Saturday, May 11, 2002
Hall of Fire Chats For May 11th & 12th
- Strider @ 15:50 PST
At this present moment at the beginning of the 21st Century, the realm of fantasy and its influences is visible in every form of the media, from computer games to literature to television, and has quickly become one of the most popular genre's in modern day literature. However, sixty years ago fantasy didn't even exist and it wasn't until the latter part of the 20th Century that it became remotely popular. This weekend, the Hall of Fire crew are discussing whether J.R.R Tolkien was the father of Modern Fantasy. It wasn't until the first installment of Lord of the Rings was published in 1954 that the world at large was introduced to fantastical creatures such as orcs and elves. Today, these creatures are staples of modern fantasy culture. Tolkien, through his magical adventure through the world of Middle-Earth, inspired people to think differently about the world in which they lived and how stories could be written. But did Tolkien inspire a generation of fantasy writers? Can he be attributed to the popularity of Dungeons and Dragons and to the level of respect the genre he pioneered now has? Just as Tolkien was inspired by Anglo Saxon and Norse literature, from Beowulf to The Poetic Edda, Tolkien's influence can be seen in currents works, such as Terry Pratchett's fantastic Discworld series. We hope you join us for this fantastic debate this weekend as we explore an excellent topic. Thanks to jincey for this weeks topic! Upcoming Discussions Place: Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET] Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET] ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
May 19 & 20: TTT Chapter by Chapter - The Uruk-hai
May 26 & 27: The Effects Of War Of The Ring On Frodo
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman's and then type /join #thehalloffire .
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Saturday, May 04, 2002
Hall Of Fire Chats For May 4th & 5th
- Strider @ 13:22 PST
Since the release of The Fellowship of the Ring in December, J.R.R Tolkien's infamous Trilogy has had a resurgence in interest from non-fans, with both young and old picking up a copy of Lord of the Rings in their local bookshop after falling in love with characters such as Frodo Baggins, Gandalf and Strider on the silver screen. However, the Lord of the Rings trilogy goes hand-in-hand with two other pieces....The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. This weekend, the Hall of Fire crew invite you to join us as we discuss The Guide to Reading (and Enjoying) the Silmarilion. Despite how much someone loves the Lord of the Rings, one cannot fully understand both the mystical world of Middle-Earth and some of the principle characters, such as Bilbo and Gandalf, without reading the texts based before it. Though The Hobbit is often dismissed as the most childish of the three, it was the precursor to LotR itself and does give valuable insight into both Bilbo Baggins in his glory days and Gandalf the Grey, with hints of the events leading up to the War of the Ring throughout the book. However it is The Silmarillion that is often considered by Tolkien's fans as one of the most inspired pieces of work he ever penned, making the world of Middle-Earth something real, with a plausible and incredibly fascinating history. Also, the book adds an extra dimension to the inhabitants of Middle-Earth, creating heroes and villains throughout the ages, from heroic dwarves to evil and twisted elves to easily manipulated humans. The Silmarillion is the canvas on which the world of Middle-Earth is painted. However, The Silmarillion also has a sense of allegory about it, with many parallels between the history of Middle-Earth and religion in the beginning of the 21st Century. There is the Íluvatar, the creator of all life, there is Melkor, the source from which all evil existing in Middle-Earth once stemmed, and finally there are several beings in charge of Nature and the Elements. The world of Middle-Earth and the omnipotent beings that control it seems to be inspired by a mix of Roman religion and Christianity. This weekend, we're going to be discussing the best to both read and enjoy The Silmarillion, a book which by all accounts can be incredibly difficult to read, with hundreds of places and people packed into the space of four hundred pages. This is a discussion aimed for Tolkien fans young and old, so drop in and enjoy what will hopefully be one heck of a session!
