September 22nd is the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. On September 21st 1937, The Hobbit was published. So this weekend is a great time to celebrate in ‘Shire-ish’ style – and we have suggestions for you if you’re near New York or Los Angeles!
On Saturday 21st, TORn’s good friend Donato Giancola is hosting an Open Studio in Brooklyn. This is an incredible opportunity to meet the artist himself, see where he works, and gaze upon his latest large scale Middle-earth painting, Bridge of Khazad-dûm. If you’re very lucky, you may even go home with a Giancola original of your own! Here are the details:
Donato Giancola Open Studio, 11am – 6pm Saturday 21st September
397 Pacific Street Brooklyn, NY 11217
Donato says:
This Fall (or the end of Summer) will see the annual hosting of an Open Studio here at our home and studio in Brooklyn. Open to you, friends, and anyone who you may like to bring along.
I will be showcasing the newly finished, large scale Middle-earth canvas, the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, alongside handfuls of new oil paintings including recent work for Tad William’s Stone of Farewell, D&D themed drawings, Empathetic Robot projects, as well as scores of classics from my 30+ year career as an illustrator.
Of lucky significance for this event is that September 21st is also the 87th Anniversary of the publication of The Hobbitby J.R.R. Tolkien!
I cannot be more thrilled by this opportunity to celebrate the writings and art of Middle-earth. Keep your eyes out for some very special offerings as I plan events and give-a-ways for this day including a lottery for copies of Middle-earth: Visions of A Modern Myth, a signed The Hobbit featuring my cover art from the Science Fiction Book Club edition (signed just by me, not Tolkien, sorry!), and other original art and prints to be announced in the coming weeks.
Anchoring the studio for the second year in a row is another massive Middle-earth work, at 66″ x 80″, and this time – framed! The successful Kickstarter which just ended this past week will allow me to offer that special print for visitors to examine first hand and enter a lottery for a free large canvas giclee of the art if you missed out on the campaign!
The Lottery will include numerous items in the offering- from an original oil painting, to a Middle-earth original drawing (Moon-Letters – see the image above), to prints, books and Magic Artist Proof paintings – and more to be added as we get closer to the date. (In-person Lottery drawing will be held at 5pm on Saturday, entrants need not be present to win.)
We are also thrilled that the artist & pianist Colleen Quint will be playing live on our piano throughout the day and artists Kelley Hensing and Carter Gill will be present to assist once again this year! New works from Magic: The Gathering as well as interior art for projects with Grim Oak Press will be on display throughout the studio.
For those who may be Darrell Sweet fans, I have his original acrylic painting of the Hobbit cover hanging in our home. This was the artwork used on the paperback book I first read as a young teenager!
Heavy discounts on prints and select original artworks will be offered. I will also have a handful of sketchbooks around for browsing and a few portfolios filled with large, preliminary drawings and studies will also be on display for perusal. Stop by, take in some art, and kick back in the backyard while you enjoy a lemonade in a little part of the Shire in Brooklyn and raise a toast to Tolkien!
Even if you can’t attend in person, you could enter the Online Lottery!
For all the online audience who may not make it to Brooklyn for the Open Studio, Donato is offering an online lottery for give-a-ways, closing September 21st 11:59 PM ET. To register for the lottery to win one of the incredible gifts (listed below) simply visit Donato’s social media pages (Facebook, Instagram or Twitter) and enter a comment on the respective post for the Lottery. Or email lottery@donatoarts.com with ‘Enter’ in the subject field/message.
Items for the Online Lottery include:
– Original watercolor, Micro Painted Magic: The Gathering Artist Proof
– Bridge of Khazad-dûm 24″ x 28″ foiled and embossed print (US shipping only)
– The Great Dragon Smaug 14″ x 11″ print (US shipping only)
– Trifold Keepsake of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm and 6″ x 9″ print of Gandalf and the Balrog
One entry per person.
Sunday 22nd September – TORn’s annual Baggins Birthday Bash
Come and eat, drink and be Hobbity with TORn! Staffers Garfeimao and Quickbeam (and others!) will be there to greet folks from 11.30am. Bring food for the potluck; or maybe even enter the Baggins Birthday Cake contest. Costumes strongly encouraged. Enjoy this very popular annual gathering of fans; all are welcome!
