Mithril Press Clippings

The Making of a Model Enterprise.

Journey to the mythical world of Middle-earth.

Jo Kerrigan visits a West Cork workshop where thecharacters from J.R.R. Tolkien's famous fantasy novels are cast into metal.

Eileen Kelliher - Painting Scatha the Worm

How many are aware that Tolkien's entire fantasy world is actually to be found in West Cork? To be precise, in the tiny hamlet of Kilnamartyra, near Macroom.

Because it is here, at the factory of Prince August, that the only authorised and authentic miniature reproductions of every single character from both "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are created and are sent out to the furthest corners of the globe.

It is the most magical place to visit if you, like countless others, have been hooked by these timeless stories of good and evil.

Illuminated glass cases contain exquisite figures so tiny that you cannot imagine how their painter applied the bright colours so accurately. Huge dragons or loathsom spiders loom over dauntless little hobbits brandishing swords.

Menacing Black Riders peer menacingly from behind the black folds of thir windswept robes. Perhaps some of the most delightful pieces are the set pieces which illustrate specific events: Frodo Baggins imprisoned in the Barrow Downs,Goldberry surrounded by bowls of water lilies, or that fateful moment when Gandalf persuades Bilbo to leave The One Ring behind him on the Mantelpiece when he sets out on his last journey. Every tiny detail, from the embroidery on a gown to the cup and plate on a table, are reproduced in perfect proportion.

Prince August has been in existence for over 25 years, and has already built up an international reputation for miniature soldiers and metal casting moulds. After expanding in 1987, it became the only authorised creator of the tiny Tolkien figures under its subsidiary, Mithril Miniatures.

Visitors can spend hours browsing in front of the cases which bring to life the central characters from Tolkien's books.

With eyes full of wander: Rian Edman studies some of the metallic figures made at Prince August.

Treebeard, for example, the calm and slow-moving Ent, Carfully clasping a hobbit in either branched arm.
Shadowy, envious Gollum. Thorin Oakenshield. Orcs and the Wild Wargs. Eagles, Elven kings and queens.

And of course Gandalf, the all-wise and powerful wizard who sets Bilbo on his adventures in the first place and always turns up in the nick of time to rescue the wanderers.

They're all there, just as you imagined them.

It's only when you leave, clutching your precious packages with the promise of many an enchanted evening ahead assembling and painting , that you look around at the countryside and see it with new eyes. Because surely the peaceful part of West Cork actually is Middle-earth.

This could be the very Shire where life had continued its pleasant way for centuries and which Frodo and his companions strove to protect against the growing shadow of Evil.

There are the little tilled fields, the hedges and the winding lanes. There are welcoming inns just such as old Gaffer Gamgee might frequent.

Green woodlands where elves might well be encountered at dusk, shallow fords across rivers where a safe crossing might be made by weary hobbits and heavily-laden ponies. Lough Allua with its crannog, could be the original of Lake Town.

The road from Macroom "goes ever on" just as it did in Tolkien's novel, sweeping up ond over the hills to the Kerry border.

And not far away, whenever you lift your eyes, are the faint blue outline of McGillicuddy's Reeks - exactly like the Misty Mountains described to the fascinated Bilbo at his fireside one night by Gandalf and the dwarves.

Indeed, with the magical figures in your hands, it is not difficult to imagine yourself one of that company, preparing to set forth on their dangerous adventure: Far over the Misty Mountains cold, To dungeons deep and caverns old, We must away ere break of day To seek the long-forgotten gold.

More Press Clippings

Mithril Classics Handbook & Catalogue.

Our Handbook contains 18 full colour pages containing photographs and descriptions of the Mithril Classics range and our boxed sets. More info

Mithril GOLD STATUS Fellowship - Most Exclusive LOTR Club in the World. Join Now

5 x Copies of Tengwar magazine
Password to new Fellowship Forum
Decide and Vote for next Mithril miniature, made exclusively for members.
Members Gallery available for miniature sketchs.
MS423 x 1 'Aragorn and the Palantir' figure. +
Access to a range of rare and beautiful figures.

Mithril Miniatures, Kilnamartyra, Macroom, Co. Cork, Ireland
Tel 353-26-40222, Fax 353-26-40004
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The Watcher Logo for Tolkien Enterprises. The Watcher logo, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and the names of the characters, events, items and places therein, are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license to Mithril Miniatures since 1987.