Friday, April 19, 2002
Hall Of Fire Chats For April 20th & 21st
- Strider @ 19:44 PST
Going into Fellowship of the Ring, fans always wondered how Peter Jackson would manage to, in the space of just three hours, do every character justice and suitably introduce them into the story so as to make their role and identity apparent to non-fans of the movie. Understandably, an emphasis was put on Boromir, Gandalf and Frodo while on the other end of things Gimli, Merry and Pippin seemed to suffer from a lack of screen time and cut scenes. With Fellowship been and gone and the Two Towers approaching, we are once again questioning how PJ will handle the problem of characterisation. This weekend the Hall of Fire crew are discussing your expectations for The Two Towers, specifically with regards to character development and scene portrayal. After seeing FotR, do you now have a higher or lower degree of confidence in PJ's adaption of the books, and do you feel that The Two Towers needs to take a directional change to make it 'feel' different? Also, what characters do you feel need to be focused on in the second installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Will the emphasis on the friendship between Legolas and Gimli play out as you expect? Or will Merry and Pippin's struggle amongst the Uruk-Hai be a stronger point of focus? And what scenes do you believe will be pivotal to help illustrate these themes? PJ has admitted that The Two Towers has the least of the three books to bring to film in terms of length, and a 45 minute Helms Deep battle reflects this believe...but will this effect the characters themselves? This weekend, join in on one of our two debates and join in with your fellow Tolkien fans as we take a peek into one of the most anticipated movies this year and the struggle in adapting it from its literature counterpart. Upcoming Discussions Place: Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET] Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET] ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
Apr 27 & 28: Literary Merits of LotR
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman's and then type /join #thehalloffire .
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Saturday, April 13, 2002
Hall Of Fire Chats For April 13th & 14th
- Strider @ 14:32 PST
As the human race enters the 21st Century, we constantly strive towards the goal of equality for all, despite such factors as race, skin colour, religion, wealth or geographical location. However, these factors throughout the last two millenium have helped us shape the structure of society to the extent that we now think of and classify people in terms of lower, middle and upper class. This weekend, the Hall of Fire crew are discussing if and to what extent racial stereotypes and class structure existed in Tolkien's Middle-earth. Tolkien's work has also come under some criticism in recent times due to the pre-construed ideas about certain cultural issues which have changed radically since the time it was written, for example the lack of empowerment women have in Middle-earth. Similarly, notions of what is more acceptable in relation to race and class have also changed since the 1950s and this becomes evident when reading through Tolkien's literature and coming across some concepts which may be dubbed antiquated in today's society. For example, during the thousands of years of history of Middle-earth, it is the "swarthy" men of the East and west who remain the bad guys who more easily fall under the sway of Sauron. Clearly, being swarthy, short and squinty-eyed isn't a mark of beauty, either. Sauron, meanwhile, is said to have jet-black skin. This weekend, we hope you come visit one of our two discussion times to debate this fantastic topic (thought up by HoF staffers Frode and Saint) which is open to many an interpratation. Upcoming Discussions Place: Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET] Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET] ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
And what about class status? Is Aragorn is the right heir to the throne of Kings, because the author seems to hold to class, or caste, beliefs? Then there is Samwise (half-wise in Old English), who remains firm in his belief that his lot in life is to serve others.
Apr 13 & 14: LotR, Stereotypes & Racial Class
Apr 20 & 21: The Two Towers - The Motion Picture
Apr 20 & 21: Literary Merits of LotR
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman's and then type /join #thehalloffire .
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Saturday, April 06, 2002
The Wall Of Literary Giants
- Strider @ 11:21 PST
Barlimans regular and talented artist KT Shy sends in the proposed mural for a wall in her school library based on a library scene with various characters and objects from famous literature that she has enjoyed. Notice the little Frodo in the shadows by the bookshelf!
