More Pics of Dwarves and Thranduil!

Thanks to DarkJackal for alerting us to some more awesome Hobbit pics from an "activity" book available in the UK. Hands down my favorite is this shot of Thorin & Co. on their way to the Lonely Mountain. Jump past the break to get a look at the rest of them!

Thranduil revealed! Oh . . . and Saruman too . . .

Finally, some more Hobbit pics! Call me spoiled . . . but I was getting pretty tired of this post SDCC picture drought we've been in. I mean, it's been what, three weeks? Anyways, folks over at theonering.net gave us this fantastic image of the White Council (including for the first time Saruman the White), and even better, our first glimpse of Thranduil, the Woodland King. If you're not afraid of some major spoilers, jump past the break to have a looksie at Legolas' dad:

The Hobbit Reread 2: Durin's Folk

The Hobbit Reread 2: Durin's Folk

Ok . . . I know I took forever getting Part 2 of the reread out. In my defense, I've been out of town for over a week. Sorry. Anyways, today we'll be discussing the ROTK Appendix essay Durin's Folk. This essay will give us a quick overview of the history of the Longbeard dwarves leading up to the beginning of the Hobbit.

Free Hobbit T-shirt!

All right, I apologize for the long delay in getting everybody the results of the contest . . . I've been out of town for over a week. So, to choose the winners, I just assigned every comment a number in the order they were posted (i.e., first comment = 1, second comment = 2) and then used a random number generator twice to pick two winners. And, the results are . . . .

Christian and Wedulf!

Sorry to everyone else, better luck next time (and there will be a next time)!

Christian and Wedulf, I'll get in contact with both of you so you can send me your addresses, and then I'll make and male you the shirts ASAP.

Later . . .

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Chris Rahn

After a long hiatus, we've got another Friday at the Mathom-House! It's been a long time, but believe me, it was worth the wait. Today we'll be looking at a single painting by Chris Rahn. Now, I now that usually more pieces are featured each week, but this illustration was the artist's only Tolkien-related piece; however, it was so good, I just couldn't pass up the chance to show it off. Jump past the break to see the full painting in all its glory!

The Hobbit Reread 1: Of Dwarves and Men

The History of Middle-earth Vol. 12: The Peoples of Middle-earth - Of Dwarves and Men

Okay, before I jump into the first of many rereads, I thought I'd explain the format. Each week I'll present a summary of the chapter or essay I'll be discussing, and then move into my 'discussion' of the piece. If the piece I'm rereading is not part of the main body of the Hobbit I'll give a bit of background on it as well (mainly applicable for the first couple of weeks). In each section I'll try to include any incredibly important quotations as necessary. Here we go!

Announcing: The Great Hobbit Reread of 2012

The clock is ticking and December 14th is getting closer by the day (literally). A while ago I realized that there could be no better way to get ready for the big night than by doing an in-depth reread of The Hobbit and post my thoughts, reactions and predictions for the movie chapter by chapter. So that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Now, Peter Jackson has commented repeatedly that the Hobbit films (three of them now . . . can you believe it?) will draw heavily from material found in the Lord of the Rings appendices. To account for this additional material that will be included in the film, I'll also read and review key parts of the Appendices, and other pieces of Tolkien's work, that deal directly with the Hobbit. I'll try and limit this extra material to sections that I believe deal directly with The Hobbit and are most likely to be incorporated into the movies. I'll try and review these extra sections chronologically as they relate to the actual book (e.g., I'll probably read the essay Durin's Folk from the Appendices first, since chronologically most of the events in that section occurred first).

Additionally, I'm not going to read all of The Hobbit; rather, I'll read up to the point where I believe the first movie will end. At the moment I'm guessing that will be somewhere in Ch. 9: Barrels out of Bond or Ch. 10: A Warm Welcome.

Here's the tentative schedule:

1. August 8th: LOTR Appendices; The Peoples of Middle-earth - Of Dwarves and Men
2. August 15th: LOTR Appendices - Durin's Folk (and other materials on dwarves)
3. August 22th: The Fellowship of the Rings - Concerning Hobbits
4. August 29th: The Unfinished Tales - The Quest of Erebor
5. September 5th: The Hobbit, Ch. 1 - An Unexpected Party
6. September 12th: The Hobbit, Ch. 2 - Roast Mutton
7. September 19th: The Hobbit, Ch. 3 - A Short Rest
8. September 26th: The Hobbit, Ch. 4 - Over Hill and Under Hill
9. October 3rd: The Hobbit, Ch. 5 - Riddles in the Dark
10. October 10rd: The Hobbit, Ch. 6 - Out of the Frying-Pan Into the Fire
11. October 17th: The Hobbit, Ch. 7 - Queer Lodgings
12. October 24th: The Hobbit, Ch. 8 - Flies and Spiders
13. October 31th: The Hobbit, Ch. 9 - Barrels out of Bond
14. November 7th: The Hobbit, Ch. 10 - A Warm Welcome
15. November 14th: The Hobbit Reread: The Wrap-Up
16. November 21th: The Hobbit Reread: Movie Predictions

25,000 views and a Free "Hole in the Ground" T-Shirt Give Away!

So the old blog hit 25,000 views today, and I figure it's time to celebrate. So, in honor of the occasion, I'll be giving away TWO free Hole in the Ground t-shirts. The image below shows the design of the t-shirts (open the image in a new tab to see it larger). And yes, you can choose from any of the three colors.

Now, for the rules: in order to enter the contest you have to make a comment on this post and "follow" the blog. In two weeks I'll number the comments and then randomly draw two of the numbers, and . . . BAM!!! You've potentially won an awesome new Hobbit t-shirt.

Now, a quick note: these t-shirts will be handmade . . . high quality, but handmade. I think you'll like them.

So, the contest starts today . . . follow the blog and leave a comment and then cross your fingers.

Thanks for all the views!