“I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths lead. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen. I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number. I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of bag, but no bag went over me. I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ring-winner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider.”

Two Words. One Name. Benedict Cumberbatch. You may have heard of him. He was Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock, which is fantastic by the way. He is going to be the voice of the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I remember about a month ago when they first released that trailer on the Internet. The one where you actually hear the dragon’s voice at the end. I replayed that trailer so many times. The Friday after that I went out with a group of friends to see Gravity. We saw it at the RPX theatre in Clifton Park. SO just imagine–you’re sitting there, suddenly the logos for the trailer pop up. You hear Martin Freeman say the opening lines of the trailer.

What follows is two minutes of straight epic-ness. Then the screen darkens again. “Well thief.” My seat is vibrating from all the epic bass in his voice. “Well. Come now step into the light.” Epic flame breathing from mouth. I look over to my companions. All of them are just as amazed as I am. This is going to be epic.

OK last thing about the dragon. Air New Zealand has a picture of Smaug on the side of an airplane. Here’s a link.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/12/02/air-new-zealand-smaug-hobbit-dragon-plane/3802829/

I’m also excited to see Martin Freeman (who was Watson in the BBC series Sherlock) return as Bilbo Baggins. I can’t wait for the return of Orlando Bloom as Legolas, and the newcomer Evangeline Lily (who is best known for her role as Kate from LOST). Now if you have never seen The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, you may be saying to yourself, “I want to check these things out. Where should I start?” Well that’s very hard to explain. Lots of people would say “Start with the first Hobbit movie.” Don’t do that. The first Hobbit was kind of tailor-made for people who have seen The Lord of the Rings movies.   Watch them first!  However I would suggest you tread lightly because there are two versions of the trilogy, the regular version and the Extended Edition. The Galway Public library has all three regular versions of the films so I would suggest you go there and check them out. Then, if you like them, you could watch the Extended Editions or watch the first Hobbit movie.

Hopefully this little trip to Middle-Earth will tide you over until the movie comes out on December 13th. Expect a review shortly afterwards.

“Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away ere break of day

To seek the pale enchanted gold.”