On This Day in Middle-earth

April 8th

The Ring-bearers are honoured on the Field of Cormallen.

This will be the biggest, and last, event for the month of April, while the pollen outside is getting to us, I couldn’t help but feel how perfect of a day it is for this event.

The sun is shining and there’s a nice breeze going, clearly today was meant for celebration.

Today was the day that Frodo and Sam woke up after their trials. The two Ring-bearers woke to a warm canopy of leaves, clean beds, and Gandalf waiting for them. Gandalf, in his mysterious ways, informed them that the King of Gondor wished to meet with them and thank them for their great deeds.

Frodo and Sam, who were curious as to who this King was, got up and followed Gandalf to meet this new leader.

There in an wooded opening Frodo and Sam were met by knights in bright mail and guards clad in silver. They bowed before these two Hobbits and greeted them with honor. Further on to a wide green land, Frodo and Sam stood before a great host.

“And as the Hobbits approached swords were unsheathed, and spears were shaken, and horns and trumpets sang, and men cried with many voices and in many tongues:

‘Long live the Halflings! Praise them with great praise!

Cuio i Pheriain anann! Aglar’ni Pheriannath!

Praise them with great praise, Frodo and Samwise!

Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annûn!

Eglerio!

Praise them!

Eglerio!

A laita te, laita te! Andave laituvalmet!

Praise them!

Cormacolindor, a laita tárienna!

Praise them! The Ring-bearers, praise them with great praise!'”

There in the midst of this great host were three thrones, and on the highest sat to their wonderment Aragorn, known to them as Strider. After greeting each other Aragorn wasted no time in taking a knee before them, leading them to the highest throne and spoke:

“Praise them with great praise!”

The host again praised these two small Hobbits as kings of Men, with their King leading the throng.

Then, what happened next, brought Sam to tears, happy tears but tears nonetheless, a minstrel came before them and begged to sing the tale of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom. Their story was finally put into the great tales that people speak about.

After that, the feast began and Frodo and Sam sat at the King’s table with Aragorn, Gandalf, Éomer, Imrahil, Legolas, Gimli, and the remaining chief captains. When the feast was over, Frodo and Sam were finally able sit with Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli and hear the tales from the remaining members of the Fellowship. A happy day of celebration ends with long talks amongst close friends.

I can’t even begin to describe the emotions felt on this day of celebration. Frodo and Sam who were physically and emotionally spent after their journey are now showered with praise and honored like the greatest Kings before them.

Thank you, so much, for your time. We encourage you to celebrate these two Hobbits today. Remember, a light from the shadows shall spring.

– The Wandering One

Movie Reviews…Kinda

Onward (2020)

We were lucky enough to see this movie in the theaters on opening weekend and we’re happy to share our thoughts on it.

Pixar has spat out instant classics like it’s nothing: The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story, and Monster’s Inc. are all extremely well-known. In my opinion, Onward is the next great Pixar movie to tug on our heartstrings since Coco and Inside Out.

While Disney has been working on fun-loving movies that incorporate music into their storytelling, you can tell Pixar focuses on those movies that evoke emotions. Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Coco, Inside Out, and now Onward are all movies that could make anyone tear up.

Onward follows the story of two elven brothers, Barley the RPG table-top game loving elder brother and Ian the shy timid younger brother who’s coming of age in this movie. Yes, the setting is a fantasy world with elves, centaurs, trolls, cycolps’, fairies, unicorns, and many more, but this fantasy setting isn’t familiar. Magic has sadly died away in the world, and these fantastic creatures are living in a modern day setting where technology has forced these once glorious races to cast aside their magic for the flip of a switch or press of a button.

On Ian’s birthday their dad, who died when Ian was just a baby, left a magical gift behind for both of his sons to use when they turn 16. When the magical gift goes awry these brothers go on a quest to find the piece they need to fix it. It’s fun to see how their quest affects the creatures they meet, slowly these fantastic creatures find their old “magical” ways and return to what they were meant to be. Magic is slowly creeping back into the world now.

