Middle-Earth Tours


News from Middle-Earth



October 7, 2005: Thanks to Jen for pointing me toward this site, where you can buy Alan Lee prints - both LotR and non-LotR works. If anyone knows of other sites where you can purchase Lee or John Howe prints, let me know. I get asked this question a lot.

March 8, 2005: Thanks to the anonymous person who told me about Michael Hague's official website.

March 5, 2005: Thanks to Luc M. for spotting an identification error. I have replaced a false Boromir picture by Alan Lee (actually an image of Aragorn) with a new one by John Howe.

February 22, 2004: Thanks to Adiemus for pointing out a rather glaring error on Catherine Karina Chmiel's artist page, and for telling me about her website. Now I have some lovely new pictures - and one colorized version of a previous picture - on the following pages: Parth Galen, Lorien, and Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin (which includes a bonus new pic by Dan Govar).

December 31, 2004: Updates to the following pages: Journeys' Ends, Dunharrow, The Pelennor Fields, Minas Tirith: The Upper Levels, and Mordor: The Black Gate.

June 11, 2004: I have just received a letter from the lawyers of the Tolkien estate, demanding that I take down all my Tolkien maps and illustrations or risk prosecution. It's never been my intent to insult or abuse the Tolkien name, and I realize I don't have a legal leg to stand on, so a good chunk of my website will be disappearing over the next few days. Please bear with me as I close the holes left by these precious pictures. I hate to lose them, but I have no choice.

May 21, 2004: Thanks to Hidden Whispers for linking to Middle-Earth Tours.

April 6, 2004: Would you like to see a film version of The Hobbit directed by Peter Jackson? Then become a part of Let the Hobbit Happen. Also, there's a new pic of Shelob on the Shelob's Lair page.

April 5, 2004: Anke-Katrin Eissman now has a website: http://anke.edoras-art.de. New version of an Eowyn and Faramir pic on Minas Tirith: The Upper Levels page.

March 12, 2004: Thanks to Ariah of The Golden Wood for linking to Middle-Earth Tours.

March 11, 2004: Weta Workshop and Decipher have collaborated to produce playing cards for several characters who got cut out of the LotR movies. Visit the Wizards page for a look at Radagast the Brown and the Bombadil page for a look at Tom and Goldberry.

March 6, 2004: Thanks to Al of Ravenwood for linking to Middle-Earth Tours. Also, I've added a new question to my FAQ in response to a question I've been getting recently: can I use your site as a source for a research paper/project I'm working on?

January 28, 2004: New shots of Éowyn on the Pelennor Fields page.

December 29, 2003: Three lovely new pics on the following pages: Mount Doom and Journey's End(s).

November 21, 2003: I've used some new studies from Ted Nasmith's website to update the Dwarves and The Darkening of Valinor and the Flight of the Noldor pages.

November 6, 2003: Thanks to Decipher and the just-released RotK Visual Companion (pics via theonering.net), I've updated the following pages: Morgul Pass, Éowyn, Minas Tirith, and Minas Tirith: the Upper Levels. Note: the Decipher pics are poor quality right now, as I've had to use scans from another gaming site. Once Decipher itself releases these cards, I'll have better versions of the pics to use. In the meantime, I do thank Thunderbolt Enterprises for getting these pics to us early!

October 27, 2003: Updates to the following pages: Dunharrow, Osgiliath, Minas Tirith, and Minas Tirith: the Upper Levels.

October 8, 2003: TheOneRing.net has come out with clearer images of several of the best RotK trailer shots. I've used them to clean up the pic of Frodo and Shelob on the Shelob's Lair page (If you have trouble seeing the new version, try holding down the control key while hitting the "refresh" button) and to add a longshot of the battle to the Pelennor Fields page.

September 29, 2003: Thanks to the gorgeous new RotK trailer, I've updated the following pages: Minas Tirith: the Upper Levels, The Black Gate, and , Shelob's Lair (Warning: if you don't want to see Shelob yet, don't go here!). There are many, many more wonderful images in the trailer, but most of them are of people and places already represented at Middle-Earth Tours. Therefore, I've made only a few additions today. More will surely come in the days ahead.

September 7, 2003: Some striking new pics on the Helm's Deep and In the House of the Stewards pages.

August 29, 2003: There's a gorgeous new picture of the four hobbits returning to the Shire on the Journey's Ends page. The full-sized version, which is definitely worth the time it takes to look it up, can be found at theonering.net.

August 22, 2003: Some more page updates: The Pelennor Fields, Éowyn, Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, Mount Doom, Minas Tirith: The Upper Levels.

August 19, 2003: A new bunch of movie stills have shown up online, some from the TTT extended edition, and some from RotK previews. I've used a bit of each to update the following pages: The Emyn Muil, Dunharrow, Minas Tirith: The Upper Levels, The House of the Stewards. Some of the pictures are a little blotchy right now, but don't worry. I'll have that fixed in a matter of hours.

