# What is your fave J.R.R. Tolkien book?



## ArwenStar (Sep 16, 2019)

Just wondering what everyone’s favourite j.r.r.t book is?


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## Fëanor_7 (Sep 16, 2019)

My personal favorite is the Silmarillion, even if it probably shouldn't be. The Lord of the Rings is a better story no doubt (in the sense that it has more developed characters, and a more coherent narrative), but the world that the Silmarillion creates and all of the mythology that it details is, I think, Tolkien's work at it's finest.


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## ArwenStar (Sep 16, 2019)

“Some books should be tasted,some devoured but only few should be chewed and digested thouroughly”

― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart


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## Olorgando (Sep 17, 2019)

The Lord of The Rings, hand down. I've read it at least 15 times (three times, including the first 1983 reading, in the (older) German translation).
And in the mid-1980s, when I had finally gotten my (by now rather tattered) English paperbacks, I once spent from about 6 AM Saturday morning to 1 AM Sunday morning reading basically non-stop.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 17, 2019)

Same here; it's no exaggeration to say LOTR changed my life, and I'very been reading and studying it for decades.

BTW, ArwenStar, that saying is a bit older than Cornelia Funke -- she was quoting Francis Bacon.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 17, 2019)

LOTR and the Silmarillion are great but I really like Unfinished Tales because of the extra stories about the Istari.


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## Elthir (Sep 17, 2019)

Mmm. Bacon.

What was the question again?


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 17, 2019)




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## Elthir (Sep 17, 2019)

For me picking a favorite is difficult, as it depends upon what kind of Tolkien I want "today", so to speak.

Like bacon cupcakes or bacon Brussels sprouts, I can't resist either. I might have one today, another tomorrow. 

Or both. Now


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 17, 2019)

mmmm bacon. A local bacon-themed restaurant has a bacon martini (bacon vodka, butterscotch schnapps, and apple juice) and it does not disappoint 🤤


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 17, 2019)

Be prepared.


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## Olorgando (Sep 17, 2019)

How did we get on this OT track??? Oh right, S-eS mentioned some guy named Francis B. - seems he died almost 400 years ago. He had nothing to do with cuisine, though.

So anyway, the city of Bamberg in Upper Franconia (not far north of where I live, where I will be spending coming weekend for a reunion), has a brewery named "Schlenkerla" which brews a specialty beer called "Rauchbier", or smoke(d) beer. Seems that until some time in the 19th century, many beers fell into this category, in regions that for climatic conditions could not let the malt for beer dry in the sun, and had to resort to open wood fires to get the job done, whose smoke gave these beers a special taste. This traditional method is only still used by two breweries in Bamberg, though smoked beer generally had had a minor renaissance due to the craft beer movement.

I once - only once - had either a bottle or a glass of this "Schlenkerla Rauchbier" decades ago, and the smoky taste - to my memory specifically a taste of smoked *ham* - definitely stayed out of range of my sympathies. Not quite bacon, but (outside of wild and wooly craft breweries in the Anglophone world that will try *anything*) the closest one can come to bacon beer in Germany. As one of the operative words in the heading of the thread is "favorite" - this beer ain't!

I like my bacon (usually only to be had on vacations) with eggs and toast, eggs either scrambled or fried. And that's the only combination I like bacon with. Otherwise, g'way!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 17, 2019)

Olorgando said:


> He had nothing to do with cuisine, though.


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## Starbrow (Sep 17, 2019)

Lord of the Rings is my favorite book. 

And now I have to cook some bacon.


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## ArwenStar (Sep 18, 2019)

🥓


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## Olorgando (Sep 18, 2019)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Olorgando said:
> He had nothing to do with cuisine, though.
> 
> View attachment 6031
> ...


Ah, no, can't fool me with something that is so obviously photoshopped (or other "forgery" tools)!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 18, 2019)

Oh yeah?! Well, since you don't eat bacon (or Bacon) -- try a bowl of this!



