Talking Tolkien

[Sidewinder]

D'ya know Sidewinder, I can read a book in a night normally, well, not War and Peace, but Silmarillion, bloody hell, took me ages to get through that. Did you find it hard to read? I have all the others but I lost Silmarillion somewhere and you just reminded me that I will have to get another copy. C.F. is going to kill me, going off thread like this.

I'm probably a bit weird but I actually enjoyed it far more, and would definitely re-read it far more, than Lord Of The Rings which is a bit meh really. Love Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series too where he goes through his da's notebooks and traces the development of the legends from the first early jottings, you see familiar places and people in the roughest of early forms, changed, rejected as the author seeks the perfect form for the story, plot strands that would later turn out to be crucial major stories being born in scribbled side notes in the margins....fascinating stuff.

Morgoth's Ring is particularly fascinating when, in his fading years, we see Tolkien wrestling with trying to recast the legends of the Silmarillion into a universe where the world has always been round, and always had the Sun and Moon - a work he never completed. And the hugely expanded ideas about the nature of Morgoth and his rebellion, and unpublished essays about Elvish society, biology and reincarnation, the real differences between Elves and Men, and so much more.

But yeah I'm strange like that and we are wildly off-topic

[Buddha]

I'm probably a bit weird but I actually enjoyed it far more, and would definitely re-read it far more, than Lord Of The Rings which is a bit meh really. Love Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series too where he goes through his da's notebooks and traces the development of the legends from the first early jottings, you see familiar places and people in the roughest of early forms, changed, rejected as the author seeks the perfect form for the story, plot strands that would later turn out to be crucial major stories being born in scribbled side notes in the margins....fascinating stuff.

Morgoth's Ring is particularly fascinating when, in his fading years, we see Tolkien wrestling with trying to recast the legends of the Silmarillion into a universe where the world has always been round, and always had the Sun and Moon - a work he never completed. And the hugely expanded ideas about the nature of Morgoth and his rebellion, and unpublished essays about Elvish society, biology and reincarnation, the real differences between Elves and Men, and so much more.

But yeah I'm strange like that and we are wildly off-topic

I always thought Tolkien was an alien, his imagination was so utterly, well, alien. I believe he fought tooth and nail with his Editor over changes made to make The Hobbitt and Lord of the Rings easier to read. And when Elv was changed into Elf he went berserk and refused publication unless it was changed back. Now that is one man I would have loved to have met.

[C. Flower]

And so the Tolkien thread was born.

[morticia]

Oh, they were brilliant books, and the last set of movies weren't half bad either.

Anyone see Tolkien's letters to Santa? My father got me those as a child. Classic

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Never saw those letters to Santa and didn't know about them at all even though I was rooted to The Lord of The Rings and recall reading the Silmarillion. Might have a look at that for the young nephew should he ever decide to stop in one place long enough for a book.

Went up to Oxford with a mate of mine one summer a few years ago and we stopped off at the Eagle and Child where the Inkspots used to get their refreshments from the dry work of writing books (JRR Tolkien, GK Chesterton and CS Lewis).

Gorgeous old pub but they had wrecked it inside by expanding some kind of conservatory jobbie out the back and it was a bit of a clip joint to be honest which was sad to see. I think the Inkspots decamped across the road to a quieter corner when the Eagle started to attract the curious.

Good day out and made up for with much beer at the Oxford Union which hasn't changed at all since teddy bears were dragged regularly through I'd say. The buddy is a graduate so we were kosher to fill up there.

Curious to think that three such well-known writers could be chatting over ale and wouldn't you love to have been a fly on the wall?

I suppose the Palace Bar could claim the same with AJ Leventhal, Beckett and Joyce lurking around Dub at various times and no strangers to a decent establishment.

[Buddha]

To think of creating your book's hero out of a halfling, (as Hobbits were known in the outside world to those who don't know because they were so small) with big hairy feet, who comes from a race of long living totally peaceful nature loving people who live in holes in the earth! I mean, who else would think of such? And for that hero to be adored by so many millions, to this day. Frodo. Ah, guess what I'll be reading tonight, for the nth. time.

[Andrew49]

The histories of wars are so often written from the perspective of the victors, and such is the case with Tolkien’s classic The Lord of the Rings. However, back in 1999 in Russia, a paleontologist by the name of Kirill Eskov set about addressing the balance, taking up his pen in the name of orcs and goblins everywhere. Yeskov’s novel The Last Ringbearer is set during and after the end of the War of the Ring and is told from the perspective of those who lost. Evidently it was very well received in Russia, but for fear of litigation has not made it beyond a few scant translated passages and various versions in other European languages.

However, a full English translation was published last year online and is available for free download - for non commercial distribution.

LiveJournal LINK

Links to odt abd mobi versions are available too from the above link.