beowulfopening


“Ac se wonna hrefin | But the black raven
fus ofer fægum | eager over the doomed
fela reordian, | speaking many things
earne secgan | telling the eagle
hu him æt æte speow, | how he is succeeding in eating,
þenden he wið wulf | when he with the wolf
wæl reafode.” | despoiled the slain.
Thus reads a section of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, or at least, thus reads my translation of the section from my university studies. The epic is written in Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, the language of the invaders of Britain. Modern English (and German) is a direct descendant of this language because a people speak the language of their conquerors.
Continue reading “Tolkien’s Beowulf translation to be published in May”

Simon Tolkien In my wanderings around the internet, I recently stumbled across this great little interview with Simon Tolkien on the Mythopoeic Society website.

Simon is, of course, the son of Christopher Tolkien and the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, and a published author in his own right. He has written four novels. The most recent, Orders from Berlin was published in November 2012.

In the interview, which originally appeared in the Society’s journal Mythprint in June 2010, Simon speaks of his memories of his grandparents, his own writing process and his father’s work compiling The Silmarillion. Enjoy!

Continue reading “An interview with Simon Tolkien”

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.

Raynor Memorial Library at Marquette University. Credit: Marquette University. Creative Commons.
Raynor Memorial Library at Marquette University. Credit: Marquette University. Creative Commons.
The Raynor Memorial Library at Marquette University in Milwaukee is home to original manuscripts and working drafts for three of the J.R.R. Tolkien’s most celebrated works: The Hobbit, Farmer Giles of Ham, and The Lord of the Rings. It also holds the original copy of the children’s book Mr. Bliss and has, over the years, grown to become one of the largest repositories of secondary works on Tolkien and his writing.

If you’ve never visited the Tolkien Collection or are unaware of the contents of the archive, this two-part report from Tolkienist and Norse mythologist Dr Karl Seigfried documents just some of the literary treasures it holds. Continue reading “A field trip to the Marquette University Tolkien archives”

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.

The SilmarillionIt’s the film project that many of us fear we may never see. Yet surely, with time, all may be possible. In this article, Rud the Spud takes a look at how a trilogy based on Professor Tolkien’s The Silmarillion might be constructed – should such a project ever come to fruition – and discusses whether or not it could possibily live up to the Professor’s massive collection of stories. Continue reading “How would ‘The Silmarillion’ fare as a film trilogy?”

Lay of the Children of Hurin FrontpageStarting a couple of months ago, Steven Umbrello began work on an immense project. What you see before you, in the pictures on this page, is an illuminated manuscript of the first part of Professor Tolkien’s The Lay of the Children of Hurin from The Lays of Beleriand.

Having been in love with the tales of Middle-earth since he was a child, as well as being a collector of books, Steven was determined to complete this work. Over the past couple of months, he has been toiling away: writing by hand, illustrating, painting, binding – all while keeping readers of his blog The Leather Library updated on his progress.

What has resulted from his efforts is an incredible achievement. Steven is quick to point out that this is the first time he’s done something artistic of this nature, but you’d be hard pressed to believe him. Needless to say, his work here impressed us mightily – and it’s a testament to his passion and dedication. Continue reading “‘The Lay of the Children of Hurin’ Illuminated Manuscript: Q&A with artist Steven Umbrello”

The Doors of Night by John Howe
Vingilot leaving The Doors of Night by John Howe.

TORN’s latest library piece tackles the tantalizingly-enigmatic event of the Dagor Dagorath. Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of Tolkien’s fantasy world is its literal creation and ultimate destruction.

The Last Battle has found itself scattered in many of the author’s works but never before has it been compiled together as one tale. The following article has attempted such a task …

Continue reading “The Tale of the Dagor Dagorath – the Last Battle of Arda”

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.