July 16, 2003: I've just found a fascinating new site, which I've added to my Links page: The Digital Middle Earth Project. This site is the brainchild of a professional digital landscape artist who's had the bright idea of creating a 3D computerized model of all Middle-Earth, complete with animations and 360° virtual tours. He's only just begun on it, but what he has so far looks fantastic. High quality, Tolkien-accurate stuff. The Professor would be pleased.

July 7, 2003: I am pleased to announce a new Specialty Tour that examines life in the house of the Stewards of Gondor. Not only does it provide some information about Boromir and Faramir's childhoods, but it even sheds some light on their mysterious mother, Finduilas. In conjunction with the new tour, The House of the Stewards, I've established a "Featured Artist" page for Catherine Karina Chmiel, without whose work the tour couldn't exist.

July 3, 2003: New pic of Gandalf fighting the balrog atop Zirakzigil on the balrog page, and (lovely) new pic of the Glittering Caves of Aglarond on the Rohan page. Expect a new Specialty Tour soon.

June 20, 2003: The Two Towers Extended Edition DVD is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com - available with Free Super Saver Shipping, no less! Get the basic Extended Edition here, or get the Extended Edition with Gollum statue here.

June 6, 2003: Decipher is slowly releasing a new set of playing cards. I've already found a great image to add to my Nazgûl page: a fell beast and its rider hovering before an erupting Mount Doom.

May 26, 2003: Better versions of those head shots from the official site have now appeared on theonering.net. As a result, I've added some more pics to the Aragorn and Merry and Pippin pages.

May 19, 2003: Several new RotK images have appeared online, on the official movie site and Tolkienonline. Unfortunately, most of the new photos are headshots of characters we've already seen. They're definitely worth a look, but I could only use a few of them in updating Middle-Earth Tours: Osgiliath, Éomer, and Théoden.

May 16, 2003: Thanks to Celebsul for linking to Middle-Earth Tours from the delightfully named online tavern The Burping Troll.

April 24, 2003: Thanks to "ringers rock!" for linking to Middle-Earth Tours from her website, TORN's Creative Talents, which features the work of regulars on theonering.net's message boards.

April 24, 2003: I've just affiliated with a new website, The Mithril Awards, which features LotR-inspired fan writing. They're accepting nominations now, so if you like Tolkien-themed fiction, poetry, and/or critical essays, be sure to check them out - and submit something of your own!

April 23, 2003: I've added two new, rather controversial topics to Argument Enders: "Balrog wings: literal or metaphorical?" and "Can you really see a car in the FotR movie?" Now I'm sure I'll be the one deluged with arguments. ;-)

March 28, 2003: Not too long ago, someone asked me if I knew where to find any pictures of Prince Imrahil. Well, I've found one. Anke-Katrin Eiszmann has a new picture online called "Prince Imrahil Tends to his Nephew," and I've added the small-sized version to my Pelennor Fields page. If you want the full-sized version, go to Eiszmann's page at Rolozo Tolkien.

March 22, 2003: Thanks to Uwe L., I've added a few tidbits of biographic information to Luca Michelucci's artist page.

March 11, 2003: I've added a new specialty tour: From Sméagol to Gollum and included several new pictures of the fellow - as well as his ex-buddy Déagol. I've also found some new Ted Nasmith paintings at the Chalk Farm Gallery and used them to update the following pages: Dunharrow, Journeys' Ends, Mount Doom, Three Ages of Elvish Homes, Minas Tirth: The Upper Levels

February 28, 2003: TheOneRing.net is about to publish its first book, illustrated by Middle-Earth Tours featured artist Dan Govar. It's called The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien, and you can order it right here.

February 24, 2003: New pics on the Dead Marshes and Orthanc pages.

February 6, 2003: Occasionally people write to ask me where they can learn "Elvish" and/or where they can find Elvish fonts online. I've added a couple of sites to my Links page to help you out: Ardalambion and Dan Smith's Fantasy Fonts for Windows.

February 5, 2003: I've added a couple of new sites to my Links page: Lalaith's Middle-Earth Science Pages and The Tolkien Sarcasm Page.

February 3, 2003: Thanks to the wonders of javascripting, I have a new weapon in the fight against hormonally unbalanced prepubescents who can't tell the difference between a 35-year-old American woman and a certain young English actor. If you want a demonstration, use the link at the bottom of this page to try e-mailing said actor - but take my advice and open a new browser window to do so. Also, please do not send me joke e-mails pretending that you are a delusional preadolescent; that stopped being funny a long time ago.

