Speaking of ancient survivals, this is perhaps one of Gandalf’s better known quotes after the Fellowship are forced by circumstance to cross the Misty Mountains through the long dark of the Mines of Moria. This seems at first to a a reference to the dreaded Balrog of Moria, but then we learn that he was…

A similar theme is explored in ‘The Shadow Kingdom’ featuring Conan’s literary and historical predecessor, King Kull of Volusia. Kull, and Atlantean barbarian ruling the ancient and decadent mainland Thurian kingdom of Volusia (much as Conan would rule the Hyborian realm of Aquileia thousands of years later), finds himself caught in a horrifying plot as…

While Robert E. Howard is best known for his Conan stories, he wrote many others not set in the Hyborian age, although most of them had his trademark signatures of pulse-pounding adventure and supernatural horror. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is perhaps one of the best of these. Set in Roman Britain, it features his Pictish…

I will conclude this exploration of Tolkien adaptations in different media with a mention of Tolkien games, both physical and virtual. Of course there is a reciprocal interaction here, because Tolkien’s work was a huge influence on the development of the original Dungeons & Dragons gaming system in 1974, so much so that TSR was required…

Of course my site contains my own Tolkien fan fiction, of which there is a great deal online of varying quality (although I like to imagine my own attempts are creditable). But if I had an education in film production, I would be strongly tempted to try my hand at Tolkien fan films. These have…

After the wild success of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy in the early '00’s, it was perhaps inevitable that a stage adaptation would be created. And so it was in the 2006 production, The Lord of the Rings, which played in Toronto and in London. It seems to have been well received by…

We’ve all heard the news that Arnold will revisit his legendary role as Conan the Barbarian in a new movie called King Conan, currently in development, to complete a trilogy of Conan films after the 1982 and 1984 originals. Now it has been announced that he is in serious discussions about reviving his original roles…

There is a long history of animated Tolkien films stretching back to the established animation studio Rankin Bass' animated version of The Hobbit in 1977. This was followed by Ralph Bakshi’s infamous and sadly incomplete 1978 version of The Lord of the Rings, which seemed to inspire Rankin Bass to “complete” it with its own…

American comedian Stephen Colbert is well known for being a LOTR fanatic. It is just been announced that in collaboration with Peter Jackson, Colbert and his son will help script a new film to be produced called The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past. Few details are yet available about the film but…

Speaking of long-anticipated movies, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is on track to be released in 2027. A prequel bringing back many of the original cast members under the direction of Peter Jackson, it will be inspired by the appendices to the novel. Stay tuned for more updates and comments about…