English is a quirky language, but what they've done with the title for the new hobbit game can't be blamed on zany grammar rules.
It's a sin that's been committed in the name of branding—a terrible sin. The full title of Wētā Workshop's upcoming cozy hobbit life sim is: «Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings Game.» The crime is so heinous that the unconscious mind sometimes edits it out, so here's that last bit again: «A The Lord of The Rings Game.» I admit that writers are prone to indulging in theatrically strong opinions about language that other people are correct not to give a crap about, and yeah, I have at times taken pleasure in being pointlessly dogmatic about the meaning of the word «comprise.» I considered that reacting to this felony article usage with anything more than a shrug might just be an affectation, but every time I see it again, I become re-convinced that I can't be the only one repulsed by «A The.» I don't think I've ever seen the rule being broken here spelled out—to state it awkwardly, when an article is followed by a title that starts with an article, omit the article from the title (or perhaps more broadly, omit the title's article when the title is used as a modifier)—but only because it doesn't normally need to be.
I've never met anyone who goes around saying things like «a The Matrix movie» or «the The Godfather DVD.» I can't believe anyone would subtitle their game «A The Lord of the Rings game» unless their arm were twisted, so I think it must be the case that someone to do with the Lord of the Rings trademark (or «the The Lord of the Rings trademark,» I should say) insisted that the «the» be retained.
I actually omitted a trademark symbol when I reproduced the title above, so, to be totally accurate, the full title of the game on Steam is: Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings™ Game.
What depravity! (The game looks cool though.) Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the