Tolkien Estate Website up & running (well partially)

[Durelin]

Oooh, I love the site design. Their choice of artwork is very interesting! The Children of Hurin and FAQ pages are especially aesthetically pleasing (to me)... I think I might love the artwork on the "Contact" page the most, though.

The flash intro is quite interesting (get rid of the "/home" on the link to see the intro)...though I think it's transition from the artwork to the "floating letters" is a little rough, and then the transition to the website obviously needs smoothing, but hey, it's temporary, and simply great to have!

I'm sorry to critique it like that...not really the point...

I find this piece of the FAQ particularly interesting:

Can I / someone else write / complete / develop my / their own version of one of these unfinished tales ? (or any others)
The simple answer is NO.
You are of course free to do whatever you like for your own private enjoyment, but there is no question of any commercial exploitation of this form of "fan-fiction".
Also, in these days of the Internet, and privately produced collectors’ items for sale on eBay, we must make it as clear as possible that the Tolkien Estate never has, and never will authorize the commercialisation or distribution of any works of this type.
The Estate exists to defend the integrity of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings. Christopher Tolkien's work as his father’s literary executor has always been to publish as faithfully and honestly as possible his father's completed and uncompleted works, without adaptation or embellishment. (Italics added, naturally.)

See? I knew we were okay here with our RPGs and all that.

Thanks for the link, davem!