Yes, this story will be riddled with spoilers in it, and some snark.
With less than 2 months to go before The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, we at TheOneRing.net thought you might like a little survival guide if you happen to be Arachnophobic or Drakonophobic. The Lord the Rings: The Return of the King was a little hard on many avowed Arachophobe Tolkien fans, this reporter’s sister being one of them. She watched the entire Shelob sequence from behind her purse every time she saw it on the big screen. It was only when she saw it on DVD that she could watch it unfettered.
Long before Tolkien conceived of Sam fighting off Shelob to try and save Frodo, he placed an entire Colony of giant Spiders in Mirkwood to trap the Company of Dwarves for Bilbo to rescue. This was Bilbo’s first real challenge to help the Company and he rose to the occasion. Here you can see the fear on Bilbo’s face, but he conquers it to save the Dwarves, and you can conquer your Arachnophobia too. 
As for Drakonophobia, that may have been made up word, not quite sure, but better safe than sorry. Now, to be fair, there are probably more Arachnophobes than there are Drakonophobes in the world simply because there are more spiders in the world than there are dragons. We have all those Knights in Shining Armor to thank for that. Except in China, where the dragons settled in the Rivers and became good luck symbols and come out every Chinese New Year. Gung Hey Fat Choy!!!! 
Dragons as seen in Tolkien’s Middle-earth can easily instill Drakonophobia in man and beast alike , and Smaug is the most famous of those dragons. There was fear, mixed with anger and sadness when Thorin told the story of Smaug’s attack on the Lonely mountain, killing so many and driving out the few survivors. Thranduil would not risk his own people to help and Dale was completely destroyed. The entire area around the Lonely Mountain was called the Desolation of Smaug while the Men of Lake-town built their town on stilts over the lake in the hopes of surviving future dragon attacks. Smaug has not been seen in 60 years, and yet Drakonophobia is still affecting the people of Lake-town to this day. But no one is really sure he is still really alive since it’s been so long since he was last seen, at least not until Bilbo makes his fateful first burgal attempt. 
So, without further ado, here are a few helpful pointers on how to survive your inner phobias when spiders and dragons appear onscreen.
1) Read The Hobbit before the film opens, familiarity makes it easier to handle shocks of this nature, at least the chapters in Mirkwood through Bilbo entering the Lonely Mountain.
2) Go with a really tall friend and sit behind them. If you have no tall friend, find a tall person in the theater and sit behind them.
3) If you prefer to see the film unfettered, then bring a jacket or purse to put in front of your eyes during the spider or dragon scenes.
4) Failing a jacket or purse, buy a soda or popcorn to raise up, my preference would be popcorn, because if you spill it from fright, it is less messy and certainly not cold or sticky.
5) Bring Litzi (Red Envelope with money or gold in it) purely to use as a Chinese New Year gift/bribe
6) Put on your Ring of Power and hide
7) Hold hands with your best friend, try not to cut off the circulation.
8) Run out of the theater during the scary bits (works for children)
9) If running out of the theater seems to be a waste of money, just close your eyes, but you may need to hold your hands over years ears too, those spiders seem to make some creepy noises. Smaug, on the other hand has a rather awesome voice.
10) Wait for the film to come out on DVD/Blu-ray
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Back at the start of October, we told you about Denny’s exciting contest to find Middle-earth’s greatest fan. For US residents, this is a chance to win flights, accommodation and two tickets to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug world premiere in Los Angeles at the start of December.
There’s only a week to go to submit your video entry to win this incredible, once in a lifetime prize – the contest closes on October 31st. And because we love to give stuff away, we here at TheOneRing.net have an additional incentive for you!
As part of their new Hobbit menu, Denny’s have created some ‘dwarvish gold’ coins. These will not be available in restaurants; they are an exclusive piece of film memorabilia that fans won’t be able to purchase anywhere – and they come affixed to a Denny’s 20% off entire guest check coupon! The only way to get one of these coins will be through contests and giveaways such as this. To get your hands on one of these exclusive collectibles, here’s what you have to do:
Create your video and upload it to the Denny’s Fan Quest contest – you can find all the rules and details here.
