The Legend of Sigurd Audio Book Delayed:

All those who had pre-ordered the Audio CD were expecting to be listening to it by now. Find out why it is not yet available according to the publisher. But, Harper Collins has some news that is being reported here for the 1st time...

Never-Before Published Hobbit Painting By Alan Lee:

When asked about what else we could expect the answer came back that "the Alan Lee illustrated Hobbit hardback is getting a much deserved reprint with a slightly different cover, which includes a brand new never-before published Hobbit painting by Alan Lee."

We took the opportunity of that good news to discuss Alan Lee and the interview that Pieter conducted with him in March, 2008.

The Edel Silmarillion Student Project:

Further discussion with David Brawn at Harper Collins turned to the Edel Silmarillion, a student project produced by the very talented Benjamin Harff, which was featured on the Tolkien Library. Harper Collins says that The Benjamin Harff Silmarillion "has not been considered commercially". We encourage all Tolkien fans everywhere to take a look at this book, and send a friendly email to both the Tolkien Estate and Harper Collins asking that this book be published so that we may all have a copy. You can email both by visiting Tolkienestate.com/contact, and perhaps, with enough letters from eager fans, we can persuade Harper Collins to release this beautiful book.

Tolkien Settlement: More Than $100 Million:

THR, Esq. reports on the resolution of the litigation between New Line Cinema and the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien, and we offer our own comments as well as those of Christopher Tolkien (“The Trustees acknowledge that New Line may now proceed with its proposed films of ‘The Hobbit.’”) and Peter Jackson who says that they're "not even greenlit yet", and suggests that we "drop Warner Bros. a line and encourage them to be kind to [the film makers]".

Also, according to High-Def Digest New Line/Warner has delayed The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Blu-ray.

Oxonmoot 2009:

Oxonmoot 2009 will take place at Lady Margaret Hall from September 25th to 27th. Advanced booking has now closed but you can still attend Oxonmoot and pay at the door. For more information, visit the Oxonmoot website.

And lastly, according to Pieter...

Festival In The Shire:

Next year there will be organized a completely new Tolkien event, namely "Festival in the shire - A celebration of all things Tolkien inspired".

It will be held from August 13th -15th, 2010 at Y Plas Machynlleth, Wales, United Kingdom. The town of Machynlleth is located on the edge of beautiful Snowdonia National Park and is the historic capital of Wales.

There is not much known about this event yet, but it promises to be great! I have heard rumors that Ted Nasmith (the Tolkien artist), Jane Chance (the author of many Tolkien related books and articles) and John Garth (author of Tolkien and the Great War) and Tom Shippey (probably the greatest Tolkien scholar alive) are confirmed to be participating/attending. This event will be combining a Tolkien conference with an exhibition of Tolkien-related books, art, memorabilia and other fantasy items. The three-day event will feature food, music and entertainment.

There is no website yet but I have been told it will be going live shortly.

Tolkien fans that wish to provide input on the program planning and events related to Festival of the Shire are encouraged to do so. If you would like to exhibit your company’s products, exhibit items from your personal Tolkien collection, or participate in the entertainment, contact Mark Faith. info [AT] markfaithbooks [DOT] com.

Music:

"Tolkien: The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings" provided by Brobdingnagian Bards and taken from Music Alley - a place for musicians to upload songs that podcasters from all over can play and help to promote. If you, or a friend, play any music that is Tolkien related please upload to Music Alley and leave us a comment for this episode. We would love to hear and possibly play it on an upcoming episode of Middle-earth Minutes.

Miscellaneous:

Do you have a question or comment for us, or maybe some news that you would like to hear reported? Please leave a comment below. If you would like to have your comments heard in your own voice on Middle-earth Minutes use the "Call Me" widget in the sidebar of the Middle-earth Minutes blog. We would enjoy hearing from you and including it on the show.

And that is it for this episode of Middle-earth Minutes.

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