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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...

An unfinished book by J.R.R. Tolkien that was completed by his son will be published April 17 in Canada, New Zealand, the U.S. and the U.K. Christopher Tolkien, son of the man who wrote the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has completed The Children of Hurin, a book his father started in 1918 and later abandoned. J.R.R. Tolkien, shown in a 1967 photo, left notes and an outline for The Children of Hurin, a novel finished by his son and to be published in April. (Associated Press) Publisher HarperCollins is not releasing details of the book, but describes it as...