Rest in Peace, Christopher Tolkien.

It is with great sadness that I have to write this - it's just come to my attention that Christopher Tolkien, the son of J.R.R. Tolkien, has passed away, at age 95. Without him we would not have the Silmarillion, or any of the other reference works, or more recently any of his full tales of the best Middle-earth backstories. He was a protector and staunch defender of all his father's works, for some 91 years. Famously he protected it even from his father:

"I (then between four and five years old) was greatly concerned with petty consistency as the story unfolded, and that on one occasion I interrupted: ‘Last time, you said Bilbo’s front door was blue, and you said Thorin had a golden tassel on his hood, but you’ve just said that Bilbo’s front door was green, and the tassel on Thorin’s hood was silver’; at which point my father muttered ‘Damn the boy’, and then ‘strode across the room’ to his desk to make a note."

His work is at an end. We shall remember him.

The Welly-moot sends its deepest condolences to the Tolkien family.


"He was strong in life - may his spirit find its way to the halls of his father"

Last night's Royd Tolkien charity event for MND(NZ) was a success!

Royd Tolkien talks about his brother Mike

Royd Tolkien's event at the Roxy Cinema last night was a great fun evening, with some very exciting auctioneering from Jed Brophy as well. The Roxy had put out a delicious spread of hors d'oeuvres, which were excellent as always.

The first part of the evening was basically a meet-and-greet with Royd and Jed, as well as with Wellingtonians Peter Hambleton (aka Gloin!), and prolific stuntman/suit actor Shane Rangi. Some speeches followed, where Beth Watson from MND NZ spoke about the disease, and Royd spoke about his brother Mike, and the challenge of his bucket list. The sobering speeches put the evening back into perspective.

Deep in the Woods, by Rieko Woodford-Robinson (2014)

 The auction began halfway through the evening, with the non-Hobbit/LOTR items. The crowd was pretty intent on spending money on this very deserving charity - the money will go to the support of people suffering from Motor Neurone Disease (aka ALS disease). Some very good prices were reached for the items. One of them, a gorgeous giclee print by Rieko Woodford-Robinson titled "Deep In The Woods" went for around the $1000 mark, much to the delight of Rieko herself.

Also under the hammer went a lovely bottle of wine, the last one made by Stefano Guidi, chief winemaker at Heron's Flight, before he was diagnosed with MND in May last year.





Three prints by Weta's artist Gino Acevedo were up next, and one of them was snapped up by Troy, who I had the pleasure to take on a tour to the Paths of the Dead a few weeks ago (aka, the Putangirua Pinnacles). Troy is travelling around New Zealand for a year, taking in as many LOTR locations as possible, so he was enjoying the evening especially!

"A tour for two people to THAT MAN over there" -Jed

The LOTR Tour for two people that my employer Rover Tours Group had sponsored went well - I didn't get to meet the lucky winner of that one, but I suspect I will soon.

Everybody seemed hungry for the big prize of the evening - the Orc Mask, which was not only worn by Royd Tolkien, but was molded from Shane Rangi's head. The bidding was fast and furious, especially since we knew there were some quite high overseas absentee bids already on the table. Sorry Kylie, it wasn't to be - the mask ended up going to Tom, from Weta Cave. He's pretty much changed his life around a number of times, just to live in Wellington, and is definitely one of the biggest LOTR fans I know, of both the movies and the books. I think he may be broke for some time though - the look on his face when he put in his final bid spoke volumes.

Well done, Tom, and everyone else who was successful (I wasn't!), and to all those who missed out; better luck next time!

Jack, Royd, and Alex

A big thank you goes out to Royd Tolkien, to his brother Mike Baker who spurred Royd on to complete this mission, to the organisers of the event, the people at MND (NZ), the good folk at Roxy, Weta, and the other sponsors. Last but not least, to the overseas bidders who certainly helped get those bids high - you may not have won your items but you helped all the same!

  - Jack

Fabulous Prizes!

