Tolkien News

Here is where I will post any important snippets of Tolkien-related news or other fascinating related information. Stay up-to-date on site updates and Tolkien news by subscribing to my RSS Feed (on left, below site navigation).

It has been confirmed by a number of media outlets that Hugo Weaving will reprise his role as Elrond in the upcoming Hobbit movie.

Weaving joins Lord of the Rings movie veterans Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Andy Serkis (Gollum) as returning cast members for The Hobbit.

In a recent MTV interview, del Toro also disclosed that he is very close to making an announcement on the casting of the most pivotal role in The Hobbit movie, that of Bilbo Baggins. Keep an eye on this page for more Hobbit casting updates as soon as they become available.

A Los Angeles Superior Court issued an important ruling in the ongoing legal battle between the Tolkien Trust (run by the heirs of JRR Tolkien) and New Line Cinema over profits and owed monies from the Lord of the Rings movies.

New Line Cinema had argued that case should not go to jury trial. The judge in the case, Ann Jones, decided otherwise and declared that the case would proceed.

This is a small victory for the Tolkien Trust, who claims to be owed more than $200 million dollars from the profits of the Lord of the Rings films.

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun was released today in the US and abroad with great fanfare.

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun consists of two "lays" or epic poems, along with oodles of commentary and background by Christopher Tolkien.

For most modern readers, accustomed as we are to straightforward prose, it will be a new experience.

This story is old, and Tolkien revels in the brutal Northern beauty of it. Clash and battle and the beating of drums. It is likely you will find in it the echoes of Middle-earth.

Tomorrow (Sunday, May 3) will be the debut of the much-anticipated fan film, The Hunt for Gollum. The film will be available for free download online from Daily Motion beginning at 4:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time (11:00 AM US CST).

If you want to learn more about this new film or see the teaser trailer, check out our The Hunt for Gollum page. Or read our exclusive Hunt for Gollum interview with Director Chris Bouchard.

The entire text of Christopher Tolkien's foreword for the forthcoming book, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, has been posted (courtesy of Tolkien's US publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) over at TheOneRing.net.

Check it out, it's great reading.

JRR Tolkien's books are soon to be made available as enhanced e-books!

Tolkien's UK publisher, HarperCollins, has paid an undisclosed amount for worldwide distribution rights for Tolkien's entire catalogue.

According to The Bookseller, "The e-books will include the maps and runes contained in the traditional print books".

The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Children of Hurin are available immediately from Waterstones, HarperCollins, and tolkien.co.uk.

Several more e-books will be released to coincide with the release of The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún on May 5.

There are several newsworthy tidbits that have emerged in the last few weeks, both about The Hobbit Movie and Tolkien's forthcoming book (announced a few months back) The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún.

In a recent interview with Guillermo del Toro at empireonline.com, del Toro clears up some of the speculation about what the proposed two movies will consist of.

Speculation and discussion to this point has centered around The Hobbit and a "bridge film" that would span the years between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Del Toro suggests that instead they will be fleshing out The Hobbit a bit to include Gandalf's travels away from the party - meaning the White Council and Gandalf's excursion to Dol Guldur.

This will allow them to tie The Hobbit firmly to The Lord of the Rings without the need for a "bridge" film.

The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún will officially be released in the US & UK on May 5, 2009. It can be pre-ordered at Amazon here.

It is also available in a Hardcover Deluxe Edition.

From Patricia at the Poetry Society of New Hampshire:

Due to the success of last year's Celebration of the Kalevala, the Poetry Society of New Hampshire will host a one day conference to mark the 160th anniversary of The Kalevala, titled "The Kalevala, from Myth to Marimekko", on Saturday April 4th, 2009 from 9AM to 6PM at the Rollins Estate of the Governor's Inn, 76 Wakefield Street, Rochester, NH.

Each of the presenters for the conference will explore aspects of the mythos of the Kalevala, its language, its reception and reinterpretation, the concept of shamanism, and its music.

