Welcome to the Council of Elrond!

“The Hobbit” Director Peter Jackson talks to NBC News’ Ann Curry from his native New Zealand about the much anticipated prequel to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Jackson discusses the pressure he felt following the biggest success of his career, the Rings trilogy, and the last minute changes he’s making to “The Hobbit.” Ann Curry’s full report airs Thursday, Dec. 6 at 10pm/9c on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams. You can view an advanced clip here. 

Die-hard fans will gorge upon Peter Jackson’s adaptation from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book; Hobbit adaptation a dark, spectacular adventure; Is ‘The Hobbit’ Less a Movie Than Theme Park Ride? If So, It’s a Fun One; IT’S great to be back in Middle-earth. There may be a great darkness descending on the forests, but the weather is always fine in Hobbiton.

You can read the above referenced reviews here, here, here and here.

Read about ‘Hobbit’ makeup designer: Peter King .

Go deeper and deeper into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth and you’ll realize that it’s pretty tough to reach a dead end. Read about why.

Will You Like ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’? See for yourself right here.

Reviewers of ‘The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey’ seem to vary greatly as to what they thought of the film. A few of the reviews, representing both sides of the spectrum can be found here, here, and here.
An Interview with Richard Armitage, Thorin in the films, can be found here.

Sixty years before his nephew Frodo would take his own great and terrible journey in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bilbo Baggins is living a contented, peaceful existence in his cozy home of Bag End in the market town of Hobbiton. Like all of his kind, he loves his home and knows little of the world beyond the Shire, except what he gleans from his precious books and maps. Click here. for the complete article , on Showbiznest.com

An unused file in the OS X calendar has revealed the remnants of a great easter egg, calendar dates for important points in Lord of The Rings. Find it here.

A Fiordland peak could be named Mt Tolkien, after the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Read the article here.

As more cinema patrons see the film, demand for tours of Middle Earth — or the location sets used for filming the series — is fast increasing. You too can jump on the band wagon here.

Stephen Colbert plans an entire week of Hobbit themed shows on ‘The Colbert Report’. For more info click here.

To view a slideshow of Air New Zealand’s newly painted plane click here.

For an interesting article about Peter Jackson’s not very visible partner, Fran Walsh, click here.

For an interview with William Kircher, Bogur in the films, click here.

For an article on the Premiere of ‘The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journy, click here and for some of the interviews from the Premiere click here.

For a humorously altered melding of the Trailers from ‘The Goonies’ and ‘The Hobbit;An Unexpected Journey’here.

For a brief early review of the movie click here.

When “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” opens in theaters Dec. 14, audiences will see a more intricately rendered Gollum. Read about it here.

The wide-eyed child from The Lord of the Rings has blossomed into a red carpet talking point. You too can talk about it here.

Simon Tolkien was always close to his famous grandfather. But the creator of The Hobbit cast a very long shadow.

A boy who likes Harry Potter and Xbox clearly enjoys losing himself in ‘whole world’ fiction. Christopher Paolini or Patrick Ness’s fantasy series might here.

Sir Ian McKellen – Gandalf in the the Lord of the Rings film trilogy – tells Channel 4 News Culture Editor Matthew Cain that the Hobbit, which has its world premiere today, will not disappoint. Check out the video here.

For fans of The Lord of the Rings, Elvish is almost back in the building. There are more reasons here to feel encouraged.