Gaubdûkhimâ gagin yâkùlib Mahal, King Thorin!*

* “May we meet again with the grace of Mahal, Thorin!”
(a formal goodbye in Khuzdul, the secret language of the dwarves of Middle-Earth)

“Roads go ever ever on,
Under cloud and under star.
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.”

 

(From ‘Roads go ever on’ by JRR Tolkien)

I’m sure you’re all aware that filming for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy has now completely wrapped. If not, take a look at Mr. Jackson’s official Facebook page, where he has been live blogging the last day of shooting on Friday.

Of course, this also means that Richard Armitage is now finally allowed to really let go of Thorin Oakenshield. As he’s lived with this character for about 2,5 years, that can’t be an easy thing to do.

There are a few things Richard could do to ease the Thorin/Richard break-up. I have a few suggestions:

1. I hate to say it, but he could get rid of the beard. Apparently, Dean O’Gorman couldn’t wait to shave off his beard after wrapping his scenes as Fili, he even posted a picture on Twitter!

"I'm wrapped, and so is the beard!" says Dean O'Gorman as he prepares to say goodbye to the Fili beard

Here's a scary thought: Could this really be the very last picture of Richard Armitage rocking the beard? (For the record: I hope it's not!)



Picture tweeted by Graham McTavish: "Some very tired and emotional dwarves last night..."
Left to right: Richard Armitage (Thorin), Mark Hadlow (Dori), Graham McTavish (Dwalin), Jed Brophy (Nori), Peter Hambleton (Gloin)

 2. Richard needs to get away from everything that reminds him of Thorin. In other words, he needs to get out of Middle-Earth/New-Zealand. Like Stephen Hunter, who has already left. He shared a lovely goodbye message on Vine:

A change of scenery is perfect for a new start, preferably somewhere that is completely different from New-Zealand. Well, how about New York City? It seems, Richard has just bought a very nice apartment in Greenwich Village. This could just be the perfect place to drop off the grid for a while…

http://realestalker.blogspot.in/2013/07/julian-casablancas-of-strokes-sells.html


3. The best way to step away from Thorin Oakenshield, must be to get involved in a new project. Batman? Some vampire? A King from days gone by? The new Doctor in Doctor Who? Rumours are flying and I’m sure Richard can now afford the luxury of picking the roles that he really believes in.

Well, my vote goes to none of the above. I’m crossing my fingers for the lead in a play in London’s West End. Now that would be a dream come true for me! So, Richard, I hope you’re paying attention!

Any more suggestions?

I love a naughty dwarf! :-)

Have you ever wondered why I am so fascinated by Richard Armitage?
Well, I guess some of you have questioned my sanity on a very regular basis...

The video below shows everything I love about him. This was filmed at a screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey a few weeks ago which included a live Q&A with Richard.

I love his acting skills, his attention to detail, his lust for life, his love for his craft and so much more. If you watch it, you will understand (or maybe not, but I still love this man to death!)

I'm honestly amazed at how much of himself Richard is now willing to show in public. I guess, as long as he's talking about the characters and the craft, he's fine with just being himself, not necessarily always the dedicated professional. He's content, he's having fun, and I'm delighted to be able to see that!!

And... "Dwarves Illustrated 2012"? It was a present for Peter Jackson's 50th birthday.
Well, we know Richard was on the calendar for the month December.
We know he was sitting backwards on a chair throwing his long Thorin hair backwards.
There was a hairdryer involved. And I imagine that he had his eyes closed.
Not sure about wheter or not there was a strategically placed piece of oak! ;-)

So, it could have looked something like this: (notice the strategically placed Orcrist ;-))

Original image found here:
http://willowmansdaughter.tumblr.com/post/46803709584/badbalrog-so-i-added-orcrist

I'm sure you can imagine the rest :-)


Enjoy the interview:

Richard does Gandalf!

Another lovely video interview that surfaced today... probably filmed on the same day as the Twitter Q&A for @TheHobbitMovie, judging by the fact that Richard is still suffering from the sniffles. Bless him!

Why should you watch this one?