Friday, April 05, 2002
Hall Of Fire Chats For April 6th & 7th
- Strider @ 17:55 PST
Throughout the Fellowship of the Ring, we learnt much of the ways of Elves through Lothlórien and Rivendell and Dwarves in the mines of Moria. Yet much was told of the great city of Men, Minas Tirith and their struggles against Sauron. It is not long into The Two Towers however that we are introduced to a race of men who would prove to be one of the bravest and loyal allies to all those who fight against the tryanny of Sauron. This weekend the Hall of Fire's Two Towers chapter-by-chapter discussion continues as we look at Book III, Chapter II - The Riders of Rohan Hot on the heels of the Uruk-hai that hold their friends captive, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas relentlessly race both day and night in an attempt to shorten the distance between them and Saruman's forces. Through their hardship, the friendship of the Dwarf and the Elf begins to grow as they venture towards the land of Rohan, the home of the Riders of Rohan, once an ally to the great bastion of Men, Minas Tirith. However, the trio never get a chance to try and save Merry and Pippin from the captors, as a group of Riders led by Éomer, Third Marshall and one of the closest friends to King Theoden. He bears to them news of a band of Orcs he and his men did battle with, the same Orcs that hold Merry and Pippin and slew Boromir, bearing the White Hand of Isengard. Fearing for their friends, Aragorn and his companions are forced to check for any sign of their friends on the battleground itself. However, the Hobbits are nowhere to be seen, and a spectre feared to be Saruman haunts them in the night. A great chapter that sets in motion the alliance of Rohan with the other opposing forces to Mordor and introduces us to the Riders of Rohan, come visit this weekend as your fellow Tolkien fans discuss and debate this topic in its entirity! Upcoming Discussions Place: Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET] Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET] ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
Apr 13 & 14: LotR, Stereotypes & Racial Class
Apr 20 & 21: The Two Towers - The Motion Picture
Apr 20 & 21: Literary Merits of LotR
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman's and then type /join #thehalloffire .
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Saturday, March 30, 2002
Hall Of Fire Chats For March 30th & 31st
- Strider @ 14:57 PST
Almost two years ago, on April 7th 2000, Tolkien fans around the world were given a first glimpse at Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy currently filming in New Zealand, a project that promised to bring to life the dreams of all Tolkien fans and make the world of Middle-earth a little less fantasy and a little more real. Greeted with images of actors in stilts, rough CG models and actors in make-up, even then the magnitude of the film and what it was doing caught the imagination of us all not because of what it looked like but what it would look like a year and a half later. From that point on, the resulting trailers each brought us that little bit closer to Peter Jackson's vision, featuring scattered shots from across the Trilogy, from shots of Moria to fighting at Helm's Deep to parties at Hobbiton and the forges of Mordor. Each new trailer was the fix for fans addicted to their next peek at Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring, with the hope of seeing some of Tolkien's more fantastical creatures like the Balrog, Gollum and Treebeard. With the Fellowship of the Ring so far away, the trailers would have to suffice. And now after the release of Fellowship of the Ring, we're back on the rollercoaster again as we see the first Teaser Trailer for The Two Towers, the second in Jackson's Trilogy to hit the silver screen. This time however the teaser isn't available on the Internet and is instead showing at the end of Fellowship of the Ring, a move that will see fans flocking back to the cinemas to 'reluctantly' watching their favourite film one more time so that they can get a brief glimpse of what's in store for us December 18th 2002. And from what we've seen, The Two Towers is by far the bleaker and foreboding of itself and Fellowship', with visions of a corrupt and desolate Orthanc and Barad-Dur, Grima Wormtongue manipulating his once mighty master, the riders of Rohan preparing for battle against an enemy they have never seen before, and the incredible fighting at Helm's Deep that will dominate so much of the film. This weekend the Hall of Fire crew invite you to join us as we discuss The Two Towers Teaser Trailer. Upcoming Discussions Place: Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET] Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET] ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
Mar 30 & 31: FotR and the Oscars
Apr 06 & 07: TTT - The Riders of Rohan
Apr 13 & 14: LotR, Stereotypes & Racial Class
Apr 20 & 21: The Two Towers - The Motion Picture
Apr 20 & 21: Literary Merits of LotR
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman's and then type /join #thehalloffire .
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe