Volume 101/Issue 4

Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Dwalin Statue Review
Yet another one of the statues we saw at Comic-Con 2012 for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was for the character Dwalin. Dwalin joined Thorin, Gandalf, Bilbo, Balin, and Bombur (not yet released). Dwalin went up for sale the same day as his brother Balin, making them the fourth and fifth statues released. [Read more]

‘An Unexpected Art Show’ Featured Artist – Donato Giancola
TheOneRing.net is excited to announce that among the over 30 artists contributing work to ‘An Unexpected Art Show’, award-winning fantasy artist Donato Giancola will be in attendance! Donato creates truly stunning oil paintings blending Renaissance craftsmanship with the inspiring world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. [Read more]

Concerning Christopher – An Essay on Tolkien’s Son’s Decision to Not Allow Further Cinematic Licensing of His Work
Often, when a lengthy discussion of the Hobbit films takes place, someone asks “What about the other books? What about material from The Silmarillion, or Unfinished Tales? Will these be adapted to the big screen?” The answer to this question is a simple one. [Read more]

'Hobbit' grabs industry-leading 7 Visual Effects Society noms including Gollum vs. Goblin King vs. Hulk
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” earned the top nomination for visual effects and six others nominations at the 11th annual Visual Effects Society Awards, set for Feb. 5 at the Beverly Hilton. “The Avengers,” and “The Life of Pi,” are close behind with six nominations each and are also in the top category. [Read more]

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ receives 3 BAFTA nominations
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) just announced its nominations for the best films of 2012, and “The Hobbit,” snagged 3 separate nominations. One each for Sound, Special Visual Effects and Hair & Makeup. “Lincoln” received the most nominations with 10, even though Director Steven Spielberg was not one of the directorial nominees. [Read more]

'Hobbit' sounds pretty sweet to Cinema Audio Society
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” impressed the Cinema Audio Society enough to shoulder into one of the five live action nominations for sound mixing the group awards annually. The group’s noms reflect an Academy Award nomination about 75 percent of the time. Films competing against TH:AUJ are “Les Miserables,” “Lincoln,” “Skyfall” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” [Read more]

Note from the Mods: We would like to invite the moderators of other fandom communities to become 'reporters' or 'scouts' for middleearthnews. All we ask is that you send us formatted updates on your own communities for posting here.

* tolkien_weekly (drabbles) updates:
The Right Tool For The Job (Legolas; rated G) by curiouswombat
Health (Halbarad; rated G) by dwimordene_2011
Serendipity (Thranduil, unnamed guard.; rated G) by jay_of_lasgalen
What Goes Around, Comes Around (Gimli, Legolas; rated G) by azalaisdep
Wherein Things Have Not Gone as Planned / The Wizard’s Vale (Gríma; rated G) by huinare
Resolve (Elrond, Elros, Elladan, Elrohir; rated G) by littlemouseno

* From silwritersguild:
The January 2013 newsletter has been posted.

* From libraryofmoria:
The Road Goes Ever On And On: Sam Gamgee’s Journey To Understanding His Heart (Frodo Baggins/Sam Gamgee; rated G) by lordhellebore
Surprise, Surprise (fanart; Eómer/Haldír; rated PG-13) by raven22372
Samwise and Frodo (fanart; Sam and Frodo; rated G) by leyla_lovely

* From hobbitfilmfic:
The Lost Treasure (Thorin/Bilbo; rated G) by mithen
Experience (Thorin/OFC; rated R) by sigridhr
In Memoriam (Thorin; rated G) by sigridhr
Heirless (Fili/Kili; rated PG-13) by withalittlewit
The Wandering King Under The Mountain (Fili, Kili, Thorin, Dís; rated G) by noalinnea
Spare Him Unto Death (Fili+Kili, Thorin; rated PG-13) by amuly

* From heirs_of_durin:
Mabazgân (Fíli, Kíli, Gimli; rated PG) by phiso_kun
The Prank (Kili/Bofur, mentions of Bilbo/Thorin; rated R) by _beetle_
Lofty (Kili/Bofur, Bilbo/Thorin, Fili; rated R) by _beetle_
A Long-Awaited Party (Bilbo/Bofur, Frodo; rated R) by _beetle_
The Adventures of Dwalin the Dwarf (Dwalin, OC, Nori, Ori, Bofur, Bombur, Bifur, Dori, Thorin, Gandalf; rated PG-13) by Saraleee
Close to the flame (Fili/Kili; rated PG-13) by lilja_june/vollmondnacht

The current challenge at tolkien_weekly is Blessings: Health

From silwritersguild:
Silm fic recs list compiled by hhimring

* Via the TORn forums:
A movie about the Dunedain and Angmar?
Could that be possible and would it fit in one movie or a trilogy? If a movie of that would be made, would be at least epical like LOTR?

So who is the definitive hobbit?
Probably been discussed before but I can't be bothered looking.

For me Martin Freeman was superb and nailed the role in a way that I never felt with Elijah Wood. He just feels more 'hobbity'. He definitely puts more physical characterisation into the role with a range of facial expressions and mannerisms that help make Bilbo, for me, more enjoyable to watch.

Wood's Frodo on the other hand is to my mind quite flat by comparison. I always felt watching the LOTR trilogy that Frodo was a hobbit of few words and many pained expressions which I found quite tiresome and that's how I remember the character.

Of course we've only seen one Freeman performance so far and It'll be interesting to see how the character changes but I'm looking forward to it.

Expertise needed: best Tolkien bio?
Which do those of you in the know consider definitive? Or are there different books for different reasons?

Via lotrips_finders:
silmarlfan1 is looking for a Silmarillion fic:
I have forgotten the name of a Silmarillion fic. It was slash, it was Maedhros/Maglor, and I remember that Fingon had held a crush on Maedhros but Maedhros turned him down in Valinor and Fingon held a resentment for him ever since. I remember at the end Maedhros returned to Aman and took up the crown and Maglor was his lover. It was Maglor who convinced Maedhros to forsake the oath. Oh, and there was a thing about Maglor not letting Maedhros look at his reflection in a mirror, and when he returned to the Valinor he saw his reflection for the first time. I cannot remember the name. It was a two word title, I think.

From estelanui:
About Elvish Psychology.
Since Tolkien never adresses this directly, any answer requires speculation on Elvish psychology, drawing inferences (as usual) from whatever Tolkien does say about the Elves.

Monday's BOOK question: In what state were Bill Ferny's windows when the Travellers returned to Bree?
Answer: Boarded up.

namarielorien answered correctly.

Today's MOVIE question contributed by estelle3974: What does Theoden ask Eowyn to do instead of grieve as he leaves for Minas Tirith?

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