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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jul 1 2015, 11:48pm
Post #1 of 30
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How were you introduced to Middle-earth?
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In what way did you first step into the world of Hobbits, Elves, Orcs, and Men of Numenor?
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Brethil
Half-elven
Jul 2 2015, 12:15am
Post #2 of 30
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Other for me: Dungeons and Dragons gaming, with a Middle-earth emphasis.
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That led me to read LOTR, then the Sil,and then TH. And then to everything else.
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Kim
Valinor
Jul 2 2015, 4:32am
Post #3 of 30
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but it was pretty close to when I saw the Rankin/Bass movie, so I can't swear which came first. I think I was about 7. 
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Starling
Half-elven
Jul 2 2015, 5:33am
Post #4 of 30
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By a bad teacher in a royal blue polyester suit sprinkled with dandruff
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Forced to sit through the heinous Bakshi film at the movies as a 3rd form school trip, then forced to move and sit by the teacher (who had terrible BO) because I was more interested in talking to the cool army boys in my class.
Scarred by this experience, I avoided anything to do with Lord of the Rings until I went to see Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Rings 20 years later (only as a patriotic duty). I was hooked immediately, but only on the films.
It took me 7 tries to read The Hobbit, and in the end I just skimmed it. I have never read all of LOTR, but I have read bits of it, but only as a book/movie comparison really. Just not my cup of tea.
Not a real fan. I just like hanging around here to provide a bit of balance for all those nerdy Tolkien bookish types. 
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zarabia
Tol Eressea
Jul 2 2015, 6:38am
Post #5 of 30
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I read LOTR after seeing the trailer for PJ's Fellowship
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My sister had told me all about LOTR and TH books when I was a kid, but her description left me cold. I knew about Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Gollum and the precioussss, but they weren't bionic, nor did they solve mysteries with Bess and George, so I didn't care.  
It wasn't until I saw the trailer for Fellowship *cough* Viggo Mortenson*cough*  that I sat up and took notice. I bought FotR but couldn't get past Concerning Hobbits and put it aside. But fortunately, I tried again, this time going straight to The Long Expected Party. I fell in love immediately! Yeah, there were a few places where I bogged down a bit and skimmed, but I kept going and that love deepened.
The films added another dimension to my admiration for Tolkien and his books; The Silmarillion added yet more. I never got as into TH, book or movies, but knowing the back story to LOTR makes it all more enjoyable.
Umm, what was the question again? Sorry for burbling on.
(This post was edited by zarabia on Jul 2 2015, 6:43am)
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Jul 2 2015, 8:14am
Post #7 of 30
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LotR is really quite a good read.
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But I do recommend for those not yet hooked, to skip from The Shadow of the Past to The Inn of the Prancing Pony in Book One. That's a lot of material that was omitted from the movies, for (in my rather heretical opinion) good reason. The last half of Book 6 (in Return of the King) was also omitted from the movies -- probably wisely, from a cinematic POV, but are great reading and a nuanced perspective on the postwar Hobbits.
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CathrineB
Rohan
Jul 2 2015, 11:14am
Post #8 of 30
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PJ's Fellowship of the Ring, then Tolkien's books incl. the Hobbit then Two Toowers and Return of the King
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Elanor of Rohan
Lorien
Jul 2 2015, 1:48pm
Post #9 of 30
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My visual and reading experiences were at the same time. I read the book, knowing that the film was about to come out.
Therefore all the characters had the actors' looks from the word go.
Forever grateful to PJ
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Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor
Jul 2 2015, 8:43pm
Post #11 of 30
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I'm positive I read the books first
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Although I seem to remember that cartoon version of "Lord of the Rings." It didn't do much for me, and I never saw the sequel. However, when I saw PJ's FoTR, I didn't remember half the characters - I remembered the hobbits, Gandalf and Gollum, but not Aragorn, Legolas or Gimli. Yes to Boromir, but no to Saruman. Weird. It's almost like I read half of the books, I even remembered the ship taking Frodo to the Grey Havens (and crying about it), but not Galadriel. Probably for the best, because I didn't remember Tom Bombadil either and therefore didn't miss him in the movies.
Now, as far as what actually captivated me and took me into Middle Earth? That would be Peter Jackson's "Fellowship" movie - that was the start of it all. I've been driving my family CRAZY ever since!
