So my 'Deluxe' copy of the Silmarillion has finally arrived ! It is very pleasing to the eye and quarter bound so it feels just right. Now I'm going to start re-reading the Silmarillion on the morrow, but until then I have peaked at the Foreword and Preface (which I rarely do) and have found an interesting extract in which C.R.Tolkien spoke of the difficulty of assembling this work. I'll copy a part of it down below.

"On my father's death it fell to me to try to bring the work into publishable form. It became clear to me that to attempt to present, within the covers of a single book, the diversity of the materials - to show the Silmarillion as in truth a continuing and evolving creation extending over more than half a century - would in fact lead only to confusion and the submerging of what is essential. I set myself therefore to work out a single text, selecting and arranging in such a way as seemed to me to produce the most coherent and internally self-consistent narrative."
Christopher.R.Tolkien, Foreword to the Silmarillion, 

One of the main reasons i haven't updated the website has been out of pure dread for this review (and ridiculous amounts of work). It had to be my next post, yet I was honestly far too afraid to even begin writing it. It has been subject to an extremely varied response, ranging from absolute adoration, to pure loathing. Honestly that is also how I felt, I loved the film for itself, yet saw many flaws in it and detested what PJ did with the story, but we will get into that in a second. 

Truth is no one has the "key" or "truthfull" review. Everyone saw something different to love and hate about this film.There is no way to predict what you, as an individual, will love or hate about this film. If you want a very positive review, I recommend Elessar's one on the OneRing.net : Right Here. If you want a more critical but intelligent one (and done by an actual fan rather than most), try TOR's : Right Here. The only thing I can promise ? Eagles ... Let's dive right in.

Oh and I'll leave a spoiler free version later on, but for now ... SPOILERS

Let's talk about what I, and many others, looked forward to the most : Smaug's attack on Lake-Town. I think it was honestly one of my favorite parts from the book, 'fire and water' being my favorite chapter after 'an unexpected party'. So many expected this to be a part of the build up towards the climax of the film, the battle of five armies. No one thought it would be the center of the action, but seeing it wrapped up and Smaug dead right before the title even rolls is quite painful. Don't get me wrong, the scene was (almost) done masterfully, and it only left a bad taste in the mouth because we dived into the action so fast ; the complete opposite of the first film ; I was upset at the notion of not seeing bard's bow, which is an honest shame and somewhat hampers the epic confrontation between Bard and Smaug. As for Bard using his son as a ballistae ? I honestly don't know what to say about it. Some people love it, others hate it, it was a ... unique approach by Peter Jackson. Still an awesome scene that was a tad bit rushed in my opinion, yet the high point for many fans of this film. Most people apparently enjoyed this and I can see why.

Never skipping a beat ; okay a few, maybe just not right now ; Jackson gives us an immediate follow up on the intense attack, with even more intense salvaging ! And then ? Organising ! (detect the sarcasm) It felt a bit, anticlimactic, the after-attack. I mean one of the most action packed scenes in all of the Legendarium being followed by boring bureaucracy, corrupt officials being shamed and Bard being a very cool guy and as such being elected chief of the men of the lake (he might also have killed a dragon). It was still necessary to explain the aftermath of Smaug's attack, although not immediately after the attack, and it does serve one major purpose ; it is, in my eyes, an indication that PJ will talk about the refounding of Dale in the extended edition, a subject which is quite touchy with many book fans who saw it's omission as a form of sacrilege. This is quite controversial and many people felt the ending was ruined because we only saw Bilbo's ending and a farewell from the dwavres. People did complain about the end of the RotK but this was something else and I will talk about it later on. Since I'm not sure that it will appear in the extended edition, and it should have appeared in the cinematic cut, I don't know if I can disagree with them. What I can say is that this is one of the rare 'build up' moments, seeing how over 99% of the film is pure action.

