If you’ve been wondering where our daily “An Eagle’s View of Middle-earth” posts have been for the last few days, I have to admit, I’ve been slacking. Instead of staying on the pulse of the latest geeky news, I was partying it up with the other US members of the Middle-earth News team! Myla Malinalda wrote up a blog post about it, and if you want to see photos, you can check out these pages:
- Amanda’s Instagram and Facebook
- Britta’s Instagram and Facebook
- Lily’s Instagram and Facebook
- Myla’s Instagram and Facebook
- Rachel’s Instagram and Facebook
We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming, but I have to share one of my favorite moments. When hiking around in the woods, doing a cosplay photoshoot, we passed several curious parties. We joked with one group about looking for Bilbo, and as we were walking away, I heard the adults explaining to the young boy, “There’s this story about a character named Bilbo Baggins…” I hope that he’ll pick up a copy of The Hobbit!
This is a beautiful handcarved, handtooled and handpainted leather bag, inspired by the cozy round door of Bag End in The Lord of the Rings saga (and of course, The Hobbit). The rune of Gandalf in the front is painted with UV light sensitive paint creating a dramatic effect! I think I speak for all of us when I say–I want one! (spotted by Middle-earth News contributor Myla)
Ethan Gilsdorf of BoingBoing conducted an in-depth interview with John Howe, Tolkien Illustrator and Conceptual Designer on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. In it, Howe discusses the change from two Hobbit films to three, visualizing brand new territories of Middle-earth, the possibilities in digital effects, his relationship with Alan Lee, and more! It’s a long interview, but totally worth the read. (spotted by Middle-earth News director Arwen)
Actor Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is supporting the Kickstarter for Sultana by offering a signed photo or Lord of the Rings DVD when you pledge $75 or more. Astin is an Executive Producer on the project, and he is offering a number of special prizes for backers. (spotted by @MiddleEarthNews Twitter followers @LindaofNote and @beansmagoo10)
It was last August when we spoke with street artist Puck about his Tolkien-inspired signage posted in the New York subway system, and he’s still going strong! His most recent poster is a public service announcement about Narsil. You can keep up with his work via Twitter, Instagram, and his blog. (spotted by Middle-earth News reporter Lily)
This site has a collection of free arrangements of sheet music from Howard Shore’s score of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Also on the site is a complete transcription of the Complete Recordings from the film. This is something that is sure to help all of you awesome musicians out there; we only ask that you upload videos of your performances so that we can share them in Eagle’s View! (spotted by avid musician (violin) and extreme Tolkien geek Andrew)
Actor Richard Armitage is known for his role as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit movies and for his appropriately audiobook-worthy dulcet tones. Now, he has taken on the role of Hamlet (and all of the other characters of the Danish play) for Audible’s release of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, written by acclaimed novelists A. J. Hartley and David Hewson. Armitage said, “Audio work like this reminds me of all the reasons I became an actor: the simple art of storytelling. I hope this work for Audible delights both those who already love Shakespeare and perhaps brings a new audience to the story of Hamlet, and to the very personal and pure experience of simply listening.” (spotted by Middle-earth News reporter Amanda)
Here is a short clip of the Vocal Associates Festival Chorus rehearsing “Shadowfax” for the live performance of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in Singapore (read more about it in Alice’s recent article). The Metropolitan Festival Orchestra has more recordings of their rehearsals, so make sure to check out their Facebook page! (spotted by @MiddleEarthNews Twitter follower @jobot935)
