Exciting news this morning, from US Tolkien publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: a previously unseen collection of Tolkien’s writings about Middle-earth will be published June 2021. Here’s the press release from HMH:
The Nature of Middle-earth Coming June 24th 2021
‘MIFFLIN HARCOURT TO PUBLISH J.R.R. TOLKIEN’S FINAL MIDDLE-EARTH WRITINGS IN 2021
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media will publish The Nature of Middle-earth, a previously unseen collection of writings by J.R.R. Tolkien, in the U.S. on June 24, 2021. Presented for the first time in one volume and edited by Carl F. Hostetter, the writings will transport readers back to the world of The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The Lord of the Rings.
Deb Brody, HMH’s VP and Publisher, says: “It is well known that J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings in 1954–5. What may be less known is that he continued to write about Middle-earth in the decades that followed, right up until the years before his death in 1973.
“For him, Middle-earth was part of an entire world to be explored, and the writings in The Nature of Middle-earth reveal the journeys that he took as he sought to better understand his unique creation. From sweeping themes as profound as Elvish immortality and reincarnation, and the Powers of the Valar, to the more earth-bound subjects of the lands and beasts of Númenor, the geography of the Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor, and even who had beards!
“This new collection is a veritable treasure-trove offering readers a chance to peer over Professor Tolkien’s shoulder at the very moment of discovery: and on every page, Middle-earth is once again brought to extraordinary life.”
The Hobbit was first published in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings in 1954–5. Each has since gone on to become a beloved classic of literature, and an international bestseller in more than 70 languages, collectively selling more than 150,000,000 copies worldwide.
The Nature of Middle-earth will be published subsequently in several languages by numerous Tolkien publishers worldwide.
CARL F. HOSTETTER has for many years been one of the world’s leading Tolkien experts and respected head of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship. He has worked as a Computer Engineer for NASA since 1985.’
Harper Collins, the UK based publisher for Tolkien, will also release this new work in June next year. You can read The Guardian newspaper’s article about this highly anticipated publication, here.
TheOneRing.net would like to congratulate the team at Minecraft Middle-earth for celebrating 10 years of meticulously recreating an immersive The Lord of the Rings based world for gamers and adventurers alike.
If you have been living under a block (😂), Minecraft is a 3D world where users can explore and create entire worlds one block at a time. To then build the whole of Middle-earth is a historic task, and the team at Minecraft Middle-earth continue to succeed in this momentous undertaking. Check out the video below, a gallery of the the amazing areas created, and an excerpt from the PCMag interview with the creator. And of course, you can get involved their official website MCMiddleearth.com.
Vermeersch was first introduced to Minecraft when the sandbox was still in beta back in 2009, and like many others who played early on in the game’s development, he got completely hooked. As a moderator on a Dutch Minecraft server, the idea of building Middle-earth was something that had begun to float around the server’s community.
“I grew up with Lord of the Rings, like most people around 30 years old I imagine,” Vermeersch says. “We had people who were interested from the Minecraft forums, so we had this solid player base to start with. We began building the basic locations, like Bree and Hobbiton, then after publishing screenshots, people got hooked on what we were doing and started joining the project.”
During their New York Comic-Con Online, our friends at Sideshow Collectibles debuted a new collectible from Middle-earth.
If you’ve been following the line of collectibles from Iron Studios you would know that they’ve been creating the Balin’s Tomb sequence from The Fellowship of the Ring. We’ve already got Gimli and Legolas and now, taking this set up to the next level, we’ve got a Cave Troll! Fans can pre-order it right now for $725 with payment plans available, to add it to their collections next summer when it ships.
Over the summer I got a chance to sit down and finally review one of my favorite pieces, and my favorite version, of the character Aragorn. This outstanding piece from our friends at Weta Workshop has long been sold out, with eager collectors snapping it up during the early bird pre-order stage. So while you may have to go to the secondary market if you want to get him yourself, I hope you use this review to see it is absolutely worth tracking down.
Our friends at Weta Workshop revealed the new Cave Troll collectible at their Weta Workshop’s Comic-Con at home. It’s the next superb piece in their premium statue series, and it goes live for pre-orders on Wednesday, September 30th.
While this new sub-line of statues is new to Weta’s line of collectibles, at only 500 pieces, this statue won’t be lasting long. Collectors should log into their accounts before it goes live (times listed below) and be ready to be quick with the order button. We’ve been waiting for years to get another shot at the Cave Troll. Make sure you’re logged in and ready to go!
Gondor isn’t the only realm in Middle-earth that is getting some love from the folks at Budk. Rohan is getting attention in the form of the helm and sword of none other than Eomer.
The helm is designed to look exactly like the one worn during The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. As with other items from Budk it will be made out of polyresin but will be brushed to give it the appearance of steel. The helm will also be leather padded, it comes with a leather chin strap, and imitation horse hair to finish off a pretty cool looking helmet. The base is made of wood and designed to look like Eomer’s armor. This one is limited to only 1500 pieces, priced at $356, and is expected in February 2021.
The other Eomer themed item is his sword Guthwine. The sword has a 27” stainless steel blade and precisely detailed metal hilt parts, finished in brass. The sword will also come with a decorated wall display so you can hang this in your collection room. You can snag this sword for $206 and it is also due in February of 2021. Both items will come with certificates of authenticity.
