Our weekly column “An Eagle’s View of Middle-earth” has been going strong for over a year now! Here’s how it works: Every week, our Middle-earth News reporters seek out Tolkien/Hobbit/LOTR goodness and tag their finds with their names. If you have something to contribute, please submit it using the Got News Precious link at the bottom of the page.
Technically, this video has nothing to do with Tolkien, but when I first saw it, I thought of this article. Enjoy a ride on an eagle and get an actual Eagle’s View! (Lily Milos via @claybonnyman and @greyhavensgroup)
Nicholas Tolkien, the great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, will present the world premiere of his film Terezin at the 2013 Bel-Air Film Festival. The film chronicles the travails of two Jewish sisters who are deported to the World War II concentration camp of Terezin, northwest of Prague. After losing their parents, they eventually manage to escape with the help of “a German man with Jewish sympathies.” Some serious problems arise when “a psychotic Nazi” starts looking for the two fugitives. The screening of Terezin begins at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 13, at the UCLA James Bridges Theater in Westwood. (Lily Milos)
This beautiful handmade dwarf pipe, made by EngrossedDesigns on Etsy, is made of amazing aged ambrosia curly maple wood. Each pipe starts off as a block of ambrosia curly maple, which is carved and sanded by hand. The shop also sells handmade arrows, like this Legolas Arrow, that would be perfect for cosplay props or reenactments. (Maria)
Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro recorded videos to show their support of the Kickstarter fan-funding campaign for the “Ain’t It Cool with Harry Knowles” show. The project reached its funding goal yesterday! You may remember that Ain’t It Cool News reporter Quint got to visit the set of The Hobbit in 2011, and he shared his adventures on AICN. (Evie Bowman)
Halloween is coming up, and it’s never too early to start thinking about costumes and accessories! These Lord of the Rings inspired Sauron’s eye contact lenses are great for making your eyes really stand out. (Alice)
J.R.R. Tolkien was a great linguaphile (a lover of languages), creating several of his own and studying so many others. In The Hobbit, Tolkien used an Old English runic alphabet to depict the writing of the dwarves, though he created his own for The Lord of the Rings. NOVA has provided an app to translate your name using a runic alphabet (though, they aren’t identical to the runes Tolkien used in The Hobbit). Have fun! (Alice)
And speaking of languages…What do Game of Thrones’ Dothraki, Avatar’s Na’vi, Star Trek’s Klingon, and LOTR’s Elvish have in common? They are all fantasy constructed languages, or conlangs. Conlangs have all the delicious complexities of real languages: a high volume of words, grammar rules, and room for messiness and evolution. John McWhorter, the author of The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, explains why these invented languages captivate fans long past the rolling credits.
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