Ataahua writes: A remarkable first edition of JRR Tolkien's novel, The Hobbit, inscribed by the author, and thought to be the only copy from the family likely to be offered at auction, will be sold by Sotheby's on July 12. [More]

Ianthe sends us a link to a fascinating opinion article from the Boston Globe which cites fantasy in general (with FOTR being a specific example) as a prime coping mechanism for dealing with violence in a non-violent society. [More]

Democritus attended Viggo's booksigning in Wellington, along with half the city, he says. His report's here

IGN have posted the details of the new upcoming trailer for the Vin Diesel spy flick xXx, in which Martin Csokas plays the main antagonist trying to destroy the world. [More]

Sean Astin (Sam) attended the 'Mad Anthony's Celebrity Pro-Am' this past weekend in Indiana. Tim was kind enough to send along some pics. [More]

Titus writes: The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet recently visited the film team in New Zealand during the re-shooting for TTT. This story contains interviews with Viggo Mortensen and Bernard Hill discussing the problems with coming back into character after 18 months. PJ is also interviewed.

UPDATE We now have a translation for you, kindly provided by Robert! [More] And here is the original article. [More]

Calling all French Ringers! Fellowship of the Ring is on the cover of the July issue of "home ciné DVD". There's a review of the DVD (the theatrical version) as well as an article about the extended edition. Thanks to Anne for the information!

Anyone with scans of the article, send it along!

Barlimans regular and string-tuner extraordinaire samgamgee7 found this cool Tolkien [crossword] on the net. There are also some Tolkien quizzes to take at the same site. Try them out! Perhaps they will help pass the time til December ; )

The denizens of the Barliman's chat room discovered this LoTR purity test. Give it a whirl and discover how much therapy you need. [More]

Alison writes: Just to let you know that Christopher Lee will be appearing on the Heaven and Earth show tomorrow morning for British viewers (BBC 1, 10am).

More news from Lynx-eyed links queen Lee, about the Origins! convention in Columbus, Ohio, July 4-6. John Rhys Davies will make an appearance at the Decipher games booth. [More]

NZoom.com carries a story on Mortensen's booklaunch in Wellington - they did a short interview with him and he mentioned the ease with which they'd resumed filming on TTT "as if we hadn't missed a beat." [More]

This weekend The Two Towers chapter-by-chapter discussion has arrived at one of the most important and unpredicted moments in the Lord of the Rings, one of the moments which changed the outcome of the War of the Ring and swung the balance of power from Sauron to the alliance of men and elves. So come and join us in the Hall of Fire as we discuss a chapter which may bring hope to budding 'Rings fans after the tradgic death of Gandalf at the end of 'Fellowship, The White Rider. [More]

Ford of Rivendell notices the information on the official site about the DVDs, and gives you the directions to get straight there. [More]

A map of Middle Earth drawn by Tolkien himself sold for £4000 at Bonham's in London yesterday, according to Ringer spy Tracey. Betcha there's people out there that would pay more ; )

On the telephone the other morning from New York, Ian Holm sounded deflated. At 71, one of the most versatile character actors in movies, whose credits are so long they would take a good chunk of this column to properly describe, Holm has a clean bill of health after a recent prostate operation, and now finds what for him is a peculiar situation: He has no scheduled acting work. "Now," he said metaphorically, "I want to play my violin and it's locked in the cupboard. I don't know why." [More]

Kim + Tee write: The Wellington launch (of 'The Art of FOTR') was held at the gorgeous Embassy Theatre, with about 150 people attending – including artist Alan Lee; Richard Taylor & others from the wonderfully talented Weta team; Jane Johnson - publisher from HarperCollins and actor Karl Urban. I bought a copy of the book, which now has some amazing autographs in it in evidence. [More]

Atheryn writes: I notice there haven't been any reports posted so far of last-nights' book event in Wellington NZ. I was lucky enough to get a ticket - so I thought I'd share my experience. [More]

Luthien writes: Christopher Lee (Saruman) has been named one of Entertainment Weekly's "It People". More specifically, the "It Really, Really, Old Guy". Here's the link for the complete list (there's no blurb on him): Click here. You gotta scroll down a bit to find him. The magazine hits newsstands tomorrow. [More]

Quinn writes: Thought you might like to know that later this month Blockbuster will be offering their LOTR promotion. You buy for $24.95 a 10 week free rental card (one free rental a week for 10 weeks) and you get a free copy of LOTR on DVD or Video when it's released. If you don't rent movies it's not really a deal but if you do it's a nice savings.

