Dinner at Weathertop

The Nazgul have found and cornered the Hobbits -what will they do? This LEGO Lord of the Rings skit is from The Brick Show. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

Dragons

(via Bad Newspaper)

The Eye of Answers

Isaac the Wizard is so smart. This comic is from Tredlocity. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

The Guy Who Invented The Tunnel Of Love

Let's brainstorm some ride ideas for an amusement park. A big wet dark tunnel? Bad idea! 

The Life of a Tolkien Scholar

(via Geeks Are Sexy)

The Last Headshop

 The short film The Last Headshop by Matt Lenski and artist Sy Goldstein with some assistance from artificial intelligence, is a project that conjures up Lenski's memories of New York City prior to Rudy Giuliani's "broken windows" clean up operation in the mid-'90s that started the ongoing gentrification movement. The city was a collection of gritty subcultures and businesses in which a skull shop could believably fit in. But there really wasn't such a thing, so this is an imaginary documentary that evokes the flavor of the city in those days. You can read about the inspirations and the meaning of the film in this interview with Lenski. (via The Awesomer)

The Fjellowship

(via Geeks Are Sexy)

Legendary Sword

(via She Who Seeks)

Believer

(via Bits and Pieces)

The Hobbit in Less Than Three Minutes

I just saved myself ten hours of time by watching the TL;DW version of The Hobbit trilogy. They may have left out a few details, but nothing I’d really want to sit still that long for, even if I had the time.

Thirteen dwarves! That’s got even Snow White beat. Honestly, I tried to read The Hobbit in college and was so bored that I gave up and never went back to it. That was 40 years ago, and I still see no reason to watch three movies that I hear are dragged out even more than the book. (via Tastefully Offensive) 

Severus Snape and the Marauders

In 1978, James Potter graduated from Hogwarts and celebrates at a bar with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. It seems like a perfect evening until young Severus Snape walks in. This Harry Potter fan film was written and directed by Justin Zagri and shot in just four days. (via Buzzfeed)

Every Epic Quest

The "Epic Quest" was born in tales told around a fire, then was recreated in books, often a series of more and more books about the same characters, who are interchangeable with characters from other franchises. They then move to feature films, and then TV series and video games to continue the fantasy, whether it is already played out or not. Alasdair Beckett-King rolls all these familiar elements into one generic quest that somehow exists in all formats at once, starring characters you've never heard of, but you know them already. Whether you're a fan of Final Fantasy, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Elden Ring, or Fantasy Quest, you'll recognize the archetypes and how they appear again and again in different worlds. You'll have to watch twice to catch the smaller jokes that reference specific stories and how they were presented to us. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

The Real-World Inspirations Behind Lord of the Rings

Many fantasy fans look at J.R.R. Tolkien as the grandaddy of the genre. He certainly put in the work, with years of world building and research behind each plot in his many works. His magnum opus was The Lord of the Rings, an epic saga that comprised three volumes, plus the prequel book The Hobbit. Tolkien even manufactured languages for his characters. But Tolkien was not the first to use the elements of fantasy in his stories. Many ancient sagas included elves, magical rings, dragons, swords, and wizards in their legends. Other parts of The Lord of the Rings incorporated historical characters and events. Although Tolkien did not invent these elements, he was a master at bringing them to life in his writing, weaving them together in a convoluted quest told in poetry and prose that enchanted millions, and continues to do so today. The author's lifetime of travel, study, experience, and keen observation all contributed to what The Lord of the Rings came to be. Weird History looks back at the sources of these elements thatTolkien used so well.

The Orc Dance

You never imagined the Orcs from Lord of the Rings to be the dancing type, did you? When an unexpected dinner appears, they do a victory dance. but you know how it is when you celebrate too early! 

Scott Winn brings us dancing Orcs with a special appearance by the elf Legolas. The song is “Through the Flame” by Scott & Brendo. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

Tweet of the Day

pic.twitter.com/IOm2hOe4iy

— ONT WTF (@OntWtf) September 15, 2023

These little girls are terrified at first, but they rally and defeat the dragon! That's some bravery. (Thanks, WTM!)

What's Wrong with Legolas?

Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film franchise comprised six films from 2001 to 2014. The vast number of major characters from Tolkien's novels are hard to keep straight for a casual fan, but die-hard LOTR fans are still exploring and critiquing each of them for their unique qualities, their contributions to the plot, and their accuracy to the original books. And that brings us to Legolas.

Despite the epic lengths of the movies, Jackson had to compress everything from Tolkien's saga to fit it into theaters. Nerdstalgic takes up the question of which character got the short end of the stick because of that and finds that it is Legolas. The elf is a fierce warrior, yet among the major characters in the story, he really gets nothing else to do. We never find what makes him anything but a fierce warrior, as we do the other characters. He is stuck in the "Superman" role, with no weaknesses, no imperfections, and no real personality lurking underneath. (via Digg)

Bunny's Epic Adventure

In this short by Russian filmmaker Michael Tivikoff, a cute bunny rabbit is sent on a quest to deliver a magical object. You’ve seen that story before, in everything from The Lord of the Rings to The Wizard of Oz to The Forbidden Kingdom. Except this time, the star is a bunny rabbit. That’s different enough. Another difference in this and LOTR is that the bunny was smart enough to take the first available flying shortcut. And his reward at the end will tickle you. (via Tastefully Offensive)

The Cursed Amulet of Howl Mountain

The fantasy was a real rush ...for just a minute. This comic is from Chris Hallbeck.

The Wish

My, that's a lot of genies. I guess that says something about our desire for wish fulfillment. In the case of Fox, it all may have been for naught. This comic is from Danby Draws. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

Career Opportunity

You may have wanted to be a king when you were a kid. Or maybe president. Then you grew up and realized that would be a lot of work and headaches, and that fabulous wealth and power might not be worth the hassle. Better to have a career that satisfies you. Yeah, I know, librarians don't spend their time reading, but this guy is in a medieval fantasy, so it works. This comic is from Martin Rosner (HotPaper). (via Geeks Are Sexy)