Onward does an amazing job putting a funny duo together with Chris Pratt as Barley and Tom Holland as Ian. The pair play the brothers perfectly and you can feel their connection through the screen. Throughout their quest Barley helps Ian break through his shell as they form a closer brotherhood than what they’ve had before. I won’t spoil the ending too much, but I will say that even though these too brothers never got to grow up with a dad, they realize they’ve always had each other.

It’s great movie for parents and kids and siblings and the whole family and well anyone! Sadly, Onward didn’t get to see the box office success it deserved in the wake of movie theaters shutting down across the world. I hope you take the time to watch this movie, if not for the great story, than perhaps for the amount of possibilities this movie creates.

A sequel for Onward should get put in the works, since Ian and Barley are bringing magic back into the world I have to imagine they aren’t the only ones. The future is bright for these two brothers, and I can’t wait to see what adventures lie before them.

Thank you for your time, we hope you take the chance to watch Onward, and remember not all those who wander are lost.

– The Wandering One

On This Day in Middle-earth

April 6th

Meeting of Celeborn and Thranduil.

The New Year of Elves.

Since March 15th battles in Mirkwood have been raging on, Thranduil has done what he could to protect his lands, but many trees fell victim to a vicious fire.

In the end, as the shadow was lifted, Thranduil was victorious and on this day, which is also known as the day of the New Year of Elves, Thranduil and Celeborn met to discuss the fate of the forest.

Here they renamed the forest Eryn Lasgalen, The Wood of the Greenleaves, Thranduil took the territories in the North, Celeborn took the territories in the South, and the forest in between was given to the Beornings and the Woodmen.

Thank you, so much, for your time and remember, a light from the shadows shall spring.

– The Wandering One

Samwise Gamgee’s Birthday

Let’s stop and celebrate Samwise the Brave, otherwise known as Samwise Gamgee.

Today is Sam’ birthday and if you don’t know how you want to celebrate, we’d suggest you pull out the Extended Edition The Two Towers. Sam’s got some great parts throughout this movie as he does his best to protect Frodo.

This is, in fact, the movie where he’s given the “Samwise the Brave” title.

Take a second today and celebrate this amazing Hobbit, whom without, the Ring would never have been destroyed.

Thank you for your time and remember, the crownless again shall be king.

– The Wandering One

Character of the Week

Aayla Secura

We want to give a shout out to a strong Jedi warrior for this week’s Character of the Week.

Former apprentice of Quinlan Vos turned Jedi Master and General of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Her first introduction to the Star Wars Universe was during the Jedi’s rescue mission on Geonosis. There, she fought alongside multiple Jedi as they broke through Seperatist forces to save Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala. Throughout the Clone Wars she fought in many battles and became a stronger figure, like many other Jedi during the show.

Let’s also take a moment to appreciate how boss of a character she was on Star Wars Battlefront II, I mean with those double wielding lightsabers she was pretty unstoppable. Always a go to of mine.

Sadly, her fight came to an end on Felucia when Darth Sidious executed Order 66 and her clones turned on her.

We hope you join us in celebrating Jedi Master Aalya Secura this week by watching her appearance in Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars episodes she appears in, reading her comic books, or taking some time to play Battlefront II, it’s a good one.

Thank you for your time and remember, a light from the shadows shall spring.

– The Wandering One

Movie Reviews…Kinda

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

You know, I’m not entirely sure this really is a movie review, but I finally got around to watching the new Sonic movie and I wanted to share my thoughts on it.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie way more than I thought I would. I’d compare my thought process for this movie to fall in line with my process for the Detective Pikachu movie. I had high hopes for each of these movies, and for both of them I was very surprised. Let’s shift our focus back to Sonic, to be honest, I never expected this movie to be good, not after the first character design was released. Then news of the re-design came out and it required a lot of re-work, I was expecting this to be a hodgepodge mesh of craziness. I’m happy to say that Sonic the Hedgehog was not a hodgepodge or a mesh of craziness, it was an incredibly well thought out movie (for a kids movie) and they took care of Sonic enough for my liking.

