It’s that time of year again! Time when hares are boxing, Spring is springing, basketballs are being thrown, and TheOneRing.net brings you our annual Middle-earth March Madness contest.
This year our theme is Clash of the Collectibles.
Are your shelves and walls filled with Middle-earth masterpieces? What are your most treasured works? Do you have items from the First Age of Fandom, before even the faintest whiff of a Peter Jackson movie? Do you stroke an Etsy-crafted piece, muttering ‘Myyy Precioussss…’? Or perhaps you are particularly enjoying a Renaissance in your collection, snapping up every new release from Weta, or revelling in the work of artisans and artists who continue to add their ‘other minds and hands’ to the legacy of the Professor?
Whatever your collecting style, no doubt some of the goodies you love will be included in our bracket – and no doubt you’ll be outraged by some with have been overlooked! Remember how hard it was to choose from all the amazing artworks in our bracket last year? Our team of volunteer staffers have been grappling for weeks, to come up with a list of 64 varied collectibles to start you off. Now it is up to YOU!
The entire opening bracket of 64 treasures!
How does it work, you ask? Simple! Click on the button below. This will take you to the voting site, where you can view the entire bracket, region by region. Scroll down to find the buttons to click (under ‘Open Voting’) to view each pairing of items, in all their glory – and there place your vote. (A word of warning – some items will have links where you can buy them – so maybe lock your wallet away before you check out the bracket!). Let’s get voting!
You have until the end of the day Saturday March 28th to vote in Round One; on Sunday 29th voting will open for Round Two! But – I hear you ask – how am I supposed to choose from such an embarrassment of riches?? HOW you choose is up to you – pick the items you own, or the ones you long to own, or simply toss a coin. Vote how you wish – but VOTE NOW!
Let us know YOUR thoughts – join us on TORn Tuesday each week during the competition, and tell us what we SHOULD have included. And if you want to discuss the votes with other fans, head on over to the Collectibles channel on our Discord.
Longtime Wētā Workshop designer Daniel Falconer presented a treasure trove of thoughts, images, and lore to a gathering of MegaCon Tolkien fans in Orlando this past weekend.
Falconer’s presentation was entitled, “WETA: Delving too Deep? A Tolkien Nerd’s Stories Designing for the Lord of the Rings films,” – but let me tell you, fellow nerds, Falconer delved the PERFECT amount.
The panel was the first time that Wētā Workshop had ever attended MegaCon Orlando, and provided a rare chance for fans of the Lord of the Rings books and movies alike to look at details from the artwork that touched upon all of the history embedded in the appendices of Return of the King.
The design work of these movies has always been some of the most fascinating parts of the production, not just because fans were provided a glimpse behind the scenes via the DVD Extras, but also because it has always been clear that the artists were bent on creating close to the same historic resonances that Tolkien infused into his works.
Falconer asked that we not share photos of any of his slides and I will abide with his request, but I’ll attempt to describe some of the fantastic details as best I can.
The Nine
For example, one of the opening slides that Falconer showed was an extremely important but not often dwelt upon detail: What did the Nine Rings for Mortal Men actually look like?
The Nine actually had two different designs, Falconer said. For the living kings, the rings had a red stone encircled by a spiked crown, and the likeness of each king engraved onto the side of their ring. But the rings changed when they became wraiths, with the design becoming both harsher and simpler. The kings’ engraved likenesses turned from faces to skulls. “But this change is never seen because the wraiths are too bright to show the detail of their rings,” Falconer concluded.
Details like this just kill me. Get ready for some more…
Sting
Falconer said that he was just thrilled when his design for Sting made it onto the screen. The inscription on the blade was done by David Salo, who wrote out the Elvish for “Sting is my name, and I am the spiders’ bane.”
Of course, this caused a bit of a continuity concern for The Hobbit, Falconer said, because Sting would not have the inscription on it BEFORE Bilbo named it Sting. So the design for Sting does not have the inscription when Bilbo finds it. Falconer’s head canon is that Bilbo had the inscription added to the blade during his stay in Rivendell, before Frodo joins him.
