Reality. Sometimes real life can get us down. But, that’s why we read fantasy. Like Bilbo, we all want to go on adventures, even though Gandalf doesn’t ever come knocking. Even though owls haven’t delivered our letters, we all want to go to Hogwarts. Admit it: you’ve stepped inside wardrobes, hoping that they would transport…
There are four main “good” races that reside in Middle-Earth. There are four main houses at Hogwarts. Is it possible to sort the four races into the four houses categorically? Granted, sorting into houses ought to be done individually, because even twins (i.e. Padma and Parvati Patil) are not always sorted into the same house.…
Three weeks ago, I posted about the Middle-Earth Map Chrome Experiment. At that time, one location was still locked. That location, the Lonely Mountain, has since been opened. Honestly, I think that it features the most interesting interactive content yet—of any of the five previous locations. You enter the Lonely Mountain. Smaug addresses you, as…
This review is positively riddled with spoilers, so I would recommend seeing The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug first, before reading this. You’ve been warned. Upon leaving the theatre on the evening of December 13th, having just seen the second Hobbit movie, I forced myself to hold back the deluge of disappointment. I calculated in my head that…
When Google announced that they were creating a Middle-Earth map, I was frankly very excited. The best map that I have of Middle-Earth currently resides within the Lord of the Rings Online video game, and even then, it’s a game map, which means that it’s embellished by game features. It’s a very detailed map, and…
In addition to The Hunt for Gollum, yet another Lord of the Rings inspired fan-made indie film exists. This one is called Born of Hope. It is set earlier than The Hunt for Gollum, which features Aragorn as an adult and is set just after Bilbo leaves Bag End but before Frodo leaves Bag End. Instead, Born of Hope is set before…
The Lord of the Rings. If you’ve never read the trilogy, you’ve at least seen Peter Jackson’s film adaptations. If you haven’t seen the films, you’ve at least heard of them. However, you may not have heard of two spectacular fan films, created by fans, for fans. The first of the two fan films is The…
There is no question that The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King is an incredible movie. Simply look to the 2003 Academy Awards for proof. Return of the King won 11 Oscars, which means that they tied the record held by Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997). While Titanic—as well as All About Eve (1950)—holds the record for most…
As a Language Arts teacher, I often use Lord of the Rings (specifically Two Towers and Return of the King) as an example when I teach about the three main points of view. While Fellowship of the Ring tends to mostly follow Frodo, making it third person limited, the latter two books (and movies) in…
With the release of the second trailer for the Desolation of Smaug, it’s fitting to dedicate the next three Thursdays (Throwback Thursdays I suppose) to some thoughts regarding the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Please note that I will write these articles while watching the only true way to watch the trilogy—that is, the extended…