I was enjoying the film up until here, and I will keep enjoying it afterwards. A lot, and I mean A LOT of people really liked this scene. It was to be the 'apendices' part, the casting out of Sauron by the White Council (which is not racist BTW) should have been a Tolkien fan's dream scene, while being a lore nightmare for most, who wouldn't really understand where it came from without much build up. It was anything but a simple 'bridge' between LotR and Hobbit. Me and my friends were almost laughing ... at how BAD it was. It was painfully bad. If you disliked Saruman vs Gandalf 's mortal kombat Kung-Fu in the first trilogy ... you are not going to like this scene, you are going to loathe it. Between Galadriel looking like a saturated female villain from the 90s, covered in dark and spectral 'energy' and Saruman and Elrond teaming up to destroy, and I do mean destroy, Sauron's most powerful lieutenants, the nazgûl. One wonders both how the White Council didn't win the war of the ring single-handedly, or why Christopher Lee doesn't organise self-defense courses. I mean between his war service and his amazing Kung-Fu he must be an amazing teacher. Also Gandalf, granted he was locked in a cage for months but he is still a Maia, grovelling like a child, half-dead, during the entire scene wasn't what I expected from one of my favorite characters ever or one of the most powerful forces of good in Middle-Earth. Seriously, this scene was horrific in my eyes, and it was just as bad (if not worst) for a lot of fans. But in general viewers and critics praised this scene for being 'epic'. I can understand why, it was built up (to my surprise) in previous films and did give Gandalf a much deserved and more important role in the film rather than being an Eagle-Ex Machina.

This though, completely made up for it. Thorin going mad was amazing to watch, and I was truly afraid of Richard Armitage's acting. He did an amazing job, as did Martin Freeman. It is one of those rare times where Peter Jackson meddling with the original story has awesome consequences. Taking on a whole Macbeth storyline, Thorin's growing lack of trust in his own people is so well done that it made up entirely for Dol Guldur, and possibly any other fault the film has. While in the book, Thorin is just greedy, here his "dragon's sickness" is one of the main plot elements, and is a nice way to give a role to Bilbo, who has been pushed aside for this last film. 

Anyway, sorry for making this review a two-parter, when it honestly shouldn't be, I've just been having mounds of work and had this half review floating in my folders for weeks. I will begin updating more often in the future (I hope).

- The Mad Hobbit

Now I'm just making a quick update after having seen the swiss premiere last night on my thoughts on the film, and two defining parts of it. Before I begin I'm just going to say I adored the movie as a film fan, but got really upset at the many modifications that PJ made as a Tolkien fan. I'll give a more detailled opinion later. Spoilers ahead.

Okay this scene sums up everything that isn't just wrong with the Hobbit, but with the "Middle-Earth saga" in general. Don't you remember how much you loved that old man kung-fu in the fellowship ? It's back, and it's even more ridiculous. Gone are the days of subtle magic born of wisdom and lore, this isn't Tolkien's film it is a Hollywood blockbuster and see the 9 nazgûl turned into target dummies for Elrond and Saruman to swing at. I was furious beyond belief at the scene, yet laughing as Galadriel is turned into a dark queen, firing magical eye lasers at Sauron while the screen was having an acid trip. Honestly, everything that was wrong with the series in a 15 minute sequence. This will come back and bite PJ in the back of the arse.

This was what I dreaded the most, not that i hated the end of the Hobbit, as a matter of fact I loved it so much I was terrified of what was to come. BUT PJ pulled it off masterfully, with Thorin saying the "world would be a better place if more cared about home" speech and the Bilbo returning to a bag end being sacked by legions of Hobbits. All while in the background a beautiful score plays the film off. The ending honestly made up for all the faults of the film (in my eyes) but I will speak more about that later.

- The Mad Hobbit

On the 12th of December, "the defining moment" of the Middle-Earth legend, will be released. And it will be a "defining" moment among fans, who are split over the film. Some absolutely detest PJ and his take, rewriting the book, removing it's heart and turning it into the overblown epic it was not meant to be. Others are excited about the film, seeing it not as much a recreation of the book as a loose adaption, who are expecting, and hoping, for a fun and epic ride. While I agree with both sides, I think we have all forgotten something important about Tolkien's work : It was considered "impossible" to adapt to cinema. Even he and his son Christopher believed it to be so. Middle-Earth has so many facets, so many different mediums for storytelling, such as wide scope and rich universe, that honestly staying faithful is impossible, there will always be details missed. Add to that the need for the film to be a success, take all of this into account and you will realise that PJ hasn't done a bad job, he has done an amazing one !


