So, is it Sarah, or is it Sarah? Rosie controversy sweeps the Web!

by Michael Martinez, Tuesday, October 3, 2000

A reader pointed out to us that 'some Webmasters' (meaning, we can't tell you because we haven't found them) are suggesting the online Tolkien community has identified the wrong Sarah McLeod as Rosie Cotton in Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' movies. That's right. The WRONG Sarah McLeod. Let us quote a recent email we received from An Raw: I'm not sure if this is the Sarah McLeod that is in the movie, as this Sarah is in the Aussie band The Superjesus. The Sarah McLeod in LOTR was in a New Zeland TV show called "Get Real" in 1996, but at this time the Superjesus girl was smack in the middle of their debut album tour. I strongly suspect someone has their wires crossed on this one... Then again, I could be wrong, but I do know that some webmasters have been saying that the LOTR Rosie is definitely NOT the Superjesus Sarah. Well, just between you, us, and the wall, we haven't had time to look into this. Sorry. Okay, so, assuming that CHUD has identified the wrong Sarah McLeod, where does that leave us? With a glamorous dress and no one to fill it? Who can read this riddle? (Brownie points for those who can figure out what An Law means.)

Funtastic gets Australian toy license for LOTR films

by Michael Martinez, Tuesday, October 3, 2000

Credit goes to Tolkien Online for finding this story. The Age, an Australian news service, broke the story on September 27. Toy Biz, which controls the toy merchandising rights for Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" movies, will no doubt be cutting deals around the globe.

Beren and Sharon visit Rohan and Peter

by Michael Martinez, Tuesday, October 3, 2000

The Company of the Ring has published its long-awaited report on Beren's trip to the Edoras set. It doesn't appear he was allowed to ask any questions on the set, or if he he was asked not to say anything on his Web site. Peter Jackson looked comfortable in the pictures, so he's either a very good actor or he doesn't mind all the fannish attention as much as some fans believe.

Kansas City Star takes a look at Tolkien

by Michael Martinez, Monday, October 2, 2000

I can't say much about their choice in Tolkien commentators, but The Kansas City Star has published a serious look at Tolkien's impact on modern fantasy. One of the commentators insists Tolkien must have been influenced by World War II. Most credible Tolkien researchers argue that Tolkien's own personal war-time experiences in World War I were more likey influences on him (and Tolkien himself asserted as much). The problem with projecting World War II onto The Lord of the Rings is that Tolkien continued to teach during the war, and he put up some refugees from one of the bombing areas for a while. Two of Tolkien's sons served in the United Kingdom's armed forces during the war, including Christopher Tolkien, who served in the Royal Air Force and was stationed in South Africa. JRRT sent chapters of The Lord of the Rings to his son during the war. Apparently, British censors of the time didn't find anything objectionable in the manuscripts. The article suggests that Tolkien's greatest accomplishment was to contribute something to the field of ecology, in the spirit, perhaps. The Lord of the Rings does dwell on the impact that external forces can have on the environment, but Tolkien didn't oppose that so much as he opposed the structured ordering of society, what he called "The Machine", which effectively strips the individual of free will. Tolkien's Elves and Dwarves were quite capable and content with altering the ecologies of their lands, and Tolkien didn't condemn them for it. His condemnation came when they went too far in ordering their affairs and the affairs of others. It was the Elves' desire to stop the effects of Time so that they could remain in Middle-earth indefinitely which led them to make the Rings of Power. Middle-earth paid a terrible price for the act of preservation. The book as much says one cannot stop progress as that one should not be ruled by it. For the act of defying the natural laws is as sinful as altering them, or abusing them. Thanks to Tolkien Online for finding this article.

