''Born of Hope: The Ring of Barahir'' (often referred to as simply ''Born of Hope'') is a 2009 British

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

fan film directed by

Kate Madison Kate Madison is a British independent filmmaker, director, producer and actor. She portrayed the character Elgarain in her film, '' Born of Hope''. Background Kate Madison was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England but now lives in Cambridg ...

and written by Paula DiSante (as Alex K. Aldridge) based on the appendices of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

's 1954–55 novel ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

''. The film centres on the communities affected by

Sauron Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Midd ...

's war; the

Dúnedain In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, the Dúnedain (; singular: Dúnadan, "Man of the West") were a race of Men, also known as the Númenóreans or ''Men of Westernesse'' (translated from the Sindarin term). Those who survived the s ...

bloodline; and the story of Arathorn II and his relationship with Gilraen as they would be the parents of

Aragorn Aragorn is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of Ar ...

, who became a key leader against Sauron. The bulk of the film was shot at the West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village in Suffolk. Scenes were shot in

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

Snowdonia National Park Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

Clearwell Caves Clearwell Caves, at Clearwell in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, is a natural cave system which has been extensively mined for iron ore. It now operates primarily as a mining museum. The caves are part of a Natural England de ...

and the Brecon Beacons. It debuted at Ring*Con 2009 before being streamed for free on DailyMotion, and later on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Plot

In the late

Third Age In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional un ...

, Sauron's power is increasing, and he has sent his

Orc An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially '' The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugl ...

s to seek out the remnants of the bloodline of

Elendil Elendil is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is mentioned in ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'' and ''Unfinished Tales''. He was the father of Isildur and Anárion, last lord of Andúnië on the island of ...

, kept alive in the

. Dirhael, his wife Ivorwen and their daughter Gilraen are fleeing from an attack on their village when they are ambushed by Orcs on a forest road, and saved by a group of rangers led by Arathorn. Not having any place safer to go, the refugees go with Arathorn to Taurdal, the village led by his father and Chieftain of the Dúnedain,

Arador The following is a list of notable characters from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. The list is for characters from Tolkien's writings only. A * Aragorn:Son of Arathorn, descendant of Isildur who was a principal figure in both the F ...

. While there, Arathorn and Arador ponder the orcs' motives after finding various pieces of jewelry on their bodies. During her stay in Taurdal, Gilraen falls in love with Arathorn. In light of the attacks on surrounding settlements, Arador leads his forces on a campaign against the orcs in the area in an attempt to restore peace to the region. Meanwhile, he sends Arathorn separately in an attempt to determine the meaning behind the attacks. Both are successful, and Arathorn discovers the orcs are serving Sauron, who seeks the Ring of Barahir. Arathorn and Gilraen receive Arador's blessing to be wed, but Arathorn cannot summon the courage to ask Dirhael for his daughter's hand. Arador is summoned to

Rivendell Rivendell ('' sjn, Imladris'') is a valley in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, representing both a homely place of sanctuary and a magical Elvish otherworld. It is an important location in '' The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of ...

to seek Elrond's counsel, and the wedding is postponed until his return. Arathorn eventually confronts Dirhael, and receives permission to marry his daughter. Arathorn and Gilraen are married. A year later, Arador is killed by a hill

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...

in the

Coldfells Trolls are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, and feature in films and games adapted from his novels. They are portrayed as Tolkien's monsters, monstrously large humanoids of great strength and poor intellect. In ''The Hobbi ...

, making Arathorn the chieftain of the Dúnedain. Gilraen becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son,

. Taurdal knows peace for a while, until Elladan and Elrohir come with news from Rivendell.

Elrond Elrond Half-elven is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Both of his parents, Eärendil and Elwing, were half-elven, having both Men and Elves as ancestors. He is the bearer of the elven-ring Vilya, the Ring of ...

has sensed that danger is once again threatening the region, and they request that Gilraen and Aragorn be brought back to Rivendell for safekeeping, as is the tradition with all Dúnedain heirs to the

chiefdom A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

. Before Arathorn and Gilraen can come to a decision, orcs attack the village. They are beaten off; however, many Rangers fall, and Arathorn's closest friend, Elgarain, is mortally wounded while defending Gilraen. Arathorn then leads the remaining Rangers in pursuit of the stragglers. They are successful, but Arathorn is mortally wounded in the process. Without a chieftain capable of leading them, the Dúnedain abandon Taurdal and go into hiding in small secret settlements in the forests of Rhudaur, while the Elven twins, Elladan and Elrohir, bring Aragorn with his mother Gilraen to Rivendell, and safety.

