know. See more by clicking here.

Singer Ed Sheeran recently visited Peter Jackson. Click here to read about what he left with when the two exchanged gifts.

Although we often hear complaints about how few female characters can be found in Tolkien`s Middle-earth books, the author originally fielded complaints about the female characters he used. Click here to learn more about why the complaints were made, and to learn more about Tolkien`s use of female characters.

Click here for the first available pics of Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel. (Please note that many sites have removed similar pics by request and these may not be available for long)

To read about a 10 foot tall sand castle, a detailed replica of Minas Tirith, that took two years to build and was recently destroyed by a storm click here.

Click here to hear Andy Serkis explain why ‘The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey’ is a family movie.

Peter Jackson has stated that he’d like to direct an episode of Doctor Who. Click here to read about the unusual payment request he suggests, in lieu of cash, for the job.

Click here for a brief reminder about Tolkien Reading Day.

To read about 10 things you might not know about ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ you can click here.

Ireland’s Burren Tolkien Society is convinced that Tolkien’s many visits to The Burren may have influenced his descriptions of The Misty mountains. For details about their upcoming convention click here.

You can click here for a ‘Yahoo Movies’ interview with Martin Freeman.

For details about an infographic that summarizes the characteristics of many of the races found in ‘The Hobbit’, click here.

Warner Bros. has countered The Tolkien Estates copyright lawsuit by filing their own coutersuit. For two looks at the legal wranglings click here and here.

Peter Jackson is about to host a live sneak peak at `The Hobbit; The Desolaation of Smaug`, but there is a catch. To get the special code that will allow you to log in for the live event you must first purchase the Blu-Ray Combo Pack, Blu-Ray 3-D Combo Pack or 2-Disc DVD Special Edition of `The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey`. Further details can be found here.

Curious as the the actual value of Bag End as Real Estate? For a breakdown of Bag End’s listing price if it was located in Tolkien’s favorite county click here.

For Richard Armitage’s views on Peter Jackson and his role as Thorin in ‘The Hobbit’ click here.