For the fans of the site, this is quite a short article after many months of absence, but I have been preparing my entry to university among other things. I will begin regularly updating the blog again.


- The Mad Hobbit

- Extended scenes
- 2 disks of Bonuses and unfinished footage, like in the "Unexpected Journey" extended edition.
- More New Zealand tourism videos, in the style of "100% Middle Earth, 100% New Zealand"
- Director commentaries
- DvD, Blu-Ray or Blu-Ray 3D disks depending on your version.
- Standard, Limited or Collector's edition boxes.

The Box art themes don't match with an unexpected journey, also while UJ only had one collector edition (the extended version), desolation of smaug had one for the theatrical release :

Makes it all very hard for a collector like myself to keep a matching bookcase. 

- The Mad Hobbit

Gondor was home to many Númenóreans. For it is indeed a much more fertile region than Arnor, in the north. Therefore the area was very populated even before the arrival of the sons of Elendil. At that time the main city of the region was not the famous Minas Tirith, or the capital Osgiliath but another city that we know as Pelargir. However Gondor was not truly a "nation", it had no sovereign right, it was born from the separation of Númenórian colonies and it's mainland, between Elendili (Friend of elves) and the king's men (These are Nùménorien who rebelled against the Valar by desire for immortality), though the colonies were occupied after the downfall of Akallabêth.

The young kingdom of gondor was ruled by Isildur and Anárion at first, while Arnor was led by Elednil (below). They all took part in the Last Alliance of Men and Elves that led to the first fall Sauron, which was followed by the subsequent occupation of Mordor throughout most of the Third Age. Let it be noted that Ilsildur, the man who cut the finger of Sauron and led the Alliance to victory is the brother of Anárion who is the ancestor of the Kings of Gondor. Isildur in turn generate the lineage of kings of Arnor, before his demise on the road northwards.

After the conflict, Gondor entered into a boom or millitary and economic power which continually increased. The power of the nation was such that it was during this time that major cities such as Minas Ithil whose name means the tower of Moon and that we know today as the Minas Morgul which means Tower of Sorcery saw their strength, prosperity and population grow. It was one of the two towers, along with Minas Anor, tower of the sun, which is now know as Minas Tirith, tower of the guard. Neither of these cities was the capital, which was in Osgiliath, upon the Anduin, in the middle of the kingdom between the two towers. It was during this period that the gondor began to rule over more and more territory as it's power grew and it's splendor began to mirror Númenoór of old. It's golden age was under the rule of King Hyarmendacil I ,which means "winner of the South", who was so powerful he foreced into vassalisation King Harad .

Look for Part 2 soon,
- Hamster King of Angmar

I made a page dedicated to this visit that I will update as I release these : /visit-of-the-greisinger-museum.html

A few days ago, I got the honor of visiting the Greisinger Museum, a museum dedicated to Tolkien which hosts the largest collection of Middle-Earth pieces, with over 3000 books, 10000 illustrations and 12000 memorablia, of which I was only able to get a few glimpses. Please let it be known that I have very few pictures of the books, as most of them are signed and the museum forbade me from taking pictures of them.
I first got to visit the Hobbit-Hole, or Smial though I felt it had too little windows to be one. Then I got to visit a Moria themed room, which mainly served as a display of "The Hobbit" memorablia.

A serie of original illustrations for American and Russian copies of the Hobbit and the Lord of the rings, along with the staffs of Gandalf the grey and Radagast the brown and a Anduril, the flame of the west.

Custom made Argonath, specialy designed for the museum.

A serie of elvish linked illustrations, mainly linked to the grey havens and Galadriel. All are originals.

Now sadly the most interesting part of this room, was the 'rare book' corridor, yet we were not allowed to take pictures because of copyright reasons, still it included a copy of the Hobbit in which Tolkien wrote a message to his 'special friend' (being Elaine Griffiths, whom convinced Tolkien to publish his book), a few signed first editions for 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' as well as the 1973 bill for Tolkien's funeral.

The next room I'll post will be the Gondor room.

- The Mad Hobbit

Not looking so good are you Celebrimbor ?

Celebrimbor was a lot of things, a Ñoldor, a descendant of Fëanor, a ruler of Eregion, a friend of Dwarves, forger of the elven rings, and deceived. What I might have missed in the Silmarilion was when he became a wraith and fused with a ranger during the Third Age. i think a lot of us missed that.