I've received more details about the Royd Tolkien charity event at the Roxy next week. The charity auction, run by Jed Brophy, will include some fabulous items that may never be offered for sale again.

For the overseas fans: I may be able to accept absentee bids on your behalf, but let me know well in advance, so I can arrange the necessary paperwork etc. Email me on jack@welly-moot.com if you're interested. As soon as possible please - time is of the essence, and tickets are limited!

Royd getting into Orc mode.

• An actual Orc mask made by Weta Workshop as seen in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Worn by Royd Tolkien during filming of the Bucket List documentary. Just so we're all clear, this is the first time I've EVER seen an actual Weta Orc Mask up for sale, let alone one worn by Royd Tolkien.

Estimated value: priceless. I honestly have no idea how much this would go for; I've never seen one go on sale before (in 17 years!).

• A VIP Weta Workshop tour package for four people, including a personal meeting with Weta Workshop founder Richard Taylor or Tania Rodger, a Weta Cave Workshop tour, introduction to the company and a Thunderbirds Are Go experience, plus a signed book (allow 3 hours). Valued at $800

• A Full day LOTR Tour for two people around the Wellington region, courtesy of Rover Tours Group. Tour includes a visit to the Weta Workshop, including the famous Weta Cave Workshop tour (lunch included). Various LOTR locations - Outer Shire, Rivendell, Isengard, River Anduin, and others. Also includes a gift map created by Daniel Reeve, Middle-earth's official cartographer. A total value of $380, the tour can be booked anytime in the next 12 months.

Furthermore, also these amazing items:

• Gandalf statue signed by Sir Peter Jackson
• Legolas Greenleaf statue signed by Sir Richard Taylor
• Lady Eowyn of Rohan statue signed by Sir Richard Taylor
• The Art of Film Magic - 20 Years of Weta book signed by Sir Richard Taylor

Weta Workshop, Rover Tours Group, and Sir Peter Jackson have all really come to this party, in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease NZ charity. It's a worthy cause, so let's do this. All in all it promises to be quite the evening. Get your tickets soon please - they need to know how much wine to get for the evening. If you can't attend, but would like a shot at the auction items, contact me, at jack@welly-moot.com !

For more details about the event, check our earlier post:

  http://www.welly-moot.com/2017/03/royd-tolkien-coming-to-wellington-at.html

For tickets ($75) or sponsorship, please email Jodie at jodieattard@hotmail.com

See you there!

  - Jack

Royd Tolkien coming to Wellington, at the Roxy on April 12, charity event for MND association.

Technically, I understand that he's already here, but Royd Tolkien, the great grandson of our favourite author, actor, film producer, and brother of the late Mike Baker who died from Motor Neurone Disease (MND), has returned to New Zealand to "make a dick of himself" in honour of his late brother.

As you may know, Mike left Royd a bucketlist to finish on his behalf, and Royd is going out of his comfort zone to finish it, and to raise some funds for the MND association.

There's a good interview about it on the Wales Online website (it's a couple of years old but still good).

Royd is also filming his adventures, and this is being made into a documentary, There's A Hole In My Bucket.

MND New Zealand invites you to an evening with Royd Tolkien at the wonderful Roxy Cinema in Miramar, Wellington. Tickets can be purchased for $75 each.

Canapés and drinks will be served for main duration of the event

Royd Tolkien and his brother, Mike, great-grandsons of J.R.R. Tolkien, were not just brothers, they were best friends. When Mike, the adrenalin junkie younger brother who loved excitement and adventure, realised his MND would never let him complete his bucket list on the other side of the world (New Zealand), he left it for Royd to complete. A challenge indeed given Royd says he hasn’t a “thrill-seeking bone in my body”.

There’s a Hole in my Bucket is a documentary starring Royd and is being filmed in New Zealand now. Royd says, “it is a journey of discovery and inspiration” intended “to remind people how precious and important life is and to make every second count.”