You can find all the details about the event here. Please note, this is event is FREE, and will be held in the Mineral Wells Picnic area of the park. There may be other happenings at Griffith Park that day – so double check the details so you know where to find us.
No doubt many fans will be gathering for festivity this weekend; let us know how you’ll be celebrating the Baggins Boys’ birthdays!
If you have read The Lord of the Rings, there is a good chance that you skipped over one or more of the 75 songs and poems in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic. Yet long before he was the “father of modern fantasy”, Tolkien’s great ambition was to be a poet.
He wrote hundreds of poems throughout his life, running the gamut from playful limericks to lengthy verse epics in Old English alliterative meter (verse that focuses on alliteration, the repetition of consonant sounds in two or more words or syllables). But despite his prolific poetic output, Tolkien remains best-known for his prose. Published by Harper Collins, The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien – the first tome to bring together all of his poetry – will not alter its author’s reputation as a storyteller first and foremost, but it will offer readers illuminating new insights into this oft-neglected side of his personality.
This new book has been in the works since 2016, when Christopher Tolkien sent editors Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull several folders of his father’s unpublished poetry. Hammond and Scull are two of the world’s most respected Tolkien scholars, having written painstaking reference works such as the J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2017) and The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion (2008). They have also edited previous works by Tolkien, including the short poetry collection The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (2014).
Between them, Hammond and Scull have precisely the obsessive eye for detail and encyclopaedic knowledge of Tolkien’s corpus required to pull off such an undertaking. And once you hold this deluxe, three-volume, 1,500-page tome in your hands, you will grasp just how monumental an undertaking it is.
The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien contains nearly 250 individual works spanning more than five decades, 70 of them previously unpublished.
Hammond and Scull do not present the poems as standalone texts. They meticulously document the manuscript history of each poem from initial fragments to final drafts, tracing their evolution over the course of years or even decades.
This is because Tolkien would frequently return to the same poem throughout his life, revising and reworking it over and over – much as he did with his literary mythology.
The Sea-Bell is a perfect example. In 1934, Tolkien published a poem in The Oxford Magazine entitled Looney. It describes a man’s voyage to an enchanted other-world and his desolation upon returning to ordinary life afterwards.
Almost 30 years later, Looney underwent major redrafting to become The Sea-Bell, which was published in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil in 1962. The poem’s basic narrative arc remained the same, but the imagery was darker, more evocative, more devastating. The protagonist is utterly cut off from his contemporaries, with no words to communicate an experience they cannot understand.
But The Sea-Bell is not merely a revision of its predecessor. Looney was conceived and published as an independent work. In The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, on the other hand, The Sea-Bell is framed as a text written by an unnamed hobbit within Middle-earth, which Tolkien had discovered and translated for modern readers. This conceit invites readers to put the poem in direct conversation with the themes of melancholy and sea-longing which run throughout The Lord of the Rings.
By charting how the poem and its context changed over time, Hammond and Scull show how its meaning changed too.
Many of us live with a nagging sense that industrialised modernity has cut us off from the cosmos, from nature and from our authentic selves. The Romantics and their inheritors believed that art could reconnect us to what is deepest and truest in ourselves and in the world around us – could re-enchant the world.
This is one way to read Tolkien’s entire literary project. He suggests as much in his famous essay On Fairy-Stories (1947).
Eminent Tolkien researcher Verlyn Flieger reads The Sea-Bell as a profound expression of disenchantment, a reflection perhaps of Tolkien’s service in the first world war. But the powers of re-enchantment are at work elsewhere in his work, in the elven-realm of Lothlórien for instance. This dialectic of disconnection and reconnection lies at the heart of Tolkien’s enduring appeal.
As The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien attests, that same dynamic is at play in his poetry as much as his prose. But be forewarned: this book is not for the faint of heart. Its massive scope, and the academic presentation of the material, are better suited to the Tolkien scholar than the casual reader – certainly not the one who leapfrogs the songs in The Lord of the Rings.
But if you, like me, feel a compulsion to own everything released under the professor’s name, that is hardly going to stop you.
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
This week in Reflections from the Shire we have a guest post from Tolkien lover, and Tiktok and Threads regular, Lea/Silmarilleanne about The Shibboleth of Fëanor and it’s appearance in The Rings of Power episode four. Enjoy!
