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Since rumors began to spread that a startup called Palantir helped to kill Osama bin Laden, Alex Karp hasn’t had much time to himself. On one sun-baked July morning in Silicon Valley Palantir’s lean 45-year-old chief executive, with a top-heavy mop of frazzled hair, hikes the grassy hills around Stanford University’s massive satellite antennae known as the Dish, a favorite meditative pastime. But his solitude is disturbed somewhat by “Mike,” an ex-Marine–silent, 6 foot 1, 270 pounds of mostly pectoral muscle–who trails him everywhere he goes. Even on the suburban streets of Palo Alto, steps from Palantir’s headquarters, the bodyguard...

Pretty much everyone knows that JRR Tolkien was the pre-eminent fantasy writer of the past century, if not all time. His writing contains uniquely invented languages, epic back stories, and creatures that could only have proceeded from his imagination. Far from the nihilistic and often crude work of the so-called “American Tolkien� George R.R. Martin of “Game of Thrones� fame, Tolkien’s work was full of beauty, whimsy and hidden truth. What most people probably don’t know is that the Nazis were a pretty big fan of Tolkien, too. The Nazis were (as historian Heather Pringle lays out brilliantly in...

What can literary fiction teach us about recent revelations that the National Security Agency has aggressively been gathering massive amounts of data on American citizens? The novel one usually turns to, of course, is George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, with its terrifying vision of the Thought Police. Even President Obama, in response to questions about the NSA, has been forced to deny that the government has engaged in “Big Brother” tactics. Orwell’s book, however, isn’t the most compelling or accurate literary prediction of modern surveillance. That award goes to a less obvious title: J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s most...

With the end of the third season of Game of Thrones in sight (June 9th), a global audience of over 5 million is debating whether or not George R.R. Martin is the rightful “American Tolkien.” I argue that while The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones have striking similarities, Martin is actually pioneering a distinct genre—a new kind of fantasy novel informed by historical fiction and politics. Martin admits that he was influenced a great deal by Tolkien, and mirrored the structure of his novels off of Tolkien’s work: “Tolkien begins his story in the Shire with one...

In what was once the housekeeper's office of a Tudor mansion in Hampshire, a very odd golden ring glitters on a revolving stand in a tall perspex column. In chapter five of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins finds a ring in the gloom of Gollum's cave. Not just any ring. "One very beautiful thing, very beautiful, very wonderful. He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring." A new exhibition opening today at The Vyne, now owned by the National Trust, raises the intriguing possibility that the Roman ring in the case, and the ring of power in JRR Tolkien's...

Travel along, if you dare, with Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit” — either in J.R.R.Tolkien’s beloved 1937 novel, or through the first installment of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy based on the book, which opens in theaters on Friday (Dec. 14). If you do, you will, essentially, be traveling in a world constructed on Christian principles, says Devin Brown, a professor of English at Asbury University, a Christian liberal arts college near Lexington, Ky. ...

The new film “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (opening Dec. 14) has got action and adventure galore, just like “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy that preceded it. But the director and actors who worked on the movie are well aware of the deeper themes that lie at the heart of the work of J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), who authored all the original books, published between 1937 and 1955. At a recent press conference about the film in New York City, Richard Armitage, who portrays the Dwarf warrior Thorin Oakenshield, said, “One of the things I find when I look...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- There’s only one real wizard in Middle Earth - and it’s director Peter Jackson. The auteur from Down Under unveiled “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” - the first installment of his prequel trilogy to his “Lord of the Rings” series - in his native New Zealand Wednesday. It was an eye-popping night, from the celebrity-filled red carpet to, more important, the action on screen. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 children’s tale which set the stage for the author’s much darker and heavier later books, Jackson’s “The Hobbit” harkens back to a more innocent time when men...

One of the most consistently underappreciated elements of “The Hobbit” is Tolkien’s use of poetry and song throughout the book. Most readers skim over the poems or even skip them outright, but they miss out on some of Tolkien’s most thoughtful and compelling literary moments. The songs in “The Hobbit” are not merely verses embedded in the story; they are poems carefully designed to capture the voices and illustrate the attitudes of their singers. The simple chant of the goblins when they first capture Bilbo and the dwarves, for instance, gives readers a stark insight into the goblin outlook on...

