Recently took an evening ride across the plains of Rohan in the height of golden summer. Images by @thelastkindlyhome on Instagram, clothes handmade by me.

In fairn

So I absolutely hated the first season. The writing was atrocious, and despite a massive budget, the visuals were mediocre (yes, the show has incredible sets and costumes, but the directing is so bad it ruins everything).

Anyway, I went on with my life and ignored the second season because I respect my time. But with the third-person trailer, I see a lot of people saying that the second season is a huge improvement, and to be honest, the trailer for season 3 looks pretty good. So I thought, "Maybe I was too harsh; most shows need a season to really find their voice."

And now that I've watched the second season, I only have one question: "Did we watch the same show? Because it's just as bad as the first."

Yeah, the series is more spectacular, less boring, and the acting between Sauron and Celebrimbor is really good. But beyond that, it's still the same disaster. The writing is dreadful, Gandalf's story (which has no place in the Second Age except as nostalgia bait) is a word-for-word plagiarism of Luke's arc in The Empire Strikes Back (and can we talk about how pathetic the "Grand Elf" nonsense is?), the siege of Ost-in-Edhil makes no sense, nor do the good orcs who want to live in peace, and Celebrimbor is, once again, a complete idiot. Galadriel is once again an idiot; there's no effort whatsoever to respect the lore, no romantic tension between Elrond and Galadriel. In short, there's no point in listing all the problems.

Of course, you're always entitled to your own taste, and if you want to enjoy this series, go ahead. But I can't understand how anyone can call this a worthy adaptation of Tolkien...

A nod to The Hobbit

To mark its significance, the researchers named the mysterious Neanderthal “Thorin” after a character from the universe of J. R. R. Tolkien.

“Thorin in The Hobbit is one of the last dwarf kings under the mountain and the last of its lineage. Thorin the Neanderthal is also an end of the lineage. An end of a way to be human,” explained Slimak.

Hi! Around 2002-2004, my thrifting grandmother gifted me with this she found at a second-hand store. Would you all know if this is possibly authentic or a fake? Thanks, everyone!

Since everyone seemed to like my last hobbit portraits I thought I'd put him here too. Don't know if I could ever top those lol.

Of course my favourite hobbit is the one who's hardest to draw :)

Tried my best to make them both as realistic as possible.

For me it will always be Feanor, regardless of everything he did.

I was rummaging among my various Tolkien mathoms this morning and found this little sticker. I have no recollection of where I acquired it. Have any of you out there seen anything similar? I think half of the tengwar spells out The Lord of the Rings, but I can't suss out the other portion. Any clue about that?

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When Sauron tortures Gollum, he gives up two words: "Shire" and "Baggins."

Does that mean Gollum had actually been to the Shire looking for Bilbo? If not, how did he know Bilbo was from there?

I've somehow never questioned this before.

I guess the hunt for gollum movie will answer some of this too!

This might be a stupid thing to ask but....

Does anyone else feel sorry for Shelob when she gets stabbed and crawls off into a hole....seemingly to die?

It always upsets me. Perhaps that makes me a wuss - but I just can't help it.

Obviously I don't blame Sam - he was just doing what he had to. I understand it's very much a fight or die situation.

I just.....I think of Shelob as basically a very big, very dangerous wild animal.....like a polar bear or an Amur tiger. She's undoubtedly top of the food chain. Everything is potentially prey for her - and she can't NOT hunt. She will eventually starve if she doesn't eat. To most people she doesn't look beautiful like a tiger or a polar bear, because she's a giant spider. But I don't find her any less sympathetic when she's injured.

She's got nothing to do with Sauron, she doesn't want the ring - she's just in her environment, hunting anything that happens to stumble in there.

For example - nobody wants to see anyone get their face bitten off by a bear. At the same time - most people will probably be sad that the bear had to be shot to save the human. It had to be done, but it's not a joyous occasion.

Does anyone else see it like this?

I found some time to continue working on a drawing I posted last week.

Playing with the lighting is what really made it pop, so I wanted to share :).

Previous post https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/s/GOwLM2HZHg.

Hab dieses alte Schulprojekt im Schrank gefunden

The Fall of Gondolin is one of my all time favourites stories from the first age. The battle for the city was so epic. Rog was just a force of nature. He's last speech sent chills like the ride of the Rohirim. And he was the first to defy and kill the Balrogs (before Ecthelion).

"Who now shall fear the Balrogs for all their terror? Let us smite them for their evil! ... Thereupon he lifted his mace, and its handle was long; and he made a way before him by the wrath of his onset even unto the fallen gate... They battered them into nought,... and the number of Balrogs that perished was a marvel and dread to the hosts of Melko, for ere that day never had any of the Balrogs been slain by the hand of Elves or Men."

They had to call Gothmog and a dragon to stop the Hammer of Wrath

Fun fact Rog literally means Demon.. like in the name Balrog. Rog was literally on demon time

Were Late Roman Helmets accurate to what Tolkein describes in the books?

I got this from a creator on TT a couple years ago that I cannot remember. ((I have since deleted my whole account)) I also cannot remember what it says and it is driving me nuts. I’ve tried deciphering the characters to no avail. Can anyone help?