Join Royd at this event to hear about his experiences completing the 50 bucket list challenges his brother left him, most of which he will have completed by April 12th. There will also be some fantastic items and experiences up for auction, to be revealed in the coming weeks.

The Wellington event is hosted by the Roxy Cinema, on April 12th, and tickets are available for $75.

To find out more about the documentary, watch this YouTube clip (4 mins).

For tickets ($75) or sponsorship, please email Jodie at jodieattard@hotmail.com.


More news as it comes to hand!
 

Finnish Tolkien Society Kontu - WorldCon announcement

While we're announcing international Tolkien events we're invited to, there's a cool few things on in Finland later this year as well. The New Zealand Tolkien has enjoyed a great friendship with the Finnish Kontu in the past, and we would very much like to continue that relationship!

I received a message from them a little while ago - check it out!

Greetings from the Finnish Tolkien Society Kontu!

As you most likely know by now, the 75th Worldcon will be held in Helsinki, Finland from the 9th to the 13th of August. It is quite probable that many Tolkien enthusiasts from around the world are going to attend the con, so we thought that it could be fun to organize something for our international friends. The plan is to have a big picnic at Suomenlinna (http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en/) to which we'll invite every Tolkien fan that attends the con. It's a great and easy opportunity to meet Tolkien fans from all around the world, and we hope that you could inform your society's members about this.

The picnic will be held on Tuesday, the 8th of August. We chose the day before the con because people will be a bit too busy during the actual con to have time for an extra activity – and many people are arriving to Helsinki on the previous day anyway.

Suomenlinna is really easy to access from central Helsinki, and provided that the weather is good, it's a really nice place for hanging out with friends – in fact, our society goes there once every year with other speculative fiction groups! So while additional information will be given later (I'll create a Facebook event soon!) it'd be nice if your society could mention this to its members – we hope to see plenty of international Tolkien representation at the con!


With warm greetings,

Janne Seppänen
Secretary of The Finnish Tolkien Society Kontu
sihteeri@suomentolkienseura.fi

So let me know (or email them directly!) if you have any interest in attending this event!

  - Jack

Tolkien Society UK announcement - Oxonmoot 2017

Just for the record - any members of the Welly-moot Tolkien group here in New Zealand are automatically invited to a lot of the annual events hosted by the UK Tolkien Society, including the Oxonmoot.

Oxonmoot is an annual event hosted by The Tolkien Society which brings together around 200 Tolkien fans, scholars, students and Society members from across the world. It has been held annually in Oxford since 1974 on a weekend close to Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday (22^nd September) and is the key event in the Society’s annual calendar – if you want to come to any Tolkien event, come to Oxonmoot.

For more details, check their website here:

https://www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-2017/


Let me know if you're interested in finding out more!

  - Jack

Welly-moot 2.6 (Dec 29, 2013) - Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

On the last Sunday of 2013, we opened our house once again to the Tolkien group for our end-of-year get-together. The theme for the meeting, if there was one at all, was the second Hobbit movie; The Desolation Of Smaug. By now everyone'd had a chance to see it, so any and all spoilers were totally permissable.

People started arriving around 11:00am. Appropriately, Adam was the first man to arrive, but all in all it was quite a merry gathering, with fifteen of us physically present, plus another three virtually (via Skype); Jack & Alex (the hosts), Kris, Wayne & Hilary, with Terry, Ash & Cinnamon, Kumi, Adam, Emily & Richard, Kim & Warren, Annabel, and Jennifer & Ryan with young Hawk via Skype from the USA. We hadn't met Emily's friend Richard yet, and Wayne & Hilary brought the Tolkien loving Terry with them.

Overall, it was a great way to catch up with everyone, and say goodbye to 2013, which had brought us the second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug. Everybody had seen it, and it was discussed in great detail. I won't pretend we came to any sort of conclusion, but that's always been part of the enjoyment of Tolkien - it means different things to different people, including to Peter Jackson, apparently.