Cast

* Christopher Dane as Arathorn * Beth Aynsley as

Gilraen Aragorn is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of ...

, Arathorn's wife * Iain Marshall as

, Chieftain of the Dúnedain and father of Arathorn * Andrew McDonald as Dirhael, Gilraen's father * Philippa Hammond as Ivorwen, Gilraen's mother * Howard Corlett as Halbaron*, Arathorn's right hand and de facto leader of the Dúnedain after his death *

as Elgarain*, a Ranger and friend of Arathorn * Matt and Sam Kennard as Elladan and Elrohir, twin sons of

* Luke Johnston as

, son of Arathorn * Danny George as Dirhaborn*, a Ranger * Amani Johara as Evonyn*, Halbaron's wife * Raphael Edwards as Mallor*, a Ranger * Ollie Goodchild and Lars Mattes as Halbarad, Halbaron's son * Phoebe Chambers and Amylea Meiklejohn as Maia*, a refugee escaping from the orcs, adopted by Halbaron and Evonyn * Tom Quick as Dorlad*, Gilraen's brother who was killed in the raid on their village * Richard Roberts as Shaknar*, orc leader, chief villain of the film * Lewis Penfold as Gorganog*, orc commander during attack on Taurdal * Daniel Tyler-Smith as Maia's father*, killed during an orc raid *Original characters created for the film.

Production

The idea for the film was born in 2003 when director/producer/actor Kate Madison wanted to submit a film for the Tolkien Fan Film Exhibition. Originally a modest plan, it grew until April 2006 when the first test shoot occurred. Principal photography started in June 2008, and continued through 2009. The goal was to debut at Ring*Con 2009, which it did. It was later streamed for free on various video websites including DailyMotion and

. The film had to be non-commercial to avoid legal conflict with the commercial rights holders. Madison spent her life savings of £8,000 on the film. An extra £17,000 was generated by posting a trailer online, raising the budget to £25,000. ''Born of Hope'' was made over a period of six years, using a cast of 400, who would camp in tents so as to be able to shoot early. Christopher Dane (Arathorn) ended up getting very involved in the process of making the film, contributing to the script as well as handling the editing of the final product. Kate Madison, who directed and produced the film, was cast as Elgarain as well, giving her a heavy workload during the shooting. Chris Bouchard of ''

The Hunt for Gollum ''The Hunt for Gollum'' is a 2009 British fantasy fan film based on the appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1954–55 book ''The Lord of the Rings''. The film is set in Middle-earth, when the wizard Gandalf the Grey fears that Gollum may reveal info ...

'' contributed to the production of the film as a camera operator and effects artist.

Reception

Wendy Ide, writing for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', gave the film a positive review. She awarded it 4 stars out of 5, calling it a "near note-perfect homage to Jackson’s vision for the Rings". She also noted that the film is "very well cast" and that "practically all the performances have a skill level far above that which is usually evident in low-budget cinema". Tom Lamont, writing in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', stated that ''Born of Hope'' was the most credible adaptation among the many fan films based on ''The Lord of the Rings''. He agreed with a reviewer in another newspaper who had written "Every shot of this film was made with love, and it shows". He admired the "stirring" original music for orchestra, and noted that in March 2010, the film had reached almost a million hits at online streaming media. The Tolkien scholar Robin Anne Reid noted that ''Born of Hope'' was unusual among fan films in including more than "one or two women". She states also that the film focuses on a story barely present in ''The Lord of the Rings'', in a process that the scholar Henry Jenkins called "refocalization". She states that this allows attention to be directed to "minor or underused characters", or to romantic relationships.

Awards

''Born of Hope'' won the 2010 London Independent Film Festival in the category "Best Micro-Budget Feature".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Born Of Hope 2009 films 2009 fantasy films British independent films British adventure films 2000s fantasy adventure films Films shot in Wales Fan films Films set in Middle-earth Tolkien fandom 2000s English-language films 2000s British films