Thirteen years ago, I interviewed Peter Kenny, as part of my Getting to Knowseries of features. He very graciously agreed to answer the, sometimes, well often, crazy questions. Revealing a truly Hobbit-like enjoyment of our world and the world of Middle-earth.
Now Peter has released his memoir, My Unexpected Journey. His memoir takes the reader on an unexpected journey of a life full of adventure, good and bad. Peter describes how Tolkien, and Middle-earth, helped him navigate these devastating lows and amazing highs. He discusses the lifelong friendships he has formed, and his ongoing delight with the Tolkien fandom.
“My Unexpected Journey is a remarkable piece of work for which the writer himself thanks Tolkien. I recommend this memoir highly. You will love the book; you will love the man.” – John Callen, actor and director.
My Unexpected Journey will make a wonderful addition to any Tolkien fans bookshelf. It is an honest, heartfelt reflection on facing misfortune and overcoming it. It is a lovely homage to J.R.R. Tolkien, and all the fans who love Tolkiens work.
I guess I would like to be recognised for my contribution I have given to Tolkien Fandom over the years and my Memoir is my Magnum Opus and tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien. – Peter Kenny.
My Unexpected Journey is available for purchase at online bookstores.
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 will be our 24th edition of the Bagginses Birthday Bash in Griffith Park. Head to the link below to RSVP and list what you will bring to the party. You can also email me at Garfeimao(at)TheOneRing.net to RSVP if you are not on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/events/1369087481317252/
The party will start at 11:30am on Sunday, September 20, 2026 and will be a potluck sort of party, as usual, so please do mention what you plan to bring so we know what to expect and what holes need filling.
There will be fun and games, including a Dessert Contest for the best Fellowship of the Rings themed cake or cupcakes, or just theme it around 25 (for the 25th anniversary of FOTR). Costumes most welcome, there will be prizes.
The worlds of Tolkien and Magic: The Gatheringare coming together once again, and TheOneRing.net is excited to bring you an exclusive conversation with one of the creative minds behind it all.
If you couldn’t make it to San Diego Comic-Con 2026, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! In the Middle-earth Tour video linked below, we’re taking Tolkien fans on a tour of some of the convention’s biggest destinations for Middle-earth collectibles, giving you an up-close look at the incredible statues, figures, and artwork that had collectors buzzing all weekend long.
We’ve just learned that for the past few years, Stephen Colbert and his son Peter have been working on a script for the six chapters that were left out of Peter Jackson’s film version of Fellowship of the Ring, and will be named after one of the missing chapters: The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.
These six chapters fall between Three is Company and Fog on the Barrow-Downs, and happen right before Merry stumbles out of the Old Forest in Fellowship.
During Peter Jackson’s Tolkien Reading Day announcement, he brought Colbert onto a video call to announce the movie.
One of the very last things Jackson asked him was, “Now, do you have the time for this?”
And Colbert said, “I did not think I would have the time, as much as I love it. I knew I couldn’t do that and do this show at the same time, but it turns out that I’m going to be free starting this summer, so…”
“Isn’t that fortunate!” Jackson interjected.
“Isn’t that a ‘eucatastrophe’ right there?” Colbert finished.
Our Tolkien-loving hearts here at Theonering.net glowed at Colbert’s use of eucatastrophe, because the word is symbolic of this production on a number of levels. Not only is “eucatastrophe” a word that Tolkien invented for his paper On Fairy-Stories to mean “The sudden turn toward the good in a hopeless situation,” but Tolkien also posits that all good stories NEED this happy ending.
For Colbert, the eucatastrophe is that after the news that his show was cancelled, he had the time and opportunity to play in the world that he loves, with other creative people that he adores.
For us fans, the eucatastrophe is that we too get another happy ending — we get to play more in this world. Not only will the addition of the chapters add sorely missed content, including Tom Bombadil and the barrow wights (and who knows what else — will we see Freddy Bolger? Knowing Colbert, we might), but the framing of the movie will undoubtedly draw from material that Tolkien himself had to remove from the many endings to Return of the King.
Fans of the books know that the original ending of Return of the King was much longer with MANY more eucatastrophies. This is all detailed in the drafts of Lord of the Rings that Christopher Tolkien preserved in several books — the book of drafts pertaining to Return of the King is Sauron Defeated.
One of the framing devices of the movie, per the Newline presser, is that Elanor Gamgee “has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.”
“What?” You might ask. “Why Elanor?”
Well. We find out in Sauron Defeated that Tolkien’s unpublished (except in draft form) original ending of Return of the King is all about the relationship between Sam and his daughter Elanor, and her excitement about meeting the King and Queen of Gondor as they go on a state procession up to Aragorn’s northern kingdom. (Read Sauron Defeated chapter The Epilogue for more!) Yes, the original ending of Return of the King made a hard pivot to Elanor Gamgee as the main character — and the Colberts are restoring this eucatastrophe to us!
It is also fitting that Colbert is working with his son on this script, because the original very last eucatastrophe of Return of the King was Samwise passing on his love of Elves to his daughter, including — eventually — the Red Book of Westmarch (Frodo’s story-within-a-story of Lord of the Rings) itself.
One more easter egg: The name that Christopher Tolkien gave to the book of drafts for Fellowship was Shadow of the Past, taken from the chapter that will begin this fun further adventure. If you want another deep dive into the history behind the writing, start there!
Public Radio profiles Karen Wynn Fonstad author of Atlas of Middle-earth and the effort to digitize her vast cartography collection..
Missed this several months ago, but NPR local affiliate WPR did a deep dive story on Oshkosh native Fonstad. That legacy is now being digitized by her son.
Mark Fonstad grew up with his mom’s maps of Middle-earth and other fantasy settings. Mark is now an associate professor of geography at the University of Oregon. He spent spring break this year in Wisconsin, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Robinson Map Library. For a week, he covered the library in fantasy maps as he worked to scan and digitize the collection.
From the article:
One of Karen’s first steps in creating the atlas of maps is now one of the largest items on display in Mark’s sprawling setup at the map library: the base map that was such a challenge to scan.
The base map took center stage on the floor of the Fonstads’ home.
“She started building this huge base map on the floor of the kitchen, using kitchen tiles as [a] scale,” Mark said. “She would then add information that she had read in the books.”
From there, she moved on to the more detailed and localized maps. When she was done, there were 172 maps, along with her extensive commentary on the geography of Middle-earth.
This was before computer graphics were an option. Karen drew all of those maps by hand.
Now that federal funding for NPR has been eliminated, please consider supporting WPR for wonderful stories how small town fans can impact the broader world.