February 2, 2003: Thanks to Tina of Tina's Shark Tank for linking to Middle-Earth Tours. :-)

January 31, 2003: There's a new pic of Tulkas on the Valar page. Also, I've added an extension to the Mathom House called Argument Enders. This new section provides quotes from some of the more obscure Tolkien documents (i.e., his letters and HoME books like Morgoth's Ring) to settle such debates as the origin of orcs, the "real" story of Arwen, and what Tolkien really thought about women in combat.

January 24, 2003: I haven't found websites for the following artists, but I've at least found pictures of them and some links you can follow to find out more: J.R.R. Tolkien, Inger Edelfeldt, and Michael Hague.

January 22, 2003: I've just discovered that Michael Kaluta has a website. If you know of official web addresses for any of my other featured artists, please let me know.

January 17, 2003: John Howe's official site is back online and beautiful. Have a look - and while you're at it, Review Middle-Earth Tours!

January 10, 2003: New pics on the Arwen, Denethor and Shelob's Lair pages. I've also done some spring cleaning, removing a bunch of old pictures from the Art from the Movies section. These were images that no longer appear in any other part of the site, so you probably won't miss them.

December 24, 2002: Just found another great pic of Gollum on Andy Serkis's official site. I've put it on the Ithilien page and rearranged the Gollum page a bit.

December 23, 2002: Finally some legitimate pictures of Gollum are online! Updates to pages Gollum, Emyn Muil, and Ithilien

December 20, 2002: Here are the minor updates I promised you yesterday. John Howe has officially opened his website (though I'd wait a few days to visit if I were you; he's working out some server problems right now), so several of the new pics come from there. I've also gleaned a few new movie shots from various trailers. Updates to the following pages: Saruman, Denethor, The Barrow Downs, The Dead Marshes, Frodo, Helm's Deep, The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm, Osgiliath, The Nazgûl, Ents

December 19, 2002: First, a note. If the pictures on this site load slowly for the next few days, it's because I'm hosted by theonering.net, the biggest LotR fan site on the web. It's getting an especially high volume of traffic right now due to the release of the Two Towers movie. Things should ease up in a week or so. In the meantime, in between my own repeat viewings and rabid gushings over the movie, I'm going to do a little more updating. Just a touch-up today. On his brand new website, John Howe states the a painting of his which has often been identified as Dol Amroth, actually has nothing to do with LotR. I have therefore removed it from my site.

December 17, 2002: The Toronto Star gave Middle-Earth Tours a lovely write-up in an article about women and LotR.

December 16, 2002: One new pic on the Arwen page.

November 27, 2002: Several different kinds of updates today. First, I've divided the Morgul Pass page in three, giving new, separate pages to Shelob's Lair and Cirith Ungol. Each of the latter has new pictures. Second, I've given Wormtongue his own page (also with new pictures); and third, I've made small additions to Lórien and Fangorn. This completes the "upgrade" I promised on November 16.

November 25, 2002: Updates to Ithilien, The Dead Marshes, Elves, The Darkening of Valinor and the Flight of the Noldor (Prequels Tour), The Maiar (Prequels Tour)

November 24, 2002: Updates to Merry and Pippin, Edoras, Théoden

November 21, 2002: Updates to Rivendell, The Valar, Legolas

November 19, 2002: First, congratulations to Eledhwen on her new website, Dreamy Aspirations - and thanks for the link! Second, I've done some heavy reorganizing on the Treebeard page. It's now called Ents, and it includes not only pictures of Treebeard, but also of other various other ents and even an entwife! Unfortunately, if you're avoiding movie spoilers, you'll want to stay away until after December 18. I now have two good, clear images of the movie's Mr. Fangorn.

November 16, 2002: I'm beginning a major upgrade with new pictures. Expect random updates for the next several days or maybe even weeks. First up: I've added pictures of some of the illustrators to their artist pages: Rob Alexander, Daniel Govar, John Howe, Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith.

October 5, 2002: I'm doing a little virtual housekeeping, including giving a few pages a long-overdue upgrade: Frodo, Sam, Orcs, Sauron, Trolls, Lothlórien, The East Face of the Misty Mountains, Barad-Dûr.

October 3, 2002: Corrected some errors from yesterday's upload. The following pages were not updated yesterday, but are updated now: Rivendell, Rohan, Éowyn, Gollum, Orthanc. I've also done a bit more to the Ithilien page.

October 2, 2002: Lots of new images, thanks to the just-released TTT trailer! Updates on the following pages: The Dead Marshes, The Emyn Muil, Fangorn Forest, Helm's Deep, Ithilien, Osgiliath, The Black Gate, Rivendell, Rohan, Éowyn, Gollum.

September 5, 2002: I've just discovered a problem with my e-mail form: seems it hasn't been working since the end of July. So if you've e-mailed me since then and wondered why I didn't reply, there's your answer. :-/ It's working now, though, so please accept my apologies and try again.

