Traegan of Dale (Volunteers for the Glaurung)

For the last ten years, Traegan has worked as a guard and a guide for the merchants of Dale. He has travelled to the Sea of Rhun and along the Great Road through Mirkwood. He has journeyed nearly the whole length of the Anduin and visited Isengard, Rohan, and Gondor. Now, he is ready for a new adventure and to see new lands. Thus, he volunteered to join the crew of the Glaurung.

Breged and Mandracoth had no hesitation in accepting such an experienced adventurer. Not only is he skilled with a blade, but he has also studied the night sky and can find his way by following the guidance of the stars. Though he owes no allegiance to Gondor, he provided references from numerous respected merchants.

After missing a couple of months with my broken wrist, it is good to get back to work on the story of the Glaurung. The latest hero to join the quest comes from the Laketown Guardsmen pack, just released this month from Games Workshop, which I purchased with the help of a GW voucher my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas. 

It’s a notable figure for a couple of reasons. First, it is the first finecast miniature I have painted. For those not in the know, finecast was Games Workshop’s experiment in switching from resin to metal. It has generally been acknowledged by everyone (except GW) to have been a failure (or a disaster, depending on who you speak to), and most people assume it is on its way out. Thankfully my figures were free from the defects that have plagued the line, and the only real issue I have is the somewhat pathetic and hopelessly bent sword (although that could have happened just as easily in metal). What I will say about the figure is that the amount of detail is incredible. Probably the most I have ever seen on a Lord of the Rings figure.

This leads to my second point. This figure took me nearly twice as long as usual to paint, almost four hours. That’s not a complaint. It was an enjoyable four hours (watching Hobbit EE extras). That said, it didn’t make me want to dive right in on the other two figures in the pack!

Little Treasures

Even as Games Workshop releases new miniatures for The Hobbit movies, they are slowly letting their remaining The Lord of the Rings miniatures go out of stock. Partly this is caused by their movement away from metal miniatures, but seems to have more to do with their dwindling interest in the product line. As usual, GW has been very tight-lipped about their plans for the license, but it is looking more and more likely that they will let it go pretty soon after the movies are finished.

This is a real shame for me, because they are my favourite fantasy miniatures, partly for their subject matter, partly for the size, scale, and style adopted for the line.

On the plus side, it did mean I got some little treasures for Christmas. The first was a Gondorian Command pack, with a captain and standard bearer which I received from my sister and brother-in-law. Although you can still get these figures in yucky resin, this pack must have come from a second-hand dealer, and I am thrilled to have them in metal. They will serve in both my someday-to-be Gondorian army as well as part of the crew of the Glaurung. Since I don’t really like the plastic Gondorians, due to their small size, any metal additions are fantastic.

The second pack, containing three Dunlendings with two-handed weapons, came from my mother. This is another exciting little treasure. These figures went out-of-stock in the UK months ago. Mom managed to snag me this pack from GW US. It must have been one of the last packs they had, as they have now disappeared from their website. These are great little figures, perfect fantasy Vikings.

There will soon come a day when it is no longer easily possible to obtain a blister pack of GW The Lord of the Rings miniatures. I’m glad to have these on hand to crack open at some (probably not too distant) time.

From Hobbiton to the Old Forest

With all of the excitement about The Hobbit at the moment, I decided to get into the action and re-read The Lord of the Rings (it makes sense to me!).  Although I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read, or been read, the story, it has been at least six years, and my memories have become clouded by the movies.  Also, this will make the first time I’ve read the book in Oxford (a.k.a. Tolkien-town). I don’t know if that is significant, but it might be.

So, I slid my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring out of the slipcase and got to work.  My copy is part of the tenth printing of the second (revised) edition put out by Houghton Mifflin Co.  It is copyright 1965, but I’m not sure of the printing date. I bought it while working in a used and antiquarian bookstore in Chapel Hill.  I don’t think it is in anyway valuable, but it is a very nice edition.  The dust jacket has only the title and author, in a runic box, on a mottled background.  The book itself is bound in cloth boards, with a foil embossed graphic of the ring and the Eye of Sauron surrounded by Elvish script.  Each of the three volumes has a roughly folded map attached to the inside back cover.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve managed to read the first hundred pages or so, and it has been like revisiting an old friend.  Many people, when they first read The Lord of the Rings, find the opening long and dull.  I can understand this. There is so much action to come, it is easy to get impatient to get there; but now that I’m a bit older, wiser, and more learned in the ways of Middle-Earth, I am able to take it as it comes and enjoy the beauty of Tolkien’s prose and his powers of creation.  This part of the book shares a pleasure similar to putting your feet in front of a warm fire on a cold winter’s evening.

