#middleearthmarch
Middle-earth March - Day 14
“She was (and knew she was) my Lúthien. I will say no more now.” Ronald Tolkien loved his wife Edith more than anything. The epic love story of Beren and Lúthien is inspired by Tolkien’s own love. He had to endure his own adventures until he was able to marry Edith. When she danced for him in the woods during his convalescence in 1917, that scene sparked the first meeting of the mortal Beren with the Elbe Lúthien.
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Middle-earth March - Day 13
It’s Wednesday, the Weekend is in sight! To clebrate the middle of the week, we made some tiny Hobbit themed muffins. Who wants some? What we really love about the Shire and the Hobbits is the coziness of their life there. Everything goes by a bit slower, it seems. Things are done one by one and cherished and acknowledged consciously. Maybe sometimes, we could be more Hobbitlike and just be happy about some freshly baked cupcakes instead of feeling stressed by all the messages on our phones or the appointments in our calendars…
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Middle-earth March - Day 12
“You cannot pass. I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” Speaking of ambition in Middle-earth, today’s topic for Middle-earth March suggested by @tolkientribe alongside “Digging too deep” – Sometimes, giving up is not a bad thing. Imagine if the Dwarves had not dug that deep and wakened the Balrog, they could have been spared alot of sorrow. If they hadn’t been that ambitious, maybe the Dwarves of Moria could still live in their home, who knows?
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Middle-earth March - Day 11
“Farmer Giles of Ham” is a really wonderful though less known story of Tolkien’s. Farmer Giles’ full name is Ægidius Ahenobarbus Julius Agricola de Hammo, and at the beginning of the tale, he is a simple farmer living in the Middle Kingdom. But after the adventure, he will be a true hero, defender against a dangerous giant, tamer of the mighty dragon Chrysophylax and (spoilers!) even king of the newly formed Little Kingdom.
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Middle-earth March - Day 10
“The Last Homely House East of the Sea” is one of the names given to Rivendell, or Imladris. Traveling to the Misty Mountains and Wilderland, it is the last chance for coziness and a warm welcome. Coming from there, on the way to the civilised lands of Eriador to the West, it can be seen ad the “The First Homely House East of the Sea”. In Alan Lee’s “Lord of the Rings Sketchbook”, you can find some wonderful drawings of landscapes and details of Rivendell. It is also today’s topic for Middle-earth March suggested by @tolkientribe “Rivendell, forming the Fellowship”.
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Middle-earth March - Day 9
Who is creeping around in the darkness at Weathertop, scaring our friends? It’s the evil Nazgûls, wanting to capture Frodo and regain the Ring for their Master. But don’t fret, help is on its way! Can you spot Strider, coming to rescue the Hobbits? Today’s topic for Middle-earth March suggested by @tolkientribe is “Weathertop, watching out…” So we got a little creative with our old #gamesworkshoplotrequipment!
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Middle-earth March - Day 8
If you happen to have several @wetaworkshop Hobbit holes, you’d be a fool not to set up a Hobbit landscape for Middle-earth March! We have some more, but we figured we didn’t want to overload the picture. Now we want to travel to Middle-earth and visit the Shire, spend some time there and live among the most peaceful beings, eating lots of cake, drinking good ale and just being merry!
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Middle-earth March - Day 7
Watch out! A Barrow-wight is lurking in the dark! Today’s topic suggested by @tolkientribe are the mysterious Barrow-Downs. It’s good that yesterday’s theme was Tom Bombadil, so can rescue us, should we get trapped by a wight just like Frodo and his friends. That was a creepy chapter in The Lord of the Rings!
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Middle-earth March - Day 6
“Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! Fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!” Tolkien’s most mysterious and enigmatic character, Tom Bombadil is probably one of the oldest creatures in all of Arda. He lives in the Old Forest, close to the Barrow Downs. There are many theories of his origins, him being a Maia, a man, Ilúvatar himself, or even the reader. He appeared as an old man with a wrinkled face and a bristling brown beard, wearing a blue jacket, yellow boots, and an old hat that featured a feather.
