A couple of weeks ago we discussed our Middle-earth heroes on the Hall of Fire. So I thought, why not focus on villains too?

So this Saturday at 6pm we’ll be asking today the question: who is your favourite villain, and why?

“I am the Elder King: Melkor, first and mightiest of the Valar, who was before the world, and made it. The shadow of my purpose lies upon Arda, and all that is in it bends slowly and surely to my will.

But upon all whom you love my thought shall weigh as a cloud of Doom, and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair. Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel.

Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death.”Narn I Hin Hurin: The Words of Hurin and Morgoth.

Who is your favourite Middle-earth villain? And why?

Is it Melkor, the ultimate progenitor of everything corrupt in Middle-earth? Or maybe you’re drawn to the insubstantiality and mysteriousness of his lieutenant, Sauron, as its depicted in Lord of the Rings?

Maybe you’re intrigued by one of Tolkien’s orcs: Grishnakh, Ugluk, Gorbag or Shagrat? The ever-hungering Ungoliant and Shelob also present different interpretations of what evil can be.

Or is it Saruman? Or someone like Ar-Pharazon the Golden, or one of the dragons: Smaug, Glaurung or even Ancalagon the Black?

Join us at 6pm ET in The Hall of Fire when we’ll be chatting about our favourite heroes, and what makes us like them most.

Fingolfin battles Morgoth by John Howe.

Time zone conversions

Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help. Alternatively, check our handy Event Announcer over on Time and Date for the correct time in your area.

America:6.00pm EDT (New York)5.00pm CDT (Chicago)4.00pm MDT (Denver)3.00pm PDT (Los Angeles)

Europe:11.00pm BST (London)Midnight CEST (Paris)1.00am EEST (Helsinki)

Asia-Pacific8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne10.00am NZST (Sunday) Wellington

How long do your topic chats go for?

Our chats usually last from an hour to ninety minutes, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation! However, our main room, #theonering.net is open 24 hours a day. We don’t always talk Tolkien there, but if you have a burning question, you’ll usually find one or two of “the regulars” up for a chat!

Where — connection details

Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net — the TORn IRC server. It is based on internet relay chat technology (that means it’s hella old skool). It’s a text-only, moderated chat room full of eccentric Tolkien fans. We’re open 24/7 (although some times are busier and more active than others).

There are many ways to connect to the chat server. However, the easiest is generally to use a browser-based client. We usually direct folks to Mibbit:

* TORn Mibbit Widget* Mibbit direct (as opposed to the widget above, this allows you to see others joining and leaving)

If you’re more oldschool or technically adept, you can install one of the scores of standalone chat clients that available for desktop and mobile devices. Just plug in our server details (see bottom) into the client and connect.

* Xchat: http://xchat.org/ (Windoze PC and Linux. Free)* mIRC: http://www.mirc.com/ (Windoze PC. 30-day trial)* AndChat: http://www.andchat.net/ (Android app for mobile. Free)* Colloquy: http://colloquy.info/ (Mac OS and Apple mobile devices. Free)

Our server details:IRC server name: irc.theonering.netChannel/room name: #theonering.netPort: 6667 (6697 for SSL connections)

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