(no subject)
Ok. Fean keeps posting things that make me all teary-eyed, and so now I feel it is my turn as well.
My own thoughts on the trilogy journey we’ve been on, after reading Fean’s entry a little ways back:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/morielfeanorwen/130802.html?#cutid1
I, too, am a baby to Tolkien’s world. A long time ago I had tried to read the Hobbit. But it was ‘high’ fantasy (despite it's status as a children's novel), and I simply wasn’t ready - the names and situations were confusing. So I put it aside.
It took me seeing Fellowship on the screen before I really ‘got’ the whole concept. But from the first viewing of the movie, I was hooked. I went home mesmerized by the vision and scope of this world. The following day I took myself to the library to find a copy of FOTR. And devoured it. Back to get a copy of TTT. And then, having reached the end of Two Towers one evening, was literally furious with myself for not having taken out ROTK as well so I could keep reading. I felt possessed, as if by the Ring. I finished the trilogy in a week and a half, as I could not put it down - read it on the way to work in the morning, at lunchtime, on the bus home after work, while making dinner, then after dinner until bedtime.
And since that point I have fallen in love with this timeless story that contains such depths it holds surprises for me each time I read it.
I don’t know exactly when I found TOR.n, but it had to have been close to two years ago. I stumbled across the site, and somehow found my way to the chat room. There, I found wonderful, funny people who I would chat with most evenings. A host of people who shared love for this literary and historical masterpiece. Some people I care about deeply, though most of us have not made acquaintance in person.
I think that is the most important part - that so many of us have been brought together in friendship, united by this story, who might otherwise not have met. Very few writers are capable of writing a story that captures (and holds) the imaginations of so many people all over the world, for so many years.
I have made some wonderful friendships, both near and far, and I treasure that immensely. I’ve travelled to LA (for the Oscar Party), and to Seattle (for the Howard Shore concert) and been warmly welcomed by everyone I have met. A smial across the water from me in Victoria welcomed me into the fold. A ‘meetup’ group that began here blossomed from a handful of people into a large group, kind and warm people all. I think that is the defining characteristic of Ringers, that by and large they are open and friendly and welcoming - and that is also a testimony to the Professor’s writing, that the people who are drawn to his works are of this nature.
I have my friends to thank for the joy and laughter they bring to me; both my friends I’ve known for a long time, as well as my newer friends from the world of ‘Middle Earth’. I have grown a lot since I first saw the movie/read the books, and in some ways my worldview has shifted to reflect how LOTR has affected me.
The last three years have brought a lot of things into my life: some experiences that were quite painful, but others have been incredibly positive. The arc of the story has become very real to me, not just read and imagined and seen onscreen. I have experienced Sam’s difficult journey next to someone I care about who carried a burden as heavy as Frodo’s; have had hope like Arwen; have made mistakes and repented my actions, like Boromir; strove to have inner strength like Eowyn; have been goofy and frivolous but ultimately true-hearted like Merry and Pippin; have had support from others who came to be my Aragorn, my Legolas, my Gimli. When I look to these characters, these archetypes, I see people that I should aspire to be more like. That the world would be a better place if friendship, love and loyalty ruled the day, and teaching by example is the only way to achieve this.
Though the movies will now be over, the experiences will not.
Thank you to Peter, and Fran, and Philippa, for bringing the words on the page into beautiful, colourful life. For loving the books as much as the other fans around the world do, and wanting to do it justice.
Thank you to the actors, the technical crew, the artists, for imbuing the characters and the world they walked in with life and passion.
And last, but definitely not least, thank you to Professor Tolkien, for being inspired in the beginning to write ‘In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit…’
My own thoughts on the trilogy journey we’ve been on, after reading Fean’s entry a little ways back:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/morielfeanorwen/130802.html?#cutid1
I, too, am a baby to Tolkien’s world. A long time ago I had tried to read the Hobbit. But it was ‘high’ fantasy (despite it's status as a children's novel), and I simply wasn’t ready - the names and situations were confusing. So I put it aside.
It took me seeing Fellowship on the screen before I really ‘got’ the whole concept. But from the first viewing of the movie, I was hooked. I went home mesmerized by the vision and scope of this world. The following day I took myself to the library to find a copy of FOTR. And devoured it. Back to get a copy of TTT. And then, having reached the end of Two Towers one evening, was literally furious with myself for not having taken out ROTK as well so I could keep reading. I felt possessed, as if by the Ring. I finished the trilogy in a week and a half, as I could not put it down - read it on the way to work in the morning, at lunchtime, on the bus home after work, while making dinner, then after dinner until bedtime.
And since that point I have fallen in love with this timeless story that contains such depths it holds surprises for me each time I read it.
I don’t know exactly when I found TOR.n, but it had to have been close to two years ago. I stumbled across the site, and somehow found my way to the chat room. There, I found wonderful, funny people who I would chat with most evenings. A host of people who shared love for this literary and historical masterpiece. Some people I care about deeply, though most of us have not made acquaintance in person.
I think that is the most important part - that so many of us have been brought together in friendship, united by this story, who might otherwise not have met. Very few writers are capable of writing a story that captures (and holds) the imaginations of so many people all over the world, for so many years.
I have made some wonderful friendships, both near and far, and I treasure that immensely. I’ve travelled to LA (for the Oscar Party), and to Seattle (for the Howard Shore concert) and been warmly welcomed by everyone I have met. A smial across the water from me in Victoria welcomed me into the fold. A ‘meetup’ group that began here blossomed from a handful of people into a large group, kind and warm people all. I think that is the defining characteristic of Ringers, that by and large they are open and friendly and welcoming - and that is also a testimony to the Professor’s writing, that the people who are drawn to his works are of this nature.
I have my friends to thank for the joy and laughter they bring to me; both my friends I’ve known for a long time, as well as my newer friends from the world of ‘Middle Earth’. I have grown a lot since I first saw the movie/read the books, and in some ways my worldview has shifted to reflect how LOTR has affected me.
The last three years have brought a lot of things into my life: some experiences that were quite painful, but others have been incredibly positive. The arc of the story has become very real to me, not just read and imagined and seen onscreen. I have experienced Sam’s difficult journey next to someone I care about who carried a burden as heavy as Frodo’s; have had hope like Arwen; have made mistakes and repented my actions, like Boromir; strove to have inner strength like Eowyn; have been goofy and frivolous but ultimately true-hearted like Merry and Pippin; have had support from others who came to be my Aragorn, my Legolas, my Gimli. When I look to these characters, these archetypes, I see people that I should aspire to be more like. That the world would be a better place if friendship, love and loyalty ruled the day, and teaching by example is the only way to achieve this.
Though the movies will now be over, the experiences will not.
Thank you to Peter, and Fran, and Philippa, for bringing the words on the page into beautiful, colourful life. For loving the books as much as the other fans around the world do, and wanting to do it justice.
Thank you to the actors, the technical crew, the artists, for imbuing the characters and the world they walked in with life and passion.
And last, but definitely not least, thank you to Professor Tolkien, for being inspired in the beginning to write ‘In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit…’