The lunch was brought out - a lot of effort had gone into the dishes from everyone - thanks to all who slavered over the hot stoves! We all appreciated it!

As always, click on the pics for higher resolution. If you don't see any pics, it's probably because you're reading this on facebook. You need to come to the blog welly-moot.com instead.

That's Kim's hands cutting into the gorgeous Smörgåstårta (Scandinavian Sandwich-Cake), a recipe from Weta's Magnus Hjerte. It tasted terrific, and didn't last long enough, I thought.

Nibbles galore, freshly baked breads, pasta salads, and in the bottom right in the picture, Kumi's Sushi.

Special mention : Warren & Kim brought these great tasting biscuits, shaped like a certain other Dragon, currently residing in the Wellington Zoo.

Ash starting the dessert, while Adam contemplates another Mead.

Terry and Wayne engrossed in Kim's views on Hobbit 2:DoS. She seems to be speaking in sign-language though. (Emily on the right).

Hilary and Kumi deep in conversation. Warren deep in chocolate brownie-heaven.

Me (Jack) enjoying Kris' Mead. Very nice it was, too! Adam looks like he already enjoyed a few there (actually, he just blinked at an inopportune time). Cinnamon destroys a cupcake.

At some point in the afternoon, the party split into two groups - almost all the boys went downstairs, to the mancave, while almost all the girls stayed upstairs. We hadn't intended to break away for more than a few minutes, but the girls kept bringing us food down there. Almost... like they were encouraging us to stay... longer...? Surely not!

"To the batcave, men!". Warren in the red shirt, then Richard, Adam, and Terry. I think that's me with the iPad on the left.

I should point out that Cinnamon was honorary man for the afternoon, and joined us for an in-depth geek-out in the Tolkien-themed room I keep hidden down there.


What a great way to end the year! And looking forward to the rest of 2014, which will bring the last movie set in Middle-earth.


The next Welly-moot will be on February the 23rd, where we will discuss all the things we were supposed to discuss this time around but were too busy stuffing our faces. Normal time and place (2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema, upstairs in the cafe).

  - Jack

Come meet the Welly-moot before the Midnight Session at the Embassy!

If you've got your Embassy Cinema tickets to the Midnight Screening of Hobbit 2: Desolation of Smaug, then we'll see all of you in the cafe at around 10:30pm or so, for a pre-screening buzz-out! Come and join us, before the movie kicks off, it'll be nice to see everyone beforehand.

Alex and I will be in costume, and should be easy to find. Depending on how tired we all afterwards, we should have a quick get-together afterwards as well.

This photo, taken at the Live Fan Event in Wellington on November 5 this year, was printed in the Indian newspaper The Hindu. From left to right, there's Viv, Alex, Jack, and Wayne, pictured in front of a readership of 100 million Indian newspaper readers (thanks to Marcel Aubron-Bülles from the UK Tolkien Society for the tip).

So, to recap, we're meeting in the upstairs cafe in the Embassy Cinema, from about 10:30pm onwards. If you're not yet a member, come meet us as well, we'll be easy to spot!

  - Jack


[NB - As always, if you're missing the picture and the links, you're probably reading this on Facebook. Come to the blog instead, at www.welly-moot.com, and subscribe to us there.]

Welly-moot 1.6 (Dec 29, 2012) - International Lunch

For Welly-moot 1.6, the last meeting of 2021, we enjoyed a shared international lunch at Jack & Alex’s place. We had asked for members to bring food from their own countries, and so, the yummy meals and desserts came from seven different nationalities. A big thank you to everyone who brought nice meals, especially thanks to Noei who brought three different Thai meals and thanks to Alex for preparing and organising this occasion.

A selection of the food. All of it was great!

We enjoyed the meal as much as the discussion on “Hobbit: Unexpected Journey”. Noei has seen the movie the most times, five times both in 2D and 3D formats. She gave us her views, and we talked about the difference between 2D and 3D, and 24fps and 48fps.

