“The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun,” written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1930, and first published in 1945 in the literary journal The Welsh Review, is set to be re-released in November of this year after more than 70 years of being out of print. The 508 line poem tells of the childless couple Aotrou and Itroun (Breton: lord and lady), who are helped by a Korrigan, a Breton term for a fairy. When Autrou refuses to pay the price of marrying the Korrigan, he dies three days later and his wife, Itroun, subsequently dies of grief, leaving the twins she bore them to grow up as orphans.
From nothing more than this short description, fans will immediately be reminded of Tolkien’s gift for writing about, and romanticizing, tragic circumstances. Anyone who has read The Lord of the Rings knows of the sacrifices Frodo made, [big LOTR spoiler here]…
Continue reading “Tolkien poem to be republished after 70 years”
Last week we teamed up with our friends at HarperCollins to give away 10 of their amazing The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy coloring books.
Now, after all the ping pong balls have landed, we’re happy to announce the 10 lucky fans who will be getting a copy delivered to their doors. There are 6 winners from the United States and 4 winners from other areas of the globe. We want to thank HarperCollins for allowing us to give these away and for including the Ringers who don’t live in the United States. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Coloring Book Contest Winners”
We’ve teamed up with our friends at HarperCollins to give away not one, but 10 of these awesome coloring books. Plus, not only are we giving 10 of these away, the contest is open to fans all over the world!
I’ve had a chance to personally look at one and it’s one of the coolest coloring books I’ve ever seen. Covering the entire The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy you can add your own spice of color to various scenes from the best trilogy ever put on film. Even if you decide not to color it, the book makes for one heck of a cool addition to any collection. So make sure you enter this contest that starts today and ends this Friday at midnight PST.
When filling out the contest form in the special notes section please make sure to give us your full mailing address and a contact phone number, and if you’re entering from outside the US, please don’t forget your international dialling code.
Enter: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Coloring Book Contest
TORn Library contributor Dr Timothy Furnish has just published the first of a two-volume analysis of JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth: High Towers and Strong Places: a Political History of Middle-earth.
Furnish applies primary world analysis — political, cultural, social, and economic — to Middle-earth’s 7,000 years of recorded history.
Steering clear of literary criticism, this book instead uses Tolkien’s writings to examine each of the major races of Middle-earth in some detail. It then delves into how each people’s anthropological traits influenced their political systems.
In doing so, he compares and contrasts Middle-earth’s many states, from Beleriand and Barad-dûr to Utumno and Umbar, with primary world examples such as Rome and Byzantium, the Carolingian Empire, and the Islamic caliphates. Continue reading “High towers and strong places: a political history of Middle-earth”
Do you love The Lord of the Rings? Do you love to color? Then our friends at HarperCollins have just the thing for you. You can now experience some of your favorite scenes from this brilliant trilogy in a new way. Up for Pre-Order right now at $15.99, with shipping starting May 31st of this year, you can now color The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The sheets with the detailed characters is done on heavy duty paper so any type of artist can have their go at the first authorized coloring book based on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. This is a great item for any fan of Middle-earth or artist in your family.
Fans in Europe were able to buy The Story of Kullervo last year; the good news is, today the wait is over at last for fans in the US!
Tolkien himself said of this previously unknown work of fantasy that it was “the germ of my attempt to write legends of my own,” and was “a major matter in the legends of the First Age.” Publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt tell us:
‘Kullervo, son of Kalervo, is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien’s characters. “Hapless Kullervo,” as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.
Brought up in the homestead of the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father, kidnapped his mother, and tried three times to kill him when he was still a boy, Kullervo is alone save for the love of his twin sister, Wanona, and the magical powers of the black dog Musti, who guards him. When Kullervo is sold into slavery he swears revenge on the magician, but he will learn that even at the point of vengeance there is no escape from the cruelest of fates.
Tolkien’s Kullervo was the ancestor of Túrin Turambar, tragic hero of The Silmarillion. Published here for the first time with the author’s drafts, notes, and lecture essays on its source work, the Kalevala, The Story of Kullervo is a foundation stone in the structure of Tolkien’s invented world.’
Continue reading “The Story of Kullervo published in America TODAY”
“The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun,” written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1930, and first published in 1945 in the literary journal The Welsh Review, is set to be re-released in November of this year after more than 70 years of being out of print. The 508 line poem tells of the childless couple Aotrou and Itroun (Breton: lord and lady), who are helped by a Korrigan, a Breton term for a fairy. When Autrou refuses to pay the price of marrying the Korrigan, he dies three days later and his wife, Itroun, subsequently dies of grief, leaving the twins she bore them to grow up as orphans.
