So I went looking through the rest of the topics on here, and I can't seem to find any Tolkien threads! All I could find was stuff posted in other threads.

So.

Who else is an avid lover of Tolkien? Do you think Hobbitton is utopia? Can you speak Sindarin? Do you have shelves of obscure copies of Farmer Giles of Ham?

Post here and share the love!

If you want to talk about the movies, please keep it brief as this thread is in the books section.

I adore the man and his writings.

I think I first read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the fourth grade. From there, I just went on to the Silmarillion and all the accompanying writings. I can't quite speak any of the languages fluently yet, but I know enough roots to Sindarin to put together basic sentences.

I've read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy so far and am currently working on the Silmarrilion and the Unfinished Tales. While I don't speak any of the languages, I write in Dwarven Runes quite often.

I think that there should be a Lord of the Rings theme park type thing(using scenes from the movie) for us freakishly obsessed Tolkien fans. :D

I would think that The Scouring of the Shire would prove adequately that it's not a utopia... just a place with corrupt people like any other. Of course, it needed a little push in the wrong direction to become a smoldering hell-hole, but even before that, there were unpleasant people living there.

That being said, I love Hobbiton the most out of all of Tolkein's lands. Yes, maybe nothing important ever happens there (though I would like to see an ent make the trek over, because I think that would be a fascinating story in itself), but the hobbits are much more fascinating to me than any of Tolkein's other races, besides the wizards. Gotta love the wizards.

I love fantsy, love sci-fi, and am a nerd and dislike 2 major nerdom things, Tolkien and Star Wars.

Well, I like the movies, but not the books. I had a hard time reading them. He needed an editor, there was so much useless details and tangents, that I just could not read it and gave up at least 3/4th of the way through the LoTR.

That and the hobbit movie as a kid scared the living day lights out of me!

I myself don't really read a lot,but I have read a few of tolkien books,they are master pieces.

Useless detail! *trembles uncontrollably* My ears my poor ears...I mean...my eyes! Augghh! My eyes!

Sorry, the detail that Tolkien puts in, while it bogs you down a bit, makes the story very realistic, few authors can put in so much wonderous detail and still have such an awesome story.

:D :D

Originally Posted by Celeris

Useless detail! *trembles uncontrollably* My ears my poor ears...I mean...my eyes! Augghh! My eyes!

Sorry, the detail that Tolkien puts in, while it bogs you down a bit, makes the story very realistic, few authors can put in so much wonderous detail and still have such an awesome story.

:D :D

I totally agree. All the detail gives everything a wonderful backdrop to work on. I think half the reason Middle Earth is so amazing is because it has all this detailed history.

That said, I still have a hard time reading Silmarillion. XD

I tend to dis-agree. While yes there is a wonderful, just the useless details makes it impossible to read. At least for me, and several others I know.

Most of us could not even read it or get through it because the useless facts and details that was added in, that detrach and derailed from the story, that I gave up.

Originally Posted by AkashaHeartilly

I tend to dis-agree. While yes there is a wonderful, just the useless details makes it impossible to read. At least for me, and several others I know.

Most of us could not even read it or get through it because the useless facts and details that was added in, that detrach and derailed from the story, that I gave up.

To each his own. Or hers, as the case may be. :wink:

Well, judging from the fantasy written today, I'm guessing a lot of young readers just can't handle books that don't spoon-feed you the story. Personally, I don't mind books like that most of the time, but it's all those "useless details" in Tokien's work that made the books totally worth it for me. There are tons of little hidden themes and messages that you don't catch if you're not really paying attention.

I find it amusing that everyone bitches about the stuff in Tolkien, which I think is actually pretty necessary to build a believable and workable world, when no one ever complains about Victor Hugo's endless descriptions of Paris. Now that stuff CAN be cut out without ever messing with the meat and bones of the story.

It's interesting to see where people stop reading Tolkien, though. Most of the people I know stopped at Gandalf's speech in Rivendell. But some other people stop at Tom Bombadil. I haven't met someone who stopped somewhere else until now.

Nuriko-- agreed. :D

I stopped in the council scene in the first book.

And yes, I have heard people bitch about Victor Hugo.

And, I do not think hearing about the entire family history, just to tell the Hobbits no you will not help them adds to the stoery, in fact, i think it massively detracts from the story. Might be useful in another book, but to take entirely away from the main story, go on for several pages, with nothing that is revelant ayway shape or form to what is going on.