(Just kidding! )

(Or am I?  )


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## Olorgando (Sep 18, 2019)

I was quite fond of the Rice Crispies for a while (but then I'll have rice with almost anything, might be a predilection I acquired by living in south Asia the first ten years of my life).

Oh, I just remembered that I *occasionally* like to snack of bacon-flavored chips, for which the producer has taken some pains to make them resemble bacon superficially.
But definitely not addiction territory. So again it fails the test of one of the operative words of the thread, "favorite".


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## Elthir (Sep 18, 2019)

I don't want to say it. 

I have to say it.

_Farmer Giles of Honey Glazed Ham_


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## Olorgando (Sep 18, 2019)

Or that line of seven bacon-hills in the eastern range of the White mountains, running through the province of Anórien from Minas Tirith to the Firienwood on the borders of Roham. 🤪 Which come into play in my favorite book (and in the film, PJ has Pippin light the first bacon).


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 18, 2019)

May I just express my deep regret at bringing up Sir Francis in the first place?



Sorry, ArwenStar!


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## Olorgando (Sep 18, 2019)

Some of us are at an age where our attention span has shortened, and we get distracted easily, especially by (talk of) food. We call such behavior "Off Topic" or "tangents". I'm sure our teachers way back when (as yours now) had very different terms for it, when it happened in school.

_(Did I just describe us turning into Hobbits?!?) _


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## Elthir (Sep 18, 2019)

> Or that line of seven bacon-hills in the eastern range of the White mountains, running through the province of Anórien from Minas Tirith to the Firienwood on the borders of Roham




Ah yes. Good memory Gando!

And I could be wrong, but I think at least one of the bacon hills bordered the province of Piglador, just north of Hogmorton.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 18, 2019)

I thought Hogmorton was in the Shire.-- wasn't it near Baconwater?


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## Elthir (Sep 18, 2019)

Good point SeS.

I'll check with Hamfast Hamgee, just to be sure.


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## Olorgando (Sep 18, 2019)

That was Sam's father, who lived in Hogshot Row right next to Hog End in Hoggiton?

Ans are you quite sure you're not mixing up (one of) the bacon hills with that tower between Bree and Rivendell (Hamladris), Amon Sow?


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## Elthir (Sep 18, 2019)

> That was Sam's father, who lived in Hogshot Row right next to Hog End in Hoggiton?



I'm not sure. But here's his photo.


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## ArwenStar (Sep 18, 2019)

🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 20, 2019)




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## Alcuin (Sep 20, 2019)

My personal favorite is _Fellowship of the Ring_, which was such a stunning story after the delightful but comparatively tame _Hobbit_ that I devoured the entire trilogy as quickly as I could as a newly-minted teenager.

But if we’re discussing pork and bacon…


> Frito awoke with a start. It was dusk now, and a sick feeling in his stomach made him scan the Path from between the branches with terror. Through the leaves he saw a dark, shadowy bulk in the distance. It moved slowly and carefully along the rise of the Path, looking like a tall, black rider on some huge and bloated beast. Outlined against the setting sun, Frito held his breath as the ominous figure’s red eyes searched the land. Once, Frito thought, the fiery coals had looked right through him, but they blinked myopically and passed on. The ponderous mount, which appeared to Frito’s startled eyes to be an immense, grossly overfed pig the size of a house, snuffled and snorted in the wet earth to root out some scent of them. The others awoke and froze with terror. As they watched, the evil hunter goaded his mount, emitted one great and sour fart, and passed on. He had not seen them.
> 
> The boggies waited until the distant grunting of the beast had long quieted before anyone spoke. Frito turned to his companions, who were well hidden in their foodsacks, and whispered, “It’s all right. It’s gone.”
> 
> Doubtfully, Spam emerged. “Bless me if that didn’t fright me plumb outo’ me codpiece,” laughed Spam weakly. ...