Peter Jackson formally announced this afternoon that his take on “The Hobbit” — originally envisioned as a two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s tale — will be a trilogy. The Oscar-winning filmmaker — who, as Smeagol scholars are well aware, directed the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy to much critical acclaim and financial success — had hinted about a third “Hobbit” during a recent appearance at Comic-Con. But today’s statement officially confirms that a third, not-yet-titled movie will follow “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and ”The Hobbit: There and Back Again.” Part three of the Bilbo Baggins saga is slated for...

On the 3rd January 1892 JRR Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. To celebrate this event, on this day each year Tolkien fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast the birthday of this much loved author. The toast is "The Professor". For those unfamiliar with British toast-drinking ceremonies: To make the Birthday Toast, you stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words 'The Professor' before taking a sip (or swig, if that's more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of your drink.

Read by Phil Dragash and edited, and mixed, sound-effected, and designed, and painted as well. Forgive the many mistakes and glitches. I'm the only one working on this after all!

Peter Jackson's hotly-anticipated movie The Hobbit is not out until 2012 - but that doesn't mean fans have to wait for a taste.For a Montana man has created a 1,000sq-ft Hobbit-themed guest house for those who love the J.R.R Tolkien books and characters like Bilbo Baggins.

New observations from the Herschel Space Observatory show a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Only a few portions of the ring, which stretches across more than 600 light-years, were known before. Herschel's view reveals the entire ring for the first time, and a strange kink that has astronomers scratching their heads. "We have looked at this region at the center of the Milky Way many times before in the infrared," said Alberto Noriega-Crespo of NASA's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "But when we...

"An Exclusive Look at 'The Hobbit' Dwarves" Peter Jackson's upcoming film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, has been hotly anticipated by everyone from Tolkien obsessives to film buffs. The crew behind the movie, including Jackson himself, has kept fans salivating by documenting the movie's production through blog posts and videos. But TIME is the first to bring you this image of two characters from the film, dwarves named Balin and Dwalin. Below, find Warner Bros.' description of the two, and then click on for more images of The Hobbit's beloved dwarves. Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/15/time-exclusive-first-look-at-balin-and-dwalin-from-the-hobbit-movie/#ixzz1SQRm5Fha"

Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" A Catholic Worldview Wed. April 6 at 10 PM ET, Fri. April 8 at 1 PM ET, Sat. April 9 at 5 AM ET Joseph Pearce uncovers the Catholicism found in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. From Education Resource CenterFinding Frodo’s FaithJOSEPH PEARCEThe Lord of the Rings is every bit as Catholic as its author. It is not only written by a Catholic, it is so Catholic that only a Catholic could have written it. What is the secret of J.R.R. Tolkien's success with The Lord of the Rings? How...

In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit… Wellington, NZ, March 21, 2011—Production has commenced in Wellington, New Zealand, on “The Hobbit,” filmmaker Peter Jackson’s two film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s widely read masterpiece. “The Hobbit” is set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” The two films, with screenplays by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson, will be shot...

Exclusive: Dual Hobbit Film Titles Revealed? March 2nd, 2011 by Calisuri | Discuss | 6 Comments and 66 Reactions Ringer Spy Mr. Underbelly monitors movie titles that are registered by major film studios. Mr. Underbelly noticed that New Line has recently registered the following two film titles: The Hobbit: There and Back Again and… The Hobbit: An/The Unexpected Journey This is the first indication of what the ‘official’ titles will be of the two Hobbit films. What are your thoughts? Remember, this is not confirmed officially, but it is a relatively good indication of what the two film titles could...

At The School of Education, UWIC (The University of Wales in Cardiff), Tom Shippey, Professor Emeritus of English, St. Louis University, will deliver an Open Lecture called: Writing into the Gap: Tolkien's The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún Tom Shippey has published extensively on medieval literature, and has recently been working on ‘medievalism’ and romantic nationalism, focusing on the work of Jacob Grimm. He established Tolkien scholarship by his acclaimed monograph The Road to Middle-earth, now supplemented by J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. As the foremost Tolkien scholar, he contributed in the documentaries associated with Peter Jackson’s adaptation of...