Although I’ve been blessed with a pretty good memory, especially when it comes to reading, it is amazing how much I’ve forgotten in just six years.  Do you remember that at one point Gandalf actually holds the ring? Yup, he picks it up out of the fire to reveal the writing.  Do you remember Rory Brandybuck, the one hobbit at the birthday party who doesn’t take Bilbo’s disappearance as prank, but thinks there is something bigger at work? Do you remember that over seventeen years  pass after Bilbo leaves before Frodo sets off?  Well, if you don’t, it’s probably time for another reading!

I accept and understand why Peter Jackson left so much out of the movies, especially the sections set in Hobbiton, but there is a lot of richness there.  The first encounters with the Black Riders, the Hobbits meeting Gildor Inglorion, the generosity of farmer Maggot. I do also give credit to Peter Jackson for working back in little elements of pieces that had to be left out.  In The Return of the King movie, Pippin sings a song to Denethor, the words of which come from a song sung by the Hobbits as they are walking in Hobbiton.  In my opinion, it’s one of the best moments in the movie.

I'm only just setting out.  It makes me happy to know that I’ve got 300 pages more in this volume and two more volumes to follow.  I plan to finish The Fellowship before Christmas, and leave the other two for 2013.

Quick Thoughts

- I've been playing around with the look of the Troll.  I decided it was time to give it a slightly more 'Renaissancey' look. At the same time, I wanted to make it a little easier to read and increase the size of the main body column so that I could display pictures a bit larger. What do you think?

- I missed Miniature Friday, so here's a little shot of 'Sharky'.  In my humble opinion, this figure is one of the best sculpts in Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings line. True, I think this little guy looks a little too cool to be 'Sharky', but instead, looks more like a classic depiction of Merlin. Either way, it's an amazing little figure and huge fun to paint.

- My last post, about sci-fi universes, has just gotten its 500th hit, making it the Troll's most popular blog. It generated a good bit of debate on a couple of forums, with people pointing out several universes that should probably be considered. There were two that really caught my interest: Perry Rhodan, a German sci-fi pulp/paperback series that is still running after 2,700 issues and Mobile Suite Gundam, a Japanese giant robot series has produced a huge slew of movies and television and is also still active.

It helped highlight how difficult it is to compare such things across cultures. As it turned out, the most controversial inclusion on my own list was Doctor Who. In Britain, Doctor Who is better known that Star Wars and Star Trek put together. In the US, it's probably on a par with Babylon 5.

- My post on the Space Battleship Yamato model has became a huge target for spam commentators. While I'm used to getting a spam comment every couple of weeks, this post has gotten about 8 in the last two weeks. I have no idea why this might be.

- The Thames has once again risen to the top of her banks. With more rain expected over the weekend, I suspect that at least some parts of Oxford will be underwater. Thankfully, we live on a hill.

Lego Shelob! (I am overthrown)

Well, it looks like all of the whispered rumours are true.  Sometime in 2012, the first Lord of the Rings Lego sets will hit the shelves.  I was able to scrounge up a blurry, unofficial shot of the Shelob set.  I was just barely holding my own against the Star Wars Legos; how am I supposed to resist the temptation of the one ring?

I probably won’t. Hopefully I will be able to contain the damage.  Of course, rumours also say that this year will see the release of Lego Avengers as well.  The greatest toy ever, now with some of the greatest licenses ever.  Kids today have no idea how good they have got it.

On a more serious note, there is some really good thinking going on at Lego headquarters. Although I don’t know the ends and outs, it is obvious that Lego has the lost the patent to their bricks as several knock-off, but fully compatible sets have appeared in the last few years.  By leveraging their position and financial power to get the biggest licenses, they are insuring that they remain on top.