Tolkien haunts my life...

OMG, I'd just gotten used to the Swedish translations, and then I discover the original versions.
I've realized that the English original is even better, and now I'm friggin' obsessed.
I wake up at 4:00 AM and read like a maniac until 11:00 AM, and then I go to bed at 8:00 PM and read forever until midnight.
I started with The Silmarillion almost two weeks ago, and I've already finished the chapter "The Council of Elrond".
I never get tired of the books; I start with The Silmarillion, followed by The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and keep reading them over and over and over.
It's totally orgasmic! :D
Tolkien is the best author ever!

Good for you. No need to stop there though.

There are the 12 volumes of the History Middle Earth by Tolkien as well. Scroll down a bit, you'll see all the titles of the volumes.

I just watched the movies.

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Originally Posted by Magus of Zeal

I just watched the movies.

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They're good; too bad they left out Tom Bombadil, though. :(
But I guess he wasn't an important character, so I don't blame Peter Jackson. :eek::cool:

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Originally Posted by Vincent, Thunder God

Good for you. No need to stop there though.

There are the 12 volumes of the History Middle Earth by Tolkien as well. Scroll down a bit, you'll see all the titles of the volumes.

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*glee* I have Volume 9 (I am dumb) of that; Sauron Defeated, 'tis called, and it's actually really interesting. SAM GAMGEE'S CHILDREN. :love:

I <3 Tolkien.

People have a hard time getting through The Silmarillion because it reads more like a history textbook (although a beautifully written one) than a standard narrative. But I honestly think that The Silmarillion is the best of Tolkien's work. And he thought so too. Getting The Silmarillion published was his life's goal, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were side projects meant to tempt the publishers to give the go ahead for The Silmarillion.

Anyway, I love Tolkien. I think he was a rather brilliant man. He had a wonderful way with words.

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Originally Posted by Miriel

I <3 Tolkien.

People have a hard time getting through The Silmarillion because it reads more like a history textbook (although a beautifully written one) than a standard narrative. But I honestly think that The Silmarillion is the best of Tolkien's work. And he thought so too. Getting The Silmarillion published was his life's goal, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were side projects meant to tempt the publishers to give the go ahead for The Silmarillion.

Anyway, I love Tolkien. I think he was a rather brilliant man. He had a wonderful way with words.

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They published it post-humously, right? Does that mean he didn't actually get to finish it up properly, and that Chris' Tolkien had to? o_O Because that's a little sad, as far as things go.

I can just imagine Aragorn bouncing on his toes and speaking in a bouncy accent.

That's what happened, Resha. Someone stole my copy of The Silmarillion :(

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Originally Posted by Resha

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Originally Posted by Miriel

I <3 Tolkien.

People have a hard time getting through The Silmarillion because it reads more like a history textbook (although a beautifully written one) than a standard narrative. But I honestly think that The Silmarillion is the best of Tolkien's work. And he thought so too. Getting The Silmarillion published was his life's goal, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were side projects meant to tempt the publishers to give the go ahead for The Silmarillion.

Anyway, I love Tolkien. I think he was a rather brilliant man. He had a wonderful way with words.

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They published it post-humously, right? Does that mean he didn't actually get to finish it up properly, and that Chris' Tolkien had to? o_O Because that's a little sad, as far as things go.

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What Christopher Tolkien did was gather up his father's writings, organize them, fill in some gaps and sent them off to be published. The work itself was Tolkien's. How it was put together was Christopher's but he went to great lengths to try and ensure that The Silmarillion was published in a way that was faithful to what his father would have wanted. The Silmarillion was never considered "finished" because all the way up to the ending years of Tolkien's life, he continued to work on the mythology of it all. And that kind of stuff can never really be finished.

I've read the Silmarillion and seen the movies so many times I can't count it. The Silmarillion was wonderfull and I couldn't stop reading it. Your right it is addicting. I've learned some of the laungagess as well, and know most of the runes.

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Originally Posted by Yavanna

I've read the Silmarillion and seen the movies so many times I can't count it. The Silmarillion was wonderfull and I couldn't stop reading it. Your right it is addicting. I've learned some of the laungagess as well, and know most of the runes.

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Hehe, that's the "Silmarillion Effect". :)
I even ventured to try creating own languages; I've deviced symbols for usual words:

"I" = a bow
"you" (sing.) = a bow turned upside down
"we" = two parallel bows
"you" (pl.) = two parallel bows turned upside down
"me" = a bow with a dot in the centre
"you" = a bow turned upside down with a dot in the centre
"my" = a bow with a line drawn right above it
"your" = a bow turned upside down with a line drawn right below it


...and so on.
Better stop now.

It's very addicting. :D

Lol I never had much luck with making my own. Used to try when I was younger.

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Originally Posted by Yavanna

Lol I never had much luck with making my own. Used to try when I was younger.

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It's very important not to stray too much with the linguistic rules.
Just look at Fëanor's Tengwar letters, they almost look the same, hence they give a feeling of structure. :eek::cool:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/tengwar/tab2.png

Are there no vowels in Tengwar? XD

I've read The Hobbit, the trilogy, and the Silmarillion. I enjoyed them all, although the Sil. was kind of like reading the Bible. Very talented guy, Tolkien.
I haven't been able to finish anything lately though, the last thing I read was Dick's "A Scanner Darkly." I have quite a few that sit patiently waiting for me...

I wish Jackson would have shown (SPOILER)some of what happened when the hobbits got back to the Shire: getting rid of Saurumon's (sp?) goons, and also about Pippin and Merry growing taller after their stay at Treebeard's

I am currently reading Lord Of the Rings. I have read that and the Hobbit once a year since I graduated High School in 1985. He had such a talent for bringing the world alive. It was like you were really there.

He is ok, but Terry Pratchett is my literature god!

heheh discworld is great.....

i found tolkein or tolkien a bit dry for my tastes. sure it's good to have the whole world and its history mapped completely, and while i'm interested in that sort of thing, there's a bit TOO much depth for me. he was a genius who created and defined a genre. yay him.

LIEK OMG EYE HAVENT RED ANNI OF TEH BUKS TEH EL OH EL!

The Silmarillion feels somewhat disappointing now, after having read the histories of ME's creation. Christopher Tolkien left out alot of his father's work, and in one example, Dagor Dagorath. I'm a huge nerd about this, as I've read the Silmarillion fifteen times in the last year. That's not a good thing.

Tolkien == win.

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Originally Posted by Tavrobel

I've read the Silmarillion fifteen times in the last year. That's not a good thing..

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lol, you sound a lot like me: I read the Swedish translation forever at first, and then I permanently changed to the English version.
I've read both versions about ten times now, I know the whole book from the top of my head, ffs. XD

I like how he made the world so real in the Hobbit. It was the little things that brought his world alive, like the stone giants throwing boulders during that storm.
Or when Bilbo's most heroic thing is life wasn't any of his deeds but just merely forcing himself to look around a corner to see Smaug for the first time.

I loved The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but I've yet to track down his other works. :( It's on my (fairly long) to-do list.