It is that time of year again, the Horn of the Harnkegger sounds! The heroes and athletes of Middle Earth have trained hard to prove their mettle and earn the coveted gold medals. This year from Monday September 11th till Sunday September 17th the free folk of Middle Earth will once again fight for the honour of the Harnkegger title... and lets not forget a wagon load of pies!
The Harnkegger Games Committee is proud to announce a new pie sponsor for these games, no longer is Brockenboring's baker T.Urbine providing us Tasty Pies. Now a new baker near the Standing Stone.. uhm, I mean the Three Farthing Stone has offered to bake no less than 13.000 pies for the events, using the age old delicious Baggins recipe.
With master Frodo being unavailable, his aunt Lobelia has taken it upon herself to give permission on behalf of the Bagginses, yet...with the condition to explicitly use her name... as such this year the games will hand out 13.000 Lobelia's Outrageously Tasty Rabbit & Onion Pies ((13.000 Lotro Points))
For more information on The Harnkegger Games, please read more HERE
More news on the games will be listed here as we get closer to the opening day on September 11.
Stay tuned!
I wanted to add that we're working on getting a ton of this year's event streamed live on LOTROstream (and archived for later viewing). Stay tuned for details.
In what was a nail-bitingly exciting Spike Jump Event that ended in a "sudden death jump-off" for the Gold, the Race of Men took the lead with 4 points, followed by the Elves with 2 points. Though the Dwarves and Hobbits are still without points after Day 1, hopes are high among these nations that Day 2 will turn their fortunes in the Cross Country Run and Fire Jump Run Events - events where Hobbits and Dwarves have in the past earned 11 out of 12 medals.
In other news... the finalists for the Music Event are now known! These six finalists, who will perform on Sunday 17th for the coveted Gold medal, are... Lindamar, The White Flames, Lanterns of Nimrodeliant, Edwell, Pie Shop Hobbits and The Redstable Revellers.
For more information on The Harnkegger Games, please read more HERE
Yesss!! So exciting! I've been watching the live stream videos (thank you, Cordovan!) and I am not ashamed to say I'm taking off work early tomorrow so I can participate in the Relay Run!
Day 2 of the Harnkegger Games brought us the strength of Dwarves, few will have had doubts about that after they snapped up 4 out of 6 medals up for grabs on the day. Apart from taking the Gold in the Cross Country Run, they also brought home Bronze, Silver and Gold in the Fire Run Jump. As a result, Dwarves top the Nations leaderboard with 9 points, while the Race of Men have 5 and Elves 4.
The Hobbits are yet to pick up any medal at these games, but, as the events of day 3 take us to the Shire, no doubt our perian friends will be eager to set that right.
Day 3 took us to the Shire where - as many expected - Hobbits ruled supreme. There was some agitation before the start of the event, as the race of Hobbits was still without points. But that soon changed when they grabbed the gold in both events, in addition to the bronze medal at the Brandywine Long Swim event.
Though Dwarves still lead with 11 points, Hobbits now come charging into second place with 7 points. Elves hold third place with 7 points as well (and fewer gold medals than the Hobbits), while Men are yet to pick up a medal since day one and close the ranking with 5 points.
When the Sparring Tournament is on the schedule together with the Relay Race you know that medals and points will be plenty. None were disappointed as the competitors and audience alike were spoiled by a stunning display of sparring excellence and a record breaking Relay Run (set all the way back in Harnkegger I). The big victor of the day, grabbing no less than 12 points, were the Elves, who not only had a hand in the record breaking Relay Run, but for the first time ever, in Harnkegger history, topped the Nations leaderboard.
With a new Nation topping the leaderboard every day and the Nations only having a few points between them, it is anyone's guess who will emerge as the Harnkegger Nation this year.
When there are nine medals to be won and Hobbits and Elves win eight of them, it surely won't surprise anyone to hear that at the end of the day they left the other Nations far behind in the leader-board.
With twenty-eight points, and eight points ahead of the other Nations, Elves have made a serious bid for the final Nations Trophy glory.
Yet things are still possible for the Hobbits and Dwarves provided they start winning gold medals in the last two days. For the Race of Men, who are still on nine points, winning the Nations Trophy seems like a near impossible task now.
Day 6 saw the Dwarves take four out of six medals on offer, an impressive display to say the least. A display that was well needed, seeing the lead of the Elves was easily as impressive.
The last day of the Harnkegger Games approaches and with only seven points separating the third and first placed Nation and plenty of points still up for grabs on the final day, it is anyone's guess who will claim the coveted Harnkegger Nations Trophy.