All Things Lord of the Rings!

Farmer Giles of Ham.

The only interpretation that truly encapsulates Tolkien's vision of Arda:

My favorite LOTR moment would have to be when I went to the library and found the books had been released in paperback! Instead of lugging home a bunch of hardcover books, these beauties were smaller and lighter. I didn't read them, Mother only insisted that I get 6 books every month, never asked how they were or what they were about or anything.

SO, nothing more. Perhaps a few minutes here or there of viewing movies, that'd be it. Maybe if Lego had sold a set back in the 60s, it would have helped me get interested in them...


...yeah, probably not.

A good LOTR moment would be to find a paperback edition published by Ace.

It was illegal and they were recalled and pulped, but not all of them.

They're apparently worth quite a bit.

I prefer the extended cuts. Theatrical seems "rushed" a bit. The extended cuts seem better paced.

I also like the extended cuts of The Hobbit 3D.

I did once read on a website a criticism of the extended cuts, saying that the Battle of Helm's Deep was less climatic when angry trees finished off the bad guys (even though that is true to the book). It was more dramatic in the theatrical version when the humans and elves fended off the bad guys without any help from trees.

Also, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is more dramatic in the theatrical version because the movie doesn't have a scene that reveals that Aragorn will be showing up with the Dead Men of Dunharrow.

The website recommended going extended for the first movie, and theatrical for the last two movies.

I've considered trying to make my own private fanedits to cut out the two offending scenes, but haven't gotten around to attempting it yet.



I wouldn't say holding my breath exactly, but I do plan to see it at some point. I'll have to wait until I can rent the Blu-rays though. I'm not an Amazon Prime subscriber.

He doesn't, it's non canonical. If you read the book you find that the Dead Men of Dunharrow were used to attack the corsairs down river. Aragorn takes their ships and prisoners and they're the ones who enter the battle later on. By that time the dead men have gone back to Dunharrow.

We have Prime and I haven't used it to watch stuff, but probably would if there was an LOTR series on tap. No question the films did a lot to enhance the narrative. Tolkien never met an exciting or romantic scene that he couldn't grind to a screeching halt with page-long footnotes, meaningless side characters, or a bunch of songs with no tune

I watch stuff on Prime like the Marvelous Ms. Maisel (though I'm really behind season wise) but far far less frequent than watching stuff on Hulu or Netflix.

The format isn't as user friendly as the other streaming services. Everything is separated by seasons - webpage wise - not show wise. You have to actively look for next season as opposed to just clicking on a drop down menu or being recommended it after you finish an earlier season.

I think you're being unfair on Tolkein. So much SF fantasy is really dire, Tolkein spins a good yarn at least.

This book sticks out as being particularly bad. At one point the main characters are sparring to some godawful poetry with the repeated line "Swiftly goes the swordplay."

None of which would have bothered me were it not for the other characters constantly praising this shitawful doggerel.

Interesting. It's been awhile since I've read the book. I should try to set aside some time to reread it.

I thought you hadn't read the book. I last read it to the Kid as a bedtime story, (what a long ******* night that was,) but I still remembered it. It's one of the things I complained about after seeing the film.

I've read it twice actually. But both times were a very long time ago. My only real memory of the story at this point is what was portrayed in the movies.

I suppose that means it's time for me to read it again.

It must have been a very long time ago if you're relying on the film for accuracy.

Loads of stuff was missed out, no Tom Bombadil, or scouring of the Shire amongst other things.

The last time I read the book was right when they came out with the 50th anniversary corrected text. I bought a corrected copy of the text and read it right then.

That 50th anniversary copy is sitting on a shelf across the room from me right now, so I can reread it easily enough if I manage to find the time.

I remember a bit of Tom Bombadil. He had a wife too I think. For some reason the name Mary pops into my mind, but I think that's wrong because Merry was one of the Hobbits.

They wanted to leave the ring with Tom Bombadil, but Gandolf said that he'd eventually forget to protect it.

One of those angry trees grabbed one of the hobbits and Tom Bombadil soothed it into releasing him.

It seems like just before or just after Tom Bombadil they got some weapons from some sort of tomb with some creepy undead creatures. I don't think they acquired Sting there. If I remember correctly, Bilbo brought Sting back from his adventure in the Hobbit. But it seems like they got some sort of weapons.

Goldberry is the name of Bombadil's wife. He does release them from the trees then the next day, rescues them from the creatures in the barrow.

Sting was Bilbo's, it was part of the troll's hoard right at the beginning of the Hobbit.

Bored of the Rings is pretty crap, and a very thin volume, but even it managed to include Bombadil, (Tim Benzedrino.)

Whole thing is here... Weird, but whatever floats your boats dudes...

I remember at the time it was very popular.

There's lots of barrows in East Anglia in particular but they are about the countryside, a remnant of Anglo Saxons. I'm sure Tolkien had first hand experience of them.

Probably the most famous is at Sutton Hoo.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo