Tom Bombadil

a reply to: Akragon

The Silmarillion... thats a hard book to read, unless you've read the KJB.. lol

Well, then should get my daughter to read it with me. She is doing Romeo and Juliet right now in class (such an overrated play, imo). It would be good for her to sharpen her skills with texts that are "old fashioned", as she would say. I read a bit of it, years ago, so starting over would be necessary.
I am glad that the topic is appreciated

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

I guess that means the vacation (in your head) isn't over yet! Time to escape into Middle Earth!

a reply to: Gothmog

Absolutely. Him being a Vet had to play a HUGE role in his stories. I was explaining that to my kids a while back (we were reading Watership Down, and I was telling them about how Adams based many of his characters on persons he served with. If you have not read that one, I highly recommend it. C.S. Lewis also used his wartime experience in his books, though he wasn't as realistic as Tolkien, imo.

a reply to: Zcustosmorum
Wow, 12 volumes... that is SO awesome! I got Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-Earth for Christmas one year. I flipped through that book SO many times! The artwork is breathtaking and I was so glad that the movie makers recruited 2 of the artists for help with the film. Alan Lee and John Howe (I believe, it's been a while).

Mother Earth, Father Time - Goldberry and Tom.

a reply to: Akragon
Slight Spoiler alert for Stranger Things




I was rewatching Stranger Things with a friend who has no knowledge of LotR and I had forgotten that one of the kids uses the name 'Radagast"... and that they call the road that Will disappeared on "Murkwood"- I laughed so much and my friend gave me a very quizzical look. And I saw little use in trying to explain it. Would have had to pause the show for too long and then I would be more interested in LotR than ST.

a reply to: Akragon


The Silmarillion

throws so many names and ideas at you even from the first few pages, your head will be spinning

This is where the internet is REALLY handy, you can find flow charts to help make sense of who is who, who they are related to, ans so on.... I assume, I haven't looked for them yet, but when I read I will.

originally posted by: ThatDamnDuckAgain
a reply to: Gothmog

I read the books and was really let down, when I saw the movie skipping around one hundred pages in a snap of a finger here and there.

I was personally pleased with the movies in that trilogy. I think Jackson did a great job. Of course, they had to skip tons of stuff. Replacing Glorfindel with Arwen saving the hobbits atthe ford was something that stuck out (mainly because a poster at theonering.net was so excited to see Glorfindel. I always feel bad for him (the poster) when I watch that part) because he was so looking forward to that scene. The scene was actually done well. Nerd alert- my sister and I memorized the Elvish lines that Arwen speaks in that scene, and we used to annoy the hell out of people saying it! And we weren't little kids either.... we were in high school, lol!

I actually didn't decide to read LotR until I heard the movies were being made. I knew I needed to read them first. It so happened that I finished book one, and into book 2 enough that I covered the movie. I remember well, finishing a school exam (half day, because it was the end of the semester) and used the rest of the time to read. We then left school to watch the premier.

I was visiting theonering.net on a daily basis, checking on the progress and rumors about the film. It was great. I saw it in theater 8 times.

originally posted by: chelsdh
a reply to: Zcustosmorum
Wow, 12 volumes... that is SO awesome! I got Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-Earth for Christmas one year. I flipped through that book SO many times! The artwork is breathtaking and I was so glad that the movie makers recruited 2 of the artists for help with the film. Alan Lee and John Howe (I believe, it's been a while).

Effectively, it's his son sharing unfinished poems and works on the entire Middle Earth history, with his thoughts on the ideas behind them, I'm still trying to work through the first 4, the second one describes the The Fall of Gondolin which was the basis for The Silmarillion.

a reply to: UKTruth

I like that! Though, I think Tolkien calls Tom "Father Earth" and isn't Goldberry the/a River Spirit?

a reply to: Zcustosmorum

It seems his son honored his work well.

My sister ruined the ending for me.... SPOILER ALERT for anyone (that hasn't read LotR) that may have wandered in here and read this far ....



I wasn't reading them fast enough for her liking, and so she said "Gollum bites Frodo's finger off and falls into the chasm of Mt. Doom."

I don't even think I had finished the first book when she did that! She got her karma though, when a friend savagely ruined a tragic death in the Harry Potter series
However, it made the painting in my Paintings of Middle Earth book of that scene make a lot more sense!

a reply to: pthena

I hear you, thanks for the clarification.
But it also seems he might well be a figurative loci too? I mean,(maybe I am daft) but I took it as a figurative description.
On the literal side, there are plenty of people who aren't concerned with issues that don't affect them. But would he have intervened if it infringed onto his territory?

a reply to: chelsdh

But would he have intervened if it infringed onto his territory?