– _Bored of the Rings_, “Three’s Company, Four’s A Bore”, by Beard & Kenney, _Harvard Lampoon_​


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## ArwenStar (Sep 21, 2019)




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## thattolkienlady (Sep 21, 2019)

Galin said:


> For me picking a favorite is difficult, as it depends upon what kind of Tolkien I want "today", so to speak.
> 
> Same.. maybe I want First Age and the Elves, Third Age and the Fellowship (and Théoden, one of my special favorites!), beginning of the end of Númenor..they're ALL my favorite! 🤗



Same.. maybe I want First Age and the Elves, Third Age and the Fellowship (and Théoden, one of my special favorites!), beginning of the end of Númenor..they're ALL my favorite! 🤗



Galin said:


> For me picking a favorite is difficult, as it depends upon what kind of Tolkien I want "today", so to speak.


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## ArwenStar (Sep 21, 2019)

thattolkienlady said:


> Same.. maybe I want First Age and the Elves, Third Age and the Fellowship (and Théoden, one of my special favorites!), beginning of the end of Númenor..they're ALL my favorite! 🤗


True....


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## tspnyc (Sep 26, 2019)

I like the story of _The Silmarillion_, but it reads dryly, like an actual history book a lot of the time.

So, I am going with _The Children of Húrin_. I like that it reads as if it is an actual ancient saga that has been translated from a dead language.


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## Olorgando (Sep 26, 2019)

tspnyc said:


> So, I am going with _The Children of Húrin_. I like that it reads as if it is an actual ancient saga that has been translated from a dead language.


That's highly interesting, tspnyc, as it is one part of JRRT's works that is based on an *actual* ancient saga, "The Story of Kullervo", which is part of the Finnish national epic "Kalevala", which was only compiled in the mid-19th-century by Elias Lönnrot from sources in Finnland and Karelia, a region of Russia bordering Finnland on the east, but still (I believe) settled by many ethnic Finns.
Verlyn Flieger, a JRRT scholar on a par with Tom Shippey, edited a book titled "The Story of Kullervo" in 2015, showing the development from the Finnish original through JRRT's adaptation (or attempt to do so) through its mutation into "The Story of Túrin Turambar", so to speak.
In the original, Kullervo is not a savory character, fitting the mold of an anti-hero that became "popular" very much later, perhaps as much as a century or more after Lönnrot published his second edition in 1849. JRRT's adaptation, his earliest writings bar none on anything that ever became part of his Middle-earth legendarium, dating from between 1912 and 1914 while he was still a student at Oxford, smoothed a lot of this primeval roughness. And compared to this adaptation, even the tragic hero Túrin, inflicting much on himself, has been smoothed down further. But a lot of central topics survived from the savage tone of that sub-arctic saga into published works.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 26, 2019)

Sibelius wrote a "symphonic tone poem" with voices, on Kullervo. I have this performance, which I link because one of customer reviewers came to it as I did, from Tolkien (and also because it's cheap):






Jean Sibelius, Jorma Panula, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Esa Ruuttunen, Johanna Rusanen, Laulun Ystavet Male Choir - Sibelius: Kullervo: Symphonic Poem for Soprano, Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra - Amazon.com Music


Jean Sibelius, Jorma Panula, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Esa Ruuttunen, Johanna Rusanen, Laulun Ystavet Male Choir - Sibelius: Kullervo: Symphonic Poem for Soprano, Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra - Amazon.com Music



www.amazon.com





There are several different performances on youtube, BTW.

I've been looking through used bookstores for a decent translation of the Kalevala for some time; no luck so far, but if I see one cheap, I'll grab it in a New York teaspoonminute!


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## Ithilethiel (Sep 26, 2019)

It's a tie between LOTR and the Silmarillon. I love each for different reasons and their obvious differences. LOTR is a wonderfully told complete story so realistic that I feel I actually at times inhabit the tale between the pages. The Sil is dark and mystical like some ancient Icelandic mythology. I am a Gemini after all and so it's allowed.

