10 Days: Tolkien-verse Family Tree

So you already know that Tolkien's work is a lot more than just Lord of the Rings/the Hobbit... but if you've tried to read the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, Children of Hurin, etc. you'll know that there are a LOT of names to keep straight.  Which is why today's post is dedicated to a massive internet project called "A Genealogy of Middle Earth".  The enterprising creator of this website has created a huge family tree that links all of the character that Tolkien writes about.  And when I say all the characters I mean elves, dwarves, hobbits, men, and others.  You can search different characters, and when you click on their name it gives you more information.

Mind.

Is.

Blown.

There's also an interactive map and a timeline that goes all the way back to the First Age.  This is candy land for Tolkien fans!  Follow the link and go wild, my friends!

P.S.  Anyone else see TV Spot 10?  Jackson better have a DAMN good reason for why Galadriel was caressing Gandalf.  The mere thought of all the bida' in that gesture makes me queasy...

And a bonus from Peter Jackson...

... They released six minutes' worth of footage from the Hobbit, including the scene where Elrond gives the history of Thorin and Gandalfs' swords!  Although I'm super excited about this sneak peek, I was disappointed that the directors didn't take the chance to give some first and second age history.

Did anyone else watching this notice that the scream of the goblin who gets pushed off of the walkway is the same scream as the elf who falls off of the walls of Helm's Deep in the second movie?  I have a feeling there are going to be lots of moments like this in the movie!

Released footage

Also, don't forget to check out the Colbert report this week!  He's doing a special Hobbit-themed week because it turns out that Colbert is a super Tolkien fan.  Check out this interview, where he completely pwns James Franco, a self-proclaimed Lord of the Rings fan.

I'm only including this here because Colbert is a fan so arguably if he has a segment about The Hobbit, it's still fan-based!  And because it's awesome and I wanted to share :)  And because it's finals and I don't feel like doing work right now...

11 Days: Ranger

Whether you're the hugest Tolkien geek on the planet or one of those "only seen the movie" people, you will definitely have heard the tale of Beren and Luthien.  It's a central aspect of Tolkien's world, and one of his most beautiful stories.  In a quick summary that doesn't even begin to do the tale justice:

Beren is a mortal man of noble birth who comes upon Luthien, the daughter of the Elven king Thingol and the most beautiful woman in the world dancing in the woods.  They fall in love but when her father, who hates men, learns about this romance he tells Beren that he can only marry Luthien if he recovers one of the Silmarils in Morgoth's crown.  Beren and Luthien together manage to  steal the Silmaril, but Beren loses the jewel and the hand that held it to the wolf of Angband, Carcharoth, while they are escaping.  The two return to Thingol who gives them his blessing, but shortly after Beren is slain by the wolf.  Luthien dies of grief not long after, but she is so beautiful and persuasive that the Valar allow her and Beren to return to Arda and live happily for a little while before they both die as mortals for good.

If you want the full tale, Tolkien has a chapter about them in "The Silmarillion", which is available online.

The movie I'm reviewing today is a fan-made spinoff of the tale of Beren and Luthien.  It is charming and well-made, though of necessity it cuts out most of the story.  Unfortunately, this includes some of the best parts.  Huan and Finrod are completely left out, as is Melian, and Luthien doesn't accompany Beren on his quest to redeem the Silmaril, which is in this case a jewel stolen by a dragon.  Nonetheless, it is a fun, short film, and a great look at one of the most important parts of Tolkien's work that is rarely given its due.

Ranger, on Youtube

12 Days: The Last Grey Ship

So after yesterday's depressing entry, I'm going to hit you with an equally depressing one!  But it is Monday, after all...

The Last Grey Ship is another MEFA award winner (2004), but this three-chapter fic by ErinRua is cannon-compliant.  It explores Gimli and Legolas' reaction to Aragorn's death, and Gimli's decision to sail to Westernesse with Legolas.  It's an incredibly beautiful story, a real tear-jerker, and less than 10,000 words long.

Another fic in this vein is Beyond this World (MEFA winner 2005), written by the excellent author Thundera Tiger -- there will be more on her in a later post.  For now, just know that Beyond this World gives us a glimpse of Legolas and Gimli's life on the hither shore, and tells the story of a friendship that can never be broken.  Sweet, right?

I hope you take the little bit of time to read these stories -- they are truly worth it!  And if you don't have time for the stories... Peter Jackson just posted a new Hobbit TV spot on the facebook page in which we see Smaug and Dol Guldur at last!  Along with something that looks like... the War between Dwarves and Orcs?   The Battle of Azanulbizar?  I'm curious to see how they're going to work that one in, considering it happened 150 years before "The Hobbit"!

13 Days: Lie Down in the Darkness, Rise up from the Ash

Lie Down in Darkness is a alternate-universe fanfiction that seeks to answer the question: what if Gollum had been killed before the events of Lord of the Rings ever happened?  Starting with the council of Elrond, this fic retells the story of LOTR, with a very dark cast.  It's worth reading for anyone curious about what could have been who also has a very high tolerance for depressing content.  Some very beloved characters, whose names I will not reveal, meet unfortunate and untimely deaths.

Another warning: this story is extremely long: 280,00 words.  To put things into perspective, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix only had 250,000 words.  I won't divulge the circumstances under which I had that much time to spend reading fanfiction, but suffice it to say, it was well worth the investment :)

Incidentally, I discovered this fic through the Middle Earth Fanfiction Awards archive.  These awards honored the "best" Middle Earth fanfiction writing every year from 2004 to 2011; they were discontinued this year after what seems to be a series of heated arguments about rating systems.

The story, which you can find at the link below, is posted at Henneth Annun, which is a great source for Lord of the Rings Fanfiction.  However, I find that its format is unwieldy, so I tend to stick to the tried-and-true fanfiction.net if at all possible.

Lie Down in the Darkness, Rise up from the Ashes

For a shorter (3,000 words), equally dark AU fic from the MEFAs, check out Worth, which received first place in the Alternate Universe category.  As the author puts it, "bad things happen to good hobbits"

2 Weeks: Born of Hope & The Hunt for Gollum

These are two fan-made movies produced by Kate Madison; both tell stories that are mentioned in the books, but they take place in the movie-verse.

Born of Hope tells the story of Aragorn's father and the rangers of Arnor. It is a full-length movie, clocking in at 1 hour and 11 minutes! Although the movie can be a bit slow and melodramatic, it's still a great excursion into Middle Earth; some of the fight scenes are particularly good. My favorite part is without a doubt the arrival of Elladan and Elrohir, who are completely neglected in Peter Jackson's movies.

The Hunt for Gollum is a shorter movie (about 40 minutes) that tells the story of Aragorn's search for Gollum. Although the story is mentioned in the books, it is never fully described, and Madison takes many creative liberties with the story. Most notorious among these is the appearance of a Ringwraith and Aragon's solo stand against it. Plausible? No. Entertaining? Rather.

Neither of these movies are as engrossing as the books, but they are incredibly well made for independent films, and they provide welcome relief to Tolkien fans who want more. Both of the movies are available for free on YouTube, and the links are below.

Enjoy!

Born of Hope
The Hunt for Gollum