Re: The General Tolkien News Thread

[malickfan]

Sounds interesting. If it's through iPlayer it'll probably be restricted to streaming in the UK though, right? (Aside from proxies ofc.)

Er, I'm not sure, I rarely use iPlayer, I know some of the stuff can be accessed via proxy etc, but I think the BBC has tightened access in recent months. If I remember I'll try and listen to it...

[malickfan]

Amazon has a Middle Earth Ultimate Collectors edition Blu Ray boxset of LOTR and The Hobbit listed:

https://www.amazon.com/Middle-Earth-UCE-BD-Blu-ray/dp/B01JH3KL0E/

There's not actually any new video content listed as far as I can tell:

Middle Earth Collection:UCE (AMAZON/6-pack/BD) (BD)
- For the first time ever, Academy Award®-winning director Peter Jackson's epic adventure is available in one spectacular limited collector's edition box set.
- The Limited Collector's Edition includes 30 discs featuring all six Middle-earth films in their extended edition forms, housed in six stunning faux leather books and a collectible Hobbit-style wood shelf. The one-of-a-kind wood shelf is crafted from solid wood with design selected by Peter Jackson.
- In addition to the extended edition release of every film, the collection also includes all previously released bonus content from both the theatrical and extended editions.
- Exclusive premiums designed for the collection include: · Spectacular 100-page sketch-style book with replica The Red Book of Westmarch, filled with original film sketches and new artwork · Original reproductions of exquisite watercolor paintings by acclaimed conceptual artists Alan Lee and John Howe, framable and wall-ready

and that ludicrous price tag is likely only a placeholder before more information is released.

As we know Jackson has stated before there's plenty more special features/deleted scenes he'd like to include in a hypothetical 6 film boxset, so I'm going to keep on eye on this for more details to be released, is this the Ultimate Edition we've long imagined, or just a cash in by the studios...

Hmm...

[malickfan]

http://www.tolkiensociety.org/2016/07/facsimile-first-edition-of-the-hobbit-to-be-published-on-22-september/

...Hard to believe this is actually getting released, I can remember pre-ordering and eventually cancelling a copy about five or six years ago...

[Eldorion]

The combined box set sounds pretty neat but, like the Harry Potter collection housed inside a wooden chest, I don't really have the money (or shelf space) for something so fancy.

{{{Also I have no desire to spend more money on the Hobbit movies. }}}

Would be disappointing if it doesn't come with any additional features/deleted scenes. Hopefully if they're still planning on doing that, they will announce it before this one comes out, to avoid double dipping. That's what New Line did with the TEs and EEs back in the day, anyway, but I wouldn't be surprised if WB holds off on discussing any future releases until after this one.

Interesting that they say 30 discs. The LOTR EE Blu-ray was 15 but the Hobbit EEs all had fewer discs, did they not? Maybe they'll include both Blu-ray and DVD versions. But it's also possible that there are new discs with previously unseen content, I suppose.

[malickfan]

The combined box set sounds pretty neat but, like the Harry Potter collection housed inside a wooden chest, I don't really have the money (or shelf space) for something so fancy.

{{{Also I have no desire to spend more money on the Hobbit movies. }}}

Would be disappointing if it doesn't come with any additional features/deleted scenes. Hopefully if they're still planning on doing that, they will announce it before this one comes out, to avoid double dipping. That's what New Line did with the TEs and EEs back in the day, anyway, but I wouldn't be surprised if WB holds off on discussing any future releases until after this one.

Interesting that they say 30 discs. The LOTR EE Blu-ray was 15 but the Hobbit EEs all had fewer discs, did they not? Maybe they'll include both Blu-ray and DVD versions. But it's also possible that there are new discs with previously unseen content, I suppose.

People on TORn have said they've heard from sources in the industry that Jackson was completely willing to give up his time to put together and include deleted scenes, outtakes, new/unreleased special features but Warner Brothers passed on the opportunity evidently a few million dollars was too much for them to part ways with to please the fans who have sent so much money there way

-So no new special features, interviews, or video content, and it ddoesn't include the 3d or theatrical versions

But at least you get a free shelf

http://digitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/081816_1445

[Eldorion]

Wow, that sounds terrible. I got all three theatrical versions of the films for Christmas last year (which came to something like $20 when I looked them up before adding them to my list), so I now have the theatrical bonus features (as well as those cuts of the movies themselves, of course). Otherwise there's really nothing of any interest to me in that set that I don't already have.