The speakers are Dr. Börje Vähämäki, Professor of Finnish Studies at the University of Toronto, on "Language and Meaning in the Kalevala"; Diana Durham, poet and author, on "The Poet as Shaman"; and Dr. Clia Goodwin, comparatist in Medieval Literature, on "J. R. R. Tolkien and the Uses of Fantasy". (The latter two presentations are from the Humanities to Go catalog.)

Sarah Cummings Ridge will present a lecture-performance of songs of the Kalevala with her group, the Maine Kanteles. They accompany their songs with the kantele, a Finnish lap harp or zither, which has its mythic origin in the Kalevala. They will also be offering a hands-on workshop with the kantele.

Members of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire will provide short readings from Hiawatha and the Tolkien trilogy, to demonstrate the relationship in sound and theme to the Finnish epic.

This program is made possible by funding from the New Hampshire Humanities Council and our many partners: the Krasner Law Office; Holy Rosary Credit Union; Artstream Gallery; The Governor's Inn; the Rochester Opera House; Neil English, Joiner; and Marimekko North America, LLC.

The program is free and open to the public. For more information contact poetrysocietyofnh@gmail.com or write to the PSNH at 31 Reservoir Road, Farmington, NH 03835.

I'm afraid I've been a tad lax in my Tolkien news reporting over the last couple of weeks.

The big news, of course, is in response to the news I reported last month about the publication announcement of Sigurd and Gudrún, a re-telling of the old Norse saga in verse by JRR Tolkien.

The original announcement was given by Harper Collins, Tolkien's UK publisher, that the book would be released in May. Houghton Mifflin, Tolkien's US publisher, has finally followed suit, announcing that it will simultaneously release the book in the US.

That's good news to all of us who weren't looking forward to paying the extra shipping costs.

In other news, Tolkien scholar Douglas A. Anderson's lecture at Bradley went off splendidly! Thank you to Bradley University Library and discussion moderator Mike Foster for a fun and educational evening.

The evening's discussion and Q&A session lasted from 7:30 to 9 PM, ranging from talk of Tolkien's difficult handwriting and the evolution of Middle-earth, to Ursula Le Guin and Robert Holdstock, two of Tolkien's worthy successors in the fantasy genre.

At least 125 people showed at Bradley Hall on a rainy February evening, including some from as far away as Ohio and Milwaukee.

PS - Check out some of Doug Anderson's books below. The Land of Laughs, by Jonathan Carroll, is one of Doug's highly suggested reads. Check it out too. I know I plan to.

An account of the evening with Douglas Anderson by Mike Foster:

ANNOTATING THE HOBBIT & OTHER LITERARY ADVENTURES, with Doug Anderson & me as moderator, drew at least 125 to Bradley Hall in Peoria Tuesday, Feb. 17.

One family drove over from Galesburg - about 90 miles - despite the cold & rain; there was one fellow from Notre Dame, Joe Kraemer from Cincinnati, Jan and Jeff Long from Milwaukee, David Berberick from Madison, as well as Graham Stockdale, Derek Hoover, and Linda Lowery from my Bradley JRRT class.

Doug and I discussed his books and Tolkien from 7:30 to 8:20 and the audience Q&A lasted till 9, bringing up discussion of other authors like E. A. Wyke-Smith, Robert Holdstock, C.S. Lewis, Ursula K. LeGuin, Peter S. Beagle et alia.

Doug then joined the Bradley bookstore guy outside Neumiller & sold and signed books till almost 9:30, when we adjourned to the Peoria Pizza Works for an after-party of 16 with Far Westfarthing smial, the Longs, Kraemer, and Doug at the head of the horseshoe table. Bass Ale & thin-crust pizza was involved. Can't remember the last time it was almost midnight when Jo & I got home from a date vs. almost 9.

Considering the downtown competition from BU vs. SMSU & LORD OF THE DANCE, it was a good turnout.

The Longs and David Berberick stopped by Foster's Farm for a semi-unexpected party of strong coffee and almond biscotti then next morning. All in all, a fine time.

Mike Foster
Metamora, Illinois

Guillermo del Toro mentioned in an interview at MTV.com that casting and design has begun on the early stages of The Hobbit movie.

