Lord of the Rings

[Darth_Rob]

Is anyone here into the Lord of the Rings? Not just the movies, but Tolkiens actual novels? I just think they are so awesome. I must have read the trilogy like 10 times. My mother used to read The Hobbit to me when I was like 5.

[Evaders99]

Sure the books are very good. I've not read them that recently, maybe I'll go back after watching all the movies again

 

Never did get into the other books, though I'm going to try The Similirion and see if I can get through it.

[Skynxnex]

I liked the books and the movies...but unlike many others who are Tolkien Fiends...I dont think they are the best thing ever written. Tolkien in many of his books include stupid songs and weird plot devices. Tom Bombadil anyone? That said though, I still find it hard to an extent to classify his stuff as fantasy. The reason why is, apart from in Hobbit...there are no other Dragons. And very very very rarely does Gandalf use anymagic. In the movie for instance when going into Moria..he just puts a crystal on his staff. It would have been cooler if he could just make his staff get bright or something.

 

Anyway, overall the movies were good adaptations on the books. There were some things that Jackson did which I wasnt too thrilled about but they were minor nitpicks.

[dinochick]

I have read the LOTR books and the Hobbit. I really liked them and plan to read them again sometime.

[Jahled]

I, sadly, must confess to have a book shelf with virtually everything Tolkein wrote; all the histories included.

 

The Silmarillian; as the tale of the War of the Jewels, is a work of absolute genius (read it Evaders you must! ) and explains much that is set in action in the Lord of the Rings; the origins of the rings of power not least; and how Sauron tricked the Noldor into their wonderous creation, and why Gandalf is in Middle Earth in the first place.

[kaja]

I'm a minor fan of both the Books and the Movies.

[Skynxnex]

I, sadly, must confess to have a book shelf with virtually everything Tolkein wrote; all the histories included.

 

The Silmarillian; as the tale of the War of the Jewels, is a work of absolute genius (read it Evaders you must! ) and explains much that is set in action in the Lord of the Rings; the origins of the rings of power not least; and how Sauron tricked the Noldor into their wonderous creation, and why Gandalf is in Middle Earth in the first place.

 

 

I have read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series almost 10 times if not more.

 

Dont get me wrong, his universe is pretty cool but I guess I like the D&D setting better which seems to have more magical stuff going on. At least in my opinion.

[Jahled]

I'm a minor fan of both the Books and the Movies.

 

Become a major fan then dude! You're at the age when I had read the LotR and the Hobbit to exhaustion, and needed to move on to his grander vision. Fortunately for me it was when his son, Christopher, was releasing the histories giving a glimpse of his vision, which was and is nothing short of incredible. He didn't just write perhaps the best book ever written, but created at least four detailed languages in the process.... Quenya, Sindarin, Khuzdul, and Adunaic. (GL gave us a few grunts of Sandpeople and the odd squeek of Jawa)

 

His ultimate vision is of Eru's creation (Eru being God) being marred by a renegade servant; the Vala Melkor, and everything that transpires; downto the corruption of the Noldor and the subsequent creation of the Rings of Power, of which are little Hobbits set out to save the day.

 

I read the LotR first and loved it. I read the Silmarillian and then re-read the LotR, and subsequently appreciated it a hundred times more, seeing how it was the result of events back to the song of creation. Brilliant.

[Trejiuvanat]

I agree with Jahled, the Silmarillion is a master piece, I have read it multiple times, and I always get new stuff out of it...

[Mad78]

I have always wanted to get my hands on a copy of the Silmarillion

[Darth_Rob]

The Silmarrilion was definetly a great work. It's almost like a "bible", so to speak.So much going on, so many characters thrown around. But it's such an important work. I was pleased with the movies. Of course, being a fan of the books before the movie, I had some qualms with Jackson. But I think that I had less to criticize Jackson about than I did with Lucas.

[DarthTex]

The Silmarrilion was very good, but "histories" do get to be a tad "dry" when compared to a "novel's" storyline. The Hobbit and the Trilogy are great, the movies spectacular (I would have been interested to see how Jackson would have presented Tom Bombadil though. Tolkien must've had a little brain fart there. Although it was quite interesting that the Ring had NO POWER over him). I heard the Hobbit is going to film in the future, and it would be neat if, if ... there ... could ... be ... PREQUELS!! Films about the First/Second Ages, and the Númenoreans! Now they were some kick-@#% dudes. They beat Sauron to end the Second Age!

