The Irish singing star Enya is recovering after a narrow escape from an intruder at her supposedly secure castle near Dublin. The entertainer locked herself in a "panic room" and activated a panic button after discovering that a man had made his way through the castle's defences. The intruder, who tied up a maid during the two-hour incident, made his escape before police arrived. [More]

Meghan, Online Community Manager for The Lord of the Rings Online wrotes: It's screenshot week! In honor of October and Halloween, we picked three of our spookier screens to show this month. Next week, technical artist Dwynna talks about animating the Ringwraith in her first LOTRO dev diary. See you then! [More]

Middle Earth has come to Indiana. Hobbits, orcs and elves, along with body armor, jewelry and special effects from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, are visiting the Indiana State Museum through January. The exhibit has pieces actually used in the movies, including swords, jewelry and much more. They also give an education in the Academy Award-winning digital effects. JR Tolkeins’ Lord of the Rings novels created a cultural explosion. Finally, technology allowed movie making to do them justice. Beginning in 2001 his land of fantasy was captured in brilliant detail on the big screen. The Academy Award-winning three-part trilogy thrilled even the most skeptical Tolkein fans. [More]

Garfeimao writes: Looks like Sean Bean will be reprising his popular role as Richard Sharpe for British television. Check out the link below for the story. [More]

Folks from the London MCM Expo write: I just wanted to let you know that both Andy Serkis & Bernard Hill will be attending the UK’s premiere Movie & Collectors event on the 29th & 30th October 2005, The London MCM Expo takes place at Excel, Royal Victoria Docks, London, E16, UK. In attendance will be movie companies, computer games companies plus much more including other guests from Film & TV. [More]

TheOneRing.net, in partnership with Sideshow Weta Collectibles is giving away three Orc-related Lord of the Rings prizes. Check out the details and enter today! [Click Here]

Steph writes: I just thought you'd be interested to know, John Noble is scheduled to appear in the SciFi show Stargate SG-1. He will appear in the season finale which airs in March. Here's a link to the site with details. [More]

Gandalf the Grey is going greenLord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen plans to summon up the power of the sun to power his Limehouse home. The veteran actor, who played the great wizard in the fantasy trilogy, has applied to Tower Hamlets Council for planning permission to mount eight solar panels on the roof of his Narrow Street home. If successful, Sir Ian could cut green-house gas emissions by savingaround 600kg of carbon dioxide each year. Covering 10 square metres, the solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are unlikely to upset neighbours as they would not increase the size of his flat roof. Anyone still wishing to object to the plans can lodge a complaint with the council. [More]

Wyvern writes: I thought you might like to know that Alan Lee has just been announced as appearing at my local sci-fi and fantasy convention here in Plymouth, England. It's called ArmadaCon and it's running from 11th - 13th November. He obviously likes to keep busy, because it won't be long after he gets back from his US book tour! [More]

'Lost', featuring Dominic Monaghan, is on ABC tonight at 9PM EST. [abc.go.com]

Elijah Wood will be a guest on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' tonight (October 5th). The Tonight Show airs at 11:35PM on NBC.

Orlando Bloom is slated to be a guest on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' today, he's there to talk about his latest film 'Elizabethtown'. Check your local listings.

The Oscar-winning creative team behind the "The Lord of the Rings" films, including director Peter Jackson, has been named to run the production of the upcoming film based on Microsoft Corp.'s blockbuster "Halo" video game, the company said on Tuesday. Jackson and his wife, Fran Walsh, will serve as the executive producers for "Halo," which is targeted for worldwide release in mid-2007 by Universal Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox film studios. Universal will oversee the film's production and domestic distribution. Fox will handle international distribution. "Halo" will be shot in Wellington, New Zealand, and will use Jackson's production and post-production facilities there. "I'm a huge fan of the game and look forward to helping it come alive on the cinema screen," Jackson said in a statement. [More]

Academy Award-winning Wellington scriptwriter Fran Walsh is to be awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature from Victoria University at its May graduation ceremonies. Ms Walsh, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria in 1981, began her career as a fledgling scriptwriter working in television, including writing episodes of Worzel Gummidge, Down Under and Shark in the Park. She then went on to collaborate with Peter Jackson in such full-length films as Meet the Feebles (1989), Braindead (1992), Heavenly Creatures (1994), and The Frighteners (1996). [More]

Ravyneyez writes: I just opened my SciFi wire and found a small blurb about Sean Bean's new movie Silent Hill (video game inspired movie). It's directed by the Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) and he mentions PJ when speaking of his current director. Sounds like a movie to look out for. [More]

