[via orlandobloom]
middle earth
Dear Ringers and Tolkienites,
I’ve just found out through his owner’s Facebook page that Blanco, better known to all of us as Shadowfax, has passed away. He became very ill in late March and after two weeks at a veterinary hospital for horses, he was finally put to sleep. Cynthia, his owner, who loved him dearly, did all she could and was with him when he went. She is in a very difficult place now, having lost her good friend and having to pay for his medical bills.
I think it’s safe to say that the Tolkien community has been touched by this beautiful boy. He was everything we imagined Shadowfax to be, and a wonderful friend to Cynthia. She has set up a fundraiser to help pay for his treatment bills, as she’s having trouble financially dealing with other issues. If you have anything to spare, please donate to her, out of love and memory for this beautiful horse, who will live on forever in our hearts.
Rest Easy, Blanco. Thank You. ♥
“ Boromir in the White Mountains ” by Donato Giancola
From the artist’s website: “It is easy to characterize Boromir as simple and headstrong, but here he is depicted as a proud man divided by his duties as son, royal protector and royal emissary. Possessing great courage, he lacked the inherent wisdom of Westernesse which ran truer in his brother Faramir. Boromir was never a villain, but was in some ways the most human of Tolkien’s characters, constantly at battle between duty and morality, a figure of Shakespearean tragedy.”
boromir asking gimli about erebor and being genuinely interested in the ensuing two hour conversation
boromir answering legolas when he has questions about mortal life, describing the process of aging, and assuring legolas that it’s not as bad as it seems
boromir letting merry and pip lecture him about pipe weed and tea kettles
boromir being more than just the man who succumbed to the ring
“the younger dwarves”
you mean fili and kili
they wanted to be friends with the elves
they even spoke about it in front of thorin (under their breaths but obviously not out of earshot)
they wanted this quest to end with peace and harmony in the land just like the erebor they heard about in stories growing up
and they could have seen it happen
after the battle of the five armies everyone banded together and the alliances were remade again
they could have sat with elves and men around a fire and sang songs with them and finally come home
Still my favorite story from the Lord of the Rings set: Viggo Mortensen bonded so much with the horse he rode in the movies that after filming was over he bought it from its owner. If that doesn’t warm your heart I don’t know what could.
don’t forget that he also bought arwen’s horse for her stunt rider when she couldn’t afford it awww
#also don’t forget that for the rohirrim they put a call out for locals #bring a horse show us you can ride it and get a part in the battle scenes #and one women went out roped a wild horse and rode for a few days to set #and got to be a rider of rohan
also sort of relevant viggo also bought the horse that costarred with him in the movie hidalgo and subsequently took the horse (tj) with him to the red carpet premier.
Also most of the Riders of Rohan are actually women because when they put out that call mostly women showed up with their horses and the costume team just stuck beards on them.
This cast and film team, I swear
The Ring, You cannot pass, Welcome from Lothlorien, The horn of King Helm sounded, I am no man and The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings illustrations by Jian Guo
