Yes, This Will Be On the Test

Writing, Reading, Laughing

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Obsession Confession - Middle Earth Alert

I admit it. I have an incurable obsession with any and all that is J.R.R. Tolkien’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Above all else this work inspired me to put pen to paper as a writer. It gave me permission to build fantastical worlds, set forth on adventures, and create swoonworthy heroes (Aragorn, not Frodo).

Confessions of a LORD OF THE RINGS addict:
  • I immerse myself in the story every year by either reading the trilogy, listening to the audiobooks (appendices included – you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the full story of Aragorn and Arwen), or watching the extended versions of all three films.
  • I read the entire trilogy aloud to my children. (My Gimli ROCKS)
  • I own a cardboard standee of Aragorn (Thank you Peter Jackson for casting Viggo Mortensen.)
  • I still have nightmares about the Nazgul (Sauron I can deal with, but those nine riders FREAK ME OUT.)
  • I play the LORD OF THE RINGS slot machines (I’m up to the Shards of Narsil bonus.)
  • I attended Trilogy Tuesday, December 16, 2003, and watched all three movies back to back in the theatre the day RETURN OF THE KING debuted (That’s a lot of popcorn. I’m on the left in the pic.)



All kidding aside, I revere this story. It continues to set a literary bar that I will never achieve, but always strive for.

Tolkien permeates my teaching as well.

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost” – is a fabulous writing prompt.

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend…” – this works as a Patriot POV on the Revolutionary War.

Are you a Tolkien devotee? What piece of literature continues to glitter the gold of inspiration to your writing?


Middle Earth Fans: Check out Peter Jackson’s Video blog for THE HOBBIT

14 comments:

  1. I always enjoy watching Lord of the Rings (mainly because of the swoonworthy heroes...). :)

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  2. What? You're telling me Frodo didn't make you swoon? OMG!!!!

    I watched the first one while breastfeeding baby # 2 (we didn't have cable at the time). I decided if we had another baby boy (not that we were going to have more babies), I wanted to name him Viggo.

    My husband wasn't so keen on the plan (Hmmm, you think me drooling over the actor had something to do with that?). Fortunately for him, #3 was a girl. ;)

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  3. @Lee - You mean watching it again, and again, and again... Boromir, Faramir, and Eomer aren't hard on the eyes either. May I suggest a standee.

    @Stina - LOL. Vigga didn't fly?

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  4. I am a Tolkien fan for life. I read his books for the first time at ten years old with a dictionary by my side. I looked up every word I didn't know - a painstaking process for a kid - because I knew there was magic in those pages. :D

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  5. Hey, I've seen that standee! Hellloooooo Viggo :D

    You'll want to hit me over the head with a club, because I have not read these books NOR seen the movies *ducks tomatoes*. BUT, I appreciate the world he created.

    I'm a huge sucker, HUGE, for Price and Prejudice. Whenever I watch it (again) my sons say, "Isn't that the same movie you've seen a hundred times?" Um, yes, a bit Darcy crazed.

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  6. Oh YEAH! Agreed. And we must teach Julie the ways of the hobbits.

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  7. LOVE Tolkien!!!! Not enough to read the Trilogy aloud to my youngest quite yet...but then again, if I start now with a few pages a week, maybe I'll finish by the time she graduates from high school :) I love the quotes you included. LOTR is a timeless piece of literature!

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  8. I am an equally devoted Harry Potter fan. I am obsessed with HP - the films in particular. Every time a new film comes out, I pull out all my DVDS and have a "Harry Potter Fest" and watch all the movies back to back prior to seeing the new one. I bought Deathly Hallows the day it released last week. I am so excited for the final installment I can hardly stand it!

    I have a friend who is a Twilight-addict. She's read the books umpteenth times, got a license plate (the plate, not the frame) that says Twylyt, sells a line of denim jackets with Twilight pics on the back, and sits in line on opening night for hours and hours and hours - something I refuse to do even for dear old Harry.

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  9. @ Tina -Didn't the orc scare the beejeepers out of you at 10? I first read them at 12, and I swore their were orcs and Uru Kai under my bed and in my closet.

    @ Julie - Lisa and I will develop a detailed plan to get you acquainted with Middle Earth. As Lisa suggests, we will start with Hobbits.

    @Jess - Tolkien gets into your blood stream doesn't it?

    @Laurie - LOL. I have to admit, I'm on GOBLET OF FIRE in my "watch all the Harry Potters again before I watch DEALTHY HALLOWS. They are such BABIES in the first one. Hmmm? LOTR denim jacket. I love it.

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  10. @ Tina - I meant THERE were orcs and Uru Kai under my bed. See I was so frightened, I used the wrong their/there/they're.

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  11. Count me in! When I first discovered Lord of the Rings at age 14, I re-read it immediately, and then journal about it for nearly a year. I studied all the elvin words - yes those appendices are amazing! I don't re-read it every year now, but definitely ever two or three years. And I so wish I had dressed up as Eowyn at the Two Towers opening. I kick myself for chickening out on that!

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  12. Hmm, Margo, we may have to go to Comic Con together one year and dress up. I LOVE Eowyn. Talk about gumption.

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  13. Oh I loved the movies! But I must admit... I didn't read the books. Maybe I'll sit with your kids and you read aloud to all of us tonight? ;D

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  14. @ Monica - You HAVE TO read the books. Okay,maybe not aloud. I read them to the kids before the first movie came out. My voice is still recovering.

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