Glamdring
Glamdring also caused a few continuity issues, Falconer said, because Gandalf loses his sword and staff at Isengard, but of course he has to have his famous sword for the rest of the films. So the sword that Gandalf carries to Orthanc is a different sword, with a design based on a longsword that John Howe brought with him to New Zealand, with the idea that Gandalf had left Glamdring in the care of Elrond during his trip to visit Saruman.
“It was interesting seeing John talk his way through customs with that longsword,” Falconer said.
Gandalf’s Staffs
It never occurred to me that Gandalf’s staff changes so often during The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Of course it changes when he becomes Gandalf the White, but Falconer revealed just how many times Gandalf has to replace his staff: six!
First is the staff that Gandalf uses to inscribe his initials onto the door of Bilbo’s house. He loses it at some point in The Hobbit movies, and Radagast provides Gandalf with his own staff before the Battle of Five Armies. The staff from Battle of Five Armies gets a few rough pointy bits knocked off before Fellowship of the Ring, and that is what Gandalf uses until he visits Saruman in Orthanc.
He loses that staff in Orthanc along with his unnamed “first sword,” and another staff is made in Rivendell before they set out on their quest.
Finally, Gandalf becomes The White and has a staff that is designed around the shape of flame – because he bears Narya, the ring of fire. But he loses this when he confronts the Witch King, and has to make himself one more staff before the end of Return of the King.
Other Wizard Staffs
Falconer showed us the design for the two blue wizards that were initially going to be in the prologue of Fellowship of the Ring, before they were cut. The designs were much more astrological and Eastern looking than the staffs of Gandalf, Radagast, or Saruman.
(Wētā, if you’re reading this, a 25th anniversary “Concept Art of The Fellowship of the Ring” book should definitely contain all of these unused bits of concept art. Please!)
A Look Around Rivendell
Falconer then took us through all of the wonderful historic frescos and objects that Elrond (“A pack rat,” Falconer said) kept around Rivendell.
Sauron’s Missing Ring
Falconer mentioned that Alan Lee painted the mural of Isildur battling Sauron at The Last Alliance for Fellowship of the Ring, but when the mural was brought back for The Hobbit, someone noticed that Sauron did not actually have the One Ring on his finger – Alan Lee painted it in just in time for filming it in The Hobbit, but if you look closely at this mural in Fellowship, it’s still missing.
(As an aside, Falconer said that Rivendell in general had a kind of “Elven magic,” very little set continuity, but somehow it all worked.)
Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor the ring-forger is presented in a that shows him forging one of the Three Rings. But another of the murals in Rivendell resembles the ruins of Celebrimbor’s great Second Age city, Ost-in-Edhel in Eregion, which the Fellowship walks through before encountering the Crebain.
“I asked Alan Lee whether the painting was of Ost-in-Edhel, and he said, ‘Could be,’ so I never really had it verified,” Falconer said.
Gil-galad
Elrond also carefully kept and displayed the shield of Gil-galad after his death at the Last Alliance. Gil-galad’s crest, as drawn by Tolkien, shows a number of four-pointed white stars on a field of blue; the artists took inspiration from this and created livery and a shield that mirrored the crest.
“Elrond also has Gil-galad’s crown on display, but he must not have been thinking too hard about it, because it’s upside down,” Falconer said, showing a picture of Mark Ferguson’s Gil-galad wearing the crown in the other direction.
Aeglos, “Snow-tip” in Sindarin Elvish, the spear of Gil-galad, was designed by Falconer’s colleague at WĒTĀ whose name I was unable to catch (“Incidentally the best man at my wedding,” Falconer said). The inscription on the blade is:
Gil-galad wields a well-made spear
The Orc will fear my point of ice
When he sees me, in fear of death
He will know my name:
Aeglos
Aragorn’s hunting knife is made to echo the design of Aeglos, and has a portion of this inscription on it too.
Arwen (and Idril’s) sword, Hadhafang
Also on display in Rivendell is the sword that was originally designed for Arwen. Here is where my own inner Tolkien geek felt a wash of joy: the sword was designed to be an heirloom from Gondolin, specifically from the princess of that realm, Idril.
