Dwarves to Dragons - the Tale Continues April 29!

The Professor certainly filled Middle-earth with a collection of weird and wonderful beings. Last moot we had a look at the dwarves of Erebor.  Continuing The Hobbit theme, we thought we might take a look at that Most Magnificent Worm, the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities, the Impenetrable Peril - Smaug the Dragon.

Smaug Destroys Lake Town, © John Howe (*)

Tolkien fans, being the creative and imaginative folk that they are, can surely all visualize what that   mighty drake must have looked, sounded and, if one were particularly unlucky, felt like. For our next moot, please bring something to help develop a picture of the last great dragon of Middle-earth. Draw a nightmare image of flaming breath and riveting eyes. Write an ode to the Master of Beguilement. Compose lyrics to a tune we can sing around the communal fire in memory of the devastation of Smaug.  Play a madrigal on your lute or flute. Bring all to the table: jokes, riddles (particularly enjoyed by dragons), skits, costume, wherever your talents and skills may lie.

If performance is more terrifying for you than tooth, claw and tail, bring a dragon-related artifact to display, something from your collection to make us gasp and lust with the desire of dwarves.  Perhaps you have an image or statue, a historical poem concerning dragons you could share to add to our knowledge of these mysterious beasts. If all inspiration abandons you, do not despair and fall away! Come and marvel at the contributions of your moot mates. Another time for sharing will come. We hope to make Welly-moot an exploration of all things Tolkien with contributions from all members, as each so pleases.

For somewhere to begin, try these links to dragon lore at Tolkien Gateway, a delightful source of information on all things Tolkien. Here you will find articles about Tolkien's Dragons in general, and individual articles for Smaug, Glaurung, Ancalagon, and Scatha. Click on the sound icons for each dragon, all save Smaug, to hear the pronunciation of the name.  The pronunciation of "Smaug" being an object of debate, this might be a topic to address on the day. Anyone feel like doing some research?

See you at the Embassy Theatre's upstairs cafe, 10 Kent Terrace, at the Mt. Victoria end of Courtney Place, Wellington on Sunday, April 29, from 2:00 until about 4:00 p.m. Of course there will also be  the much anticipated coffee drinking, cake eating and general getting-to-know-each-other as usual, but this time THERE (WILL) BE DRAGONS!

Extra question: fell beasts of the Nazgul - dragons or what?

Cheers,
Kris

kris@welly-moot.com


(*) The "Smaug Destroys Lake Town" Illustration is © John Howe, and used with permission from the artist. If you haven't been to his website yet, it's time you did! John Howe was intimately involved in the shaping of Peter Jackson' s Middle-earth, and looking through his Galleries, it's easy to see how much of that was kept intact in the movies. Currently, he is working hard on the next (previous?) installment, so let's see how much we'll recognise when the movie comes out!