BookMoot sends this in: Here is a nice post about the history of History of Hobbit illustrations at children’s author Tony DiTerlizzi’s site. Since, he has shared an illustration by “Where the Wild Things Are” illustrator, Maurice Sendak who was set to illustrate the Hobbit but suffered health issues that prevented the project going forward. Thought this was interesting. http://diterlizzi.com/blog/books-there-and-back-again/

“The spirit of wickedness in high places is now so powerful and so many-headed in its incarnations,” Tolkien wrote in 1969, “that there seems nothing more to do than personally to refuse to worship any of the hydras’ heads.” The world, he thought, seemed little better than a new Tower of Babel, “all noise and confusion.”Yet, armed with Grace, citizens of the City of God should remain constant in their defense of all that is good.... With the Incarnation of Christ, “art has been verified,” Tolkien claimed. “God is the Lord, of angels, and of men–and of elves. Legend and...

PETER Jackson's troubled Hobbit project has become embroiled in a race row after a would-be extra was told she was too dark to play one of the pint-sized Tolkien creatures, reports said. Briton Naz Humphreys, who has Pakistani heritage, attended a casting session in the New Zealand city of Hamilton last week, queueing for three hours only to be told her skin tone was not suitable, the Waikato Times reported. "It's 2010 and I still can't believe I'm being discriminated against because I have brown skin," Humphreys told the newspaper. "The casting manager basically said they weren't having anybody who...

Many of us Ringers know the comparisons of The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter are many. Well, Film.com has compiled a few for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! Fantasy stories generally lift from the same mythological source bank. Actually, if you want to get super scholarly and esoteric about it, every story (especially the more sword-and-sorcery themed variety) is the same basic “hero’s journey” archetype detailed by Joseph Campbell. But fantasy stories — King Arthur, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Willow, Peter Pan, Conan the Barbarian — build their world out of the same objects. You...

"Perhaps Bilbo Baggins' tale of wanderlust won't be leaving the Shire after all. Numerous international unions, including SAG and AFTRA, have sent out alerts advising members to ditch work on Peter Jackson's highly anticipated production of The Hobbit."

We've learned a lot of quirky facts about Christine O'Donnell. We already knew the Republican Senate nominee abhorred masturbation and believed that looking at pornography was cheating. Well, yesterday, we learned yet more about her view of relations between the sexes – through, of all things, her analysis of J.R.R. Tolkien's work. In a 2003 essay, she wrote about the roles of women in "Lord of the Rings" and argued that Tolkein's female characters offer "insight into what it means to be a woman." But, more importantly, O'Donnell's exegesis gives insight into what she thinks it means to be a...

Magpie writes: Doug Adams is letting us peek inside his upcoming book on the LOTR film music. Check out musicoflotr.com.

Tolkien and Dickens descendants collaborate on children’s fantasy August 11th, 2010 by xoanon Poet Michael GR Tolkien’s reworking of classic children’s fantasy is read for audiobook by Charles Dickens’s great-great grandson. It is a match made in publicists’ heaven: the grandson of JRR Tolkien and the great-great grandson of Charles Dickens have collaborated for the first time on a verse retelling of a classic fantasy story. Poet Michael GR Tolkien, the eldest grandson of the Lord of the Rings author, was inspired by Florence Bone’s prose fantasy for children, The Rose-Coloured Wish, first published in 1923. Telling the story of...

Even among fantasy devotees who recognize Tolkien as the father of the modern genre, few realize that Tolkien insisted that The Lord of the Rings is "a fundamentally religious and Catholic work." This probably comes as a surprise to most Catholics as well.   Readers of The Lord of the Rings are unlikely to find a "Catholic Middle-earth" by looking for overt references to the Christian gospel or hidden Catholic symbolism -- Tolkien rejected this type of analysis -- however they will find it by looking at Tolkien's motivations as a writer.     Hobbies of an Oxford Don...

Although it might seem unlikely that anyone would wonder whether the author of The Lord of the Rings was Jewish, the Nazis took no chances. When the publishing firm of Ruetten & Loening was negotiating with J. R. R. Tolkien over a German translation of The Hobbit in 1938, they demanded that Tolkien provide written assurance that he was an Aryan. Tolkien chastised the publishers for “impertinent and irrelevant inquiries,” and—ever the professor of philology— lectured them on the proper meaning of the term: “As far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any...