Here’s the history: Turgon son of Fingolfin was king of Beleriand’s hidden city of Gondolin. His daughter was Idril Celebrindal. She is better known in Lord of the Rings as Elrond’s grandmother, however. She married the human Tuor and had one son, Ëarendil, who eventually bore the Silmaril on his airship Vingilot; but before that, Ëarendil married Elwing of Doriath and became the dad of Elrond and Elros.
And somehow, Elrond preserved his grandmother’s sword through the third Kinslaying at Sirion, his kidnapping by the sons of Fëanor, the War of Wrath, the drowning of his entire birth country of Beleriand, and finally through a long journey East toward Middle-earth, where he eventually uses it in several battles including the Last Alliance — before he gives it to his daughter.
The inscription on the sword reads, “This blade is called Hadhafang, a noble defense against the enemy throng for a noble lady.” If this inscription was put there by Idril, she had more foresight than just building a secret tunnel out of Gondolin, because “noble lady” translates directly to the word “AR-WEN.”
Amazing, learning this detail alone justified my entire con experience!
Two figures on a boat
Given that this Rivendell mural displayed TWO figures on a boat instead of ONE figure and a BIRD on a boat, I can assume that this is Idril and Tuor aboard the boat Eärramë, off to vanish into the West. I did not get to verify this with Falconer, however.
The Scepter of Annúminas
Why does Aragorn wear a wingéd helm during his coronation instead of a crown? It’s because there isn’t a crown.
Elrond keeps the actual indicator of Aragorn’s kingship, the Scepter of Annúminas, at Rivendell because he’s the keeper of all the important Dunedaín artifacts until there’s a king of unified Gondor and Arnor again. He brings it to Aragorn upon the midsummer wedding of Aragorn and Arwen.
Elrond’s Telescope
This detail slew me. “Elrond has a telescope because his father is a star,” Falconer said. The telescope was a gorgeous and graceful fall of art nouveau lines, decorated with a small paean to Varda, or Elbereth, the Valar who created the stars.
Gimliand the Caves of Aglarond
Falconer showed us concept art of the Caves of Aglarond beneath Helm’s Deep. He said that one of the original endings to Return of the King showed Gimli’s life post-quest, as the lord of Aglarond. The art department created a jeweler’s glass for him to use while at work on the gems of these caves.
“But we had plenty of endings already,” Falconer said.
Falconer also showed us details of the Book of Mazarbul from the Mines of Moria, based on Tolkien’s own drawing of the cover. Incidentally, Tolkien wanted his own illustration of it to be in Fellowship of the Ring, but it proved to be too costly for Unwin & Allen to publish.
Edoras
Falconer showed close-ups of the hangings from around Meduseld. The hangings are scenes from the history of the Horse-lords. (If you are at all interested, this history is nicely summarized in Unfinished Tales Part II: Chapter 3.)
I noticed Scatha the Worm fighting Fram, and Eorl the Young pledging his friendship to Cirion the Steward of Gondor, among other moments.
Knights of Dol Amroth
We got to see some of the original concept art for the Knights of Dol Amroth. These were not used in the movies, but the banner (a swan and a ship, argent, on a blue field) shows up at the Battle of Pelennor Field.
“These were some of the first pen-and-ink drawings we did in the days before Photoshop, and we’d all played Dungeons and Dragons, so the designs were straight out of the rulebook from the 80s,” Falconer said.
“Elves are Art Nouveau, Dwarves are Art Deco”
You’ve probably seen the meme around the internet that proclaims that the way to tell the difference between the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles are via their Tolkien race.
I asked Falconer if he was aware that Wētā actually set the agenda for this meme.
“I have seen that meme, but for a little while, Elves were going to be Art Deco with lots of angles and points. And even before that, we took inspiration from Moorish design,” Falconer said.
“So when did the trend toward Art Nouveau begin for the Elves?”
“Probably when Alan Lee designed those columns.”
So there you have it.
Please return
There was a lot more to Falconer’s panel — about the continuity of Gollum, different types of Ents, and the shape of the Fell Beasts — but I think I’d better just leave us all wanting to see it again.
We’ll get to see everyone from Wētā over here again soon, right?!
Our friend Jerry Vanderstelt has an amazing new print out – if you haven’t already added this to your collection!