EDITOR'S NOTE: National Review is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week. Throughout the week, NRO will run some pieces from the archives to help take a trip down memory lane. This piece appeared in the September 28, 1973, issue of National Review.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, who died a fortnight ago in his 81st year, was as much a writer of his time as the archetypical modern from whom he seemed to differ so radically and so sharply. All the arts of our century have been revivals of forms long abandoned. Joyce was our Homer, Pound our Dante. Tolkien dared to resuscitate romance, a form requiring the genius of a Rabelais or Spenser, a form which was shattered after its brilliant flowering in the hands of Boiardo and Ariosto by the publication of Don Quixote. Thereafter the demon realism ruled the roost. [More]

No matter where Elijah Wood goes, no matter what he does, about a billion people will identify him as Frodo in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. It was that kind of success. More recently, he was in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Sin City" before making a couple of independent films that have gone into release concurrently on the art-house circuit, meaning one or two prints per region. [More]

TheOneRing.net, in partnership with Sideshow Weta Collectibles is giving away three great Lord of the Rings prizes. Our first place winner will receive an Orc Pitmaster Figure, second place will receive a Trapjaw Helm and third place will receive 'The Orcs of Moria' Medallion No. 1. Its excessively easy to enter and winners are selected at random. Enjoy! [Click Here]

Turgon writes: Henry Gee has posted some news at his website on the UK book tour for his book, THE SCIENCE OF MIDDLE-EARTH. The first date is today (12 April) in Tolkien's own city of Oxford, where he'll be speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival. [More]

The original soundtrack to the film 'A History of Violence' is to be released on New Line Records on October 11th. The film marks the 11th collaboration between director David Cronenberg and Canadian composer Howard Shore. Best known for his scores for the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which earned him three Academy Awards, Howard Shore continues to create epic and unique soundtracks. His work on â??Rings" saw the composer win Academy Awards for Best Original Score ("The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Return of the King") and one for Best Original Song for his collaboration with Annie Lennox and Fran Walsh on the song "Into the West" featured in "The Return of the King." [More]

Elijah Wood talks about his two new small-budget indie films and the culture shock of leaving Middle-earth. There is life after Lord of the Rings. Elijah Wood, who played lead Hobbit Frodo Baggins in the epic film trilogy, is back in a couple of couldn't-be-more-different movies this year. Off screen, the former child star is more involved in music than ever and trying to come to grips with the destruction of one of his favorite places on Earth. [More]

Sideshow Weta Collectibles is running a weekend promotion which asks their collectors if they are 'Lord of the Polystone.' Customers who purchase a Lord of the Rings in-stock item in the next few days, will automatically receive a free 'Lord of the Polystone' t-shirt. Some of more popular items available as in-stock: Pippin Statue, Galadriel Statue, Mini-Balrog, Haradrim solder, etc. Check their site for the complete details.[Click Here]

After lackluster festival reviews, director Cameron Crowe scrambles to get his heartfelt romantic comedy ''Elizabethtown'' in shape for general audiences. Will they show him the money? Cameron Crowe is having a quintessentially Cameron Crowe moment. If he had written it himself, an Elton John song might be playing over the scene and you, the fired-up audience member, would suddenly be singing along under your breath, rooting for the shaggy underdog to survive the firestorm that has engulfed his world, turning his life from comedy to high-stakes drama without his consent. In typical Crowe fashion, his rescue would probably come in the form of a soulful, beautiful woman with great taste in music who shows up with just enough good humor and good sense to remind him why he loves his life and that none of that other stuff matters. It's been a rough week for Crowe, 48, who recently screened his new movie, Elizabethtown, at the Toronto film festival, and watched critics have at it like a piñata. [More]

Sean Bean may now be a Hollywood heartthrob, but that has not stopped him returning to his Yorkshire roots to support his city's university. The actor, who has worked alongside stars such as Pierce Brosnan, Orlando Bloom and Joely Richardson and is more usually found in the Hollywood Hills than Hillsborough, has returned to his home city to star in an advert promoting Sheffield Hallam University as the place to study. Bean, whose film credits include Lord of the Rings, and Patriot Games, and who was famously the swashbuckling hero of the TV series Sharpe, has recorded four adverts about studying at Sheffield Hallam and life in the city, to be broadcast on local radio stations. [More]

Henry Gee writes: On Monday 3 October, I'll be talking about my book 'The Science of Middle-earth' at the Cafe Scientifique in Reading, England. The Science of Middle-earth grow out of a special guest column in Green Books right here on TORn. [More]

Halfdan Hansen writes: Not many people have the chance to visit the birthplace of the Ring in person. JensHansen Contemporary Gold & Silversmith in Nelson, New Zealand have added a webcam to their news and blog page on their website. The webcam updates every 15 seconds during our business hours. Not only can you spot if we are doing any work, you can also see what we are listening to right now on the iTunes stereo. [More]