Once you’ve entered the competition, tweet @theoneringnet with the words ‘I’ve entered Dennysfanquest.com’, using the hashtag #MiddleEarthsDiner
That’s it! When the competition closes, we’ll pick at random twenty tweets from those sent to us, with the hashtag and the right phrase. Those twenty folks will each be sent a piece of dwarvish treasure, courtesy of Denny’s!
So what are you waiting for? Get filming, get tweeting and maybe get winning!
[Click here to enter Denny’s Fan Quest.]
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Continuing with their tradition of releasing commemorative stamps and coins for each of Peter Jackson’s films set in New Zealand, the home of cinematic Middle-earth, the New Zealand Post today announced the release of a new set of stamps and coins featuring key characters and scenes from The Desolation Of Smaug.
The 6 stamps feature Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin, Legolas, Tauriel, and Bard, and are presented in a variety of packaging options.
The silver and gold coins feature Bilbo, Legolas, Bard, Azog, Thranduil, the 13 Dwarves, and a stunning image of Tolkien’s own art depicting Smaug flying around the Lonely Mountain.
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A little bird tells us that the world premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be in Los Angeles on Monday 2nd December. We’d like to invite YOU to join TheOneRing.net to celebrate this event, with a party the night before. Mark your calendars – details will follow, but for now, plan on partying with fellow fans in LA on Sunday 1st December; and then get ready to line the red carpet the next day!
This event won’t be as big as our Oscar parties, but it will be a wonderful time to celebrate the second movie, hang out with friends, and maybe even meet some special guests… Watch this space for more information, and a definite confirmation of date and venue. Hope to see you in Los Angeles on December 1st!
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On Monday we let you know about an exciting contest Denny’s are holding this year, where one lucky fan will win a trip to see the World Premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The competition officially launched yesterday, but we were too busy watching the trailer multiple times to post about it!
So, if you’re getting your video entry ready to prove yourself the biggest Hobbit fan out there, here are all the details you need, taken from Denny’s official press release:
Continue reading “Denny’s search for Middle-earth’s Greatest Fan – the details”
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Last year, you may remember that Denny’s had a Hobbit menu in their restaurants during the holiday season. Today we can reveal that they’re doing it again this year, with an all new menu to be launched close to the film’s release; but the REALLY exciting news is the contest they’ll be launching tomorrow, to celebrate their renewed partnership with Warner Bros. and the Hobbit movies.
Denny’s will be hosting ‘The Search for Middle-earth’s Greatest Fan’. This competition will run throughout the month of October, and will be for an AMAZING prize: a two-night trip for two, including flights and hotel, to see the Desolation of Smaug world premiere! That’s right; if you’re deemed Middle-earth’s Greatest Fan, your reward will be that you will get to be in the audience at the world premiere screening of the next Hobbit movie, in December this year.
How do you win such an incredible prize? Full details of the competition will be coming tomorrow, when Denny’s make their official launch, but we can let you know that you’ll need to make a video explaining WHY you are the biggest fan. Tomorrow a website will go live, where you can upload such a video; we’ll let you know details, such as how long it should be and any other rules.
Denny’s will pick their favourite videos. They will then send those videos along to us here at TORn, where we will pick, from Denny’s favourites, what we think should be the top five. This top five will then be sent to Peter Jackson himself, who will choose his favourite to be the winner. Does it get any better than that? – Peter Jackson himself choosing the lucky winner who will get to join him at the premiere.
TORn is excited to be partnering with Denny’s on this. If you read this post last year, you’ll know that we were pleasantly surprised by the care and attention Denny’s gave to their Hobbit menu. This year they’ve been going even further, and have been consulting an ‘Advisory Board’, which includes Senior Staff at TORn, about some of their menu content and giveaway ideas. And of course, we here at TheOneRing.net always love bringing you, dear reader, the chance to win cool stuff – and what could be cooler than this contest?
Check back tomorrow morning – after you’ve watched the new Desolation of Smaug trailer – to get all the details on how you could win those tickets to see the world premiere! Smaug is coming!!
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