E! Online's Forde admits error, snubs dozens of fan sites

by Michael Martinez, Sunday, October 1, 2000

Apparently fan jibes directed at E! Online's Insider, John Forde, over the October report's naming Eowyn an elf made someone's ears burn. TheOneRing.Net received an apologetic email from Mr. Forde. Dear One Ring.Net Staff and Readers, As you may have already noticed, this month's E! Online "On Location" article mistakenly describes Eowyn (played by Miranda Otto) as an Elf. This was a typographical error which occurred during a last-minute re-edit of the article. We apologise for any distress this may have caused your readers, and can assure that Eowyn will not be played as an Elf in Peter Jackson's film! The offending "E" word will be removed hopefully by the end of the weekend, but at the latest on Tuesday (NZ time). Until then, we would be appreciative if you could post this email on your website. Regards, John Forde Even New Line Cinema has acknowledged in news stories and at least one press release that there are dozens of fan sites which they have worked with in the past. Why is it that Mr. Forde is apparently incapable of reading the books or his own message boards, where at least the Suite101 Tolkien and Middle-earth topic has been announced more than once? TheOneRing.Net is a great site. Xenite.Org carries their headlines. Michael Martinez, director for Dragoncon's Tolkien and Middle-earth fan programming track and owner of Xenite.Org, thinks the world of TORN. But, come on. One fan site gets the apology? Xenite.Org has finally decided to ask the questions that fans have been whispering behind E! Online's back since the first "Insider" report went up: who picked this guy to cover Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" movies, and can we buy tickets for when the firing squad lines up and doles out sufficient punishment to all responsible parties? It could have been worse, though. Forde could have been the reporter who wrote the infamous Sunday-Times article which cited a deliberately erroneous fan site created to deceive cheating students who are too lazy to do their homework. So, it's almost a good thing Mr. Forde doesn't seem to check anything before launching his much-anticipated monthly reports.

CHUD's Tolkien Sewer tracks down Sarah McLeod pictures

by Michael Martinez, Saturday, September 30, 2000

Just a couple, but if people want to see Rosie Cotton without her glamorous dress on (don't ask), then hop on over to The Tolkien Sewer. It has become apparent that Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" will beef up Sam's relationship with Rosie a little bit so she doesn't seem like a last-minute wonder, as in the literary story (although there are references to her before we get to "The Scouring of the Shire" in the literary story).

E! Online updates, and, brother, what an update!

by Michael Martinez, Saturday, September 30, 2000

The Tolkien purists will be screaming for Peter Jackson's blood over this one. Theoden refusing to send for help in Helm's Deep? What in the world has E! Online's Force of Hobbit revealed this month? John Forde, the Insider, interviews Bernard Hill, the actor chosen to play King Theoden in the "On Location" spot. The context of the interview implies it occurred within the past two weeks. Forde's usual babble mangles the facts and interweaves a disconcerting authenticity with fabulous errors, such as referring to Eowyn as an Elf character when speaking of Miranda Otto. His comment about Eowyn's cross-dressing reveals a severe unfamiliarity with Tolkien's world and its tradition of "valiant women" and "shield-maidens". Otto's take on the character of Eowyn is comfortingly stronger and more !derived from Tolkien than Forde's. It is clear, however, that the funeral previous mentioned in a spy report was that of Theodred, Theoden's son, and not that of Theoden himself. The literary story provides no funeral for Theodred, who (according to Unfinished Tales) was buried by his officers at the fords of Isen. Peter Jackson cannot legally use the material provided in Unfinished Tales and other non-LOTR books, so he shouldn't be faulted for explaining what happened to Theodred in a different fashion from Tolkien. Yet, in another absurd pronouncement without foundation, Forde declares "Months after the issue was first raised, the hottest topic on LOTR Websites remains--you guessed it--the rewriting of Elf princess Arwen (played by Liv Tyler) as a warrior princess". One must wonder which Web sites these are that are so consumed with Arwen months after the debate has died down on most Tolkien Web sites, including the most well-known ones. Forde also mis-spell's poor Joel Tobeck's name, but Tobeck appears to be history anyway, so what does it matter. Forde does suggest that Andy Serkis may actually appear in the movies as Gollum (perhaps a young Smeagol). Forde's monthly reports are eagerly anticipated, but he does have the infuriating habit of revealing just how much of an outsider he really is in all this business.