And, I do love older books. "Brave new World" by Aldous Huxely, is one of my absolute favorites and was written about the same time, and has no random story's or songs that detract massively from the story.

Even The Divine Comedia is straight forward, and I love Shakespeare, his fantasy works are not just handed and spoon feed to you.

While, i do not disagree there is a lovely story in the LoTR books, just that Tolkien needed an Editor, but was not given one, because obiviously because he's a professor, means he does not need one.

I like these books perhaps more so because of the fact that Tolkien meanders and puts so much time and effort into the small things. These books are for people who truly enjoy reading just for the sake of reading, who enjoy all the delights of the English language and can very easily get lost in it... sorry, but I'm an English minor, and Tolkien was an English professor. I get him.

I also understand the effort that goes into writing something of that magnitude, and every time I read The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion, I'm floored by the amount that he poured into it. I understand why some people might think it's a waste of effort, but you can tell that to Tolkien it wasn't. He was going to tell the story in its entirety, and that includes all the mundane and the seemingly 'useless.' Real life isn't edited, and he wanted to make it real, despite the fact that the world he created is quite far from real. Why do you think Peter Jackson felt so inspired by his work? Because Peter Jackson appreciated that without all of those extensive details, Tolkien's story would be just another fantasy series. He recognized that not only was the story unique, but also the storyteller.

But I realize that probably nothing I say here will change anyone's mind about Tolkien. After all, I'm not an expert; I'm just a fan, like some of the rest of you. People will make up their own minds. I just thought I'd set out my plate of food for thought.

There is something that all of you appear not to know. Tolkien had about four editors. People for whom he acted as editor for as well. He and a few of his college friends(At Oxford I believe?) founded a group called 'The Inksters.' I don't remember all the people in the group, but I do know that C.S. Lewis was one of those people. I believe Madeline Le'Engel(spelling?) was one as well. They critiqued each-others work, and offered encouragement when one got bogged down. The entire point of Tolkiens works was to create an entirely new world. The Lord of the Rings found its first beginnings in the trenches of WWII, and Tolkien decided to expand it into a beautiful land with troubles that matched what OUR world was going through. Hobbiton wasn't supposed to be a Utopia, it was inspired greatly by what had happened to Britain. Britain was bombed, and Hobbiton went though its sacking. Tolkien spent time in the trenches, so he wrote about the horrors of battle. He created a beautiful land, and showed it overcoming immense evils, the same way that people felt the World Wars had turned out. Tolkien understood one thing that I've tried to emulate in my own writing. To truely understand the characters, you MUST understand the world they live in. Tom Bombadil is no less important to the story than Galadriel because he shows you the heart of Middle Earth. Family history is recited to explain the depth of both the characters and the world they have come from. You can't even truely appreciate the scope of the war Aragorn fights until you understand where his family came from, and the history provided in the Silmarillon. Why would Sauron strike at Minis Tirith instead of changing direction slightly and eliminating Rohan? Or Erebor? Why not strike directly into Lothlorien? To know why Sauron took after Minis Tirith you need to know the history of Minis Tirith and in effect, the history of Gondor and Rohan. In the movie, the Two Towers, you see Hadriel die at Helms Deep, and it is a moment of intense sorrow and confusion for him. Why? That is explained in the tedious detail of the story. Where did the two towering sentinels of the river come from? How did Arwen call the river to her aid? All this, and far more, is explained in all the detail that so many people skim past, or in the Silmarillon, which most never read.

If you get bogged down in the details and give up, you will never truely come to love the world or characters the Tolkien created. Nor can you ever understand them. And the loss of such profound imagination is one of the saddest this this world must endure.

Was George McDonald part of the Inklings group?

Originally Posted by Blaidd_Tywyll

In the movie, the Two Towers, you see Hadriel die at Helms Deep, and it is a moment of intense sorrow and confusion for him. Why? That is explained in the tedious detail of the story. Where did the two towering sentinels of the river come from? How did Arwen call the river to her aid? All this, and far more, is explained in all the detail that so many people skim past, or in the Silmarillon, which most never read.

While your point is a good one, that the small details are what motivate the characters and make them come to life on the pages, I have to point out that the elves were never at Helm's Deep, as the people of Rohan were quite capable of taking care of themselves once Theoden got over his depression and reliance on Wormtongue. Arwen was not the one who called the river to aid Frodo in the book; in fact, Arwen was barely there in the main narrative. Sorry, I'm a bit of a purist and sort of twitch whenever I see confusion between the book and the films.