The night deepened. There came the soft sound of Donkeys led with stealth along the lane. Outside the gate they stopped, and three black figures entered, like shades of night creeping across the ground. One went to the White House, two to the Capitol Building on either side; and there they stood, as still as the shadows of stones, while Amendments went slowly on. The House and the Senate seemed to be waiting breathlessly. There was a faint stir in the leaves, and a RINO cried far away. The cold hour before Reconciliation was passing. The figure by the door...

One cost more than £200 million, took eight years to film using the spectacular scenery of New Zealand and won 17 Oscars. The other cost £25,000, was filmed over a year in muddy English locations, and has not been nominated for any awards. But for Lord Of The Rings trilogy fanatic Kate Madison, filming a prequel was the purest form of art - a labour of love.

One of the things which I have noticed as I have gotten older, and have become one of the “when I was your age...” crowd, has involved not just the downward trend of which ALL greybeards complain, but an increase in the rate and depth of the decline. More things are going downhill, faster, in more areas at the same time. I wish to draw some instructive parallels to recent events, by comparing them to martial events more remote: both the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and to strategy within the game of Chess. 
It has only...

Old Western ManThe travellers trotted on, and as the sun began to sink towards the White Downs far away on the western horizon they came to Bywater by its wide pool, and there they had their first really painful shock. This was Frodo and Sam's own country, and they found out now that they cared about it more than any other place in the world. Many of the houses that they had known were missing. Some seemed to have been burned down. The pleasant row of old hobbit-holes in the bank in the north side of the Pool were deserted,...

Tolkien, one of his generation's most respected linguists, was ''earmarked'' to crack Nazi codes in the event that Germany declared war. Intelligence chiefs singled him and a 'cadre' of other intellectuals to work at Bletchley Park, the codebreaking centre in Buckinghamshire. Its staff - which included Alan Turing, the gay codebreaker - would later decipher the 'impenetrable' Enigma machines. This saved Britain from German conquest by allowing the Navy to intercept and destroy Hitler's U-Boats. According to previously unseen records, Tolkien trained with the top-secret Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS). He spent three days at their London HQ in...

LORD of the Rings author JRR Tolkien trained as a spy in the years leading up to World War II, it has emerged. The Oxford University professor - who also wrote The Hobbit - was one of 50 intellectuals chosen by the British Government singled out to crack Nazi codes as it appeared increasingly likely Germany was preparing to declare war. Tolkien was reknown as one of his generation's most respected linguists, and according to The Sun, was believed to have passed the training course “with flying colours”. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Hollywood studio behind a film based on "The Hobbit" and trustees for author J.R.R. Tolkien's estate said on Tuesday they had settled a lawsuit that clears the way for what is expected to be a blockbuster movie based on the book. "The Hobbit" is a 1937 book by Tolkien about a diminutive character named Bilbo Baggins who goes on a treasure-seeking adventure, and it sets the stage for Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, with its epic tale of magic and warfare.

New Zealand film-maker Peter Jackson may have more in common with JRR Tolkien's heirs than he thought - they are also complaining about big studio accounting methods. Tolkien's family and a British charity they head, the Tolkien Trust, are seeking more than $US220 million ($276.94 million) in compensation for the Lord of the Rings trilogy Jackson made in New Zealand. The Tolkien heirs sold movie rights to the LOTR books 40 years ago for 7.5 per cent of future receipts, but say that three films and $US6 billion ($7.55 billion) later, they have not seen a cent of the proceeds....

‘… But you, John Sidney, Lord of the Mark of Republican, are declared by your noble devices, and still more by the fair countenance of the House of McCain. O worthy son of John the Thrice-renowned Admiral! Why have you not come before, and as a friend? Much have I desired to see you, mightiest Senator of western lands, and especially in these latter years, to save you from the unwise and evil counsels that beset you! Is it yet too late? Despite the injuries that have been done to me, in which the men of Bush, alas! have has...

TORn has been following the developments of the infamous Tolkien lawsuit for a long time. For those of you who’d like to get caught up in one fell swoop, Frodo Franchise author Kristin Thompson has posted an in-depth blog entry on exactly what is going on:

More News on the Tolkien vs. New Line Lawsuit July 20th, 2008 by Altaira Thanks again to Voronwe_the_Faithful for posting another update on the Tolkien vs. New Line Lawsuit on our message boards: The plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint last Monday (which I believe was the last day for them to do so). They have dropped the fiduciary duty cause of action (as expected), but they have asserted new allegations to support the fraud cause of action. They added more specific claims as to how they contend that New Line misrepresented the amount of expenses that it had in...

