middleearthmarchmadness2015

Yes folks, Middle-earth March Madness is back for 2015! If you are new to TheOneRing.net, Middle-earth March Madness is our adaptation on the popular NCAA Basketball tournament that takes place every March/April in the United State. It is our chance to have some fun matching up middle-earth power players against each other. Past winners include Samwise Gamgee, Gandalf, Thranduil.

Based on feedback from our past years, we are switching things up a bit to include the entirety of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. So in reality, this could be called J.R.R. Tolkien March Madness!

This year, our four divisions will be representative of a book (or series of books):

The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion
Other Works (Lost Tales, Father Christmas, Children of Hurin, etc)

This allows each division to crown a champion for each book, and then they all face off against each other in the final four!

Our staff are sorting out the field of 64 combatants now, and we’ll be posting the first bracket and polls very soon. Stay tuned to the front-page of TORn for the announcement to start voting, and follow along on Twitter and FB with #middleearthmarchmadness @theoneringnet

 

Conspiracy Unmasked Bathing_at_CrickhollowWelcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week.  If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights.  Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most active discussions.  Watch this space as we spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards.  Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join the fun!

Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – January 18, 2015”

Tuor Reaches the Hidden City of Gondolin, by Ted Nasmith I think it’s a given that 90% of all online quizzes are just rubbish. Which is why I was really surprised to stumble upon this great Buzzfeed Middle-earth quiz that will may actually stretch your Middle-earth knowledge. Continue reading “Test your Middle-earth knowledge with this quiz!”

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.

 

103068An anonymous benefactor has offered to give $5k to this campaign, IF we increase our total by $5k by 12noon EST TOMORROW, Jan 9th.

That means we have 27 hours to go from our current total ($123,470) to $128,470 – if we make it, we’ll get a matching donation of $5k from our generous supporter!

pledge

If you’ve been pondering getting that amazing Movie Guide signed by SIX cast members (Thrain perk), or snapping up the last Mirkwood Elves VIP ticket, or snagging the poster with TWELVE signatures (and which INCLUDES a VIP ticket – Gimli perk), then now is the moment!

(And of course, every pledge received will be entered in the draw to win the amazing Dragon Bodice – see below!) Continue reading “Super Awesome Benefactor Matching Donations for 24 Hours! The One Last Party”

PrintThere are just 12 days left in our Indiegogo campaign and we have passed the 60% funded mark and are very pleased at this point. We know our goal really is within reach, meaning we will get to throw a Party of Special Magnificence for this wonderful fan community. Here are a few little updates, with more to come in the next couple of days.

1) We are very proud to debut the design for The One Last Party attendee shirt. This shirt will specifically be for everyone pledging for one of the ticketed perk levels. This joins the supporter shirt we debuted two weeks ago, designed exclusively for the 4 T-Shirt pledge levels. The final version of these shirts might look a wee bit different, the design is being finessed in order to print properly, but this is pretty much what you are going to get.

Print2) The very happy winner of the ‘Children of Hurin’ book signed by Christopher Tolkien and Alan Lee goes to Patricia M. up in Northern California. Our thanks to everyone who participated in the lottery by pledging during J.R.R. Tolkien’s Birthday celebration this past weekend. Please look for a new Prize draw starting very soon.

3) The ‘Mirkwood Elves’ VIP ticket perk is back on the list, but just a few of them, we are trying to keep the VIP perk as exclusive as possible. Also, the ‘Gimli, Son of Gloin’ perk with the signed DOS poster does include the ‘Mirkwood Elves’ VIP ticket as part of the perk. So there are currently 5 tickets at this level available, and then 2 more ultra VIP tickets available at the ‘TORn Star’ level, which includes VIP tickets and Sponsor status at the party. Poster A smaller

And finally, we really do want to thank everyone who has pledged at any and all levels for your support. We know not everyone can attend and we truly do hope that you value some of the other perks we have been offering, and will continue to offer. There are some exciting new items coming down the pike in the next few days, so keep your eyes on our website and social media channels and maybe you can take advantage of some awesome opportunities.

 

One Last Party fundraiser passes the 60% mark!

one last party logo Our One Last Party fundraiser on Indiegogo has just passed the 60% funded mark and we’re pretty stoked!

If you’d like to join us as a Party of Special Magnificence in Hollywood in February — a toast to all SIX Middle-earth movies, then now is the time to throw in your support! Even if you can’t make it to Hollywood (or if you’ve already contributed), you can help out by retweeting or sharing our fundraiser across social media to get the word out. And there is some cool swag you can get if you are unable to attend.

Visit our campaign page to see how you can help — so we can all celebrate Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies together!