As has previously been speculated, he has confirmed that Hellboy creator Mike Mignola will be joining the team to help with visualization. He further mentioned in the article that "We are sketching and designing with Weta's John Howe, and [Adam Lee]" (MTV.com), by which I assume the article meant Alan Lee.

Del Toro also revealed that he has winnowed down the list of actors he is considering for the role of Bilbo to four, though he gave no hints of their identities.

British actor Ian McKellen, who will reprise his role as Gandalf in the forthcoming The Hobbit movie, spoke with Comcast Entertainment recently about how he plans to approach the role in a different way.

McKellen makes note of how different the character of Gandalf is in The Hobbit than in The Lord of the Rings. "...what Gandalf has to do in that will be different line by line, scene by scene than the trilogy" McKellen noted.

I for one am happy to see that McKellen, at least, seems to understand the fundamental differences between The Hobbit and LotR. They are closely connected but fundamentally different works.

HarperCollins, JRR Tolkien's UK publisher, has announced the upcoming publication of a previously unpublished Tolkien manuscript, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, introduced and edited by Christopher Tolkien.

The book will be released in the UK as a hardcover edition in May 2009.

The manuscript, according to HarperCollins, dates from the early 1930's during Professor Tolkien's tenure as Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford.

As the name implies, the book is not set in Tolkien's Middle-earth, but is a retelling of the Norse saga of Sigurd in verse.

The story - a part of the larger Volsunga Saga from Norse Mythology - contains many similar elements to Tolkien's recently-published tale from the First Age of Middle-earth, The Children of Hurin.

HarperCollins will reveal more details about the publication as the release date nears.

No information is yet forthcoming about a US (Houghton-Mifflin) edition of this book.

A very happy 117th birthday to Professor Tolkien on this third day of January! Everyone feel free to raise a pint (or a glass of Cool-aide if you are still hungover from New Year's Eve or are underage) and toast "The Professor!"

I would also like to announce, on behalf of good friend Mike Foster, an upcoming presentation by Tolkien Scholar Douglas A. Anderson.

Mr. Anderson will be presenting "Annotating The Hobbit and Other Adventures" at Bradley University's Neumiller Chapel in Bradley Hall, at 7:30 P.M., Tuesday, February 17th, in Peoria, Illinois.

Contributor Mike Foster will be the moderator of the free lecture.

Anderson is the author and editor of The Annotated Hobbit, Tales Before Tolkien, Tales Before Narnia, and, with Verlyn Flieger, an expanded critical edition of Tolkien’s On Fairy-stories, soon to be reviewed here. He is also a co-editor of Tolkien Studies.

I just received the following message:

Hello, I thought the following news might be of interest to your readers! Non-profit Oak Tree Fine Press is selling the following item on eBay to raise money for children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.

A First Edition Deluxe copy of The Children of Hurin signed by Alan Lee. Alan Lee has also sketched by hand a central character from The Children of Hurin onto the first page of this book.

The artist - who won an Oscar for his work on the recent Lord of the Rings film trilogy - has illustrated J.R.R. Tolkien’s works for many years and the opportunity to own an original signed work by him is rare.

Further information and a link to the eBay auction is available on the Oak Tree Fine Press blog at www.otfp.blogspot.com.

Kind regards,
Nancy Bray, Oak Tree Fine Press

This sounds like a great collectible for a great cause. The only drawback is that it is hosted on eBay.co.uk and the bidding is in GBP, but I urge everyone to head on over and take a look and consider bidding.

Houghton-Mifflin's most recent collection of Tolkien-related material will be released on Monday, November 17th. Tales from the Perilous Realmwill feature four of Tolkien's lesser known tales:

• Smith of Wootton Major
• Farmer Giles of Ham
• Roverandom
• Leaf by Niggle

Also included is Tolkien's collection of poetry - The Adventures of Tom Bombadil - and Tolkien's seminal essay on fantasy, On Fairy Stories.

All of these works have already been published in various forms. Several of them are already available in The Tolkien Reader, while others (Roverandom) were only available in stand-alone editions.

This is a beautiful new hardcover compendium, complete with a new forward and a series of fantastic illustrations from world-famous Tolkien artist Alan Lee.

