It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Bernard Hill, who brilliantly embodied King Théoden of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He passed away today, May 5, 2024, at the age of 79. Hill's portrayal of Théoden is etched in the memory of us all, expertly capturing the noble and transformative journey of the Rohan king, from despair to heroic resurgence. His performance delivered lines that have resonated deeply within all of fandom. Potentially most memorably on the Battle of the Pelennor Fields..."Ride now, ride for ruin, and the world's ending!" Bernard Hill holds a rather ..read more

The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on May 1st: Gandalf and Bilbo reach Rivendell (1342) Sarn Ford where Gandalf and Aragorn met (1418) Crowning of King Elessar (1419) Elrond and Arwen set out from Rivendell (1419) Samwise marries Rose (1420) [Join us on the Discussion Boards here] May 1, 2942 (S.R. 1342) 1. Gandalf and Bilbo reach Rivendell. (from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth) "It was on May the First that the two came back at last to the brink of the valley of Rivendell, where stood the Last (or the First) Homely House. " (Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine ..read more

April 22, 2024 - This week in LOTR news, big business moves and huge reveals. Tales of the Shire Trailer reactions, Embracer rebrands as Middle-earth, Rings of Power cast reunite, LOTR returns to cinemas. Tales of the Shire gets a teaser trailer After three years of secret development, Weta Workshop and Private Division finally revealed the look and feel of their new cozy video game Tales of the Shire. Watch the whole trailer on YouTube and see the full announcement in an early post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAQQVGwzrj0 Reactions were swift coming in from Happy Hobbit (watch) and Nerd ..read more

The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on April 26th: The unexpected party (1341) TheOneRing.net is officially registered (1999) TheOneRing.net celebrates its 10-year Anniversary. TheOneRing.net celebrates its 15-year Anniversary. TheOneRing.net celebrates its 20-year Anniversary. TheOneRing.net celebrates its 25-year Anniversary. [Join us on the Discussion Boards here!] April 26, 2941 (S.R. 1341) 1. Wednesday. The unexpected party. (from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth) "Bilbo rushed along the passage... ...He pulled open the door with a jerk, and they all fell ..read more

We're delighted to share an exclusive interview from fellow Tolkien fanatic Eirik Bull - a journalist from Norway. He recently sat down with our friend, Weta Workshop's own Daniel Falconer. In Eirik's interview with Daniel they cover a lot of topics, looking at Daniel's history in working in Tolkien's amazing world, as seen in Sir Peter Jackson's brilliant adaptations over 20 years ago. Eirik and our friends at Weta asked us to share this interview - and you can look forward to another interview coming soon, with Sir Richard Taylor. We all hope you enjoy this amazing look at Daniel Falconer's ..read more

The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale, the multi award-winning musical production that has been wowing theatregoers in the UK over the past 12 months, is set for a USA debut in Chicago starting this July. Paul Hart, who created the acclaimed 2023 staging at the UK’s Watermill Theatre, will also oversee the production at Chicago Shakespeare Theater's The Yard. "I can’t wait for this next step in the epic journey of The Lord of the Rings as we craft this new staging for the US premiere production with Chicago Shakespeare Theater for Chicago audiences," Mr Hart said. "We loved creating this ver ..read more

On March 18 this year we began Middle-earth March Madness 2024: Magical Moments. TORn staffers had been working behind the scenes to choose and then vote on a plethora of happenings from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which could be considered magical events. We whittled that number down to 64, and created seeding based on the staffer votes, and back in March we opened the contest to YOUR votes. Now, after six rounds and thousands of votes cast, we have a winner. Of all the moments when magical powers are used in Middle-earth, one has been chosen as the 'most magical'. If you w ..read more

Our good friends at Volante Opera have been in touch with very exciting news! You may remember, in 2022 and 2023 we brought you news of their work with composer Paul Corfield Godfrey, to bring to life his operas of stories from The Silmarillion. Godfrey had for many years been working on operatic excerpts from The Lord of the Rings - and during lockdown, he and the Volante Opera folks had even begun recording excerpts, 'just in case'; but the Tolkien Estate had not granted permission for those works to be released. We can now exclusively reveal that Godfrey and Volante Opera Productions have ..read more

  Field of Cormallen by Tolman Cotton The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on April 8th: The Ring-bearers are honoured on the Field of Cormallen (3019) The Ring-bearers revisit fair Ithilien (3019) [Join us on the Discussion Boards here] 1. The Ring-bearers are honoured on the Field of Cormallen. (from the appendices) "When Sam awoke, he found that he was lying on some soft bed...  ...All the air was full of a sweet mingled scent. He remembered that smell: the fragrance of Ithilien." (Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 282-288 RotK) 2. The Ring-bearers revisit fair Ith ..read more

We come to it at last - the great battle of our time... Well, at least of this year's Middle-earth March Madness 2024: Magical Moments. TORn staffers picked 64 happenings from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which could be considered magical events. (Though what exactly counts as 'magic' in Middle-earth is, of course, up for debate!) These moments were seeded based on staffer's votes, divided into four bracket (one for each book), and so it began. Now, three weeks later and with thousands of votes cast, we are down to the final two. Let's see how the Semi-finals played out: The ..read more