This gorgeous print captures the beautiful Rivendell – but from a different viewpoint than his previous print of the same location. We see a quiet moment between Aragorn and Arwen, most likely before Aragorn sets out to help Frodo destroy the One Ring. Fans can purchase this print right now, ranging in sizes from 16×24 to 24×36, with prices between $85-170 USD depending on the size chosen. If you know Jerry’s work you already know this is another home run piece by him. Get it now, as the paper editions have an edition size of only 2000 pieces.
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
– a final thought from Thorin Oakenshield
For many of us Children of the Kindly West, these early weeks of 2026 have been less than kind. Whether it’s weather that has been especially challenging, or news stories more reminiscent of Mordor than Michel Delving, perhaps your thoughts have begun to turn toward seasons of respite and restoration, ideally ones reminiscent of a “proper 1420” in the Shire filled with food, cheer, and friendship.
And we have some options for you! Consider laying out that hoarded gold for one or more of a myriad of opportunities for Tolkien-themed gatherings and events that are richly decorating the 2026 calendar. What better way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that culture-shaping event of the 2001 release of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring than finding a Fellowship of your own?
All you have to decide is what to do with all the options that have been given to you. Here are some 2026 gatherings in the US to get you started.
Following a successful inaugural event in May 2025, our friends at The Tolkien Society are assembling a host of speakers, activities, entertainment, and other Middle-earth goodness for their second annual gathering this spring in Minneapolis. Happening at the Royal Sonesta Minneapolis Downtown, the Moot will feature the Tolkien Society’s classic array of talks, quizzes, lectures, workshops, performances, papers, and discussions. Featured guests already include Signum University’s Sara Brown, an active scholar and podcaster, as well as scientist and writer Kristine Larsen. Making a special appearance will be cartoonist and Edward Gorey fan Tom Racine. Here’s your chance to get an autograph for your copy of his recently published Doomed to Die: An A to Z of Death in Tolkien! Attendees will also have an opportunity to take in a private showing of The Theater in the Round’s new and unique adaptation of The Hobbit. Full conference registration for Tolkien Society members is $350, and $375 for non-members. Virtual participation will also be an option.
This annual gathering of uber-fans hardly needs an introduction. Those Middle-earth mavens fortunate enough to have snagged their badges last fall are now left to speculate: just how much Tolkien content can they expect. Will we see a Rings of Power panel in Hall H should season three be a 2026 possibility? What might we see in the way of unique collectibles, first glimpses and show exclusives during this 25th anniversary of the PJ films? Who knows what untold discoveries are in store for those wandering among artists and exhibitors (like last year’s Middle-earth Enterprises and Weta booths, not to mention our own booth!)? Here’s our recap from last year’s SDCC to whet your appetite.
Our colleagues at The Mythopoeic Society are offering an opportunity to “get your fantasy kicks ” at their 54th more-or-less annual conference, this year held in Weatherford, Oklahoma and taking particular inspiration from the state’s centennial celebration of the famed Route 66. Hosted at the Stafford Air and Space Museum, this year’s Mythcon will feature the Society’s classic combination of scholarship, literary exploration, local color, and cordial common interest in themes fantastic and mythic. As such a classic “Mother Road” might suggest, you can expect discussions revolving around quests and traveling adventures, written and oral traditions, and archived memories worthy of the Great Library of Minas Tirith. Featured guests include author David R. Slayton (White Trash Warlock, which is not about Saruman, and Dark Moon, Shallow Sea); and scholar Dr. Joe R. Christopher, a retired professor of English at Tarleton State University and a prolific essayist with a particular focus on Inklings studies. Mythcon typically attracts 100-200 attendees, and registration is now open, with the full conference set at $110 for Mythopoeic Society members and $125 for non-members. Virtual attendance is also possible.
