Abby Epplett, Historian

While creating the instrumental for “The Story of the Ring”, I brought back musical themes and motifs used in previous sections while introducing new themes. In this essay, I will describe the history and inspiration behind the new themes for Sauron, Ringwraiths, Gil-galad, and Men of Westernesse while demonstrating how these themes fit together to create a cohesive score.

On the third day of my long weekend trip to Western Massachusetts, which I took back in March 2026, I visited The Clark , an art museum in Williamstown, MA. Like my trip to MASS MoCA taken on the day before, my summary of the experience will be divided into three parts. In the first part, I will describe artwork found inside the museum building. In the second part, I will cover the architecture of the building, a nearby historic building, and some outside sculptures. In the third part, I will describe the rest of the outside sculptures and give tips on how to visit the museum.

On the second day of my long weekend trip to western Massachusetts in March 2026, I visited MASS MoCA , the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. Due to the size of the museum, I am covering this visit in three posts. The first part described the building, local history and ecology, and artwork on the exterior. The second part described the my favorite exhibits at the museum. This third part will describe the permanent Sol LeWitt exhibit and give tips on how to visit the museum.

On the second day of my long weekend trip to western Massachusetts in March 2026, I visited MASS MoCA , the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. Due to the size of the museum, I am covering this visit in three posts. The first post described the building, local history and ecology, and artwork on the exterior. This second part will describe the my favorite exhibits at the museum. The third part will describe the permanent Sol DeWitt exhibit and tips on how to visit the museum.

The War of the Last Alliance was referenced by Gandalf as a major event in the history of the One Ring. Both Gil-galad and Elendil died in the Siege of Barad-dûr, the fortress of Sauron, along with many Elves and Men. While Isildur survived and killed Sauron by cutting off the finger wearing the One Ring, Isildur kept the ring instead of destroying it and was killed by Orcs two years later during the Disaster of Gladden Fields. This was a paradoxical location. The Gladden River was a tributary of the Great River Anduin, the longest river in Middle-earth, and the Gladden Fields were formed where the Gladden reached the Anduin. The soil in this area would have been fertile, perfect for growing plants, hence the many gladdens flowering in the area. At the same time, it would be remembered for generations as a place of death.

On the second day of my long weekend trip to western Massachusetts in March 2026, I visited MASS MoCA , the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. Due to the size of the museum, I will cover it in three posts. The first post will describe the building, local history and ecology, and artwork on the exterior. The second part will describe the most long term an short term exhibits at the museum during my visit. The third part will describe the permanent Sol DeWitt exhibit and tips on how to visit the museum.

Back in March 2023, I took a long weekend trip to western Massachusetts and visit three museums. The first of these was the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. The Hall is famously built inside a round building shaped like a basketball and in the same city where James Naismith invented the game in 1891. Like other modern museums, the Hall combines artifacts with digital interactives, but its most unique (and potentially annoying) attraction is a full-sized basketball court with a variety of basket types in the center of the museum.

May 31, 2026 was the birthday of the blog, but since it fell on a Sunday during my regular Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical posting, I am posting it today instead. As in past years, I will give some statistics and give a countdown of the top ten most popular posts. Viewership has climbed dramatically in the past few months thanks to resolving issues with search engines. In the past year, I receive around 60,400 views, which is about double the number of views I received in the previous three years combined. This month marks the highest number of views in a month to date at 11,182. Here are the top ten most popular posts from this year, along with an explanation on their popularity.

During the Last Alliance, Gil-galad and the Ñoldor were joined by Elendil and the Númenóreans in a desperate effort to defeat the dark forces of Sauron. Since I detailed the armor of Gil-galad and his fellow elves last week, I will reveal my designs for the Númenóreans this week, including their arms and armor, the symbol of the White Tree, and illustrations created by other artists.

In March 2026, I went to the Samuel Slater Experience , a museum in Webster, MA that had been on my list since it opened a few years ago. The museum tells the story of inventor and entrepreneur Samuel Slater with a focus on the industrial town he created and named after his political friend, Senator Daniel Webster (W-MA). The modern museum blends audiovisual effects, digital interactives, accurate reproductions, and historical artifacts.