There were many funny parts of the movie, when you cast Jim Carrey it’s hard not to expect laughs to come your way, and don’t worry, he delivered a classic Jim Carrey performance. I honestly enjoyed Sonic’s comical wit as well, the scene where he played baseball with himself cracked me up. Give Ben Schwartz credit, he did a great job bringing Sonic to life. Also shout out to James Marsden, he did a great job too.

The action was good, Sonic’s speed was really dialed up to 11 for the movie, but I was ok with it. They needed to up something for the silver screen and I’m ok with overpowering Sonic’s speed to give him that extra edge. Practically speaking, it does make him a little bit too OP, but Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnic was clever enough to bridge the gap. There’s also other villains in Sonic’s pantheon that can match up to the blue blur, so I shouldn’t really be worried about it.

All in all, this was a really fun Sonic movie, and for me, I could tell the people behind it really seemed to care about the characters and the story they were making. I’d recommend this movie for anyone that wants to enjoy a fun cartoon flick.

Thank you for your time, it was neat to get outside of our comfort zone for this one, but I wanted to provide my thoughts on this really enjoyable movie.

Remember, not all those who wander are lost.

– The Wandering One

On This Day in Middle-earth

March 28th

Celeborn crosses Anduin; destruction of Dol Guldur begun.

Three times Sauron waylaid Lórien, and even though many trees and land were ruined the strength of the Elves was too much for Sauron’s forces. Only Sauron himself could’ve successfully conquered Lórien. When the Ring was destroyed, shadow and fear was lifted from the hearts of the Elves and fell upon his forces. Celeborn then came forth and led his forces over the Anduin and towards Dol Guldor. There the Elves fought to rid this place of Sauron’s evil-doing.

“Galadriel threw down its walls and laid bare its pits, and the forest was cleansed.”

The war may be over for Gondor but Sauron attacked more than one region, Dale and Erebor were under attack, Lórien was under attack, and so was Thranduil in Mirkwood. Sauron’s plan, it seems, was to thin out his opponents forces and I think that was a mistake. Imagine if he has concentrated his focus on defeating Gondor. He might have succeeded and there would’ve been no battle at his front door to distract him from Frodo and Sam. Hindsight is 20/20, he probably should’ve listened to Illuvatar’s plan a little better.

Thank you, so much, for your time and remember, a light from the shadows shall spring.

– The Wandering One

On This Day in Middle-earth

March 27th

Bard II and Thorin III Stonehelm drive the enemy from Dale.

10 days, for 10 days the Men of Dale and Dwarves of Erebor were under siege from Sauron’s allies in the East.

News of Sauron’s demise took a few days to reach their ears, but when the armies of the East heard what happened they were filled with dismay. It was in this moment that the Men and Dwarves, led by Bard II and Thorin III, burst out of Erebor and defeated Sauron’s forces.

After that Bard II, Brand’s son, and Thorin III, Dáin’s son, were crowned kings. The crownless lands were given strong kings to rule them.

Thank you, so much, for your time and remember, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

– The Wandering One

Character of the Week

Ohtar

We wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t know who Ohtar was, or if you even knew he was apart of Middle-earth history.

Ohtar was the esquire of Isildur who brought the Shards of Narsil to Rivendell, where Valandil, the heir of Isildur, resided.

There’s no telling what adventures and obstacles he encountered on this journey, I’m sure it’s enough to fill a book. Hopefully one day we could embellish this story for you, but if Ohtar never brought the Shards of Narsil to Rivendell, there’s reason to believe the Elves would’ve spent a long time searching for them. They might’ve never found them, Aragorn would’ve never been given Andúril, and the story could’ve turned more grim than it already is.

We should celebrate Ohtar and his valiant effort, for in his hour of despair he kept his wits about him and did his delivered the sword to it’s rightful heir.

Thank you for your time and remember, a light from the shadows shall spring.

– The Wandering One

On This Day in Middle-earth

March 25th

The Host is surrounded on the Slag-hills.

Frodo and Samwise reach the Sammath Naur.