Have you been to Valinor lately?

by Michael Martinez, Friday, September 29, 2000

I thought I would depart from the intensive Lord of the Rings scrutiny I've engaged in lately and look at parts of the mythology which have crept into some of Tolkien's other works. Traditionally we assign the Valinorean mythology to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Road Goes Ever On, and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (although the only real aspect of it in the latter is the poem "The Last Ship", about a mortal woman who is invited to sail over sea by some Elves). The Valinor mythology, or myth, is the cycle of half-told tales which tells the "Biblical" portion of Tolkien's grand mythology. But Valinor in some ways stands on its own. The realm of the Valinor is a magical land, far beyond the western seas, where Elves and angels dwell. It is not heaven, not for humankind, and really not for Elven kind. It is simply a paradise which has been denied to Men (although another paradise was set up for Men). Heaven is where God dwells, Iluvatar, Eru, the One, the All-father. In the end we may all meet up there, Elves, Men, Dwarves, and Angels. Or we may not. We don't really know for sure. While part of the physical world we call Ambar (or Imbar), Valinor was merely another continent out of several. It could be reached by mortal Men, and was, but it was forbidden to them. As for the Elves, Valinor lay beyond the reach of many of them, too, except by death. The mythology of Valinor therefore includes the story of where Elves go when they die. It is not so much an Elf heaven as the final abode for Elven spirits (while Time lasts, that is). That they may be re-embodied there is insubstantial. If an Elf of Middle-earth dies, his or her spirit may pass westward to the Halls of Mandos. Read the rest of the article here.

Spy report: Elven cloaks, or Ranger cloaks, or ...

by Michael Martinez, Friday, September 29, 2000

TheOneRing.Net has posted a short spy report concerning a radio news story about some New Zealand sheep farmers who supplied 600 metres of grey sheep-wool fabric to Three Foot Six productions. The fabric could have been used for woolen cloaks (not very accurate) from Lothlorien, or for cloaks for Aragorn's rangers. The Elven cloaks were made of Hithlain, a silk-like thread the Elves spun themselves. It was almost certainly NOT wool, and would be best represented by silk or a silk-like fabric. Of course, the decision made, whatever it was, is long in the past. And it's doubtful many people will stand up in protest in the theaters, yelling, "The Elven cloaks were NOT made of wool!" and storm out in protest.

It's been a slow news week, but...

by Michael Martinez, Thursday, September 28, 2000

A few things have happened. TheOneRing.Net found out that a film crew visited Titahi Bay and filmed small Mana Island, which Tehanu's spy Flick described as "a small grass-covered flat-topped island, far enough out to sea that it usually appears a little hazy with distance". I suggested the island may be the setting for Tol Eressea, which Frodo sees at the end of the story. Tolkien Online scarfed up an article from the financial Web site The Motley Fool. The Fools over there have decided that "The Lord of the Rings" movies might be a good investment. Well, yeah, we knew that. But the Fools didn't mention the various lawsuits and licensing actions which have come into play during the past year. One must ask how closely they are watching the property, especially since they listed only two Tolkien fan sites as references (though their selection of TheOneRing.Net and Tolkien Online cannot be faulted for quality). Tolkien Online also found a small news blurb about a bus carrying extras breaking down. Nothing historic. That's not the kind of news item I normally report, but you have to give the guys at TO credit for thoroughness. And they also found some information on the upcoming Lord of the Rings board game. Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand will all see the game hit their stores before the United States. German Webmaster Cirdan has revised his Web site, which provides English translations for many of his news articles. He has put up a report on Oxonmoot, a small gathering of Tolkien scholars and fans held at Oxford. A new documentary of Tolkien's life and works is under production, and the film crew dropped by the moot to interview long-time Tolkien fans. Glass Hammer has begun promoting their "Live from Middle-earth" CD in earnest, and Xenite.Org will be carrying a banner for the production later this week. They are still looking for an artist to do the cover for the CD. Rumor has it they'd like to discuss the project with David Wyatt. David, contact Glass Hammer.... Ringbearer has found someone who is about to teach a Tolkien literature class. The instructor, Philip Martin, will apparently post a weekly column called "Tolkien 101". Here's hoping he doesn't go all medieval on the poor unsuspecting students. Philip Capil of The Company of the Ring (formerly Tol Galen) has a heavy load of classes at university this fall so updates to his site are now occasional, but he has promised to put some interesting information on the site when he has a chance. He visited one of the LOTR films sets recently, and asked a few questions. Unfortunately, there was no mention of the visit in his September 28 update. Maybe next time....