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Middle-earth March - Day 29
“The Lord of the Rings” is not a book or a work, it is the ruler of the rings and there is only one. Sauron, the Lord of the Rings. Probably that’s why the Amazon series is called “The Lord of the Rings” as it revolves around Sauron. Our little Sauron doesn’t hurt anyone, he just looks cute!
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Middle-earth March - Day 28
“I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” Bilbo really has a talent for words, no doubt! With those words, he put quite the damper to his celebration, but soon after he had left, most of the cheer and party songs, eating and dancing, returned.
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Middle-earth March - Day 27
“Unfinshed Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth” is a collection of Tolkien texts posthumously compiled, revised, annotated and published by his son Christopher in 1980. They are not coherent stories, but more of a collection of fragments.
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Middle-earth March - Day 26
“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend”, states Faramir in “The Lord of the Rings”. This quote probably shows Tolkien’s own attitude to war. When the world is threatened by evil and the freedom of the individual is threatened, war is sometimes inevitable, but that doesn’t make it a good cause.
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Middle-earth March - Day 24
Beware, today’s post is spooky! The topic for today’s Middle-earth March contribution suggested by @tolkientribe is “Minas Morgul: The Witch King”. This little fella lives in our Tolkien bookshelves and scares away people who would do harm to our books! So, he is a tolerated roommate of ours. In the books where he comes from originally, he is quite intimidating though – and we wouldn’t want to be in Frodo’s place when he had to face him at Weathertop!
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Middle-earth March - Day 23
“What about the Oliphaunts?” is the question our friends over at @tolkientribeask for today’s Middle-earth March. We had a close look into our bookshelves and found this little treasure! It’s Tolkien’s poem “Oliphaunt”, lovely illustrated and published as a single cardboard book for little children. It’s also pretty rare and hard to get!
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Middle-earth March - Day 22
Smaug really has a heart vor Dwarves! Specially is the come as cakepops… But honestly, how could anyone not like Smaug? He is rich, eloquent, magnificent, well- sometimes terrible, suspicious and murderous – but let’s not focus too much on that! He is also golden, shiny, a hoarder of riches and preserver of cultural heritage! It’s all in the point of view!
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Middle-earth March - Day 21
There are so many brilliant adaptions of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, it is easy to pick a favorite. Do you know the animated movie of “The Hobbit” by Rankin/Bass? If not, you should really watch it! Even if it’s just for the landscapes and the music! Rankin/Bass also produced “The Return of the King”, a movie that follows where Bakshi had left off the story in his “Lord of the Rings” adaption. Then of course, there are several amazing audiobook versions of both works. For the Germans among us: If you haven’t yet, go listen to “Der Hobbit”, an audiobook produced by WDR – it’s magical!
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Middle-earth March - Day 20
“For Gondor!” It is @tolkientribe’s suggestion for today’s Middle-earth March topic. Isn’t it amazing how different all of the peoples and cultures in Middle-earth are? A noteworthy comparison is of course Gondor and Rohan, so different and yet in many things so alike. But take for instance the Hobbits and the pirates of Umbar or the people from Harad and the rangers of Ithilien. Nothing really compares to the capital, Minas Tirith, though. The White City, standing tall and strong against the enemy.
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Middle-earth March - Day 19
Have you ever read Tolkien’s published letters? They are amazing, to say the least. You can learn so much from them, especially about what Tolkien thought on different topics like politics, or French cooking – but also about the way he looked at the world. You can trace the development of The Lord of the Rings through the letters he sent and received, and learn a lot about Hobbity courage in every-day life. His son Christopher Tolkien and his biographer Humphrey Carpenter worked on this together and we can easily say: It’s a preciousssss!
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Middle-earth March - Day 18
Imagine you could not only travel to Middle-earth, but also time-travel there. So you would not only visit the Third of Fourth Age where the Lord of the Rings takes place, but maybe see the arrival of the Elves or the awakening of the Dwarves. Or, not going back that much, visit the city of Dale or the Dwarves in Moria before the Balrog was woken. Today, we were thinking about all those old maps and who would draw them, maybe while smoking a pipe and drinking a pint…
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