This trailer was released a few weeks ago, at comic-con, and has caused quite a fuss. A lot of fans are outraged at the twist on the wraiths origins. And I don't entirely blame them. I'm certainly not what you would call a purist, I'm open to adaptations and spin-offs, but this goes quite a bit further than mere fan fiction :
- It's not just a fanfic story, this is a full on game trying to 'expand' on the lore of the Dark Realm, and while some aditions were intriguing, this one is quite shocking. While previously it just introduced a few races of troll-  and warg-like creatures, now it is messing with one of the biggest characters of Tolkien's' Quenta Silmarilion' and 'Of the Rings of Power'.
- Not only is it messing with the lore, it's bringing about modifications to the functioning of Erda. I wrote in a previous article about how unplausible it was for a wraith to 'merge' with a mortal man, to merge with anything really ! (Link here)
- Finally the explanation given in the trailer is kind of wonky. Celebrimbor and Talion have in common the brutal murder of their families ? I mean they both themselves suffered at the hand of Sauron, but I don't remember anything about Celebrimbor having a family. Although in it's defense saying that Celebrimbor is trying to aid Talion ; and as shown in the trailer, drive him towards a path of rightousness rather than revenge ; to overthrow Sauron because he feels guilty does sound quite correct, it would be expected of an Ñoldor of his stature to try to make ammends.
Let's just see how the game does and hope it can pull this off.

- The Mad Hobbit

Durin's gate into Moria, hand-crafted for the Museum.

Some Dwarvish runes from the display cases.

The Balrog model without it's lighting, also a custom made piece for the museum.

The first room, while presented as the "gate of Moria" mainly held rare pieces of Nazgùl illustrations, as well as a few replicas.

Custom made Balrog, which lights up with UV.

Balrog, Watcher in the water and Cave troll respectively (from left to right). All official models from WETA digital. 

Swords of Fili the dwarf. Reproduction of the actual filming prop built by Weta Workshop of New Zealand and used in the motion picture.

A selection of illustrations.

Cave troll, fighting Gimli.

Moria Orcs and members of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield. All from Weta worshop of course.

That's all for today, but I will try to release the "Wilderland" room next time.

- The Mad Hobbit.

I made a page dedicated to this visit that I will update as I release these : /visit-of-the-greisinger-museum.html

A few days ago, I got the honor of visiting the Greisinger Museum, a museum dedicated to Tolkien which hosts the largest collection of Middle-Earth pieces, with over 3000 books, 10000 illustrations and 12000 memorablia, of which I was only able to get a few glimpses. Please let it be known that I have very few pictures of the books, as most of them are signed and the museum forbade me from taking pictures of them.
I first got to visit the Hobbit-Hole, or Smial though I felt it had too little windows to be one.

As I came to the museum, I found myself standing in a small valley, at the heart of the swiss alps, the same which inspired Tolkien in 1911, as he began imagining such wonderful places as the misty mountains or Rivendell. Sadly it's a bit too summery to see any snow capped peaks, even though we were nearing the 800m above sea level. 

While it may seem a simple, thin reproduction of Bag end's door in "The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey", this door was almost 17cm wide, carved out of wood, quite heavy and with a fragile frame.

The tour was led by a friend of Mr Greisinger, whom we would meet later, wearing an eowyn-like dress. As a matter of fact Mr Greisinger does the german tours himself dressed up as Thorin Oakenshield ! Yet we choose the french tour as my german is quite appaling.

The illustrations above are from the Tolkien calendar, as a matter of fact Mr Greisinger even owns the original 1969 Unofficial Tolkien Calendar by Ken Rudolph.

They also own the contract from "an Unexpected Journey", one of the stage props to be used.

Our guide told us something interesting :
There is 1 ring to rule them all,
3 for elf-kings,
7 for dwarf lords,
9 for mortal men,
the Hobbit was published in 1937, and Tolkien died in 1973.
Quite a cool coincidence isn't it ?

Jon Howe Smaug bronze sculpture, they don't have any originals from him, but they do have an original Alan Lee in the Gondor room.

Anway there is a lot more to see, but I don't have time to show it all, next room is Moria !

- The Mad Hobbit.