For any elves, dwarves, hobbits, or humans who happen to reminisce fondly about their summer camping days, this may be exactly the gathering you’re looking for. Brought to us by the same planning team behind the sesquiennial celebration of “A Long-Expected Party” (ALEP), the first ever Camp Eledhrim stays in the Harrodsburg, Kentucky area, but will shift from ALEP’s traditional Shaker Village setting to the new environs of “Camp Horsin’ Around”. This five bunkhouse complex will offer communal (non-private) living arrangements for 140, with dedicated air-conditioned cabins for each of your favorite Tolkien-inspired races (presumably excluding orcs). The classic ALEP offerings of fully catered and Middle-earth-themed meals, immersive decor, lore-driven programming, contests of Third Age skill (including Elvish canoe races), and campfire gatherings will all be available. The new venue will also expand these ALEP traditions to a swimming pool, a rope obstacle course, and – brace for it – Hobbit mini-golf (surely ‘Hobbit-sized-golf’?). A “Bullroarer Memorial Open” seems somehow appropriate. Join and then stay tuned on the ALEP Facebook page for developing details. Having experienced an ALEP event for the first time last September, I can attest that the Fellowship is restorative, the welcome for newcomers as genuine as any Hobbit could wish, the lore conversations deeply satisfying, and the shared merriment infectious. It’s encouraging that our ALEP friends are experimenting with new opportunities to gather more frequently!
Held every Labor Day weekend, Atlanta’s mega-fan gathering is celebrating its 40th year of gathering gamers and geeks, cosplayers and comics enthusiasts, partygoers and patrons of the fantasy arts. And this includes, of course, fans of that great-grandfather of modern fantasy, J.R.R. himself. Dragon Con is a collection of more than 30 mini-conventions, or “tracks” designed to appeal to the full spectrum of interest in fantasy, science fiction, gaming, and fandoms of the fantastic. Across its five downtown host hotels and the Atlanta Merchandise Mart, attendees have the challenge of prioritizing over 1,000 panel offerings, a “Walk of Fame” offering signature opportunities from more than 100 celebrity guests, a four-floor vendors hall and artists market, and themed parties lasting into the wee hours every night. For Tolkien fans, official programming falls under the “High Fantasy” track, and includes everything from a dance party in Bree, to costume contests, to scholarly panels, to creative content like trivia contests and Hobbit drinking songs, to speculation about what we’ll see in upcoming movie and television releases along with other pending Middle-earth fun, all straight from TORn staffers greendragon, deej, and MadeyeGamgee. Beyond the programming, Dragon Con also offers a stunning array of cosplay craftsmanship and photo ops, elven choirs wandering the halls between hotels, and an opportunity to march with fellow Tolkienites in the annual parade down Peachtree Street, an event that attracts many additional thousands. You can purchase passes that cover all five days of the convention, and also individual day passes.
The inaugural Brandywine Festival in October 2025 introduced a completely new North American experience for those wishing to deeply embed themselves in the Hobbit lifestyle through Live Action Role-Playing. Specializing in producing medieval and fantasy-inspired clothing and equipment, the Burgschneider Group is also one of the world’s premier producers of large-scale LARP events. Burgschneider and Middle-earth Enterprises established a licensing arrangement last year that saw a successful Kickstarter campaign mobilizing roughly 1200 Hobbit-hued LARPers, most of whom had never before participated in this kind of event, to assemble for Buckland’s 259th annual Brandywine Festival. It is an astonishing thing to take up residence amongst so many excellent and admirable Hobbits, each with their own backstories, and each fully committed to engage with one another entirely in the spirit and attire of the Shire. A merrier world indeed. Burgschneider’s Chief Creative Officer, Thomas “Beol” Miller, along with the Group President Markus Böhm, describe last year’s Brandywine Festival as a “pilot” event, one offering substantial opportunities for learning and improvement, while also reflecting a spirit and array of fan experiences that was so encouraging that the second annual event this October was automatic. Having been part of that Hobbit throng last year, nearly everyone I spoke with was heartily hoping to be able to return in 2026, from LARP newbies to the few with deep experience at other role-playing events.
The 2026 challenge for Burgschneider will be to apply important lessons learned – improved load-in logistics, a more confined footprint for LARP challenges and game play, some alterations in the camping layout to enhance community interaction, and a better approach to the celebratory banquet toward the end of the event. Simultaneously, they’ll be seeking to preserve those magical elements that so many participants enjoyed – a spontaneously effusive talent show, lore-driven story-lines and non-player characters (we see you, Nerd of the Rings!), and above all the rich array of opportunities to become a part of a thriving Hobbit community, surrounded by feasting and dancing, storytelling and generosity, mathoms and memorable moments. As the on-site lead “Beol” remarked, “Brandywine is providing a Shire sandbox, not an amusement park.” And it’s a wonderful sandbox, indeed. For a firsthand account of the 2025 Brandywine experience, see our very own Happy Hobbit’s (or “Thistle’s”) report here.