[Jahled]

The Silmarrilion was very good, but "histories" do get to be a tad "dry" when compared to a "novel's" storyline. The Hobbit and the Trilogy are great, the movies spectacular (I would have been interested to see how Jackson would have presented Tom Bombadil though. Tolkien must've had a little brain fart there. Although it was quite interesting that the Ring had NO POWER over him). I heard the Hobbit is going to film in the future, and it would be neat if, if ... there ... could ... be ... PREQUELS!! Films about the First/Second Ages, and the Númenoreans! Now they were some kick-@#% dudes. They beat Sauron to end the Second Age!

 

Behold all of master Tolkein's scribbling in the broader sense dude! The histories are demonstrations of how utterly thought out the ultimate books were, how much thought and creativety he put into it. All Christopher (his son) has done is release all the paperwork behind his dad's works, and allow us a glimpse at the shear complexity of it all in a grand-scope.

 

Sadly, the Numenoreans conquered the world in their day, but were corrupted by Sauron whome they captured, who in turn engineered their destruction.

[Jahled]

The Silmarrilion was definetly a great work. It's almost like a "bible", so to speak.So much going on, so many characters thrown around. But it's such an important work. I was pleased with the movies. Of course, being a fan of the books before the movie, I had some qualms with Jackson. But I think that I had less to criticize Jackson about than I did with Lucas.

 

Your avatar is corrupting the forums. Sort it out.

[DarthTex]

 

Jahled wrote:

 

Behold all of master Tolkein's scribbling in the broader sense dude! The histories are demonstrations of how utterly thought out the ultimate books were, how much thought and creativety he put into it. All Christopher (his son) has done is release all the paperwork behind his dad's works, and allow us a glimpse at the shear complexity of it all in a grand-scope.

 

No offense, the history is definitely amazing. Tolkien spent years on this and I don't mean to trivialize this with just one sentence. With such a great foundation, it seems there should be the potential for a plethora of stories/novels. SW has (now) six movies and look at all of the novels/books to enrich it (somewhere there was a thread regarding "trekifying"), but Middle Earth is far from that.

[Guest Admiral_Antilles]

I find the history Tolkien wrote about LoTR to be absolutely fascinating and rich in material. The world and characters he created were pure genius! I mean, that is why Gandalf was so cool, he didn't have to use magic to let you know he would kick your ass.

 

And the story was so real, maybe not literally, but the character's personalities, feelings, and the way they dealt with their prolems was very real. It was the ultimate Good verus Evil story, put into a fantasy world.

[Darth_Rob]

I definetly agree. It is such a strong story, where Tolkien allows you to really connect with his characters and their world. I also agree with your description of Gandalf. For a wizard, he less magic than would be expected. His demeanor was strong enough to get his point across to allies as well as to hinder foes.

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

It's strange, alot of people have only read the books the movies were based on, and maybe The Hobbit, yet even with so little experience in his work it is still evident how rich and colourful the history of Middle Earth is.

 

If you really want to experience it, however, there are somewhere near 20 other books, composed of work that was either written by Tolkein himself, or by his son based on stories his father told him as a child. Then you have the Un Finished Tails and The Silmarillion (sp on both?). the latter of which is a very tough read, but shows how every detail, from the formation of the land itself to the lineage of its people, were thought out. It is truly story telling on the grandest scale.

[Mad78]

The Hobbit has always been one of my favorite books. uch fun to read.

[Trejiuvanat]

Then you have the Un Finished Tails and The Silmarillion (sp on both?). the latter of which is a very tough read, but shows how every detail, from the formation of the land itself to the lineage of its people, were thought out. It is truly story telling on the grandest scale.

 

Aye, both Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion are both great reads. The Silmarillion is a tough read because it's like a Bible, it deals with lots of names and lineages and events spread out over thousands of years, but it is a very rich book, the unfinished tales could be considered the 'missing chapters' of the Silmarillion as they deal mostly with the events of that book.

 

Prob is that you can notice that both are 'unfinished' actually these two and the other many books dealing with Middle Earth are compilations made by JRR's son based upon the lots of textes his father left behind when he passed away.

 

I think that's why most people prefer The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, as they are really finished, there's no holes or unifinished chapters around and the story is far smaller than the one told in the other books.

[Skynxnex]

Well Tolkien did spend a lot of time developing his universe. He even created the languages used and so on. Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed reading the Hobbit and the Lord of the Ring series.

 

In terms of movies that are based on books, the LOTR movies are the best done no doubt.