BTW, if it's not too sacrilegious I don't like bacon. 🤢


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## Olorgando (Sep 26, 2019)

Ithilethiel said:


> BTW, if it's not too sacrilegious I don't like bacon. 🤢


Belaboring the obvious, bacon, being pork, is off the menu for wide swaths of humanity.
But for at least equally wide swaths of humanity, it is a major source of animal protein.
And last, the variant being talked about here seems to be a specialty in the specifically anglophone part of the world. Rather a minority.
The near relatives in Germany are definitely off my favorite food list, being awfully fat-heavy (and I definitely like my bacon rather crisp on the rare occasions I get to eat it).


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## Ithilethiel (Sep 26, 2019)

Olorgando said:


> Belaboring the obvious, bacon, being pork, is off the menu for wide swaths of humanity.
> But for at least equally wide swaths of humanity, it is a major source of animal protein.
> And last, the variant being talked about here seems to be a specialty in the specifically anglophone part of the world. Rather a minority.
> The near relatives in Germany are definitely off my favorite food list, being awfully fat-heavy (and I definitely like my bacon rather crisp on the rare occasions I get to eat it).



No religious prohibitions, I just don't like it. It is awfully fatty but I suppose that is one reason it's so popular. A lot of people find that taste irresistible.


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## Olorgando (Sep 26, 2019)

Ithilethiel said:


> No religious prohibitions, I just don't like it. It is awfully fatty but I suppose that is one reason it's so popular. A lot of people find that taste irresistible.


As to the last point, our love of fats is very likely strongly genetically determined (I'm guessing I don't need to start on the subject of sweets).
A time when I ate bacon relatively often was about 30 plus years ago when I also had to do a lot of my own cooking.
My cooking skills are strictly limited, but I learned pretty quickly within those limits not to burn the stuff in question to a crisp.
Which some fans of the fatty aspects of bacon might have questioned, the way I prepared my bacon-containing menus at the time back then.
Most of the fat in the bacon had melted out onto the aluminum foil I placed on the tray of the small (micro?) oven I was using - not a microwave, a conventional one.
And as I mentioned above, I like my bacon on the crispy side. That back then certainly was. The melted fat on the foil went into the garbage bin.
The near relatives in Germany I mentioned above are massive of the sheer fat side. All make me gag.


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## Ithilethiel (Sep 26, 2019)

Olorgando said:


> As to the last point, our love of fats is very likely strongly genetically determined (I'm guessing I don't need to start on the subject of sweets).
> A time when I ate bacon relatively often was about 30 plus years ago when I also had to do a lot of my own cooking.
> My cooking skills are strictly limited, but I learned pretty quickly within those limits not to burn the stuff in question to a crisp.
> Which some fans of the fatty aspects of bacon might have questioned, the way I prepared my bacon-containing menus at the time back then.
> ...


 
I agree. When I first met my future husband, who likes bacon, his idea of cooking it was to dump the whole pkg into a frying pan preferably cast iron, turn up the heat and try not to burn it while getting it as crispy as possible. How much easier I showed him to lay out each strip and cook slowly. "Takes too long," I was schooled. Oh well.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 26, 2019)

"Modern" grocery store bacon is the opposite of what bacon is supposed to be.


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## Ithilethiel (Sep 26, 2019)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> "Modern" grocery store bacon is the opposite of what bacon is supposed to be.



I think most grocery store items are a shadow of the real things they represent.


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## Olorgando (Sep 26, 2019)

As a cursory nod to the original topic of this thread, the only mention I can find in books faintly touching on the extensive OT discussion is the Boar of Everholt (so pork). Hunted down and slain by Folca, 13th King of Rohan and 4th of the second line (2804-2864 Third Age). Folca didn’t get to eat any wild bacon, as he himself died from the tusk wounds he had suffered from the boar. In fact, there is no mention whatsoever of the culinary consequences of slaying this boar. But it’s all to be found in Appendix A in RoTK, Part II “The House of Eorl”, Annals of the Kings of the Mark. So, in volume 3 of my favorite JRRT book.