Don't even get me started on what they did to Faramir and Eowyn...>_<

Oh god, yeah. I was really upset over some Faramir choices. Though the actor was pretty attractive.

I wonder if that's what her meaning was. Read the book and find out... that it's not all really true. Hee hee.

Some of the calls they made were pretty bad, though a lot of them weren't bad at all. I got all nit-picky, though, and was whining about Gollum having eight teeth instead of six, and how the wargs looked like pig-dogs instead of giant wolves.

Ha ha!

Maybe so...confusing people who haven't read the book can be fun!

Some of the scenes, like Theoden talking to Eowyn at Dunharrow, were nice additions. I could have done without the majority of scenes in the extended "Return of the King," though, especially one particular scene with Eowyn and Merry completely OOC.

I can't deny David Wenham (Faramir) is attractive, though. Let's just say I enjoyed watching "300." XD He just has had terrible luck with scripts before he got that role...*coughVanHelsingcough*

On Tolkien and Lewis: I've been fascinated with the "crossovers" of LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia. So I'm re-reading Fellowship at the moment, and making mental notes. It's really interesting to see the flow of story ideas.

The thing with Theoden telling Eowyn, "I know your face" in the Golden Hall and then again after she killed the witch king... that makes me teary eyed every time I see it.

I liked that they included that scene in the extended Two Towers with the bit of Bombadil poetry in it. It was like a shout out to dear old Tom. XD

Wow! I didn't know he was in VanHelsing. That was a crappy movie. But some of the action stuff was fun. I like to have my mind numbed once in a while.

While I've read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series at least three times over, I've never even heard of The Silmarillion and feel I've missed out on something very important. The problem is though, I had always had my nose buried in a book, and read numerous books by the time I hit 20. At that point, my reading had dropped off immensely and I rarely picked up a book after that. Years later I started reading heavily again, but a whole other genre of books. Now I tend to read a bit here and there, but not nearly as much as I did as a girl.

I really should go back and read all these books again, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings series, and even pick up The Silmarillion and read it too. In addition I feel I should read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe again, The Scarlet Letter, Grapes of Wrath, A Wrinkle in Time, etc...all the old classics that I had read as a child, and add more to the mix, because I really had enjoyed them very much, and it would be nice to read them from an adult prospective now.

I agree with all that was and is said here in this forum.I can honestly say about myself that I am a huge Tolkien fan.My room is covered in maps of Middle Earth. :D

I liked the film as well,but I think that people who watch the film and not read the books are missing out on some important things.I had the luck of reading the books before the film came out so I could add the missing pieces to the story when my boyfriend and I watched it.In addition to that,I think that my bf didn't read a book in his life except the LOTR.I guess you could say that goes in the favor of the book...

As far as the unnecessary details are concerned,I think that not one word is unnecessary in the book.I'm a student of English btw,and the finesses Tolkien added to the language which he used in the book totally blew me away...Such richness of vocabulary is rarely found among other fantasy fiction writers...

I'll stop blabbering now or else I'll bore you to death... :D :D :D

I work in a library (on my way to library school) and have the fortune to pick up various books that I missed growing up. It's a lot of fun to try them now... I get a whole new perspective that I think might have been lost on me when I was younger.

No apologies necessary! We love Tolkien here! :D Well, most of us, right?

I am re-reading Fellowship, and I just took a trip to Canada. Unfortunately, the copy that I have is really old and taped together and kept shedding bits of paper on the plane and in various parts of Vancouver. XD

I've read THE HOBBIT, which was fantastic, but I haven't read any of the others.
After having to sit through a 3 hour movie made into a trilogy, each longer than the last, AND STILL having to hear nerds complain about all the stuff taken out, I decided not to even bother.

Originally Posted by j00lian

I've read THE HOBBIT, which was fantastic, but I haven't read any of the others.
After having to sit through a 3 hour movie made into a trilogy, each longer than the last, AND STILL having to hear nerds complain about all the stuff taken out, I decided not to even bother.

Oh my god, I'm such a nerd. But in this area, quite frankly, I'm proud of it. :D Everyone's a nerd somewhere.

I bought this giant poster of the map that I'm taking with my to grad school. For some reason, Middle Earth makes me feel like home.