My gut reaction to the whole "PJ wanted to do more bonus features but WB said no" thing was to think that it sounded like typical fanboy excuse-making, but if it's being reported on outside of forums then it sounds like there's a decent chance of it being true, even with it being based on anonymous sources, given PJ's past comments on the matter.

I wonder if WB will do the same thing they did with the Harry Potter complete collections and release a new version of this without the shelf and book (but otherwise identical with all the same discs) a couple years from now. That seems likeliest to me ... the dream of the Ultimate Edition ever coming out is looking very shaky right now.

[Eldorion]

TORn goes into a bit more detail with the new releases. There will be six film collections of the theatrical versions on both DVD and Blu-ray but they won't include any special features. The EE one is being called the "Limited Collector's Edition" which to me basically confirms that there will be a cheaper version of this in the next couple years without some of the bells and whistles but essentially the same content.

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2016/08/21/101565-the-nuts-and-bolts-info-on-the-new-middle-earth-6-film-collection-release/

NB the article claims that the bonus features aren't on Blu-ray because "they have never been re-scanned from their original source in HD". This is not true. The extras are on DVD because they were filmed in Standard Definition; ie, the original source itself is lower than HD quality. See >here<

[malickfan]

At least Warner Brothers has been conistent this year is p*ssing off the fans of its major franchises.

(The one new Hobbit bonus feature I'd really like to see is a Martin Freeman swears at the camera reel )

[malickfan]

Looks like there might be a revised/expanded etc 2nd edition of Hammond and Scull's colossal Companion and Guide released next year, (if you haven't got a copy of the original and can track it down for a decent price its highly recommended, a absolutely fascinating work of scholarship):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/J-R-Tolkien-Companion-Guide/dp/0008214549/

[Eldorion]

Have they mentioned anywhere about the new edition being expanded? I just checked their blog and the "What We're Writing" section of their website but nothing there yet.

I just bought the second volume earlier this year and I'm unlikely to rebuy the whole thing any time soon but it really is a monumental work and an invaluable resource to Tolkien studies.

[malickfan]

Have they mentioned anywhere about the new edition being expanded? I just checked their blog and the "What We're Writing" section of their website but nothing there yet.

I just bought the second volume earlier this year and I'm unlikely to rebuy the whole thing any time soon but it really is a monumental work and an invaluable resource to Tolkien studies.

They haven't mentioned anything on their blog as far as I know, (it's over a year away from the projected release date, which may be a placeholder, so they might not permission to comment on it yet) I'm assuming this new edition is expanded as the first was 2300 pages, Amazon lists the 2nd as 2400 and on their website they list extensive corrections and supplemental content:

http://www.hammondandscull.com/addenda/companion.html

I posted this over on TORn, I think Hammond and Scull post there from time to time, so we'll just have to wait and see...

[Eldorion]

I didn't even think to look at the number of pages. Good eyes!

I know Hammond & Scull have corrigenda for most of their books online; sometimes things that were pointed out by people on forums they frequent, of which there are at least two.

[malickfan]

Maybe it's just slightly bigger font and a contents page...

[halfwise]

What's a corrigenda?

[malickfan]

What's a corrigenda?

Basically a posh way of saying: a list of errors in a book along with the corrections.

[halfwise]

Ah, an errata...except you're being sneaky enough that most people won't realize you're admitting to mistakes.

[malickfan]

Have they mentioned anywhere about the new edition being expanded? I just checked their blog and the "What We're Writing" section of their website but nothing there yet.

I just bought the second volume earlier this year and I'm unlikely to rebuy the whole thing any time soon but it really is a monumental work and an invaluable resource to Tolkien studies.

They've posted an update on their blog, confirming a much expanded second edition:

https://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/tolkien-companion-and-guide-2nd-ed/

[Eldorion]

Damn, that's huge news. Very cool that it'll be back in print and even more thorough.

[malickfan]

http://sacnoths.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/tolkien-lewis-film.html

[malickfan]

Damn, that's huge news. Very cool that it'll be back in print and even more thorough.