This is where it REALLY began!
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Bracegirdle
Valinor
Jul 3 2015, 2:00am
Post #12 of 30
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The Lord of the Rings was recommended by a friend.
Weeks later I went to the local bookstore but had forgotten the name of the book. (True!)
A clerk asked if she could help. I told her I was looking for a fantasy trilogy but had forgotten the name. She immediately responded, “Oh, you want The Lord of the Rings” and showed me where the books were. She also recommended that I buy The Hobbit as it was a necessary introduction.
I have ever since been OCD on Tolkien.
This was 47 years ago, before every Tom, Bert and William wrote trilogies, tetralogies, pentalogies, etc. etc.
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Bracegirdle
Valinor
Jul 3 2015, 2:54am
Post #13 of 30
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Your subject line grabbed my attention
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LotR is really quite a good read. Yes, I agree.
But I cherish every single chapter and delicious word and hope others would also.
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Annael
Immortal
Jul 3 2015, 5:16am
Post #14 of 30
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by my 9th grade English teacher
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who ran a summer camp as well; I went to the camp when I was 15. The lodge had a fabulous little library in a room on one side, with a couple of easy chairs and a view of the bay; it was here that he handed me a battered paperback copy of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and said "I think you'll like this." I think I stayed up three nights running and went straight through the three books of LOTR. Then I read them all over again from the beginning. And then I read them a third time, all within two weeks.
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Jul 3 2015, 5:39am
Post #15 of 30
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But I've known too many people who got lost in the Old Forest and never made it to Bree.
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BlackFox
Half-elven
Jul 3 2015, 8:47am
Post #16 of 30
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My very first encounter with Tolkien was a failed attempt at reading The Hobbit when I was eight or nine, but it was PJ's FOTR that marked my official introduction to Middle-earth. I saw it on TV around 2004 and while I did enjoy it, it did not spark further interest in me. Nor did its sequels. It was AUJ that finally lead me to the books, which were what got me hooked: The Hobbit captured my heart and LOTR sealed the deal.
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Bracegirdle
Valinor
Jul 3 2015, 12:35pm
Post #17 of 30
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Oh, I see where you’re coming from
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As the enigmatic Tom Bombadil could be skipped and not interrupt the flow of the tale.
Of course anyone that reads as far as Book VI is certainly going on to the end whether PJ did or not.
Cheers from Across the Water
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Eruvandi
Tol Eressea
Jul 3 2015, 3:36pm
Post #18 of 30
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The LEGO LOTR video game. Well...sort of.
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I *think* I might have tried to read FOTR for a book report in early middle school, but found it so confusing that I put it down when I got to Tom Bombadil and totally forgot for years that I had read it at all until I picked it up again after I had become a fan and got a heavy sense of deja vu.
That's why I consider the LEGO LOTR video game to be my first real introduction to Middle-Earth because that was the first time I understood the story enough to remember it, much less know that the world was actually called Middle-Earth. Then I watched the movies (AUJ was already out, but I watched LOTR first). At that point, I was basically hooked. Then I decided to read the books and figured it would be best to start with the earliest one, so I started with The Hobbit and that was when I truly fell head-over-heels in love with Tolkien. I watched AUJ, joined the TORn fandom, and then started working on reading LOTR, in that order, I believe. The rest is history.
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Riven Delve
Tol Eressea
Jul 4 2015, 6:29pm
Post #22 of 30
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and wasn't that crazy about it...had to be persuaded to try LOTR afterwards. Thank goodness I did! 
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Jul 4 2015, 9:51pm
Post #23 of 30
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The "Riddle Game" chapter of The Hobbit was excerpted in our Fourth Grade Reader. This would have been in 1969, but I cannot recall if the chapter was the original version or the revision that Tolkien made to bring the book more in-line with LotR.
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DainPig
Gondor
Jul 4 2015, 9:54pm
Post #24 of 30
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I watched Return of the King in 2007
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Annael
Immortal
Jul 5 2015, 2:53pm
Post #25 of 30
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I did NOT want to leave Middle-earth!
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I was so in love with it, and just about everyone living in it. And you know how passionately one loves at 15.
Never stopped.
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That's *exactly* how I first read LOTR too. //
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