«Many years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien composed his own version, now published for the first time, of the great legend of Northern antiquity, in two closely related poems to which he gave the titles The New Lay of the Völsungs and The New Lay of Gudrún.

In the Lay of the Völsungs is told the ancestry of the great hero Sigurd, the slayer of Fáfnir most celebrated of dragons, whose treasure he took for his own; of his awakening of the Valkyrie Brynhild who slept surrounded by a wall of fire, and of their betrothal; and of his coming to the court of the great princes who were named the Niflungs (or Nibelungs), with whom he entered into blood-brotherhood. In that court there sprang great love but also great hate, brought about by the power of the enchantress, mother of the Niflungs, skilled in the arts of magic, of shape-changing and potions of forgetfulness.

In scenes of dramatic intensity, of confusion of identity, thwarted passion, jealousy and bitter strife, the tragedy of Sigurd and Brynhild, of Gunnar the Niflung and Gudrún his sister, mounts to its end in the murder of Sigurd at the hands of his blood-brothers, the suicide of Brynhild, and the despair of Gudrún. In the Lay of Gudrún her fate after the death of Sigurd is told, her marriage against her will to the mighty Atli, ruler of the Huns (the Attila of history), his murder of her brothers the Niflung lords, and her hideous revenge.

Deriving his version primarily from his close study of the ancient poetry of Norway and Iceland known as the Poetic Edda (and where no old poetry exists, from the later prose work the Völsunga Saga), J.R.R. Tolkien employed a verse-form of short stanzas whose lines embody in English the exacting alliterative rhythms and the concentrated energy of the poems of the Edda.»

You can buy the hardcover, special edition or audio book in our Marketplace: click here for US and here for UK/EU (these stores are in association with Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk. Disclaimer here). The publishers have also released two videos. The first is a book trailer and the second an information video, where we’ll also hear Brian Cox reading for the audio book:

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«The Hunt For Gollum is an unofficial not for profit short film by a group of enthusiast filmmakers. As a Lord of the Rings Fan Film, we are not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate or New Line Cinema and are producing this project as an entirely non commercial film. As with other fan films we are making this purely for the enjoyment of the material and the experience of making a high quality low budget film.»

The Hunt For Gollum is an independent The Lord of the Rings adaptation which will be available for live streaming today, Sunday May 3rd, at 16:00 GMT. The film is set between the events of The Hobbit and LotR, and follows Aragorn who has been sent on a quest by Gandalf to find and capture Gollum.

The film will be streamed live at thehuntforgollum.com and DailyMotion. High definition and subtitles in over seven languages (French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and more) will be available.

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The guys from ‘The Last Days’ are treating us to another look at what’s been going on behind the scenes. This time Merlkir is revealing some of the concept art that he has made for Dale and the Men of Rhûn (also known as the Easterlings). He has also promised that he will post an additional two or three new pictures every day until he runs out, so you may want to visit the preview thread often!

You can play the old version of ‘The Last Days’ right now if you download ‘Mount & Blade’ v0.808 and TLD v2.4. Find out more about the mod at their forum.

Men of Dale

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«Play on an extensive historically accurate map of Middle-earth as it was in the Third Age, including 114 settlements taken straight from Middle-earth lore and completed with several fictional locations. Visit the wonders of Middle-earth, like the Three Towers, the Argonath or Durin’s tower and see all the unique locations of Middle-earth like Minas Tirith, the Black Gate or Isengard. See the hills of Rohan, the huge forest of the Mirkwood and the dark ash of Mordor.»

The long-awaited The Lord of the Rings modification for ‘Medieval II: Total War – Kingdoms’, called ‘The Third Age: Total War’, has just been released. Play as one of twelve factions – including Gondor, Rohan, Isengard & Mordor – on a map of Middle-earth:

Map of Middle-earth

Go here to find the download links and more information on the mod and the release!

Faction Icons

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The Dead Marshes

`Middle-earth Role Playing´ is a total Conversion for `The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion´ based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. With a completed heightmap work is progressing well for the team, with modellers creating assets and landscape artists bringing the world to life. This latest media update brings us various high resolution pictures revealing just some of the beautiful and detailed work accomplished so far.

Barad-dûr

You can download the older version 0.2.2 from the `MERP´ website here. Or view the rest of the media update on the Bethesda forum thread here.

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Original post written by Kasabian for Mod Realms.

Economy Map

«All those who ever wished to ride with the dour-handed Rangers of the North or to wear the high crown of the Sea-Kings of old; all those who ever dreamed of taking part in the Counsels of Elrond Half-Elven or to visit the enchanted realm of Queen Galadriel; all those who ever coveted the treasures of Khazad-Dum, of Moria, in the days of its glory; all those who ever wanted to command the fearsome power of the Mumakil or to hoist the black sails of the Corsairs of Umbar; even all those who ever yearned to spread fear in the hearts of men like only a Nazgûl can, or to loot and murder with a horde of blood-thirsty Orcs.»

The guys over at ForumGaming.com are starting up a new game called ‘The Lord of the Rings: War in the West’, and they are looking for people interested in playing. Read more about the concept in this thread, and find out if this is something for you!

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A new gallery has been set up, this time featuring screenshots from ‘The Last Days’, a The Lord of the Rings modification for ‘Mount & Blade’. You can check out all the images here. For more information about the mod proceed to their forum.

Variags of Khand

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A new preview showcasing the ruins of Osgiliath has just been posted by Llew2 from the ‘The Last Days’ team. This means, of course, that we’ll be able to headshot some Orcs (or Men if you’re more into the evil side of things) surrounded by the beautiful, if ruinous, environments of the Citadel of the Stars in the next instalment of TLD. Here be screenshots!

The shadowed ruins of Osgiliath

The latest version of ‘The Last Days’ is for the old ‘Mount & Blade’ v0.808. Find out more about the mod on their forum.

Osgiliath was once the capital of Gondor

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The Dragons Skin Regiments

«The Easterlings have been under the influence of Sauron, and before him Morgoth, it would seem from the very beginning. However it is their more recent dealings with Sauron that concerns us most. Before Sauron had established himself in Mirkwood he sought security in Rhûn. He used this time in the east to build the loyalty of the Easterlings. Around 1050 of the Third Age Sauron rebuild Dol Goldur in Mirkwood; however he maintained his ties with the Easterlings. He constantly sent emissaries to the men of the East to ensure they kept up their raids. These emissaries would eventually help establish the tribe known in the west as “The Wainriders” as the pre-eminent tribe in Rhûn. They were eventually able to establish a loose confederation under the leadership of the Wainrider Warlords. It was these warlords who attacked the west in 1851 of the Third Age by assaulting the lands south of Mirkwood. A constant state of war existed between the Wainriders and the West as an Alliance with Khand and Harad was formed. However with their defeat at the hands of Gondor in 1944 of the Third Age the Wainrider influence in the east disappeared. The tribes were fragmented once again and the alliances with Khand and Harad fell apart.»

Easterlings vs. Knights of Dol Amroth

The Easterlings of Rhûn are the latest faction to be previewed by the ‘The Third Age: Total War’ team, and, in addition to much information about their take on the faction, we get an absolutely massive amount of screenshots to gawk at. Make your way over to the faction preview thread to join in on the gawking!

Easterlings vs. Gondor

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Swan-knight of Dol Amroth

Hoggy made some great concept art for the ‘Middle-earth: Total War’ mod for ‘Medieval: Total War’, and that art is now collected in a gallery which you can find here.

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