Gollum seizes the Ring and falls in the Cracks of Doom.

Downfall of Barad-dûr and passing of Sauron.

On March 25th, the One Ring finally gets destroyed. It amazes me how all the events of this day got boiled down into four sentences. The Host of the West finally made it to the Black Gates of Mordor. There the Captains of Men banged on the doors of Mordor and demanded Sauron atone for his evil ways.

Sauron sends his lieutenant, the Mouth of Sauron to “treat” with these captains. I’ll give you a passage of his first encounter with Aragorn.

“Is there anyone in this rout with authority to treat with me?” he asked. “Or indeed with wit to understand me? Not thou at least!” he mocked, turning to Aragorn with scorn. “It needs more to make a king than a piece of Elvish glass, or a rabble such as this. Why, any brigand of the hills can show as good a following!”

Aragorn said naught in answer, but he took the other’s eye and held it, and for a moment they strove thus; but soon, though Aragorn did not stir nor move hand to weapon, the other quailed and gave back as if menaced with a blow. “I am a herald and ambassador, and may not be assailed!” he cried.

Aragorn was not to be trifled with on that day, but hope almost failed when the Mouth of Sauron brought out Frodo’s mithril shirt, Sam’s sword, and an Elven cloak. These were the items Shagrat brought to Barad-dûr. Had Gandalf not been there, this rouse might have succeeded, but he cast aside this ploy and opted to fight. The Mouth of Sauron looked upon the deadly eyes of the Captains that stood before him, he ran back to Mordor in fear and ordered the armies to surround them.

Thus the Battle at the Black Gates began, the Host of the West was surrounded and Pippin, the lone Hobbit representing the Shire folk is stabbing and slashing where he can. He’s knocked out and all seems to end for him, in his daze he looks up and sees the Eagles are coming.

On the morning of this day Sam and Frodo slowly awoke, Sam was the first up, but Frodo could only move at a crawl. Sam wept in his heart, but would not give up.

“Come, Mr. Frodo!” he cried. “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well. So up you get!”

Sam made it up the mountain a decent bit, but his legs gave out and they needed to rest. Checking his surroundings Sam noticed a path not too far up ahead, there they could have an easier journey up the mountain. Frodo was able to crawl his way to the path, once they reached the path he looked out over Mordor towards Barad-dûr he collapsed with a sudden urge to put on the Ring. Sam kept Frodo from doing this and carried him the rest of the way.

Gollum then attacked the Hobbits and wrestled with Frodo for the Ring. But Gollum’s own journey had left him ragged and worn, he didn’t have the strength to overpower Frodo. When he fled the Hobbits after he led them to Shelob’s Lair, he had been wandering around Mordor by himself. Frodo stood before the cowering Gollum and proclaimed this.

“Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.”

Frodo then quickly hurried up the path and made his way to the Cracks of Doom. Sam stayed behind to finally get rid of Gollum, but pity overtook him and he spared Gollum’s life. When Sam arrived, Frodo’s will was gone, he placed the Ring on his finger and disappeared from view.

In this moment multiple things happened, Gollum appeared and knocked Sam out, Sauron’s rage and fear turned towards the Mountain, and Sauron’s forces faltered and halted. Gollum attacked Frodo, bit the Ring off his finger, and fell into the fires of Mordor as he was celebrating. Frodo’s demand came true, Gollum upon attacking Frodo cast himself into the fires of Mount Doom.

The devices of Sauron, Barad-dûr, the Black Gates, and Mount Doom began to fall into themselves and crumble into nothing. Sauron’s time ended, his forces fled in fear. The Men of the West rejoiced and Gandalf requested Gwaihir, King of Eagles, to bare him one more time. Into Mordor they flew, along with Landroval and Meneldor, they found Frodo and Sam, and bore them to safety.

Two Hobbits changed the course of the future, the smallest creatures of Middle-earth created one of the largest shifts in history. This story isn’t over for these Hobbits but their greatest journey is finally at an end.

Thank you, so much, for your time and remember, all that is gold does not glitter.

– The Wandering One