On the other thread, which this spun off from, I made the statement that if the whole army and Sauron himself got to the edge of his territory they would find some reason to go around.

Then, later upon sleeping on it, night mare scenarios and wicked stratagems assailed and disturbed my sleep.

I will not speak of those.

Let us rejoice that Gollum got the Precious of Doom in Doom.

a reply to: pthena

Into the West is such a beautiful song. The story behind it's development makes it even more heart wrenching.

a reply to: chelsdh

I didn't know that about the song.
It does have that feel to it though.
You can sense it.

Thank you. I wouldn't have thought to look it up.

a reply to: chelsdh
Oh the movies in itself were good, I agree with it.

I just remember, when I saw them, I was disappointed because like the poster you wrote about, I was hoping to have some scenes in my head to compare with what the movie maker would do.

You know when you read a book, you imagine your own world and I was interested in a few parts that did not make it to the movies, to compare it with my own fantasy. Along with a nother book I read ("The Jesus Video", a digital camera is found in an old cave and it is from Sony but 2000 years old (time travel), showing alleged Jesus and some things that are different from the Vatican's view), that was way different from the book, like a complete different story.

I read that book four years before the movie was made and even hoped they make a movie out of it, because of the potential. I was thrilled. Then it was such a bad movie (for me) that prejudice about other movies that are based on books are never like the book, was already there.

Then LOR was kind of the same for me. Harry Potter, too. I devoured those books one after another, right after each one came out. I remember one book I got delivered and I was a teenager still. My foster parents ordered it so it would arrive at midnight, seconds before the day of the release date. I got called down from my room that there is post package for me. I heard about the midnight delivery but did not have the means to order it. My plan was to take the bus after school and see if I can get a copy in my favorite books store. I had it finished in the morning before school lol. Then each movie was a let down.

Later I understood just like with LOR, there can't be everything in a movie because it is two different media types.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

The movies NEVER satisfy. I no longer get excited about theatrical adaptations. We create the worlds we read about in our heads- and a movie will never, ever touch what the mind can do. The only book I ever felt it was right to watch the movie first was Fear and Loathing in LasVegas, simply because I don't have much (barely any) personal experience with hallucinogens. The movie was great to give some idea of what the user is experiencing. I did read the book a few years after I watched the movie and I thought "Whoa, that book would have been a different experience without seeing the movie first". I always tell my kids "read the book first". But, alas, they won't hear me out.

Though, I think LotR is the best film adaptation of a book that I have seen.
Interview with the Vampire was really good too. The sequel, Queen of the Damned was an abomination.
Eragon- oh man. My sister and I had to walk out of the theater because we were laughing so much and didn't want to ruin it for the other movie goers.
And then the recent Dark Tower- that was so, so, so bad. So bad that i wish I could wipe it from memory.

That is awesome that your foster parents did that for you! I remember going to the first midnight release for The Goblet of Fire at Barnes and Noble. Every book after that, we were in line for the book at midnight.

a reply to: chelsdh

The Peter Jackson movies, while an admirable attempt, it annoys me and I'm sure a lot of the die-hard Tolkien fans that they did not follow the books, as standalones, they're entertaining enough.

It should be added though, in my opinion, great study was made by Jackson, of the excellent audio book versions by Rob Inglis. These are a must listen and I dare you to disagree with me that Peter Jackson didn't take some inspirations (or direct influence) from them.

a reply to: chelsdh
When I first saw Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I was fascinated by the narrative, unnerved by the hotel scenes (white rabbit and the drugged girl). The end was always a warning for me, when I noticed that he is still having these jerks and weird movements.

Yes, as much as I disliked the missing parts back then, I can not remember or confidently name any other book/movie adaption that is better than LOR.

They did the exact opposite with that flat book "The Hobbit" (In my language it is named a bit different and would translate to "The Little Hobbit"), turning it into a trilogy, though. I really liked the idea of Bilbo exploring the world coming from a folk that is so contained in their own ideas. It had a bigger influence on me than LOR or any other book except maybe a quinque-logy from a German author called Ralf Isau, but on different levels.

I got that midnight delivery, because I could not get my hands on a copy two times in a row (sold out) and had to lend the previous book from a classmate. They told me, they noticed and remembered to pre-order