A Distant Evil: The Necromancer

The Necromancer of Dol Guldur by DJO

So just who is this Necromancer that seems to crop up at random times in The Hobbit? Thorin and the dwarves want vengeance on him. Gandalf alone has dared to explore the Necromancer's dread tower of Dol Guldur. Even Bilbo, who has never set foot outside of the Shire, has heard dark tales of this mysterious and evil being.

However, despite his bad reputation, nobody in The Hobbit (at least at first) seems to have any idea who the Necromancer really is, or what his plans are . . . besides making Mirkwood a pretty bad neighborhood.

As an example of just how powerful the Necromancer is, consider this: when Thorin finds out from Gandalf that his father was tortured in the dungeons of Dol Guldur, he begins to muse on how he and the other Longbeards might get revenge on the Necromancer. Gandalf, however, cautions Thorin and suggests that the Dwarfs would be better off forgetting about the Necromancer and instead focus their energy on defeating Smaug:

“We have long ago paid the goblins of Moria,” said Thorin; “we must give a thought to the Necromancer.”

“Don’t be absurd! He is an enemy quite beyond the powers of all the dwarves put together, if they could all be collected again from the four corners of the world.”

-The Hobbit; Ch. 1: An Unexpected Party 

More powerful than all of the dwarves? This Necromancer dude sounds serious. Read on past the break to find out just who he is and where he comes from!

More Hobbit Music

 I just stumbled across a link to a 6:00 minute long clip of musicthat is purported to be the main theme to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey! Some of you may have heard this . . . but I sure hadn't.


Now, I'm not actually 100% sure that this isn't just a compilation of different LOTR songs and sound clips from TH trailer . . . but regardless of what it really is, it's beautiful, and it's getting me even MORE excited for December!!


Enjoy!

Catching Up with The Hobbit

Ok, still playing catch-up here . . . I found two things over at The Heirs of Durin (great website which you should check out) that I couldn't resist posting:

Balin's End


First, some of the best Tolkien artwork I've ever seen, featuring the final moments of Balin. The artwork is by David Gaillet who has a gallery on Deviantart.

Pretty crazy stuff, right? I especially like the way the small like Mirrormere lives up to it's name . . . your really are looking into a mirror!

Sweet, sweet music . . .

Last but not least, DarkJackal gives us a ton of fascinating links to the complete soundtrack (including the Misty Mountains song) from The Hobbit trailer, plus more links to various discussions about the trailer music and Howard Shore's Hobbit work.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, April and May 2012

So, I started writing this post at the end of April . . . but then silly little things like writing a thesis and providing for a family kind of took up the rest of the next two months. Apologies all around. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things though, so here comes a brief recap of all the Hobbit-ee related stuff that interested me (in other words, stuff about the story and the actual movie . . . not the lives of the actors).

Unlike February and March, April and May were full of surprises . . . some good, some kinda good, and some . . . well that's mostly up to your own fancies. Catch up on all the April/May Hobbit action after the break!

Note: since I'm playing catch-up on this post, due credit should go to M58's incredibly detailed timeline of Hobbit-related news.