In further news somewhat unrelated to Tolkien, J.K. Rowling is releasing her newest Harry Potter related offering, The Tales of Beedle the Bard on December 4th, just in time for Christmas. Both books would make excellent holiday gifts for the reader on your list.

Just to catch up on a couple of little snippets of Tolkien related news, The Children of Hurin was released in paperback yesterday, 10/14, so those of you who waited to buy now have no more excuses. :)

Also, an item from last month that I missed - it appears that the classic BBC dramatization of The Lord of the Rings has been re-released as a CD Box Set at a very reasonable price. Those of you who are unfamiliar with this radio dramatization are really missing out on the best audio production of LotR bar none.

10/14/08

There is another fascinating interview with Hobbit film director Guillermo del Toro over at MTV.com. Del Toro discussed casting possibilities and his plans for creating a unique and believable Smaug.

You can check out the complete interview here.

I stumbled across several remaindered Tolkien hardcovers on Amazon.com for bargain prices. These are brand new books.

You can currently buy the hardcover edition of The Children of Hurin for $7.99; a hardcover compendium edition (Alan Lee cover art) of The Lord of the Rings for $29.99 ($70.00 retail); and a hardcover edition of renowned Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey's J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century for $7.99.

Remaindered books are in very limited numbers so don't wait to get them.

Update: 10/17/08 - It looks as if the remaindered version of The Children of Hurin is sold out. The other two are still available. Get them while you can.

MTV News recently conducted an interview with The Hobbit movie director Guillermo del Toro.

Del Toro let some fascinating details slip about the creative process between himself, Producer Peter Jackson, and their co-writers Phillipa Boyens & Fran Walsh.

Del Toro spoke with MTV about their plans to do not only the Hobbit movie, but a "bridge" movie that spans the time between the events in The Hobbit and those in The Lord of the Rings. Del Toro says they "stopped talking the first movie and second movie, and we just started taking about the movie - the two episodes, or two parts, as if they were a single piece of narrative".

His primary point was about flow - he feels that once the two Hobbit movies are finished a person should be able to watch all five films - The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings without any sort of break in narrative.

You can read the full fascinating article here.

The Children of Hurin will finally be released in the US in paperback on October 14, 2008.

The Children of Hurin cover artist Alan Lee will be doing a three city book tour to promote the release and the release of a brand new compilation of Tolkien's classic "faery" tales, Tales from the Perilous Realm, which includes a series of illustrations by Lee.

Update: Due to personal reasons, Alan Lee has been forced to cancel the promotional tour.

9/27/08

According to the BBC, the Judge in the lawsuit the Tolkien Trust has brought against New Line Cinema has declared that "no punitive damages" can be sought by the plaintiffs.

What does this mean to most of us?

Specifically, it means that The Tolkien Trust cannot have production of The Hobbit Movie halted as a "punitive" or disciplinary action for any breach of contract.

This ruling basically defines the scope of the lawsuit going forward. Any ruling found in the Tolkien Trust's favor will involve only "Compensatory Damages". In other words, New Line will be liable only for any monies owed to the Tolkien Trust.

9/12/08

Tolkien scholar Matthew Dickerson, author of Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings and Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien will be speaking at Marquette University on Thursday, October 23rd, from 4:00 to 5:30 PM.

The presentation is entitled "Beyond Romanticism: J.R.R. Tolkien's Practical Agrarian Romance" and will explore Tolkien's agrarian vision of The Shire and how it contrasts with Sauron and Saruman's industrialized agriculture.

The event is free and open to the general public. Members of the general public must pre-register at least 24 hours in advance of the program. Phone (414)288-5901 to pre-register.

8/22/08

Several news outlets have announced that -- no surprise here -- The Hobbit screenplay will be written "in house" by Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, Fran Walsh, and Phillipa Boyens.

Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens all co-wrote the Lord of the Rings movie scripts. Del Toro and Jackson both have a history of either writing of co-writing their film scripts, so it comes as little surprise that they have decided to do so here.

As expected, news and rumors are beginning to pile up almost daily on The Hobbit Movie.

