# Meeting other fans?



## Confusticated (Aug 4, 2012)

I was on a bus today and I overheard the guy behind me talking about The Silmarillion. He was discussing something with the guy next to him, who he had just met, and he brought up the quote where Iluvatar tells Melkor that everything he does is contributing to his plan. I didn't hear what they were talking about originally, because it only caught my attention when he said "ever read any Tolkien?" The other man obviously had not read it, so they didn't discuss it any further. 

The guy said something to me later, and I mentioned that I overheard him talking about The Silmarillion. We had a quick chat about that and HoME 10. He sounded very intelligent and educated and so I was kind of intimidated to keep the conversation going for too long.


First time anything like this ever happened.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Aug 5, 2012)

cool story bro :*D

But yeah that's really cool, when I was on vacation in Washington D.C., I saw someone reading LOTR on their iPad and they saw me staring so we discussed it a little bit as well. I didn't feel intimidated or anything, though we didn't delve too deep so I don't know how knowledgeable they really were...


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## Confusticated (Aug 6, 2012)

Sarcastic response to my story, then go on to tell your own, as if it has any more merit. If anything, mine was at least more novel in that LoTR readers are a dime a dozen, unlike those who are learned in the First Age and HoME books. Yeah, _cool story bro_ indeed.


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## Prince of Cats (Aug 6, 2012)

FWIW, I don't think Erestor was trying to be demeaning or dismissive. It's possible to say "that's nice" or "good for you" without being sarcastic! Personally, I haven't had many encounters with Tolkien fans. There was a girl back in high school (pre-movies) who snapped at me for pronouncing the Silmarillion wrong (though she refused to say how she thought it should be said) when I told her I was reading it after seeing her LOTR book and I think that was my only Tolkien encounter until more recently. A couple months ago I was at the house of a client of mine and while working in his basement I saw old hardcovers of The Silmarillion and The Book of Lost Tales. We talked Tolkien for maybe a half-hour, and I was tickled to hear his distaste for the movies


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## Erestor Arcamen (Aug 7, 2012)

In all seriousness, I didn't mean for my response to be taken as sarcastic or demeaning or anything. And I certainly wasn't trying to compare stories with you, I was just responding with the single experience that I've had before, so if you took it wrong, which it seems you did, I apologize.


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## Elostirion (Aug 24, 2012)

Confusticated said:


> Sarcastic response to my story, then go on to tell your own, as if it has any more merit. If anything, mine was at least more novel in that LoTR readers are a dime a dozen, unlike those who are learned in the First Age and HoME books. Yeah, _cool story bro_ indeed.



Steady on!!!

I've never had the opportunity to speak at length (impromptu or otherwise) to anyone about Tolkien. I've tended to encounter indifference or antagonism. I'd love to chat in person on the subject but I'm content to engage with people on this forum.


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## Aulë (Aug 27, 2012)

Confusticated said:


> I was on a bus today and I overheard the guy behind me talking about The Silmarillion. He was discussing something with the guy next to him, who he had just met, and he brought up the quote where Iluvatar tells Melkor that everything he does is contributing to his plan. I didn't hear what they were talking about originally, because it only caught my attention when he said "ever read any Tolkien?" The other man obviously had not read it, so they didn't discuss it any further.
> 
> The guy said something to me later, and I mentioned that I overheard him talking about The Silmarillion. We had a quick chat about that and HoME 10. He sounded very intelligent and educated and so I was kind of intimidated to keep the conversation going for too long.
> 
> ...


_You_ felt intimidated by another Tolkien scholar? Now that I feel was undeserved. Although I could imagine how one could get a bit of "Tolkien-rust" if they hadn't picked up the ol' tomes any time recently. That Melkor/Iluvatar quote reminded me of an ancient debate way back in the Tournament days. For the life of me I have no idea how my (or anybody else's) line of argument went, nor how I would do it right now. Perhaps a timely reminder for me to do a little bit of light reading? ;*)


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## Sulimo (Nov 10, 2012)

Wow I guess I was just very forceful when I was younger. I have talked in person the subject of Tolkien, with several people throughout my life. When I was in grade school I probably drove people nuts. After I read it I thought it was the coolest story ever. I gave presentations on Gandalf as my freshman year oral presentation, did a book report on the Silmarillion sophomore year, and wrote a research paper on the diminishing power of the noldar from the first to third age senior year. To say the least I was obsessed. I talked to anyone who would listen, but my friend accross the street was the only one who had read the books. My girlfriend, now wife, signed my yearbook promising she would read The Silmarillion. She became an English major, and continued on to her doctorate. By that time I had read a lot more, and really cooled off on the Tolkien subject, but a number of people in her department had read the books, and I have since had some interesting conversations on Tolkien. 


Sorry to ramble on so much... This conversation just took me back. To this day if I find a window I will climb through it, but I am a lot older now, and much less pushy then I was a decade ago. One last note. The other day I was talking to my best friend who back in the day I talked about Tolkien's work with more then anyone else. He is a die hard Stephen King fan, but he has never read beyond the Two Towers. He told me that he can see how much Tolkien has influenced King through the Dark Tower series, and he wanted to return to Tolkien. He then asked me in detail for over two hours about the Vala, Istari, and the complete history of Sauron. It was awesome!!!


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## Phuc Do (Feb 13, 2017)

I have never had the pleasure of meeting another Tolkien fan in real life. That is why i stalked this board. It seems to me I am a couple of years too late


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## Starbrow (Feb 15, 2017)

Hang in there. You never know where you'll find a Tolkien fan. A repairman was at my house and saw my shelf of Tolkien books. That sparked an interesting discussion, since he was also a fan.


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## CirdanLinweilin (Aug 6, 2017)

Funnily enough, Tolkien fans I know the best are my own cousins and uncle.

We go to Renaissance Fairs every year, my cousin always goes as a Ithilien ranger.

It's awesome to have Tolkien fans in ones own family.

Other than that, I haven't met another Tolkien family outside of my family, one day though.

CL


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## basti255 (Aug 9, 2017)

Sadly, I don't know any other Tolkien fans . Good thing that there are so many web communities .


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## Sir Gawain d'Orchany (Jan 9, 2018)

Because of Tolkien, when I was in 3rd Grade I was reading at a 7th Grade level. I was reading complex things like King Arthur and Edgar Allen Poe as well as Tolkien's middle Earth and non-middle earth stories.


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