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Lord of the Rings, the Fourth Age - Age of Men


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With the undoing of the One Ring, the tower of Barad-dûr was broken and the terror of Sauron was ended, at long last. His land, Mordor, was decimated.

Of the Seven and the Nine, whose powers were entwined in the One, they were destroyed when that Ring was undone. Of the Three, much less is known as they passed into Valinor.

As many, if not most, of the Elves left Middle Earth for Valinor, and the Dwarves went back to their mines, mostly ignoring everything else, the Fourth Age of the World dawned - The Age of Men has come.

However, much evil still remains in Middle-earth...

 

barad bad distance 01.png


There is much FanFict that deals with LOTR. The challenge here is to write on the 4th age, an aspect of LOTR that has been mostly avoided. Your story may be a short story or the basis (first chapter) of a series of continuing chapters... Your choice.

Since this is a Gay Story site, we ask that your story deal explicitly with such (a) relationship(s) as it might be affected in Tolkiens world. If an overt relationship or the sexual orientation of your protagonist will detract from the story line it must in some way be strongly implied.

In order to avoid any copyright issues, do not use characters that are in print or film. Your characters must be from your own imagination.

Your story must be at least 10K words, but no more than 60K words. All submissions must be made to the Castle Roland PR account with a subject of "LOTR Story Submission" by the 25th of July.

Anyone may submit a story, however please try to have it edited as it will be presented to the public, as it is submitted.

The entries will go live, here at the Forums, on July 29th. While anyone may read the stories, the submitted stories will judged by the Castle Roland Forum Members based on the following criteria:

Edited to modify: Anyone may read and vote on the stories!

  • Does the story embrace Middle-earth?
  • Are the characters original and believable?
  • Is the plot well developed considering the word count restrictions?
  • Is the story enjoyable?
  • Would you read more of this story if the author continued it?
  • Would you recommend this story to others?

Voting will commence the day the stories are posted and will continue for 2 weeks, August 12th. On Monday, August 13th, the top 3 stories (should there be more than 3 submissions) will be published on the Castle Roland Story Site. Rankings will be announced here and there at that time.

References:


Fourth Age - Wikipedia
Fourth Age at the Encyclopedia of Arda

barad bad distance 01.png

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i am giving it serious consideration.  There are questions i have about the "mythos" that I must find answers to before the idea in my head becomes a male plant, LOL.  But I am having ideas.  The three rings given to elven-kind do seem to be missing in their history, as well as where all the other members of the order of mages Saruman and Gandalf are members of have gotten off to.  We see the one who is closest to nature in the Hobbit movies.  But are there more, and if so what became of them?

So, yeah, keep it and keep hyping it.  Lets see if anyone else has ideas.   

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1 hour ago, Al Norris said:

Is anyone interested in this contest, or should I just pack it in and delete it?

If you do that I will leave and never come back and hate you forever (did I really say that?) - I'm 4000 words into a story, it's titled 'The End of Times', that's TEOT to you LOTR fans!

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I'm in, too. I love LOTR, so I have been kicking around a few ideas. My only concern with these competitions is that so few people vote on them. I hate to put so much effort into a story, only to see it, and the other entries, get merely 5 voters. It hardly makes it worth the effort. I just want to urge readers to take a few seconds after reading to answer the questions.

It's fun and a good mental exercise to think up stories to fit these varied themes, such as Star Wars or comic book heroes, so keep them coming.

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Given the varied content on YouTube, I don't know why I was surprised when I found the six resources I referenced above, but I was. The guy who narates the subject matter is very, very knowledgeable about all things LotR. He is German but speaks English very well.

D'Artagnon, I think if you watch "Who is Sauron?", your questions about the rings may be answered. Your questions as to the wizards might be answered in "Who are Tolkien's Wizards?".

Parker, I am hoping that by throwing the contest open to everyone, members and guests, that there will be more than five or six votes... at least, that was my thinking.

I am thrilled to see some actual interest in this contest!

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I would also like to add that if anyone has not read the books they should do so. Tolkien created a wonderfully complex world with languages that can be learned, a fun history, some cool poetry, and unique characters. The films were pretty good, but they changed a lot of the story and left out some of the best parts. 

Read the books.

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"There are many magic rings in this world, Bilbo Baggins, and none of them should be used lightly!"

"Three rings were given to elven-kind"

"Some things that should not have been forgotten, passed into memory, and were lost."

"Time passed."

And somewhere in a distant land, a lone young elf has found his way to the abandoned elvish city or Rivendell, drawn by something he cannot define, but that clearly has a grip on his soul.

or something like that

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It began with the forging of the Great Rings. 
Three were given to the Elves: 
Immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. 

Seven to the Dwarf-lords: 
Great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls.
 
And nine... 
...nine rings were gifted to the race of Men... 
...who, above all else, desire power. 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am at 8k words and the story is just beginning. This is way out of my wheelhouse but I am having a blast. 

My grandfather (my mentor) made me read the hobbit when I was a kid and then I had to give him a 30 minute oral report on the book. (This was a common thing for us as we would spend 40 mins in the car together every Sunday.). I fell in love with it and have devoured every book since multiple times. 

I am there like swimwear. 

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On 2/5/2018 at 9:53 AM, Al Norris said:

Parker, I am hoping that by throwing the contest open to everyone, members and guests, that there will be more than five or six votes... at least, that was my thinking.

And then I never modified the rules to say that! Gads... Someone shoot me. Please?

Just modified the rules. Anyone can read the stories AND vote on them.

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  • 2 months later...

It is no small competition, virtually requesting a book, 10k I might manage, which is the beginning, but I wonder if it won't be a negative reader experience. Because if you are 10k into a story, you want to read the whole book, and I'm not sure I want to write a book in somebody else's universe. 

A dilemma: submit an incomplete story, attempt to reach a point of conclusion (which I''m not sure is feasible within time), or leave the competition for fellow authors who can submit a complete book (or at least one they intend to finish).

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  • 4 weeks later...

I had high hopes to have a story for this, but lately, life has shown me where the the bottom is, and tried to drop me off into it. I haven't fallen far, mind you, but the climb back is going to be... well, something on the order of difficult. Sadly, I'll have to forgo this trip into Middle Earth. Maybe if we do it again I'll have time to get the story in my head out.

That being said, I am looking forward to seeing what amazing stories our creative and potent writers come up with. Scare us some! Tickle us some! Show us what brightest courage, darkest evil, and desperation in the face of both impossible odds and rude dwarves manhandling your mother's fine china is all about.

"You have to be careful when you step outside your door, Frodo. You never know where the wind will take your heels." - B. Baggins, as attributed by F. Baggins

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