Well... of course they don't, but as the resident humor guy I thought you'd might like to see this before it's fixed: [More]

(Calisuri - You know, Harry from AICN lives in Austin...I wonder if he is getting a special sneak peak and the theater owner just muffed it? Heh)

Michelle sent us this news for Washington Ringers. Noted Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger will lecture on July 17. [More]

That fascinating and original website The Art of the Rings continues to examine the visual symbolism of the images seen in the LOTR film. [More]

Ashturgis sends a link to RevolutionSF's review of the top 5 LOTR CDs besides the soundtrack. Worth a look - you may not have heard of all of these and his descriptions are intriguing. [More]

Some people have WAY too many action figures. [Is that possible?] Dean's tale of the Mines of Moria manages to roll all our favourite fan obsessions into one story. [More]

The celebs turned up for this one, as Tiranel reports. [More]

Sideshow/Weta Collectibles have sliced 10% off the price of their Saruman the White figure from Series 3. To avail of this great deal, purchase the figure via the Sideshow/Weta shop. [More]

'Neil Jordan's troubled historical epic Borgia could be back in business thanks to a new financier stepping in. The film's future was looking bleak after Myriad Pictures pulled out, blaming budget disputes. Now Initial Entertainment Group is in talks to handle international sales, with 20th Century Fox hanging on to US rights. Sir Ian McKellen recently joined its high-profile cast which includes Ewan McGregor and Antonio Banderas.' [More]

The long-awaited production of Macbeth starring Sean Bean in its lead role, which we reported on here several months ago, has finally released its schedule. Bean's Macbeth will open in London's West End in November, which follows dates in Milton Keynes and Richmond Theatre in Surrey. The play will open at the Alberry Theatre on November 14 running until February 1. [More]

Liv Tyler is in negotiations to join Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in new movie Jersey Girl. It is about a man named Ollie Trinke (Affleck) and the effects a new wife (Lopez) and 6-year-old daughter have on his seemingly "full" life. Tyler will play Maya, a video store clerk who has a significant impact on Ollie. [More]

Jo writes: In my hometown of Uppsala Sweden, The Fellowship of the Ring is still running. It opened in December like the rest of the world and has been running ever since without interruption, what's even more amazing that it actually went from #11 to #9 last week on the top 10 list of most popular film! [More]

Richard writes: Like numerous magazines, this month's edition of UK magazine Total DVD previews the FOTR DVD. But more importantly the magazine is boasting a free DVD next month which features our favourite movie. (they're doing a feature on 'Leprechaun in the Hood'? Just kidding! -Xo) [More]

On screen he's romanced Liv Tyler, but Lord Of The Rings star Viggo Mortensen has a new love in his life - Wellington. [More]

The Gray Elf writes: There is a great article at LordoftheRingsGuide, today, about the producer of Star Wars (Rick McCallum) being a huge LOTR fan. [More]

Sir Doris says "Lotr is being shown at the Astor Theatre, Melbourne, on Friday 9th of August and Wednesday 25th September, on Superscreen. Very big!" Also an intriguing bit of news from Brett: "I went into a Sanity music store in Australia and they had LOTR advertised for pre-order, with the blank DVD slips everywhere. Well I went up and asked about it and they said they have a special deal and that they would have it in 4 weeks from today.:" That's four weeks earlier than anywhere else, if they're correct. So check it out, Aussie Ringers.

Janet updates us on the Queenstown Winter Festival in NZ, where Craig Parker [Haldir] and Mark Fergusson [Gil Galad] are taking part in a comedy debate. [More]

News from Merry Tee: "Heres a link to a page where u can see how the Danish ver. of the DVD is gonna look like...The text on it says nothing that we haven't heard before but you can really see many good details from the cover. [More]

Take a look at some Ents! From Calgary, Alberta..and you thought they only lived in Middle-earth! [More]

Help a LOTR loving couple, Rick and Dori, win a dream wedding!! Check this story out! (For those of you, like Calisuri, who don't read, just vote for Couple 3)[More]

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Ian McKellen (Gandalf) may be joining the the production of the film 'Borgia'. Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) was also attached to the film but has since dropped it. [More]

Craig Parker (Haldir) is the first confirmed actor from the cast of LOTR:FOTR who will attend the Ring*Con2002 in Bonn, Germany in November. For more information about the Ring*Con2002, look here!

Highlights of the recent MTV Awards will be shown on UK Channel 4 on Sunday June 23, 2002 at 2.40pm. Thanks to JLS for the information!

Shot in 1999, before the already-released The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky (2001) and Innocence (2000), Paul Cox's 14th feature is a moving account of a real-life hero. Molokai: The Story of Father Damien is set between 1873 and 1889, during the time that the Belgian missionary priest (David Wenham) devoted himself to the care of victims of leprosy. [More]

I came across something interesting on the Official New Line Shop today, and I thought I would pass it along: The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Activity Studio CD-ROM. The CD contains printable photos, screensavers, desktops, ecards, etc. Even though it is only available for PC users, I would still suggest checking it out. [More]

Sara writes: The new Decipher expansion set, Realms of The Elf-Lords is out today. All the Figwit fans had high hopes for this-we were all hoping he will have his own card and his true name will be revealed! Well, Decipher posted this article about the council of Elrond. [More]

The people at figwitlives.net already responded to the shocking news ;) Of all the elves in the council they leave HIM nameless? Is all hope lost?!