But things may become derailed even before they've begun. I wrote a while back (see the 2/11/08 update below) about the Tolkien Trust's lawsuit against New Line Cinema and their efforts to block The Hobbit movie due to contractual negligence (not the actual legal term). The Tolkien Trust, led by JRR Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien, claims it is owed nearly $250 million in royalties from the first trilogy of films, of which they haven't received a penny.

According to The Frodo Franchise author Kristen Thompson at her blog, the attempt by Christopher Tolkien to block The Hobbit is probably overblown, and New Line/Warner Bros is likely to settle out of court long before it reaches that impasse.

Casting rumors have begun to fly, and the name on everybody's lips for the lead role is James McAvoy. McAvoy, who played Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is no stranger to fantasy. I personally like the choice, though at this point there has been no confirmation from Jackson or del Toro.

Rumor also has it that Christopher Lee, who played Saruman in the first film trilogy, will reprise his role in the bridge film.

Director Guillermo del Toro mentioned in a recent article at IGN that we can expect some important casting decisions and announcements to be made before Christmas.

Check out a recent YouTube interview with del Toro below.

It has been a while since my last Tolkien News update, and I apologize to those who track this page regularly. This has been a crazy spring.

Of course, with The Hobbit movie just gaining pre-production momentum, there are a number of important news items of note.

Firstly, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro are hosting a live chat and "question & answer" session tomorrow, May 24th, on the WETA website. It will begin at 11:00 AM US central time. This is a great opportunity to get some of your Hobbit movie questions answered and hear first-hand how the two movie-gurus plan to proceed. But first you have to go to their website and pre-register.

Also, a recent Variety article mentions that preliminary contact has been made with Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis to reprise their roles as Gandalf and Gollum respectively, but also with Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Aragorn's character would presumably reprise his role in the second movie, that will serve as a "bridge" between The Hobbit and LotR, since Aragorn does not play a role in The Hobbit itself.

I will continue to pass on more news as it becomes available.

I stumbled across an interesting new interview at MTV.com with Director Guillermo del Toro that addresses his plans/thoughts for The Hobbit movie. You can read it here.

In a major step toward setting The Hobbit movie into motion, Guillermo del Toro has now officially signed on to be the director.

Del Toro, the director of the Hellboy movies and the critically acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth had been in talks with New Line/Warner Bros about The Hobbit for some time, but an article in Variety announced the official deal today.

According to the article, del Toro will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Producer Peter Jackson and WETA studios.

He will direct two back-to-back films, The Hobbit and a sequel which will bridge the 60 year span between the events in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Some interesting developments on The Hobbit movie scene in the last few days. Guillermo Del Toro, a near lock to direct the film, hinted in an interview at ign.com that a definitive answer to whether or not he would direct the film would be forthcoming in the next "four to five days".

Del Toro also left a fascinating riddle on the message boards over at TheOneRing.net, implying that information on The Hobbit movie would disclosed soon.

In other news, "Middle Earth Weekend" (formerly "Tolkien Weekend") will take place at Sarehole Recreation Ground in Birmingham, England, the weekend of May 17th & 18th.

This popular event will include all of the usual attractions for Tolkien fans, plus new events and interests for folk of all ages.

The theme this year is 'Myths and Monsters' and there will be dragons patrolling the grounds (no doubt as targets for the Bowmen of Swanhurst).

Shire productions will also be performing giant puppet-show extracts from Beowulf in the atmospheric Moseley Bog. Visitors in constume will be welcome.

You can find more information on this event at ShireProductions.co.uk

Well, its been almost three weeks since my last news update so there are actually several pieces of Tolkien news to relate.

Most recently, a signed first edition of The Hobbit was auctioned off on Tuesday, March 18th by Bonhams in London. The book was inscribed by Tolkien with a dedication to his friend Elaine Griffiths. As mentioned in my February 10th news item, the projected sale price was in the neighborhood of $50,000 to $80,000.

The final sale price was more than double the lower estimate, bringing in 60,000 GBP, or about $122,000.

