Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular monthly feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets.

So come and join us by the hearth, and enjoy!

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.

Just deserts

By D. McGlinchey 

You would have screamed in agony.
As did your victims .
You would have clawed off your skin.
As you did to so many.
You would have cursed at the fates.
As the helpless cursed you.
And you would have struck blindly out.
As all doomed victims do.
But here you all stand now.
Forever enshrined.
As hard as your hearts!
And as cold as your mind.
No more in the shadows, your terror to spread.
No more will folk fear you, and quake in their bed.
The dawn it has claimed you.
Forfeit to those claimed.
And the sun’s touch has sealed you,
With your fury now tamed.
Three hunters all trapped by the prey they had caught.
And your screaming and writhing has aided you naught!
This was your ending, the old tales were true,
When the dawn took you all, and made statues of you!

~ * ~

Pernicious Palantir

By: Crystal Dawson

Eyes affixed to the orbed glass,
Denethor kept scrolling as Sauron was trolling,
poisoning his mind and twisting his heart
with a herald so fantastic how could it be false?

The Dark lord reckoned an end for all men
that was as evil as it was inevitable.
Fear seeped through the steward’s bones
bending his will and back.
Hunched he remained wherever he sat
and his eyes were oft a glaze.

Deep were his musings, cavernous and bleak
until all ends ceased in bitter despair.
Had his thoughts delved wider, he may have rekindled hope,
from alliances afar but not unforgot.

“Flee flee for your lives” he vehemently declared,
draining all hearts who heard, of hope: For what is the use?
Accept your fate and die in whatever way seems best to you.
For no change will come, no hope with dawn.
Only fearsome foe surround.

Against such might who could stand up and fight?
Best to give up your plight and fly.
You fools that march are madder than I,
rallying to your kin, waving your torn banners on high.

No rival races will unite. No prodigal sons return.
I have seen your future, bleak it remains,
empty and void of all light.
No aid will appear from sea or sky;
you will die in battle this night

The fallen Maia rose in power with each hopeful light put out.
Further still the Shadow reached.
No great king could stop his advance.
What council could ally against his fearsome countless horde?

Atop his solitary tower
the flame licked slit narrowed with a gleam and glower,
renewed was its eternal blaze.
For what power was left in Middle earth
that could divert his piercing gaze.

Perhaps none…
but the power of one,
with one, with another and another,
bound in friendship, bonded in love, blind to hate and bold in fear.
Faith to see an age that can be united by love of the good in this world,
that is worth fighting for.

~ * ~

Untitled

By: darkkrose

I pray thee, Tulkas, lend me strength and guide my sword with sharpness,
My time has come to join the fray, I need my heart be dauntless.
Don’t let me tire, falter, fail, don’t let my courage dwindle,
If I’m about to give up hope, the flame of hope rekindle.

And if by chance the Waiting Halls would open wide before me,
Great Námo, Keeper of my fate, have pity and restore me.
Don’t let me dwell too long a time in solitude and sadness,
Allow me walk under the Sun and feel again its warmness.

~ * ~

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.

We’ve once again teamed up with our awesome friends over at Star Ace Toys to look at one of their Defo-Real The Lord of the Rings series statues. What are we looking at today? None other than the Lord of the Rings himself, Sauron. This Sauron, unlike the other pieces in this series so far, does have some polystone aspects. He’s pretty darn detailed, solid paints, and he looks awesome. You can get him right now for $90, from places like our friends at Sideshow Collectibles.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Star Ace Toys Defo-Real Sauron Review”

Middle-earth fans will not want to miss this amazing book from artist Jay JohnstoneTolkienography: Isildur’s Bane & Iconic Interpretations (with commentary by Thomas Honegger).

The cover and an inside glimpse of Jay Johnstone's beautiful book, showing Tolkien characters painted in the style of iconography. Also shown is the black (with gold logo) slip cover the book comes in.

It’s an amazing volume, filled with rich, luminous artwork. It was reviewed in the latest edition of the Journal of Inkling Studies (Volume 10, issue 2); here’s a little of what writer Lance A. Green had to say:

Tolkienography invites a deep immersion in Tolkien’s myth through the artwork of Jay Johnstone, who has been painting Tolkien-themed illustrations for about thirty years. Together with Thomas Honegger’s commentary, Tolkienography offers a novel artistic rendering of Tolkien’s sub-creation, provoking new interpretations of its characters and essential themes. Printed with colourful clarity, the styles and techniques of Johnstone’s pieces are different enough to avoid any redundancy for the viewer. Colours, spacing, and characters are varied with each turn of the page, as are the painting techniques, which range from more contemporary styles to those mirroring medieval forms, including frescos and Byzantine iconography. Johnstone’s oils and charcoal works certainly capture the imagination: the charcoal and chalk of the Council of Elrond (25), the oil on canvas of Isildur’s death in the river Anduin (35, 39), and the binding of Melkor (41) all wonderfully convey character and scene. An immense oil and gold-leaf rendering of Gandalf atop Shadowfax riding into Helm’s Deep (49–50) is one of the most striking paintings in the book, afforded two full pages in order to capture its immensity. Yet the artwork that crowns and guides Tolkienography is the Byzantine-styled iconographic paintings of Tolkien’s characters.

Lance A. Green, Journal of Inkling Studies Vol 10 Issue 2
An inside image from the book, showing an icon painting of Elessar in armour, with Anduril in his hands

The Journal is published by Edinburgh University Press; you can find more of the article here. If you’d like your own copy of Johnstone’s beautiful book, don’t delay – it’s a limited print of 500 copies! At only £45 – and signed by the artist! – it really is a steal for such a spectacular book. You can order it – and see more art from Johnstone – at his website, here.

Jay Johnstone's wonderful icon image of Gandalf, displayed in a gold frame.
Weta Workshop's Minas Morgul Environment collectible.

One of my absolute favorite lines that our friends from Weta Workshop put out within their The Lord of the Rings statue line is the environment sub-line. As I’ve said in this column before, it allows us to go to places we will never get actually to visit. So today we’re going to take a look at Minas Morgul, and the outstanding job Weta did on this piece. This one is sold out, but if you can track it down and afford it, I think this is absolutely worth it.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Minas Morgul Environment Review”

After visiting the wintry lands of Hobbits, Rohirrim, and Dwarves, we set sail for lands to the west before once more returning to the shores of Middle-earth.

Map of Numenor, by Robert Altbauer
Map of Númenor by Robert Altbauer
Continue reading “More Yuletide Celebrations in Middle-earth”