Elfstone - Lord of the Rings: January 2012

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Greetings!

And welcome to my newsletter for January, 2012! Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested in keeping up with me! To receive these newsletters regularly, please drop me an email or subscribe online from my website (http://www.JefMurray.com ) or at: http://groups.google.com/group/Mystical_Realms . Notices of events and items of interest are at the bottom of this email.

Pitchers ===============

IMPORTANT! To my surprise, we still have a few 2012 Jef Murray/ALEP2 Fantasy Calendars available for sale, but they are dwindling fast. These have become an international hit, and have now been sold in the USA, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands(!). This 2012 calendar is in full colour, is loaded with painted images from Middle-earth, "Easter Egg" dates, graphically noted, that correspond to significant events in Middle-earth history, moon phases, plus most major holidays.

If you have not ordered a copy, please do so sooner rather than later, as we do expect to exhaust our supply soon. You can get your copy at http://www.JefMurray.com .

I have posted two ew painting images on my website. These include "The Mage of Rhosgobel", and, for Narnia fans, "Cair Paravel". The former is in the Tolkien gallery, and the latter can be found in the "Once Upon a Time" gallery. However, you can see both of these by going to http://www.JefMurray.com and clicking on the "Newest Works" icon (the dragon!) at the top of the page.

As always, these and all of the images in my online galleries are available as signed and numbered limited-edition Giclee prints. See my webpage for details.

And, do let me know how these new works strike you!

Ponderings ==============

For something completely different this month, I offer the following, which is in the form of a riddle, although not exactly a "riddle in the dark". I hope you enjoy pondering who the speaker in the poem may be....

I am that one who roams remembering
much that now is gone.
I ponder meadows, dewdrops glistening
in the vernal dawn.

I spy the flocks of robins ravening
furrows newly turned,
and wonder what the children gathering
have by day's end learned.

Recalling rose and myrtle blooming
on lost summer days
and lightning bugs young boys beguiling
with their twilight plays;
the half-heard poems of June rehearsing
as young hearts matured
and songs and dances long since ceasing,
while yet I've endured.

Empires rising, flourishing, falling
pass like autumn rain;
beneath great weight of woe collapsing;
razed by greed and gain.

But wearied not, I watch tides falling
as chill north winds sigh.
The sandhill cranes aloft are crooning
laments from on high.

This sacred night I roam recalling
under ancient skies
when He Who Is in soft arms nestling
peered into my eyes.

My end will come; 'til then I'm treading
upon sacred soil;
all souls in Middle-earth I'm guarding
as the long years roil.

I keep this watch; my doom remembering,
marking all that's passed.
But who am I? I hear you asking.
I am First, yet Last.

Prospects ===================

• The Middle-earth Network ( http://middleearthnetwork.com ) continues to be the "Go To" place for news about Middle-earth-related and Narnia-related events and for discussions on its social network, http://mymiddle-earth.com/ . Along with podcasts with folks of interest to Middle-earth and Narnia fans, there are contests, articles of interest, pointers to intriguing websites, etc. If you're not a member yet, you're missing out on a great community of artists, musicians, and general lovers of Tolkien and Lewis!

• Related to the above, look for some important announcements on new projects and events related both to Middle-earth and Narnia to be announced this month on MyMiddle-earth.com!

• The Return of the Ring 2012 (see http://www.returnofthering.org/) will be a huge Tolkien-themed conference and gathering at Loughborough University on 16-20th August, 2012. I am delighted to have been invited to appear as a guest of honour at the event and am looking forward not only to sharing my paintings and sketches, but also to participating in panels and presentations. You can book reservations now online.

• Tolkien biographer Joseph Pearce and I collaborated on an EWTN TV special on J.R.R. Tolkien that is now available on DVD. The production includes dozens of my illustrations of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and it focuses on the Catholicity of Tolkien's magnum opus. You can order the a DVD of the show at: http://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/TOLKIEN+S+LORD+OF+THE+RINGS+A+CATHOLIC+WORLD+VIEW/shop.axd/ProductDetails?x=0&y=0&keywords=Pearce+Tolkien&edp_no=22609