The five armies are goblins, eagles, dwarves, elves, and men. Beorne doesn't count as an army, although it might take one to kill him. Sand worms don't count either because they are from Dune.

Note that Beorne is rescuing Thorin.

by Matthew Stewart

So, Frodo puts on the ring while at Amon Hen and within moments, Sauron starts looking toward him. If not for Gandalf's interference, he'd have been seen.

But, mere seconds later, Frodo puts the ring right back on again and heads to the boats and is apparently not seen.

Much later, Sam puts on the ring in Mordor to chase after Frodo, but he's not seen by Sauron. Then, at the last moment, when Frodo puts on the ring in Mt Doom, Sauron is instantly aware.

Putting on the ring in the Shire appears to never alert Sauron, but does alert the black riders when they're close.

I have no doubt that there are rules being applied here. Tolkien never does anything randomly. So, what are the rules? Is there something magical about Amon Hen that made it especially dangerous? Is it simply being on top of a hill so that there's a clear line of sight between Barad-dûr and wherever the ring is?

This is a miniature scene of Boromir's last stand at Amon Hen when he was defending Merry and Pippin from the Uruk Hai and orcs.

I was hoping that this was a kit or something, because I'd love to paint this. But, it appears to be a custom project someone did using games workshop miniatures.

from this forum

Most images of the Argonath are from an angle similar to the movie where you're seeing it from further back. But, I really like this lower angle. This kind of looks like it comes from a computer game, but I don't know of one that has the Argonath in it. Anyone know where this is from?

found here

I just learned about this Conqueror exercise challenge where you follow along on Frodo's 1815 mile journey. My eyes are probably a lot bigger than my feet on this one, but I'm going to try and do the whole thing on my own. They have the ability to form fellowships with other people, but I'm going to see if I can do it myself.

It's a pretty cool system where they send you messages and postcards and story events and eventually medals when you complete each challenge. The ones related to things like climbing Everest seem pretty cool, but I jumped on this when I saw the Lord of the Rings themed one.

I really wish this was directly integrated into my Peloton. But, sadly, I need to enter the distances manually. Still really cool though.

What is the watcher in the water? How did it get there?

The watcher gets its first kill that we know of when Balin tries to retake the mines. (If anyone knows of earlier references, please let me know.) During that attempt, the watcher gets Óin. 25 years later, it's woken up by Boromir and it nearly gets the fellowship, but instead traps them inside the mines.

Gandalf seemed to think it was one of the nameless things that lives beneath middle earth which gnawed its way to the surface. What other nameless things are there that have reached the surface?

by Joan Wyatt

If you look closely, you can see a pair of feet in the center. Both Merry and Pippin are trapped, but I wasn't able to see a second pair of feet.

I love all the detail in the bark and the roots of the tree. That is a very elaborate tree!

The Willow Man is Tamed by Ted Nasmith

This is the definition of Durin's Day: >Durin's Day was a yearly event noted by the Dwarves, "when the last moon of Autumn and the first sun of Winter appear in the sky together" (i.e. until sunset) on the first day of the Dwarves' New Year, which was "the first day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter."

Since it's based on the moon, it doesn't happen on the same day every year.

The art of David Wenzel is just the best. His style is just so fun to me.

by David Wenzel

You can't go wrong with a good picture of Hobbiton.

by David T Wenzel

I'm loving this circular style of art from David Wenzel. This is the moment when the Great Goblin gets really upset that Thorin has Foe Hammer. That weapon had been used to kill many goblins in the past. It was probably glowing pretty brightly here given that it's surrounded by goblins and is being held by one.

He won't have long to be upset though. Gandalf takes him out just a few seconds from now.

by David Wenzel

I believe this is an image of Éowyn during the brief period when she was in Edoras after she was told that she would rule while Théoden went off to battle in Minas Tirith.

You can see soldiers in the background, so presumably they're getting ready to go soon. Éowyn goes with them, so I assume she's getting ready to do that right now.

by Matthew Stewart

I love the Arkham Horror LCG, but I just couldn't get into the LOTR LCG. There just isn't enough story in it.

The funny thing is that I was motivated to try it because of the video game Lord of the Rings Adventure Card Game. It seems like it's a video game version of the card game, but there's all kinds of exposition that makes it really fun to play. When I tried the actual card game, I was really disappointed that it didn't do the same thing.

I love the feeling in this image of the pressure he's under. He's standing precariously on a rooftop while the entire town is up in flames behind him, aiming at a moving dragon, while a thrush is trying to talk to him to explain where he needs to aim.

Note that the quiver is empty, so this is his last shot. In a way, the entire future of Middle Earth hangs on this moment. If Smaug had killed Bard here, he probably would have gone back and killed Bilbo and the dwarves. The ring would have ended up in the treasure hoard and would presumably have eventually been retrieved by Sauron.

Could Smaug have used the ring? I think it is able to change its size. Don't know if it could increase that big. But, a dragon is already nearly invincible. Imagine having to deal with an invisible one.

by Matthew Stewart

I find this picture to be super charming. Those poor dwarves, getting stuffed into barrels by Bilbo with the sleeping elves in the upper left.

Author is David T Wenzel

I like art styles that stand out. The faces in this image are so expressive! Grima looks really upset, presumably because Saruman just told them all that Grima had murdered and possibly eaten Lotho.

I'm not sure if that weird bowl haircut guy is supposed to be Frodo or not.

This image is apparently by Denis Gordeev, a Russian artist born in 1964. I got the impression he was famous, but he doesn't have a wikipedia page, so I'm not sure.

This is Boromir floating down the Anduin. The horn is still there, so this is before he passes Faramir since I think Faramir takes the horn. Or, possibly, that might have just been from the movie. Anyone know if Faramir recovers the horn in the books?

Here's the color version of this, but I kind of like the pencil sketch version better.

!

By R Navy. That page links to a tumblr for that person, but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. I was unable to find a current page for the same author.

My suggestion to all the kings out there: If your advisor is named "Wormtongue", you should be suspicious of the things he says.

To be fair, even though every place I see him he is referred to as Gríma Wormtongue, that actually wasn't his name. It's just what everyone but the king called him. His actual name, as far as I can determine, is just Gríma, son of Gálmód.

From the The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook by the great Alan Lee

Who invited a cave troll to the last supper?

I'm not actually sure who the zombie-looking creature is on the left. Maybe an orc or someone from the army of the dead?

But, the rest are pretty clear. Going counterclockwise (more or less) from the top left: Cave troll, Saruman, orc?, Elrond, Eowyn, Arwen, Gimli, Gandalf, Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas, Gollum, Frodo, nazgul, balrog.

By Steve Airola

From top to bottom and left to right, here are my guesses as to which is which:

Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Aragorn, Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Gollum. I'm assuming Sam is holding Sting and Frodo is more out front I would guess, although I don't see a chain with a ring.

This was made by the comic book artist Mike Ploog.

Ungoliant was a truly gigantic spider god type creature who is an ancestor of Shelob, the spider that attacked Sam and Frodo. She wasn't initially so huge, but Melkor fed her various powerful objects and she grew and grew. They stayed allies until she demanded to consume the Silmarils, but, like every other possessor of the Silmarils, he didn't want to give them up, so they fought. I think that's what's being represented here.

By Ruben