Yeah, I'll have to start saving...read just now that there were only 4,000 copies of the first edition printed (which compares to nearly Half a Million in Europe and North America alone for the first print run of The Children Of Hurin: http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/Children-of-Hurin-facts-figures.php) so I'm rather surprised and (certainly glad) HarperCollins believed there were a financial incentive to reprint it...

I still hold out hope for a expanded edition of The Letters Of J.R.R Tolkien...

[Pettytyrant101]

{{Stumbled across these dunno if they've been posted before- Tolkien lore, seem not bad what Ive watched so far. Lets see what our Lore Masters make of them though! }}}



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlFZNs3eLW7qSx5vMNa3fxCwFyHRYXeBD

[Eldorion]

Yeah, I'll have to start saving...read just now that there were only 4,000 copies of the first edition printed (which compares to nearly Half a Million in Europe and North America alone for the first print run of The Children Of Hurin: http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/Children-of-Hurin-facts-figures.php) so I'm rather surprised and (certainly glad) HarperCollins believed there were a financial incentive to reprint it...

I still hold out hope for a expanded edition of The Letters Of J.R.R Tolkien...

Huh. I figured that as an academic title it would have a limited print run but I would've thought that the Tolkien factor would make it higher than 4000. Now I feel lucky that I found used copies of both volumes at such low prices.

[Eldorion]

The Rohan video was well put together but I took issue with a few points. Primarily:

1. The men of Enedwaith and Minhiriath weren't at odds with Númenor because they were innately hostile but because the Númenóreans were exploiting their lands for natural resources and eventually conducting campaigns of ethnic cleansing (which they also did in the area that would become Gondor). More generally, the video implies that the relations between the Dúnedain and the various peoples of Middle-earth was determined by whether those people were closely related enough to be "Middle Men", but the label of "Middle Men" was largely a political one and it was usually applied on the basis of whether the Dúnedain were allied with a particular people. It eventually became something of a salve to Dúnedain pride when they became more dependent on the Northmen and Rohan for military support.

It's also worth noting that a majority of the population of Gondor proper were not Dúnedain but native inhabitants who had been incorporated into the realm (though some tribes were killed or driven away) or, in later centuries, of mixed ancestry. However, political power remained concentrated in the hands of those with the most clearly defined Númenórean ancestry.* "Pure" heritage was one of the qualifications a claimant to the throne of Gondor had to have, but in the time of Eldacar (see below) and later the Northmen were essentially promoted to "honorary Dúnedain" status (my term) as a reflection of the political reality that Eldacar won the civil war. Native Gondorians were still out of luck, though, since mixed heritage continued to be a disqualifying factor centuries later (which is why there was no successor to Eärnur).

2. The Anduin was not the border between Gondor and Rhovanion. About half of Rhovanion was annexed by Gondor, with the largest acquisitions occurring under King Turambar, centuries before any Northmen polities are mentioned in the recorded history of Gondor. The so-called Kingdom of Rhovanion (I say so-called since there were other sovereign princes of the Northmen), was in the northern part of the broader geographic region of Rhovanion, just east of southern Mirkwood. Gondor's direct possessions in the open lands to the south and southeast were considerably larger than Vidugavia's kingdom, though they were for the most part very sparsely settled and and there wasn't a definitive border to that part of Gondor.

3. It's not necessarily an error but it's a really bizarre omission not to mention that mingling of the Dúnedain and the Northmen that took place in the 13th century and later, particularly the marriage of a Crown Prince (later King) of Gondor to a princess of Rhovanion and the fact that the accession of their son Eldacar to the throne was what sparked the Kin-strife, a massively destructive civil war in Gondor.



*Parallels to the Norman aristocracy of post-conquest England jump to mind but I don't know if this was intentional on Tolkien's part, though we do know that he believed in the "Norman yoke" school of English historiography (see the entry for "Norman Conquest" in Drout's Encyclopedia >here<).



EDIT: I was in a hurry when I made this post but I can provide the quotes for all this (since I know some of my interpretations are a bit heterodox) if anyone wants to see 'em.

[Forest Shepherd]

Thanks for the partial review oh Lore-master!

I don't remember seeing "heterodox" being used in place of "unorthodox" before.

[Eldorion]

Thanks, Forest!

{{{Between "corrigenda" and "heterodox" I feel like I'm slipping into the trap of academic jargon that I generally try to avoid. This must be what thinking about applying to grad school does to me. }}}