Builder discovers "priceless" Tolkien postcard By Mike Collett-White Tue Jul 8, 10:29 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - A demolition man stripping a fireplace from the former home of "The Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien stumbled across a postcard to the writer dated 1968, and hopes to sell it for a small fortune. Stephen Malton, who runs Prodem Demolition in Bournemouth on the south English coast, was working in the house in the nearby town of Poole before it was bulldozed to make way for a new construction project. "Before we demolish a house we do an internal strip...

Sir Ian McKellen returns to the big screen in The Hobbit film By Nick Squires in Sydney Last updated: 1:28 PM BST 25/05/2008 Sir Ian McKellen will reprise the role of Gandalf the wizard for two films to be made based on Tolkien's classic book The Hobbit, it has been confirmed. The two movies - The Hobbit and a sequel which has yet to be named - will be filmed in New Zealand and released in 2011 and 2012. Andy Serkis, the actor who played Gollum with the help of digital wizardry, will also return for the Hobbit film, but...

I have a question on a particular passage in Lord of the Rings and I need to find it. Can someone help?

LOS ANGELES - The estate of "Lord of the Rings" creator J.R.R. Tolkien is suing the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books, claiming the company hasn't paid it a penny from the estimated $6 billion the films have grossed worldwide. The suit, filed Monday, claims New Line was required to pay 7.5 percent of gross receipts to Tolkien's estate and other plaintiffs, who contend they only received an upfront payment of $62,500 for the three movies before production began. The writer's estate, a British charity dubbed The Tolkien Trust, and original "Lord of the Rings" publisher...

Via Bettnet we learn the following from the Tolkien Society: On the 3rd January 1892 JRR Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. To celebrate this event, on this day each year Tolkien fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast the birthday of this much loved author. The toast is "The Professor". To make the Birthday Toast, you stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words ‘The Professor’ before taking a sip (or swig, if that’s more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of...

The Once & Future Christendom From death of the West—to knights of the West The Call of Duty—and Destiny In one of the great epics of Western literature, the hero, confronted by numerous and powerful enemies, temporarily gives in to weakness and self-pity. “I wish,” he sighs, “none of this had happened.” The hero’s wise adviser responds, “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide.” The old man continues, “There are other forces at work in this world … besides the will of evil.” Some events, he adds, are “meant” to...

VIDEO: Lord of the Rings Film Star Ian McKellen Admits to Ripping Out Hotel Bible Sections Against Homosexuality By John-Henry Westen AUKLAND, NZ, August 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - British Actor Ian McKellen who has used the mega-stardom he achieved playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films to promote homosexuality, has admitted to ripping out pages of hotel bibles that refer to homosexuality. In an August 10 interview on New Zealand's TV1 Close Up program McKellen was confronted by the interviewer questioning the truth of the rumour "He's the one, that when he stays in hotels rips the part...

Keeping on an erosion theme, I looked for pictures of the location used for the "Paths of the Dead" in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, specifically in "The Return of the King". They are called the Putangirua Pinnacles. They are located near Wellington on the southeastern North Island. I linked to the OneRing.net image above. There are some better, higher-resolution pictures on the Web, but not easily linkable.

A Review of New Edition of "The Children of Húrin" ATLANTA, Georgia, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- With the release of a new edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Children of Húrin," fans of this deeply Catholic author may be surprised by its biblical tone, says a Tolkien expert. Jef Murray, artist-in-residence at the St. Austin Review, speaking with ZENIT, said, "'The Children of Húrin' has a more biblical tone than 'The Lord of the Rings.' It is a story of human fallibility and sin and may be prophetic for our times." Painstakingly reconstructed by Christopher Tolkien from his father's manuscripts, the...

(AP) -- Six thousand years before the Fellowship of the Ring, long before anyone had even seen a Hobbit, the elves and men of Middle-earth quaked at the power of the dark lord Morgoth... It is the fruit of 30 years labor by Christopher Tolkien, the author's son, who has devoted much of his life to editing and publishing the work his father left behind. By meticulously combining and editing the many published and unpublished versions of the tale, he has produced at last a coherent, vivid and readable narrative. His story, released today by Houghton Mifflin, is a...