official scribe of the Frogmorton Footpath and Elfwatching Society
Interests:
Reading everyone else's profiles.
First Lord of the Rings reading experience:
Age eleven. My older sister read it first, then my mom. I heard them talking about it and I was fascinated by the idea of the Black Riders. I already knew how the quest was resolved from what I'd overheard, which was okay as I'm not sure I could have withstood the suspense of waiting through all three books to find out.
Favorite Tolkien character:
Frodo, then Sam. I'm not sure why other than the obvious reasons--as the author told most of the first book through Frodo's eyes, I got to know him first and got rather attached. At age 11 I was a bit of an oddball and I longed to get out of 6th grade(and couldn't believe it would ever happen, though it did as scheduled), and so I related to Frodo's longing to get out of the Shire, his occasional wish for a dragon to come along and wake up his fellow hobbits, and the fact that most of them thought he was a bit of an oddball. Then Sam, because of his sense of wonder and longing to see the elves, his love of lore and penchant for memorizing old songs despite the lack of respect that must have had among his peers; his perceptiveness about people, his protectiveness of Frodo and his rising to take the lead towards the end of the journey. It didn't hurt that Tolkien showed things most through Sam's eyes as the stories advanced. I also really love Gandalf for his keen appreciation of hobbits, and Finrod for his courage and his compassion for the men he came across as they were first arriving in the elven lands of Middle-earth, and the way he woke them with his song as they were sleeping.