Mirkwood Maiden from our TORN messageboards has been hard at work getting the TORN Family Album site open, take a look at the amazing comunity they've created! [More]

And of course, be sure to check out our Barliman's photo gallery! [More]

News from R2 Project regarding the latest Bernard Hill (Theoden) film 'Scorpion King': Although not 100% confirmed we understand that "The Scorpion King" from Universal will get a rental release on the 7th of October. We understand that the title will have a 4 week retail window meaning that it will be available to buy on or around the 4th of November. I don't believe we have a R1 release date yet.

KnightFour writes: Check out www.ancestry.com. Apparently this site, the leader in genealogy on the web, appreciates LOTR! LOTR fans can go to the home page and type "Bilbo Baggins" in the main search and see two pedigrees, one of which iincludes a complete and accurate representation of the Hobbit genealogy. Other LOTR families are also represented in their Ancestry Word Tree and can be found be searching on specific names. [More]

The San Francisco Chronicle did an article on studies being done to figure out why people cry in the presence of beautiful things like art or music. As a follow-up to that, they asked readers to write in and tell them what things made them cry in that way. There were dozens of replies. Along with Mahler, Strauss and Schubert, Rodin and Shakespeare, the Fellowship of the Ring got two mentions. In both cases the writers said they cried not because of sadness but because of the touching nature of the friendship and loyalty the Fellowship showed. For one writer it's the moment when Frodo reaches down to pull the drowning Sam out of the river that brings on the tears - as many of us can attest!

In Australia, Land Rover is having a promotion from August 6: If you purchase a Land Rover with a an inbuilt DVD player, you get a bonus Lord of the Rings DVD. Land Rover are also the official car sponsors of the Lord of the Rings movies. This follows on the heels of the partnership announced between Kia and New Line to promote the Kia Sorrento SUV [See here]. Thanks to FrodoFan1.

Given Tolkien's hatred of cars and what they do to the environment, it's a mercy he didn't live to see his work used to promote these. Yrch!

Auntie writes: Last night E! TV ran their weekly show "Rank". This week's topic was Hottest Bachelors. You can get the full story here including time when it will be repeated. Cutting to the chase, our Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) made number 17 (Prince William was number 1). On one special poll of 'bachelors-in-training' our Elijah Wood (Frodo) was runner up to Hayden Christensen, who, no doubt, had lots of Star Wars fans voting for him.

It seems the ToyBiz Gil galad figure is not the only ToyBiz figure that will (temporarily) disappear according to the people over at the Action Figure Times, read and weep... [More]

Trey Y writes: I found a mention of how great the upcoming 4-disc set is in an article written by a producer of the 'added value material' for that edition. [More]

Kim and Tee send along a correction in regards to the NZ Press' reports that the Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) booksigning event is a private event, it certainly is not! [More]

Well, it seems I was a little bit hasty yesterday. Several people have emailed me in the past few hours and they all sent in links and scans of an article originally from MSNBC which we posted a few days ago, and can be found here. So thanks to everyone who put me back on the right track!

No idea what happened to the new trailer for TTT that was supposed to come out in May (I heard something about July...we'll see -Xo). Meanwhile here's an oldie, but goodie spoof trailer from The Modern Humorist. [More] Thanks to MissMac for reminding us of this little gem.

Thanks to BeastyBunny of Imladris, you can see our Ringwraith as well as other costumes, more food, more fighting, more winners and more prizes! [More]

Ringer Spy NoriNim dropped us a line about the possible cancellation of the ToyBiz Gil-galad action figure set...

Just received word from Entertainment Earth that my order for the LOTR Twin Packs Series Three was cancelled, with no word on what or when they would be released for sale. This was done from the manufacturer. EE assumes that these figures will show up in a different assortment/series, but of course, no word of that whatsoever.

If there are people out there who know more about this, drop us a line!

Algamesh sends in some very cool info about an upcoming event regarding The Two Towers books and a literary discussion about them, check it out! [More]

Lothmeleth noticed an article about Orlando Bloom in this weeks Newsweek but unfortunally doesn't have a scanner, so anyone who happens to have both, send it in!

News of their next film projects. [More]

Check out this very ingenious way of getting your hands on 'The One Ring', brought to you by TheFellowship.nl's very own cartoonist Philbo! (I bet there are some people who wouldn't mind pursuing this, umm.. option) [More]

TheOneRing.net's very own Jincey has posted a new product review in Shop.TheOneRing.net. Check out her review of the Royal Selangor Middle-earth shot glasses and a special discount for TheOneRing.net visitors! [More]

Missed all the news this weekend? Well fear not! We've got you news fix for Monday with the weekend roundup! [More]