Abby Epplett, Historian

In June 2026, after I gave a violin concert at the Blackstone Public Library, I took a walk to explore quick history stops in Blackstone, MA. This will be a three-part miniseries. This first stop will describe the library, a memorial, churches, bridges, and the fire/police station.

Back in May 2026, I returned once again to Stephens-Coolidge House & Gardens , managed by the Trustees of Reservations in North Andover, MA for a fun, festive event: Spring BloomFest . Having gone to Winterlights in December 2024 and a regular day trip in September 2025 , I had already learned much about the house and gardens, which can be covered in those blog posts. After some deliberation on how to describe this beautiful adventure, I decided to write a brief explanation and then share a photo gallery at the end.

Frodo was originally incredulous that Gollum, also called Sméagol, could be “of hobbit-kind”, even as Gandalf explained how he was likely related to “the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors”, the ancestors of the Brandybucks and other hobbits in Buckland and the East Farthing. As mentioned many months ago when discussing the three breeds of hobbits , this group had distinctive features. They were broad and strong, enjoyed boating along the river, and may have had unusually blue eyes. However, their culture was distinct from that of their distant relatives in the Shire. They appeared to respect matriarchal authority rather than patriarchal, and they built boats of reeds rather than wood. In this essay, I’m going to explore those differences and how they inspired my design of Sméagol and his relatives.

My trip to the Book Barn of Niantic, CT back in 2024 is the gift that keeps on giving, as I finally completed another book purchased during that trip. I recently finished reading Mongols, Huns & Vikings written by Hugh Kennedy , a British medievalist and professor emeritus at SOAS University of London, edited by John Keegan, and published by Cassel & Co (which has since become self-publishing services Cassel Publishers ) as part of Cassel’s History of Warfare series in 2002. (As a further publishing history note, twelve of the potentially twenty-three books appear to have been picked up by Smithsonian for its seemingly out-of-print History of Warfare series, but this book was not one of them.) Best described as an intellectual coffee table book, this 8" by 10 3/4" volume combines historical research with high resolution, full color images of the artwork, artifacts, and landscapes affected by nomadic peoples from Eurasian history. The blend of beautiful pictures...

On the same day I saw the daffodils at Parsons Reserve, I went down the road to Frank Knowles Little River Reserve in Dartmouth, MA. The 194 acres of the preserve, now with 9 miles of trails, were purchased by Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (DNRT) across four parcels between 1996 and 2010. The first of these parcels was donated by Audrey M. Gillum, who served as Trustee of the Ellen Knowles Jackmen Trust. Despite the name in the title, DNRT provides no information about the man on their website. I speculate that Ellen Knowles Jackman, who was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery of Westport, MA in 1994, was the daughter of Frank Knowles, as many other women have donated their inherited properties to New England preservation organizations. After the 1967 death of her husband, Charles William Jackman , she lived at 573 Potomska Road, a quarter mile from the current preserve entrance.

In April, I visited Parsons Reserve in Russells Mills Village Historic District, Dartmouth, MA to visit its locally famous daffodil fields. Part of Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust , a local ecological preservation organizations that has operated since 1971, the thirty-two acres of trails and blossoming fields bring a sense of wonder and whimsy to the otherwise quiet area.

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 described artwork found inside the museum building. In this second part , I covered 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 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 described artwork found inside the museum building. In this 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.

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.

In January 2026, I saw Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition created by SEE Global Entertainment during its stop at Warwick Mall in Warwick, RI, which was advertised as Providence. The exhibit contained life-sized reproductions of the frescoes found on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican sporadically and reluctantly painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1541 and restored between 1984 and 1994. The tour came with an audio guide app describing the artwork and sharing fun facts about the UNESCO world heritage site .

Gil-galad was the mysterious last King of the Ñoldor, part of a royal family that included Celebrimbor and Galadriel . The exact relationship is part of his mystery, as three different elves have been listed as his father in the legendarium. This enigma is discussed at length by Tolkien scholar Renee Vink , so I will give only a brief summary here.