Comparing the story of The Hobbit movie with the original book, we were impressed and enjoyed Sir Peter Jackson’s Hobbit. The original story is of course only a single book, and aimed at children. Peter Jackson has expanded the story by inserted some characters into the mix, like Radagast the Brown, who is not in the original Hobbit book (but is in LOTR). We were also surprised at how rabbits were so useful for escaping from Wargs...


We went around the room for everyone’s favourite characters. Thorin, Gollum, Gandalf, Balin, Nori, Kili, or even “all of them” were mentioned. Unlike in the book, all of Jackson’s thirteen Dwarves have distinct characters and their hair styles and faces are well-designed, and easy to distinguish from one another. One comment came back - the ladies like Thorin (Richard Armitage) because he is good looking, of course :)

(Most of) the group - Counter-clockwise starting at Bilbo (yes, we listened to the soundtrack) - Hanne, Warren, Kris, Noei, Ryan, Jennifer, Hawk, Mrs & Mr Rasmussen, Heike, and Jack. Missing: Alex (photographer), Erika (getting more food, probably)

Both Heike and Alex mentioned the scene where Bilbo encounters Gollum for the first time in the cave, where Gollum is talking to himself and tells himself to “Shut up”. The group really liked Andy Serkis’ performance of Gollum. Gollum looks younger, and is both more evil but also more childlike at the same time. Andy Serkis (and the digital team behind him!) did a great job of the physical and virtual performance of Gollum.

Lastly, we discussed our expectations for the second Hobbit movie - The Desolation of Smaug. Some of the Welly-moot’s members are Extras in the Hobbit movies, and they are expecting they will be in next movie. One of the most anticipated creatures is Smaug. We can’t wait to see more of him, and expect that we will finally see the whole Smaug in action!

Plans for the group in 2013

We will gather as usual every two months. The first meeting will be on 24 February 2013. We will keep informed in this website (and via the usual Facebook and Twitter etc).

The big project this year will be “Riventroll”. We will set up a separate website for this project and start fundraising in 2013. We will keep everyone informed.

The other project we’re going to try and get involved in is the “Mount Tolkien” project that was begun by Aaron Nicholson from Manapouri in Southland. The group is right behind him in his efforts to honour Tolkien with his own New Zealand mountain. The mountain is currently (officially) unnamed, so this is not before its time!

Two minor but significant events this year - the DVD/Blu-ray release of “Hobbit 1” will be along shortly, and hopefully there will be Extended Releases, like LOTR’s.

And of course December 2013 will be another Hobbit Release month, so there will be lots of excitement again for that. Stay updated by following the blog, our the Facebook, or the Twitter feed. Subscribe so the information comes to you and you don’t have to go searching for it every time.

2012 - the year in (brief) review

The year 2012 has been extremely successful year for Welly-moot. It was our first official year. It was the year we became officially affiliated with the UK’s Tolkien Society. We now have official T-shirts, a Welly-moot banner, the committee members have business cards, and there's even a rubber stamp!


We had 6 great meetings, hosted some fantastic guests, and discussed Tolkienish background information. We lined up for Premiere Tickets, almost missed out, got saved by Sir Peter Jackson himself, then attended the Hobbit Premiere, had the World’s Best Ever Second Breakfast on a Red Carpet, and finally watched the world’s first showing of The Hobbit movie.

We have been visited by other Tolkien Society members from overseas groups, as well as individuals who were previously not part of any other Tolkien groups.

So a great big “Thank You” to all the great members of Welly-moot who made it all happen this past year, with all your good conversation, your amazing knowledge, and all your unbridled enthusiasm!

Also a big “Thank You” also to all our friends, our wonderful visitors, and to all the organisations who helped when we needed a hand, with a special thank you going out to Sarah Meikle and Helen Player from Absolutely Wellington Tourism, for all their help in getting us into the first screening of the movie, and for providing all those goodies, both on the red carpet, as well as at the Cinema later.

