{"id":844,"date":"2009-08-12T12:48:06","date_gmt":"2009-08-12T12:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth--part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html"},"modified":"2009-08-12T12:48:06","modified_gmt":"2009-08-12T12:48:06","slug":"chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronicles of Middle Earth– Part Four, In the Wardrobe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who has read the wonderful Narnia tales of C.S. Lewis is well aware that it was through a clothes closet (called a wardrobe in the British world) that our heroes entered Narnia. This particular post, however, is about what could be found IN a wardrobe.  The costumers who produced the magical attire were a group in Wellington located close by Peter Jackson’s Weta Cave headquarters and called the Stansborough (see http:\/\/www.stansborough.co.nz\/sb\/gallery.cfm). If you have at least three other LOTR fans with you, you can do the tour, see the looms, and watch them make amazing costumes of gossamer thin wool thread. <\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Now let’s admit from the start that some characters in Narnia and LOTR have no fashion sense at all.  I mean, what can you do with a fighting Uruk-Hai after all?<\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

Talk about a wardrobe malfunction!  You might be able to dress him up a bit better but you can’t take him anywhere!  <\/p>\n

The Stansborough folks are mighty good at what they do. <\/div>\n

Consider for example, the costumes created for the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.<\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

It is amazing material — lightweight and yet warm when it needs to be.  All one has to do is accessorize thereafter, and voila,  one has hobbits, elves, and dwarfs.  <\/p>\n

Here are some of the pendants, rings and weapons created by other artisans around the world:<\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Some people are easier to dress than others. Here is the basic attire of a New Zealand sheep farmer. <\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Here, on the other hand, are the Hobbits.<\/p>\n

\"Hobbits_standee-01.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Now the Hobbits need clothes that last a long time, because they have considerable longevity. Surely you know that old Hobbits die hard.  And it’s mostly informal attire that is required, though occasionally Bilbo was known to be a bit of a fashion plate. The Stansborough folks in any case provided them and the Narnians with a plethora of choices in wardrobe and accessories. <\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

Finally, there are some fellows you just can’t dress up any further and you really shouldn’t.  Here is what the Stansborough folks won for their work on LOTR. <\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The only problem raised for LOTR fans is this: if one dons the famous ring, how can anyone see, much less appreciate, the wardrobe?  <\/p>\n

In our next episode we will check out some of the forests, streams and mountains of Middle Earth.  But for now I leave you with a Middle Earth sunset.<\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone who has read the wonderful Narnia tales of C.S. Lewis is well aware that it was through a clothes closet (called a wardrobe in the British world) that our heroes entered Narnia. This particular post, however, is about what could be found IN a wardrobe.  The costumers who produced the magical attire were a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nChronicles of Middle Earth- Part Four, In the Wardrobe - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronicles of Middle Earth- Part Four, In the Wardrobe - The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anyone who has read the wonderful Narnia tales of C.S. Lewis is well aware that it was through a clothes closet (called a wardrobe in the British world) that our heroes entered Narnia. This particular post, however, is about what could be found IN a wardrobe.  The costumers who produced the magical attire were a…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-08-12T12:48:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20348-thumb-400x225-6982.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronicles of Middle Earth- Part Four, In the Wardrobe - The Bible and Culture","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chronicles of Middle Earth- Part Four, In the Wardrobe - The Bible and Culture","og_description":"Anyone who has read the wonderful Narnia tales of C.S. Lewis is well aware that it was through a clothes closet (called a wardrobe in the British world) that our heroes entered Narnia. This particular post, however, is about what could be found IN a wardrobe.  The costumers who produced the magical attire were a…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2009-08-12T12:48:06+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20348-thumb-400x225-6982.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html","name":"Chronicles of Middle Earth- Part Four, In the Wardrobe - The Bible and Culture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20348-thumb-400x225-6982.jpg","datePublished":"2009-08-12T12:48:06+00:00","dateModified":"2009-08-12T12:48:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20348-thumb-400x225-6982.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20348-thumb-400x225-6982.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-four-in-the-wardrobe.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chronicles of Middle Earth– Part Four, In the Wardrobe"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"description":"Bible scholar Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}