In other news, the Lord of the Rings musical, which opened to mixed reviews and large crowds at London's Drury Lane Theater in March 2007, has announced that it will close on July 19, 2008.

According to the Associated Press, producers claim to be in talks to bring the show to Germany with a German-speaking cast in the near future. A smaller "touring" version of the show is also slated to hold performances in Australia and New Zealand.

On The Hobbit Movie, there has been no real major news since the Tolkien Estate filed a $150 million lawsuit against New Line Cinema early last month.

Time Warner has folded the struggling New Line, but that doesn't erase many of the question marks that have been imposed by this lawsuit.

Production is still in a holding pattern. Though Guillermo Del Toro still seems likely to direct any Hobbit adaptation and is still in talks with Warner Bros. and parent company Time Warner, he has not officially signed on. In a recent interview with TheOneRing.net, Del Toro noted that "negotiations are...ongoing". He also claims to be "diligently going through all Tolkien material related to Middle-earth". That, at least, is a heartening thought.

There is a bit of shocking news today from the UK, where the Tolkien Estate & UK Tolkien publisher Harper Collins have filed a $150 million dollar lawsuit against New Line Cinema, the studio that produced The Lord of the Rings movies.

Apparently, the lawsuit also seeks the ability to block any further movies by New Line, including the two-movie plans for The Hobbit, which has not yet begun production.

It will be interesting to see how this latest major blow to New Line plays out. I believe this makes the 466,543rd person or entity to sue New Line since the theatrical release of the trilogy.

You can read the full article here.

Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods, Neverwhere, Stardust and several other excellent fantasy novels has decided, as a celebration for the 7th anniversary of his online journal, to make one of his books available for free online.

This is not the sort of thing you hear of often, but it is a really great idea. Right now, you can vote on which of his novels will be made available at his blog - here.

It will be a great way for those of you not familiar with Gaiman's writing to test the waters without spending a nickel!

Well, I just finished reading the newest translation of Sir Gawain & the Green Knight by British poet Simon Armitage. It came out back in October of last year, but I've had such a backlog of reading that I've only just gotten around to it.

And I thought it was fantastic.

A very modern translation, in a sense, in that Armitage tends to use some modern slang terms, etc., but it doesn't really detract from the mood of the narrative.

And the alliterative mode of the verse really comes to life in his hands.

This translation really couldn't be more different than Tolkien's translation published in 1975. Tolkien was a traditionalist in every sense, aiming to keep the archaic flavor of the Middle English language.

Armitage aims to make the poetry more accessible. Both succeed, on various levels. I've always been a huge fan of Tolkien's translation. Armitage's translation is an entirely new interpretation on an old favorite.

In other Tolkien news, a Reuters article announced that a signed, First Edition of The Hobbit is to be sold at auction in London next month.

The book, signed by Tolkien with a dedication to close friend Elaine Griffiths, has been forecasted to go for anywhere from $50,000 to $80,000.

The Guardian is reporting that Guillermo del Toro has officially signed on to direct the two Hobbit movies.

The article states that the announcement was made Wednesday night (1/30) at the French premier of The Orphanage, a film that del Toro co-produced.

Oddly enough, I haven't seen the announcement confirmed anywhere else, so I'll withhold confirmation until I've gotten some firmer info.

It's appearing more and more like Guillermo del Toro, director of the critically-acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth, is going to direct The Hobbit movies.

Numerous sources, including this one in The Hollywood Reporter, are reporting that del Toro and MGM/New Line are close to a deal that would bring del Toro on board to direct the proposed two Hobbit movies.

Peter Jackson, the award-winning director of The Lord of the Rings films is already aboard for the new films, though his role will be as the executive producer.

There is a fascinating radio interview at The National Review Online with John D. Rateliff, editor and author of The History of The Hobbit. You can listen to the interview here.

Tolkien-Online.com joins the rest of Tolkien fandom in raising a glass to Professor JRR Tolkien on his birthday!

Every year, the Tolkien Society organizes a birthday toast to Tolkien. Tolkien was born on January 3rd, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. So choose your beverage (not necessarily alcoholic) and raise your glass to the "The Professor".