Lord of the Rings Discussion Thread

[Matt]

I did a search, and I did not find a thread on this, much to my surprise. Anyway, I'm the biggset LOTR fanboy there is and would love to discuss it with other likeminded individuals. We can discuss the new movies, books, and other relevant stuff. Lately I've been reading up on Morgoth, didn't realize that he was the most powerful of the Ainur and that Eru himself had to engage him directly in battle to defeat him.

Go.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

This thread is going to be a giant jerk-off thread, and it's going to be great.

I read The Children of Hurin over the past summer. It's probably Tolkien's most poetical work. It's a brilliant fantasy-take on a Greek tragedy.

 

[The Ozzman]

I have:

The Hobbit
The LOTR trilogy in one volume

I have yet to read either since I have two other huge ass books I'm reading right now

 

[Kara-Shehr]

Haven't read the books in awhile. The Silmarillion has some of Tolkien's most eloquent writing in it. I remember reading it when I was like 8 or something and barely understood any of it but still loved it. To this day it's probably my favorite Tolkien book. Children of Hurin is fucking awesome too. Never got into Lost Tales though.

 

[muzmaze]

Have all the movies except the latest (Desolation of Smaug) and have watched them all multiple times. Wasnt thrilled with Hobbits first installment, thought it seemed too animated (on screen atleast). But of course its just one piece of a big puzzle, which of course is overall amazing. Anyone seen Desolation...any reviews? Heard it was amazing.

 

[Eligos]

I need to get the 2nd disc of The Two Towers: The Extended Edition so that my family can once again assume the tradition of spending dusk to dawn watching the trilogy.

 

[Matt]

Have all the movies except the latest (Desolation of Smaug) and have watched them all multiple times. Wasnt thrilled with Hobbits first installment, thought it seemed too animated (on screen atleast). But of course its just one piece of a big puzzle, which of course is overall amazing. Anyone seen Desolation...any reviews? Heard it was amazing.

Really hated the first one and desolation wasn't much better. Over animated yes, and they're trying to stretch one book that isn't very long too thin. Very easily could've been one or two movies, and they would've been much better that way.

I love Children of Hurin, I believe that its Tolkien's best work even though his son finished much of it. The Silmarillion is very dry to me and hard to read. Same with the Lost Tales even though they're both good reading from time to time.

I wish Tolkien would've written something that focuses on the wizards more. If that exists please let me know. I'd love to know more about their back stories.

 

[Kara-Shehr]

I wish Tolkien would've written something that focuses on the wizards more. If that exists please let me know. I'd love to know more about their back stories.

There's a lot of stuff about them scattered throughout the books mostly in the Silmarillion. They helped fight Morgoth in the first war of the ring. Gandalf is really thousands of years old. But you probably already knew that though. The Silmarillion is more of a bible for Eä not a fable like LOTR. Theres so much detail put into that book it's truly amazing. Which is one of the reasons I like it so much.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

I love LoTR
Wish I was more of a reader. pisses me off actually.

 

[Matt]

There's a lot of stuff about them scattered throughout the books mostly in the Silmarillion. They helped fight Morgoth in the first war of the ring. Gandalf is really thousands of years old. But you probably already knew that though. The Silmarillion is more of a bible for Eä not a fable like LOTR. Theres so much detail put into that book it's truly amazing. Which is one of the reasons I like it so much.

While you are technically correct that the Valar ultimately destroyed Morgoth after he had dominated all of Middle Earth, the Istari came to Middle Earth at the start of the third age, which was after Sauron was defeated for the first time. While Maiar were known to enter Middle Earth from time to time, there were none in the form of a wizard until TA 1000. All of the Istari are basically ageless as they were created by Eru before he created Middle Earth.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Yeah, Gandalf (know as Olórin in Valinor) *shameless band plug here* is mentioned a few times in the very first section of The Silmarillion called The Music of the Ainur. The wizards are of the Maiar, which are, essentially, lesser gods than the typical Valar gods like Ulmo, Manwe, Tulkas, etc. Sauron was of the Maiar as well, for what it is worth.

 

[Matt]

Right. But I was saying the wizards did not confront Morgoth directly as they came thousands of years later.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Well the Ishtar in their wizard forms never confronted Morgoth ever unless I am mistaken. Why would they? They are far inferior compared to him. Olórin was certainly around during Morgoth's reign.

 

[Matt]

Kara-Shehr stated that they helped fight Morgoth and I was refuting that. Olórin, Curunír/Curumo, Aiwendil, as well as the blue wizards Alatar and Pollando were all born around the same time, before Arda was created. Curunír was apparently the first to enter Middle Earth but I have read that the blue wizards were sent to the east during the second age to stir up rebellions against Sauron, and subsequently sent back again in the 3rd age.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Yeah, all that sounds true to me. The wizards are too cool.

 

[Summerian]

They should have just taken the big birds from the get-go and droped the ring in the vulcano from the air high above.
THE END

(And don't start up with the birds having an attitude problem or something.)

 

[Dak]

I have the Trilogy, the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion and have read all of them but it's been years. I want to get the Extended edition blue ray set of LoTR. No interest in the Hobbit trilogy. The book wasn't that good and turning it into a Trilogy is just stupid.

 

[damnromulans]

I have almost no attention span and feel that I should read the Silmarillion in the same way I read the Trilogy and The Hobbit, which was "ignoring the world until done reading." It's difficult to find the time to do that as an adult with a bunch of relationships, especially for a complex work and terrible short-term memory. I intend to take the time during warmer months to park myself outside in nature, completely alone, with no distractions, and complete it.

Benedict Cumbersmaug gave me chills, but he was the only saving grace to "The Desolation of Smaug" besides my usual enjoyment of Elven civilization.

The best scene out of all the movies was obviously this one:

 

[Dak]

He left out kids, like duh.

 

[Einherjar86]

Sorry kids, but Smaug doesn't beat Wutteät from R.S. Bakker's The White-Luck Warrior. That dragon is fucking awesome. Only fantasy series I really enjoy anymore.

Alright, I'll try to keep away from now on.