And of course to Sir Peter, Matt Dravitzki, and the entire team for taking us to Middle-earth one more time!

Now let 2013 begin!

Welly-moot 1.1 (Feb 26, 2012)

The first official meeting of Welly-moot was a total success, as all who attended would agree.

Instead of As well as the usual chaotic, coffee-drinking, cake-eating, gossip-mongering sessions of 2011, we also managed to stick to the announced theme ("How Gandalf ended up with the Key and the Map").

Special Guests
Speaking of Gandalf - we had two Gandalfs present at the meeting! I had received word that Jens Goetz from the German Tolkien group Tolkien Stammtisch Rhein-Main would attend, however we were all amazed when he walked in to the meeting in full Gandalf the Grey costume! Well done and well met, Jens, and a pleasure meeting you!

Tolkien Societies reps - Mervi from Finland, Jens from Germany, and myself.

After introductions, Jens started the meeting off with a rousing singalong of 'Hymn Of The Hobbits' (sung to the tune of Queen's 'We Are The Champions'). The lyrics (reprinted here with Jens' permission):

Hymn of the Hobbits

By Jens Goetz

Melody: We are the champions

We are the hobbits, my friend.

And we keep on eating, till the end,

We are the hobbits.

We are the hobbits.

No time for diets.

Cause we are the hobbits.

And eat till the end.

Everyone joined in with the chorus with enthusiasm,

I mentioned TWO Gandalfs - I'm not sure how clear this was to everyone there, but also present at the meeting was Michael Elsworth, who doubled for Gandalf in the LOTR movies. According to his very brief page on IMDB, he was also the Gondorian Archivist who helps Gandalf get to the library in Minas Tirith in FOTR.

Careful with that torch in a library!

What isn't clear on his IMDB page is that he was also Cirdan the ship-building Elf who originally receives a Ring of Power from Sauron in the Prologue of FOTR. This means Michael was not only one of the first three people on screen - he was also the only person to wear a Ring of Power as two separate characters (since Cirdan eventually passes the Ring on to Gandalf)!

Unfortunately Michael had to leave the meeting slightly earlier than I expected, so I did not get a chance to properly introduce him to the group. Hopefully he will grace our meetings again, and I will correct my inadequacy!


The Theme
 Kris and I had planned to discuss the format and content of the meeting properly beforehand, but we have both been very busy lately and the discussion just hasn't eventuated.

Luckily, since Kris is a trained as a teacher, she didn't wait for me to begin. She started the discussion by handing out blank paper to anyone who wanted to take notes on the session. Kris had arrived to the meeting with a good sized bag full of Tolkien books. Among them were The Return Of The King, the Unfinished Tales,  and The Letters Of JRR Tolkien.

Kris on the left, reading, everyone else writing (from left, Rachel, Michael, Martyn, Viv, Charlene, Jenifer, Ryan, Mervi, Jens, and (the hands of) Jo and John

Using the Appendices of ROTK, Kris took us through the events leading up to the meeting between Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield, that fateful day in the Prancing Pony.

I had also prepared a few notes, and I had brought a small map of the relevant areas in Middle-earth, so Kris and I filled in each other's omissions. The complete timeline will be published here just as soon as Kris and I have a complete (and agreed upon!) version of it. Watch this space!

I've been in touch with the UK Tolkien Society about reprinting Mark Bednarowski's excellent articles on the subject, and Mark has gracefully granted this, so I will provide those here online as well.

Best moment of the afternoon - Kris finished her timeline off with "...and finally, Gandalf stands in front of the round green door in the Shire, and that..." (points at Jens in Gandalf costume) "... is where you come in!"

Jens immediately responds with "Yes - would you like to see a photo of that moment?"

Click for better detail

Jens's photos certainly brought home the reality of living in Middle-earth New Zealand.