~ Staffer Kelvarhin
Reflections from the Shire – The Shibboleth of Fëanor
Guest post by: Lea/Silmarilleanne
Keen-eared Tolkien fans may have noticed an interesting linguistic quirk spoken by Adar at the end of episode four of The Rings of Power. He greets Galadriel with a familiar Quenyan phrase – one used by Frodo to greet Gildor Ingolrion in The Lord of the Rings: “elen síla lúmenn omentielvo”, to quote Frodo. But Adar’s is slightly different, raising some interesting possibilities about his original elven identity.
Firstly, there’s the fact that Adar is speaking Quenya at all. This suggests he is a Noldo of Valinor – just as Galadriel is; Quenya the language originated in Valinor and is the the language of the High Elves. It was dropped in favour of Sindarin shortly after the exiled Noldor arrived in Middle-earth, thanks to the ban placed upon it being spoken by the Sindar King, Elu Thingol, after he was informed of the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, the victims of which were his own people, the Teleri. It was never spoken by any of the other elves of Middle-earth, becoming something of an archaic language of lore. Furthermore, Adar calls Galadriel “Altáriel”, the Quenyan form of the name Galadriel – an epessë (a kind of nickname) she was given in Valinor, and which was Sindarised to Galadriel in Middle-earth. This is all to say, were he anything other than a Noldo, it is extremely unlikely he would have spoken Quenya and known Galadriel’s Quenyan epessë.
The most intriguing part of all this though is instead of síla, Adar pronounces the word as thíla – or, more accurately þíla. This usage of the thorn in place of s suggests he is not only speaking Quenya, but a very specific dialect of Quenya – Fëanorian Quenya, known amongst many fans as ‘the Fëanorian lisp’ (indeed, those who spoke this way were dubbed ‘the Lispers’).
In The Shibboleth of Fëanor, published in The Peoples of Middle-earth, volume 12 of the History of Middle-earth, Tolkien at his philological best describes how sociopolitical matters affect language and vice versa. As the Shibboleth explains, the Noldor and the Vanyar, two of the three tribes of elves, once lived together in the city of Tirion in Valinor and shared a language, Quenya. The Vanyar relocated to the city of Valmar to be closer to the Valar, and as a result of this distancing, dialectical shifts occurred between the two peoples. The Vanyar retained the þ in their language, but amongst the Noldor there was a “conscious and deliberate change…based primarily on phonetic ‘taste’ and theory” to s.
The change was attacked and opposed by loremasters, who believed it would cause damage “in confusing stems and their derivatives that had been distinct in sound and sense”. The chief linguistic loremaster at this time was Fëanor, who as well as being a fastidious loremaster also had a very personal reason for objecting to the change. Fëanor’s mother, and first queen of the Noldor, was Míriel Þerinde. While the linguistic shift is said to have happened (or at least began) within her lifetime, Míriel herself adhered to the pronunciation þ, and “desired that all her kin should adhere to it also, at least in the pronunciation of her name”, therefore Þerindë as opposed to Serindë.
However, unprecedented amongst the elves of this time, Míriel died, and refused to be re-embodied. Embittered by this, her husband Finwë himself switched away from þ in favour of s, which had at this point become almost universal amongst the Noldor bar Míriel’s kin. Matters were worsened further when his second wife, Indis of the Vanyar, followed suit. As a Vanya, Indis had hitherto retained the þ in her speech, but she declared, “I have joined the people of the Noldor, and I will speak as they do”. Fëanor, hating Indis and seeing her as somewhat of a usurper in his mother’s rightful place, believed her switch to be a grave insult and belittlement of his mother, and came to view the rejection of Þ as a symbol of rejection of both his mother Míriel, and by extension himself, her son, as the chief of the Noldor next to Finwë.
Thus, he became yet more vehement in his objection of the shift, even while his behaviour turned those who had previously agreed with him to the opposing side:
“Had peace been maintained there can be no doubt that the advice of Fëanor, with which all the other loremasters privately or openly agreed, would have prevailed. But an opinion in which he was surely right was rejected because of the follies and evil deeds into which he was later led.”
Fëanor remained steadfast in his opposition, pointedly calling himself ‘Son of Þerinde’ and telling his sons, when they queried the difference in their speech from that of their kin, that they “speak as is right, and as King Finwë did before he was led astray”.