Spy report: Rohirrim lay Theoden to rest

by Michael Martinez, Monday, September 25, 2000

A lucky New Zealander sent us the following spy report. It appears he got to see at least part of the funeral for Theoden in Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' production. It was such a nice day today on SC Anniversary day we went up to the film site at Mt Potts station, inland from Mt Somers in Mid Canterbury. You go inland from Mt Somers up to Lake Clearwater and the film site is about 15 KMs further inland from there on the Erewhon (nowhere) access road. Mt Somers had 50 mm of snow on the ground. There was none at the film site. We came across a rental van from Kirk motors in Auckland with rollover damage and an expensive rental car that missed a bend and hit a rock, all the latest models mind you. According to a Carpenter cutting firewood at lake Clearwater, for the film set staff, over 50% of the holiday huts are hired for the duration. In the Lake Clearwater camp was the biggest portable shower unit for both sexes that I have ever seen. After travelling up the road you come over a brow and there out in the middle of the valley of the Ashburton river bed is a pimple of 611 metres elevation opposite the gates of Erewhon Park accommodation house, it is directly south of Mt Potts mountain peak,on top of this and at the northern side base is the set. The actual Erewhon station is 15 kms further up the road. First we came across the Horse park on Mt Potts station with about 20 large horse trucks from all over NZ, and about 25 cars with horse floats. The were horses everywhere, and a HUGE tack tent, some riders were practicing sequences for the film. We parked the car on a hill about 500m from the base camp which is about 1.5 km from the hill top. The base consisted of two HUGE warehouse-like tents, one was the Wardrobe and the other the chow tent. Around were 8 huge buses, 30 4wdrives, 25 cars and wagons, trucks galore including Army ones. Cranes, tractors, wkshops, you name it and it was there. Including two Helicopters, one with a huge camera ball out of the right side. A driver delivered a Portacom to McCain Foods the other day and he told me the 12 units up there are specials for the stars. They have a toilet, shower, kitchen, lounge with couch and chairs, a double bed with TV and a stereo set-up. They were filming a take which could not be seen clearly without the aid of binoculars. It looked as if it was a Funeral scene with the body coming through the gate towers in a palisade and down the track lined with extras in red and black uniforms. There is a huge Hall and smaller buildings on the hilltop, with a long fence at the base with gatehouses and a few buildings, with smoke coming from them. It seemed to take all afternoon to do a scene that will be all of 1 minute on the release. Also we were told that 600 people were to be fed lunch today, some at the base and some on the hilltop in the grand hall. Some of the hilltop sets are offices as well. We heard much talk about going to the Methven base, transport to and from (some vans had shuttle stickers on them) and getting items from Methven. All along the road opposite the camp were signs saying no cameras or videos are not allowed on site, confiscation would be permanent. Radio traffic was high as filming was happening on site, catering, extras, logistics, transport, fire trucks, water trucks, repairs, electrical, go-fers and the director and his deputy, chopper and more. A lot were American accents and seemed very relaxed and easy going.

Suite101 Tolkien and Middle-earth topic expands links section

by Michael Martinez, Saturday, September 23, 2000

Suite101 prides itself on the selections of links provided by the more than 1,000 contributing editors. Finding quality Web sites is not the easiest task in the online world. This week Michael Martinez has delivered on a long-standing promise to Tolkien fans and Webmasters alike by enlarging the Tolkien and Middle-earth topic's link selections. A new category, "Lord of the Rings movie news sites" jumpstarts the topic's expansion by listing more than a dozen well-regarded Tolkien fan sites which track movie news. Two other categories, "Professional LOTR Movie News Sites" and "Semi-Pro LOTR Movie news sites", round out the movie news selections with some good links. The "Commercial Web Sites" and "Web-based Message Boards" categories have also been slightly expanded. The new listings reflect ties that Martinez has made in the online Tolkien community with other Webmasters. But they also provide curious fans with some very useful resources for learning more about what is happening the world of Tolkien and Middle-earth events. Xenite.Org still maintains Talk About J.R.R. Tolkien and Middle-earth: A Guide To Tolkien Discussion on the Web, a highly selective directory of content-rich Web sites. Unfortunately, numerous obligations over the months have prevented us from updating the listings, but the Suite101 expansions were made with the intention of avoiding or minimizing overlap with the Talk About Tolkien site.