Attendees

All in all there was a really good turnout. Ryan and Jenifer brought little Hawk along (he's getting less little every meeting!). After a year of Facebook contact, and a month after her arrival in NZ, I finally met Charlene, and she'll be coming on a LOTR tour with me in the next week as well. My partner Alex had invited Viv, a friend of hers, from her current workplace. Martyn had brought Michael and Rachel.

Mervi from the Finnish Tolkien Society again managed to make it to Wellington from her NZ travels, and Ayako and Randall drove all the way from Palmerston North with their delightful daughter Rio and her friend Akari. It was nice to see Kumi again, but John and Jo I hadn't met before and I hope will join us again for the next moot.

And with Jens "Gandalf" Goetz from Germany, and Kris and myself, that made 20 Welly-mooters. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did - I'm looking forward to our next meeting, which will be on the 29th of April, 2012. I will announce the next meeting's theme in the next few weeks, as soon as Kris and I agree on it. We're taking suggestions!


  - Jack Machiela

Heads up people! Welly-moot this coming Sunday!

A quick reminder about the upcoming Welly-moot this weekend.

The meeting will be held on :

Sunday, February 26th, 2:00pm

upstairs at the Embassy Cinema

For the first "proper" meeting I'm proposing a subject to start the ball rolling with, however if we completely veer off that, then I'm more than happy with that as well. I gather a few things have been happening to a few of us in the meantime, so I'm sure there will be plenty to discuss (the studio's Non-Disclosure Agreement allowing, of course!)

With a look towards the Hobbit movie being filmed here in Wellington, I would like start the first meeting with a discussion about how it all began - how did Gandalf end up with the map and key that he passes on to Thorin in Bag End, on that fateful night as The Hobbit book begins.


Mark Bednarowski from the UK Tolkien Society has written on the subject on at least two occasions now, articles which were published in their magazine Amon Hen (for those who subscribe, they are in issues 228 and 233). I'll have those issues with me as well, if anyone wants to brush up!




Apart from all the regulars (odd though that sounds, for our first meeting!), I'm also expecting Jens Götz from the German Tolkien Society (Deutsche Tolkiengesellschaft) who is currently travelling through New Zealand. Jens contacted me a few days ago.


So, please tell a few people - send a link to this page to all your Tolkien-lovin friends, and see you all at the Embassy at 2:00pm this Sunday!

Acknowledged!

I see we've been added to the official list of Tolkien Smials on the Tolkien Society (UK)'s website.

We're RIGHT down the bottom! Which, geographically speaking, is exactly where we belong!

Wellington's own Tolkien group - finally!

Welcome to the official blog of Wellington's very own Tolkien group, Welly-moot. It's been years in coming, but here it finally is. We're now officially affiliated to the UK's Tolkien Society, making us a real "Smial".


Tolkien's works have inspired many people around the world into creativity. Of course, Wellington has a few people who have taken that to extremes, so it seemed an unnatural situation to me that we did not yet have a Tolkien Society or Smial here in town. With this group, we hope to correct that!


The purpose of this group is to bring together people in Wellington who are interested in discussing the works of Tolkien in an informal setting. There's no tests, no grades, no "inner circles of wizardry", and no necessity to memorise parts of the Silmarillion. If your only interest lies in gazing deep into the eyes of Orlando Bloom's version of Legolas then I'm sure we can accommodate that - however if you know the answer to whether Balrogs have wings or not, then we're the group to come to also. Really, Tolkien is the red thread between us all, and we're keen to come together and celebrate his life's works.


We propose to meet every two months, on approximately the last Sunday of the even numbered months. So, this year's schedule is as follows:

• February 26th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema
• April 29th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema
• July 1st, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema (*Note the new date!)
• August 26th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema
• October 28th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema
• December 30th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema

Watch this space though - there may be changes to this later as everything is in flux currently.

I'm currently setting up a Welly-moot presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ as well, and in he next few weeks I'll be linking them to this blog. Generally, this blog will be the main page for news, although Facebook tends to carry a lot of our online discussions. Join them all, they're all free!