Ser Drewy

Lost drafts of the script for the BBC radio drama of LOTR discovered.

Sad news. Priscilla Tolkien has died: https://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/news/memory-priscilla-tolkien She was the youngest of J.R.R Tolkien's children. R.I.P

New JRRT photographs, letters, paintings & drafts have been released https://www.tolkienestate.com/

I totally forgot about that game, lol. Which is weird since I loved playing it for a time. I have no idea what they'll do in the case.

I think Amazon already cancelled their MMO last year or the year before. Yeah, here: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-04-17-amazon-cancels-its-lord-of-the-rings-mmo

BBC Archive uploaded a bit of an interview with Tolkien:

I haven't really followed this series for years now. Has Rothfuss just released the only part of the book he's written?

The Estate blocks 'JRR Token' cryptocurrency

Just finished my first reread of The Silmarillion for a few years in preparation to get Nature of Middle-Earth. And damn, what a text. Feel a bit sad having finished it today as I genuinely wanted it to keep going. I love the Ainulindale: Tolkien's prose is beautiful and he captures the mythical tonality perfectly. I also love the Northern and Saga-esque feel of the material, especially the tragic Sigurd-y Tale of Turin. It's a crying shame though that Tolkien never completed his rewrite of the Fall of Gondolin – just imagine the battle redone in his later style! The imagery in the Akallabeth is outstanding, one of the most awesome scenes in all of fantasy. I do feel a bit sad for Maglor at the end of the Sil. (Also how do I get Huan as a pet?)

I've never really understood the complaints about LOTR being 'slow' (or Tolkien being tediously descriptive, for that matter) since the book has always read as very on-the-move to me. We're always going somewhere, experiencing something, or being told interesting things. And compared to many contemporary fantasy series' Rings is downright accelerated in its pacing. I think the only arguably 'filler' part is Tom Bombadil, and even he at least serves some function in the text. For me, the weirdest bit in the book is when Gildor is told about the Nazgul and Gandalf's unexplained absence at the Woody End, but for some reason is like “Oh my God! You must flee, Frodo! Run away! Run to the hills, don't let them catch you! Anyway, I've got stuff to do, hope you and your friends don't die! Bye!” it's just a bit... odd considering the graveness of the situation.

A preview from the Nature of Middle Earth has been released and there's some pages on GoogleBooks

Also, goddamit, but I'd willingly join with Mordor to see Tolkien's notes on James Joyce.

Yeah, Carpenter does not come out of it looking good. I had never heard that Christopher was enraged by the first draft, or that Carpenter had said he wanted to portray Tolkien as a slapstick fuddy duddy. Really gives you a lot to think about.

An interesting interview with an author of a new book on Tolkien's reputation as a luddite and her findings that he did engage with more contemporary works of fiction.

That is trippy, to say the least.

The Project Northmoor campaign has failed. Can't say I feel particularly sorry for them.

Not exactly Tolkien, though related in a sense, but I came across a pretty cool live rendition of Beowulf: Beowulf: The Epic in Performance - Benjamin Bagby, voice and medieval harp - YouTube

I've seen the reality of the project being pointed out to people around the web and it doesn't seem to deter support for it at all. Most still seem to endorse it. Which is... odd.

I won't be donating. The project doesn't appear to have any real interest in advancing Tolkien literary appreciation and the 'connection' just looks to be a front for them to raise funds. That and the 'Smaug's Lair' in the garden or whatever makes it sound like a cheap and lame theme park.

Good point. It could be there's a lot of delicious new Middle-Earth material in there, possibly. I wonder if we'll get the one about Gollum's appearance?

The battles in the films tend to get a bit silly when thought about. I think the Hornburg narrative suffers from the framing of the Fellowship as in the Right when Jackson has them urge open battle against going to the fortress (which, the film notes, has never fallen). Especially when they don't even know how strong Isengard is, and the revealed numbers would result in a slaughter even with Eomer's aid. Also, given that this new book is coming out, do you think we'll ever see more of Tolkien's unpublished works and lectures being available somewhere down the line? I was disappointed the Fall of Gondolin book didn't contain the Lay version. I'm also curious about his notes/lectures/essays on stuff like the Eagles and Ents or his lecture on the Goths. Plus, his essay on James Joyce could be fascinating.

Yup. Orcs are actually pretty okay with sunlight in the film adaptation. The worst part of the literal Eye is seeing it on top of the tower moving around like an actual light house. I wonder if the Amazon show will play around with his shapeshifting abilities. At the very least, I assume, we'll see a Usual Sauron and his Annatar form (unless Annatar becomes his regular form).

I admit I miss the Shadow-Sauron image as well. Also the apocalyptic darkness Sauron sets during the assault on Minas Tirith. The film sort of 'includes' it, at least in the extended cut Gandalf references it as an unnatural dark of the enemy's design, but whether due to limited budget or technology it mostly just looks like a rainy day. That said, if I were to pick an image in the ROTK adaptation to reallt grumble about, it'd be the offensive image of Denethor running a good mile whilst on fire and jumping from the top of Minas Tirith. It's goofy enough to belong on an episode of The Simpsons and reeks of tastelessness given that this is supposed to be a grief-stricken suicidal man's death. I get Jackson portrays him as more of a pantomime baddie than a nuanced character, but still. (Especially since we lose the haunting one of him laying himself, defeated, on the pyre and clasping onto the palantir as the flames engulf him).

I think we've heard this before, but Entertainment Weekly have a bit of information about the upcoming book Nature of Middle-Earth: https://ew.com/books/new-collection-previously-unseen-j-r-r-tolkien-writing-coming-next-year/ Pretty incredible that we're still getting more material. Information on the lands and animals of Numenor, new writing about Elvish immortality and reincarnation amongst other things. Very interesting.