- the cutest Gandalf impersonation
- an architect? Of course!
- That's quite a grin for a bad-tempered Thorin!
- It's not difficult to learn your lines with this simple tip from Richard!

And the word "blue" *sigh*

Enjoy!!

Bin Weevils interviews Richard Armitage - Thorin from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Published on YouTube on 28 March

An unexpected ending...

Major spoiler alert!!!

If you have not seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey yet, don't watch this clip (published on YouTube by thapetrificustotalus).

This is the final scene for the dwarves, a scene that moved me to tears... all 4 times that I have seen the film on the silver screen. Even now, I have to remind myself to breathe when I watch this clip.

And as for Thorin: all I really want is to wrap one hand around the dark strands of his hair and snuggle up against his fur-lined frame. Strange, but I always imagine him to be taller than me (about Richard's size), so I would be able to rest my head on his shoulder... ;-)

And then, he would wrap both arms around me, and smile... just like he does in this clip...

Dwarven fun with the merry men

This is hilarious! IGN (www.ign.com) submits the dwarves to questions on all things Hobbit. So, have our dwarves done their homework? Have they checked the facts and checked them twice? Have they read and studied all things Middle Earth?
Well...not exactly :-)

Prepare yourself to meet the newest members of the company of dwarves: Milli and Vanilli. Also, we find out that there is a connection between Bilbo Baggins and Star Trek's Spock, that it's not easy to remember exact dates when you're travelling halfway around the world and that Cate Blanchett is actually a sword... :-)

But, most of all, we get to see how these 12 men from different countries, different backgrounds and different ages have really become a band of 'merry men', and friends for life, I'm sure!
It's a shame, though, that dwarf number 13 (or is that number 1?) is missing...

Thirty Days to Thorin (20) - 13 minutes of awe

"Whatever age you are, try to remember the sense of awe you had as a child... Hopefully you will leave with that awe firmly in place"

(James Nesbitt - Bofur)

A 13-minute Television Special has been made available. Careful, the video is full of spoilers, so if you're not ready for more details of the story, better not watch this...

If you are up for it, you will love this. I do. I can't believe that I'm only 1 week away from finally seeing this film, the first of 3, at least. *jumps up and down!*

I will mainly remember this:

Not only does Richard Armitage play a fierce warrior... he IS one! The proof is in this video :-)

Tolkien was a brilliant writer (not that there was ever any doubt!)

Philippa Boyens is a huge fan of Thorin Oakenshield (and, I suspect, also of Richard Armitage!)

This is how Richard describes Thorin:
"He's gone from prince to pauper and he's a battle-hardened warrior.He has a fierce sense of honour but he's been hardened by life, so his outer shell is pretty impenetrable."

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!



Update: The original video was removed from Youtube, but it seems it's now available again. I hope it remains here:

Size does matter!

…Especially when you’re playing a dwarf, apparently.

In the below interview, Richard is asked how tall he is and he answers:
“I’m 6 feet 2inches…and a half”

Nothing out of the ordinary if it wasn’t the very first time that the ‘half an inch’ was mentioned (as far as I know, that is). Could it be that playing a 5’2” dwarf has made our favourite man more concious and even slightly anxious about his height?

For someone who’s not used to measuring things in feet and inches, it might seem silly to worry about only half an inch. But once you realise that it’s the equivalent of almost a centimeter and a half, you can see why it would be important.

I do seem to remember reading in a previous interview that they gave Richard extra high boots, just to make sure that he was taller than Graham McTavish who plays Dwalin. Of course, Thorin, The King Under The Mountain, has to be the tallest dwarf.

Richard Armitage with Thorin at San Diego Comic Con 2012
Picture courtesy of www.richardarmitagenet.com

Don’t worry, dear Richard, size doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it that’s important!

;-))

Just to make sure we all know what we're talking about:
0.5 inches = 1.27 cm
2.5 inches = 6.35 cm
6 feet = 182.88 cm
6 feet + 2.5 inches = 189.23 cm
6 feet + 2 inches = 182.88 + 5.08 = 187.96 cm