So even before the Rebellion of the Noldor and their exodus to Middle-earth, s in place of þ had become dominant, and this was further cemented in exile: “The s was certainly used in Beleriand by almost all the Noldor,” Tolkien writes, and this is followed by the note “It is not even certain that all Fëanor’s sons continued to use Þ after his death and the healing of the feud” between the Fëanorians and the family of Fingolfin, though it seems almost certain any elf who did retain the thorn would have been counted amongst the Fëanorian followers – thus is raised the question of Adar’s identity.
But Adar saying it to Galadriel adds yet another layer of significance. The Shibboleth of Fëanor further details how Finarfin, Galadriel’s father “loved the Vanyar (his mother’s people)” and that because of this love in his house, þ remained in standard use and he was moved neither one way nor the other by Fëanor’s shibboleth, acting purely as he wished. Galadriel therefore grew up in a household that retained the þ. However:
“opposition to Fëanor,” Tolkien writes, “soon became a dominant motive with Galadriel… so while she knew well the history of their tongue and all the reasons of the loremasters, she certainly used s in her own daily speech.”
In other words, she purposely transitioned to using s to spite Fëanor. Adar’s own usage of it then could also be retaliative or in a similar vein: he is aware of its import and meaning to Galadriel and could potentially be purposely using it as a means of aggravating her.
Certainly, the implications of him speaking Quenya – and specifically the Fëanorian dialect of Quenya – seems to contradict earlier indications in the show about him being one of the first orcs; the first orcs were made from elves taken during the days at Cuiviénen, long before the elves went to Valinor and Quenya the language even existed; at this time, they spoke only Primitive Quendian. It would also seem odd if Quenya is his mother tongue, why his name is Adar, the Sindarin word for father, as opposed to Atar as it is in Quenya. But how deep does the show want to delve? It could be a lot more straightforward – the show is going on the simplified premise of Quenya having been spoken by the elves since those early days, and the dialectical shift having happened since then simply being indicative of Adar’s extreme age. But if Adar is from amongst those first elves, as Galadriel claimed in the first series, that would put him of an age, older even, than Círdan, and yet Adar is very noticeably lacking the beard that is illustrative of Círdan’s long lifespan. On the other hand, if the show really is going this deep on the lore, exactly who is he? Theories of Adar being Maglor abound, since it would tick many of the boxes: Fëanorian speech, Noldo, dark hair, familiarity with the name Altáriel… But surely, even with a multitude of scars on his face, Galadriel would recognise her cousin? There is also, and perhaps most fundamentally, the issue of rights. While the Tolkien Estate has afforded Amazon some leniency and granted access to certain items outside the rights they own – most notably, the name “Annatar”, a word which does not appear in the Lord of the Rings and its appendices, which Amazon owns the rights to – it is another level entirely to grant them access to an entire character.
Regardless of whether Adar’s use of the “Fëanorian lisp” becomes significant and plot-relevant, or remains a little easter egg for keen-eared viewers, it has certainly conjured a lot of discussion, and a wonderful new level of interest in more casual fans, who have begun seeking out a once fairly obscure text like The Shibboleth of Fëanor.
About the author:Lea aka Silmarilleanne is a long-time lover of Tolkien’s works with a penchant for his languages and the House of Finwë. When her nose isn’t buried in a book or a PlayStation controller in her hands, she can most often be found talking Tolkien on Tiktok and Threads.
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If you’d like to discuss “The Shibboleth of Fëanor” further, or just want to discuss all things Tolkien in a welcoming, troll-free environment check out TheOneRing.net’s Discord or message boards.
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
It’s just over a week since DragonCon 2024 drew to a close, after a fabulous weekend of panels, special guests, parties and merriment. TheOneRing.net was delighted as always to spend time with fellow fans, and to host An Evening at Bree, a long time tradition at DragonCon (and part of the High Fantasy Track).
As usual, there was incredible cosplay to be seen all around the con, from all kinds of fandoms. We thought we would share here just a few of our favourites (there were so many!) seen at the Evening at Bree costume contest (with big thanks to photographer Jonathan Franklin). Enjoy!
From The Rings of Power: Annatar promises he is just a giver of gifts; but Arondir has his suspicions…Bilbo is quite happy relaxing in his dressing gown; until the arrival of Lobelia sends him off on an adventure. (Anything to get away…!)Elves from PJ’s films: Haldir and ‘dark queen’ Galadriel.Two different Tom Bombadils enjoy the beautiful company of the River-woman’s daughter.Staffer greendragon chats with Gimli; and Denethor’s favourite son gives him the greatest gift of all – a tomato. (Faramir was there too, but obviously didn’t deserve to be in the photo.)