That's New Zealand Dollars, folks!

by Michael Martinez, Saturday, September 23, 2000

Seems like every Tolkien fan site and message has been ablaze with the proclamation with the newly estimated cost of Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' movies: $675m. That is, $675,000,000 New Zealand, or less than $290,000,000 United States at current exchange rates (or close to it). The New Zealand economy has been having its problems with inflation and the falling value of the Kiwi dollar. Stocks have been volatile and some of the utilities have been in the news. And it doesn't help that world oil markets have been tottering on the edge of an energy crisis for months. The gloomy prospects for the New Zealand economy may have brightened somewhat, but it's reasonable for people who have heard about "too many dollars chasing too few products" economics to wonder if all the big budget film-making in New Zealand hasn't had some sort of impact on the small country's economy. There are only about 4,000,000 people in New Zealand. That means that New Line Cinema is spending nearly $169.00 for every man, woman, and child in New Zealand. They will never recoup that investment from the New Zealand economy, so Kiwis have realized a profit on the exchange. Only, with the decline of their dollar that means they can't buy as many imported items as they once did. On the other hand, Kiwi products should be pretty inexpensive for other countries these days, and exporters may be able to realize a boom of sorts. If that can happen, New Zealand's manufacturing and distribution sectors will benefit. Well, economics is boring when you have the money to buy the bread and pay the phone and power bills. The initial budget announced for Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Ring" project was $130,000,000 (US), or about $305,000,000 (NZD). New Line Cinema later on raised the budget to $180,000,000 (US), about $423,000,000 (NZD). If the latest budget amount is correct, New Line Cinema will have committed another $90,000,000 (US) to the project since the last budget increase.

Have island, will rebel

by Michael Martinez, Saturday, September 23, 2000

Numenor must have seemed a very strange place compared to Middle-earth. The first people to dwell there were Men, not Elves or Dwarves. And there were no Dwarves, or Hobbits, and few Elves (who may have actually "lived" in the huge garden-region of Nisimaldar that they helped to cultivate) for any length of time. Numenor was for all intents and purposes a "Mannish" state and society. Of course, Tolkien says the Eldar of Tol Eressea visited the island almost from the very start, and the Elves taught the Dunedain many things. What things? Why didn't the Eldar teach the Edain all these neat ideas during the 140 or so years of relative peace that the Edain enjoyed in Beleriand before the Dagor Bragollach? Well, there was the art of ship-building. Not that the Numenoreans needed ships, but the greater part of the population lived along the coasts in towns and villages which supported a great fishing industry. It just seems sort of odd that the Dunedain whose ancestors had lived happily in the highlands of Dorthonion and the woods of Brethil would have taken to life on the seashore. Of course, every Dunadan family had to eat, and fishing should have been one of the easiest ways for the early arrivals to provide for themselves. You weave a few nets, carve out some boats, make a few spears, and go skidding across the waves to find a good shoal were the local fishies haven't figured out that Men are not good things (for the fishies, that is). Read the entire article here.

Extra, extra! 'Curse of Frankincense' shadow looms over LOTR films!

by Michael Martinez, Tuesday, September 19, 2000

Well, figuratively speaking, of course. Tolkien Online dug up a column by a New Zealand journalist who knows more about Tolkien now than he did about Frankincense and Myrrh many years ago. The Timaru Herald shares thoughts from columnist Derek Burrows (what an appropriate Hobbit name!) about how two unnamed children from the Burrows household have been selected to play extra roles in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" production.

• Lord of the Rings Archive Menu
  
  
• Current Lord of the Rings News
  
  
• Scifi and Fantasy Newswire