LEGO Helm's Deep Model :)

The Banquet Hall (Photo credit: Han Shot First)

The Deeping Wall (Photo credit: Han Shot First)

Full-View-Helm's-Deep2 (Photo credit: StevePoulsen)

Gimli Climbs to the Top of the Tower (Photo credit: Han Shot First)

LEGO 9474: The Battle of Helm's Deep (Photo credit: Han Shot First)

Lunch at Helm's Deep (Photo credit: Han Shot First)

Gimli Blows the Horn of Helm Hammerhand (Photo credit: Han Shot First)

Helm'sDeepGate2 (Photo credit: StevePoulsen)

Let's have a short one with LEGO all over it... No Comment! :)

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Desolation of Smaug: Darker and Edgier?

English: Thorin Oakenshield in his forge Français : Thorin « Écu-de-chêne » dans sa forge. Česky: Thorin Pavéza ve své kovárně (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Evangeline Lilly (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay Ringers, it seems that it isn’t really all that long before we finally get to see the long awaited second installment of The Hobbit film trilogy, Desolation of Smaug. The trailer is already out in theaters and fans can only fawn and drool over what they’re going to see in December once the film finally rolls around. Examples include everything from the company of Bilbo and the dwarves finally running into the elves of Mirkwood which include that of Legolas, played by Orlando Bloom, Tauriel, played by Evangeline Lilly and Thranduil, played by Lee Pace. There is also the scene in Lake Town where the dwarves finally meet the Men of Dale along with Bard the Bowman who is less than enthusiastic about awakening the dragon Smaug. And then finally, there’s Bilbo’s fateful meeting with Smaug himself when he enters the Wicked Wyrm’s lair.

However, Peter Jackson has gone on to confirm that The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug will not be as light-hearted as its predecessor and has gone on to cite that the film will be somewhat darker and less joyful than the first. This can come surprising to some fans, as the original novel was marketed as a children’s story during the 1930s. Of course, J.R.R. Tolkien would probably understand as some of the darker themes and elements probably come from some of his experiences as a soldier in World War I, perhaps the darkest of the world wars due to their toll on the spirits of those who fought in it.

Well, for starters, as is shown in some of the sneak-peeks of Desolation of Smaug in Peter Jackson’s video blog, they will show the lands of Dale in the dead of winter. Before Smaug came to the lands, all fire and ravaging claws, Dale had been a prosperous land with Erebor, the kingdom of the dwarves which is the main objective of Thorin Oakenshield and company and mentioned often in An Unexpected Journey, its wealthiest landmark and pride and joy of the dwarven race. As a matter of fact, actress Evangeline Lilly has gone on to note that Dale somewhat resembled some cozy and wonderful city in Europe before the arrival of the Wicked Wyrm. Now it will be shown to viewers the kind of damage that Smaug has done to the otherwise scenic countryside and that it has become a cold wasteland of misery and foreboding as those that dwell there live in constant fear of the dragon awakening and destroying the surviving inhabitants.

Then we have the characters. For all you arachnophobes, the giant spiders will finally be revealed in this film in all their glory. While everything about them is yet to be revealed one can note the kind of work the film crew has put into bringing them to life and will surely get all those fearful of creepy-crawlies shrieking helplessly. Then we have the mighty Beorn, the shape-shifting bear man who, despite being one of the good guys, is a violent and dangerous individual who is perhaps only on the side of the protagonists through Gandalf’s diplomacy and the fact that he has great hatred for orcs.

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The authors of LOTR and The Chronicles of Narnia were good friends.

In fact, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis became friends long before either man had become famous! Their initial meeting in 1931 would prove to have a direct influence on both their literary careers and the rest of their lives. The two men went out with a third companion for a late-night stroll around Oxford’s campus which developed into an argument about religion that nearly lasted until morning. In addition to teaching at Oxford, the pair had several shared interests, including Anglo-Saxon verse, Icelandic sagas, and a general love of the culture of “the North.” 

Their friendship really took off a year later when Tolkien invited Lewis to join a literary group known as “the Coalbiters.” The group got together every week to read Icelandic epics in the original Old Norse language. These meetings inevitably led to a perusal of Tolkien’s pet writing projects by Lewis, and vice versa. The timing could not have been much better, as both men were experiencing sweeping self-doubts about their respective writing abilities at the time, and may have otherwise kept their writing a private hobby. Tolkien having a hand in Lewis’s return to Christianity bore its fruit in the Narnia series, and in return, Lewis prodded Tolkien relentlessly until he completed The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. 

It could easily be said that neither author would have earned the reputation they have today if not for their shared friendship. But did you know that J.R.R. Tolkien even based one of his characters on C.S. Lewis? Treebeard, the leader of the walking trees known as “Ents,” shares many of Lewis’s mannerisms, such as a booming voice and a constant throat-clearing habit. The deep camaraderie the duo shared is probably best summarized in a letter from Tolkien to his daughter following Lewis’s death in 1963: "So far I have felt the normal feelings of a man my age -- like an old tree that is losing all its leaves one by one: this feels like an axe-blow near the roots." 

JRRT said "Frodo wasn't the real hero… Sam was!"

JRR Tolkien considered Samwise Gamgee the "chief hero" of The Lord of the Rings. If you’re unfamiliar with The Lord of the Rings, it is a world famous story of the struggle of a group of people to destroy a powerful ring before it results in the resurrection of the evil Sauron. The “main character” of the story is Frodo Baggins, a hobbit (a person with large hairy feet and in short stature). 

Frodo is tasked with taking the ring to Mordor, the place where it can be destroyed. Frodo is joined by his gardener, Samwise Gamgee. Throughout the course of the story, it might seem obvious that the main character and carrier of the ring is the story’s hero. J. R. R. Tolkien, the author, saw things differently though. Tolkien claimed that Sam was the true hero of the story. 

To be fair, the claim holds some merit. Sam did beat a man eating giant spider in single combat, storm a tower full of orcs on his own, resist the temptation of the ring, and carry Frodo up the side of a volcano essentially carrying the fate of the world on his back- all while suffering from starvation and dehydration. So it seems to stand to reason.

Before publishing in Germany, Tolkien was asked if he was Aryan. He gave two very different answers!

Before the German publishing house Rutten & Loeing Verlag released The Hobbit in Nazi Germany, they asked Tolkien if he was of Aryan origin. In a letter to his British publisher, Stanley Unwin, he asserted that Nazism was “wholly pernicious and unscientific.”

He also said that he had many Jewish friends and was considering “letting a German translation go hang.” He provided two letters for Rutten & Loeing Verlag, and told his publisher to send whichever one he preferred. 

The first was a more “tactful” letter, and simply stated that he was. In the other more honest letter however, Tolkien writes; “If I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.” Naturally and unfortunately, the first one was sent.