TORn always loves hosting An Evening at Bree, and it was wonderful after so many years to see the dance floor packed, and the fandom celebrating together, as folks jigged to musical acts The Brobdingnagian Bards, Beth Patterson and Landloch’d. It was indeed a night to remember – thanks to all who came along, and to the High Fantasy track for allowing us to host!
Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our poetry feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. So come and join us by the hearth, and enjoy!
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
“To Save a Friend”
by Caroline Flynn
Two red eyes, gleaming in the dark: Two eyes, filled with fiendish lust and desire. Not the light they hoped to pierce their prison stark! Not this end in torture and hellish fire.
Another gone, one more companion dead, In the dark dungeons of that accursed isle; Another werewolf cruelly fed While their master sits above with his triumphant smile.
At last, only two are left alive: Together, Beren and Felagund wait – Wait for the teeth and claws, sharper than knives. How can they escape their terrible fate?
Two red eyes appear in the night. To Felagund they rove, but on Beren they land. But lo! The evil dark is pierced by light As Finrod takes against evil a last stand.
Black blood mingling with the red, Black fur and golden hair, A terrible price Finrod pays in Beren’s stead, There in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, in evil’s lair.
The chains are rent, the dark wizardry spent, And league of love and trust unbroken Unto the Elven-king great strength lent So that in the darkness hope was awoken.
But no! Defeat seems all their prize! The Oath’s doom strikes the Oath-bound. And mortally wounded, Finrod slowly dies, His breath and Beren’s tears the only sounds.
Then Finrod speaks as he in torment lies, And he touches the ring upon Beren’s hand; The golden flowers, the serpents with emerald eyes Such a heavy weight, that small band!
“Namarie!” I go now to the halls beyond Valinor. Alas, that I could do no more upon this quest; But remember me, when I am no more. Namarie! I go now to my rest!”
Beren mourned, and called his name, Finrod Felagund – fair, beloved, and brave. But his last stand was not in vain: Blood for blood was rendered, a friend to save.
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If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
There are many enchanting creatures living in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, including bears that can speak and walk on two legs. As such, can you blame Kili when she likewise believes the cub from Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear is real? Her sister Fili is highly doubtful, so Kili sets out to prove the cub’s existence by making his favorite dessert, raspberry marshmallow pie, to lure him out of the woods. What she sees shocks even Fili! Watch the new episode.
Raspberry Marshmallow Pie
This no-bake dessert is perfect for a hot summer’s day when you don’t want to warm up your hobbit hole by using the oven. Note: I recommend starting with the filling as it will need time to cool!
Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 sheets)
3T sugar
1/3 c butter, melted
¼ tsp salt
Instructions:
Crush up your graham crackers until they are gritty like sand of the Far Harad. You can either beat them with a rolling pin or use a food processor, provided you get along with yours.
Mix in the melted butter, sugar, and salt.
Press evenly onto the bottom and sides of your 9” pie plate.
Place in the refrigerator to cool.
Filling:
48 large marshmallows or 5 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
2/3 c milk
1 1/3 c whipping cream
1 T sugar
4 cups fresh raspberries, divided
Instructions:
Heat the milk and the marshmallows in a large saucepan over low heat until the marshmallows have completely dissolved, and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the heavy cream and powdered sugar until it thickens into stiff peaks.
Fold the whipped cream into the cooled marshmallow mixture.
Spoon about half of the marshmallow mixture onto the crust. Top with raspberries, and repeat. Garnish the top of the pie with more raspberries.
Chill in the refrigerator until firm: about 3 hours.
Serve, enjoy, and meet a Beorning!
Happy Hobbit has brought Middle-earth to its viewers’ daily lives since 2012! Learn more hobbity recipes, crafts, and more by watching new episodes and/or perusing the 10+ years worth of videos on their YouTube channel. 🌻 New episodes debut every other Saturday, so be sure you are subscribed to Happy Hobbit so that you don’t miss out!
Get even more slow-living hobbit content by following Happy Hobbit on Instagram,Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok! If watching the show has left you with an appetite for more, know that Kili (Kellie) has a podcast where Tolkien is often mentioned called Forests, Folklore & Fantasy.