September 4, 2002: New pics on the following pages: Gandalf, Boromir, Ithilien, Parth Galen, Amon Hen.

September 1, 2002: Just found a new site, Classic XF, with loads of movie screen captures. Added pics to the following pages: Faramir, Anduin, Weathertop, Flight to the Ford, The History of the One Ring, The Journey of Galadriel.

August 26, 2002: New pics on the following pages: The Valar, The Maiar, Minas Tirith, Éomer.

August 7, 2002: Believe it or not, a new pic on the Barrow Downs page.

August 6, 2002: Many thanks to Dan Govar for allowing me to reproduce his character studies on my website. I recently discovered his art on There and Back Again and was delighted by his interpretations of such little-seen characters as Bombadil, Goldberry, Denethor, and the Valar. I have made Dan a featured artist on Middle-Earth Tours and have updated the following pages with his work: Daniel Govar (new Featured Artist page), The Valar and The Maiar (new pages on the "Prequels" Tour), Arwen, The Tale of Beren and Lúthien, Bombadil and Goldberry, Denethor, Éomer, Éowyn, Legolas, Théoden, and The Bad Guys (new Mouth of Sauron pic).

July 31, 2002: The pics seem to be coming in faster these days, thank goodness. This newest bunch comes from the TTT preview on the FotR DVD...mostly. I've also split the "Faramir and Denethor" and "Éomer and Théoden" pages in two, giving each character more room and adding a few new artist conceptions. Finally, I've reorganized the "Humans" menu to accommodate the extra pages, and I've made Luca Michelucci a featured artist. New pics on the following pages: Rohan, Edoras, The Shire at Large, Lórien, Faramir, Denethor, Éomer, Théoden.

July 26, 2002: Congratulations to Orangeblossom on her new website, NineCompanions.net - and thanks for the link!

July 26, 2002: Several fantastic new Nasmith and Wyatt pics, plus a handful of movie shots courtesy of The Land of Shadow. Updates on the following pages: Links (added The Land of Shadow, as well as There and Back Again), The Dead Marshes, Ithilien, Fangorn, Morgul Pass, Treebeard, Orthanc.

July 14, 2002: Thanks to Leonides, I have some higher-quality image captures from the TTT trailer; and thanks to IGN, I have a new pic of Sauron. Updated pages: Emyn Muil, The Dead Marshes, Helm's Deep, Éomer and Théoden, and Sauron.

July 7, 2002: Updated the Orthanc page with two gorgeous new pics from the movie, which illustrate just how closely the designers stuck to Alan Lee's original vision.

June 26, 2002: New pics again, at last! A teaser trailer for TTT has leaked onto the web, but New Line doesn't seem to be complaining, so I feel safe enough in posting some shots from it. Plus, Decipher has released a new trading card series called "Realms of the Elf Lords," which contains a lot of great new pics from FotR. I've updated the following pages with images from these two sources: Parth Galen, Emyn Muil, Barad-Dûr, The Dead Marshes, Fangorn Forest, Helm's Deep, Éomer and Théoden

May 31, 2002: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go fly fishing in Middle-Earth? Then DreamBorn is the site for you.

April 27, 2002: Thanks to Robin at http://www.iwu.edu/~rhendric for linking to Middle-Earth Tours

April 15, 2002: Here's a link to make you laugh: Legolas Paper Doll. Note to all Legolas-loving teenagers: I am still not Orlando Bloom, I still do not know Orlando Bloom, and I still do not know how to get in touch Orlando Bloom, so please stop sending me his fan mail! (The same goes for those of you who think I'm Viggo, Elijah, etc. I'm a 34-year old, female, ex-English teacher with no connections to anyone famous).

April 1, 2002: At last, an image of the movie's Gollum that New Line won't sue me for showing you. I've also made updates to the following pages: Éomer and Théoden, Éowyn, Faramir and Denethor. P.S.: Happy April Fool's Day. ;-)

March 21, 2002: One gorgeous new image of Éowyn

March 14, 2002: To make loading easier, I have split the FotR Movie Images pages into sections of thirty pictures each. That makes seven sub-pages so far, and I expect that number to keep growing.

March 13, 2002: Images added to the following pages: Wizards and Minas Tirith.

March 10, 2002: Images added to the following pages: The Argonath, Parth Galen, Moria, The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm. I've also added two new questions to the FAQ.

Feb. 17, 2002: The new pictures have continued to leak out, but I haven't had time for a major update until now. Still, they're here at last, so enjoy: The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm, The Emyn Muil, The Ford of Bruinen, Ithilien, Lothlórien, Helm's Deep, Mordor, Barad-Dûr

Jan. 22, 2002: Corrected a coding problem on the maps in the Mathom House and changed the date format of this page to make it more readable for non-American visitors.

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