For any wondering, the Brandywine Festival 2026 will once again be set in the fall of SR 1418, shortly after one Frodo Baggins has left Bag End, presumably to take up residence in Crickhollow. Every player is invited to develop their own unique character and backstory, and named LotR characters are excluded. While the Shire timeline and venue settings in 2026 repeat last year’s, the LARP story-line and challenges will draw from different elements of Tolkien’s legendarium. We can expect variations on last year’s Ruffians and Spiders and Rangers and Elves (oh my!). Tickets are still available, but being claimed rather rapidly.
Should the San Diego version not be an option, you might consider joining its East Coast cousin for their 20th anniversary this October in the Big Apple! (And yes, that was a subtle second breakfast allusion.) Similar in design to the California convention, NYCC is promising to “pull out all the stops” this year. In addition to all the nerdy goodness you’ll find at the Javits Center in Manhattan, from programming to LotR-focused vendors on the show floor, you’ll also be close to, well, everything else Manhattan has to offer. That includes the classic annual TORn NYC Gathering, which will take place on the Friday evening of the Con. Here’s a reminder of some of the Tolkien fun which was on offer at last year’s event!
Of course, this list is just a sampling of possibilities! There are many other events we could have mentioned, both in the US and internationally: such as WonderCon in Anaheim next month (TORn staffers will be there!); Orlando’s Mega Con in late March, with MANY LotR movie guests; Oxonmoot in Oxford in early September; or the Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft’s mid-October Tolkien Seminar 2026 in Augsburg. While Fathom Event’s January theater screenings of the PJ trilogy are now behind us, many other theaters are now following suit as we press deeper into this 25th anniversary year. Or you may wish to take in one or more of the movies accompanied by a live orchestra, with a number of European and North American options already scheduled. And of course in September we’ll host our annual Baggins Birthday Bash on the West Coast – which is always a gathering of special magnificence.
We wish you all the best as you seek your 2026 Fellowship(s)! May they bring you joy and hope! And may the hair on your toes never fall out!
Our friends at Weta Workshop have unveiled their latest amazing statue fans can pre-order for their collections. If you’re like me and love The Battle of the Last Alliance sequence from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring then you’re going to want to add this to your collection.
Elrond as we see him during the battle is now available for pre-order in 1:6 scale. He joins Elendil, Sauron, and Gil-Galad to create an amazing 4 statue setup of this sequence. Elrond comes in with a price tag of $699 USD, 1350 piece edition size, and will be shipping towards the end of this year. If you’re a fan of The Hobbit Trilogy then you have a chance to add the re-opened open edition of the Smaug Bust or the limited version of Smaug the Golden with an edition size of 900. The open edition of Smaug is $499 USD while the limited edition is coming in at $599 USD, with both due to ship in quarter 2 of this year.
Back in October we shared the news that our friends at Syzygy Forge were going to be bringing us some new items in 2026. They didn’t give many hints about that these items would be – adding to the collectible whisky they already make. But now their first new items have been revealed!
They tell us:
We will be producing three engraved wooden barrel lids: one featuring the primary The Lord of the Rings logo, one The Prancing Pony, and one The Green Dragon. Each design will be limited to 500 pieces, individually numbered on the reverse.
Feast your eyes!
The Prancing Pony and The Green Dragon artwork were designed by none other than Daniel Falconer, whose work at Weta Workshop, and particularly on Peter Jackson’s movies, is of course well known to us all.
Syzygy’s team go on to tell us:
The pieces themselves are quite rustic. They are made from authentic reclaimed whiskey barrels, and hearken to the “Barrels Out of Bond” chapter in The Hobbit, and are well suited for an office, study, or collector’s space.
They’re available for pre-order now. (When visiting Syzygy’s site, you’ll notice they also have a John Howe Collection coming soon! Can’t wait to see that!) And even better news – you can use the code theonering15 to receive 15% off your order! Order yours before they’re gone!
