The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Poster

QUESTION: Can you talk about when you first met Peter Jackson and his collaborators, and how you came to write the song I See Fire for the film?

ED SHEERAN: I first met Peter in March. I did a show in Wellington and his daughter, Katie, came down. Then I was invited around for lunch the next day, we hung out, and it was fun. About six months later, I got a call asking if I wanted to be involved in the end credit song. So I instantly got a plane to New Zealand, met everyone that was involved in the film and watched the film. Then I wrote the song.

QUESTION: What was your reaction when you saw...

At Beorn’s Hall to Mirkwood:

- The company is chased to Beorn’s house by Beorn himself (Beorn doesn’t like dwarves, but when he discovers they’re running from Azog he helps them instead).

- "Beorn is the last shape-shifter in the whole of Middle-earth. Most of his kind were killed by Azog, so when Beorn finds out that The Company are fleeing from Azog, he agrees to help them."

- Beorn tells Gandalf that the rumors of "a great evil" in Dol Guldur are true, which is what makes Gandalf decide to go there himself and leave Thorin & Company to face Mirkwood alone.

At the Halls of the Elven-king...