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## the--hobbit (Sep 26, 2019)

My favourite books are The Silmarillion with the beauty of creation and it’s ancient history. And, The Hobbit because of its wonderful simplicity and hero’s journey.


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## CirdanLinweilin (Sep 26, 2019)

ArwenStar said:


> Just wondering what everyone’s favourite j.r.r.t book is?


Lord of the Rings for me, full-draw.


Bacon ~ You guys are a hoot.

Thanks for the laughs!




Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> May I just express my deep regret at bringing up Sir Francis in the first place?
> 
> View attachment 6036
> 
> Sorry, ArwenStar!


Only for the poor pigs.   



CL


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## Starbrow (Sep 26, 2019)

OT again. There's always the bit in The Hobbit (one of my favorite JRRT books) where Biibo compares himself to a piece of bacon when he is rescued by the eagles.


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## Elthir (Sep 26, 2019)

Also: "And this is first-rate salted pork. Or I can cut you some rashers of bacon and broil them, if you like."

Merry, _Flotsam And Jetsam_


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 26, 2019)

Next: Tolkien's works ranked by number of pork references.


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## CirdanLinweilin (Sep 27, 2019)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Next: Tolkien's works ranked by number of pork references.


I'm game. 







CL


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## Elthir (Sep 27, 2019)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Next: Tolkien's works ranked by number of pork references.



The winner has got to be The Book of Lost Tales.

Ahem: BLT

Hold the lettuce and tomatoes.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 28, 2019)




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## Olorgando (Sep 28, 2019)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Next: Tolkien's works ranked by number of pork references.





Galin said:


> The winner has got to be The Book of Lost Tales.
> 
> Ahem: BLT
> 
> Hold the lettuce and tomatoes.


Ah, no, that's much too oblique. 😒

Farmen Giles of *Ham*, right out in the book title! 😁


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## Elthir (Sep 28, 2019)

In my defense, I already used that one in the thread, so I had to go deeper.



> I don't want to say it. I have to say it._ Farmer Giles of Honey Glazed Ham_


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## Olorgando (Sep 28, 2019)

I certainly remembered there having been an earlier mention, but I wouldn't have been able to say without some browsing (I have attacks of laziness, occasionally …) that it had been in this thread or that you had posted it.
That said, since you did something of a sacrilege, also known in our circles as a PJ-ism, on the title, that sort of counts against you (I have dark, dim memories of the term "demerit" from my ancient high school days. Not that I collected many (any?), I was quite docile in those days (and even at my "wildest" later never got beyond "armchair revolutionary", including the felt slippers - but no pipe!)).


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## Elthir (Sep 28, 2019)

Well, at least I didn't use Sowron, Brandyswine River, or Boared of the Rings.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 28, 2019)




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## Olorgando (Sep 28, 2019)

Yes, be properly contrite, S-eS, you had to mention Sir Francis Bacon.

But wait, wasn't it Galin who then went wildly OT with it? 🤔


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## Elthir (Sep 28, 2019)

Oh sure, _now_ you remember an earlier post!


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## Olorgando (Sep 28, 2019)

Galin said:


> Oh sure, _now_ you remember an earlier post!


Well, yes. But the sound of skidding, squealing tires as you power-slid us OT was such a sharp swerve that it was much easier to recall than the almost laconic later post that was only somewhat PJ-ish (gripping something white-knuckled is seriously more memorable than a casual comment half-heard when almost dozing on a couch).


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## Alcuin (Sep 28, 2019)

Galin said:


> Well, at least I didn't use Sowron, Brandyswine River, or Boared of the Rings.





> The four entered the dining room and sat at a booth near the roaring propane fireplace that eternally roasted a large cement boar on a motorized spit. The soft notes of a badly played Muzak eddied through the crowded rooms as the ravenous boggies studied the menu, which was ingeniously shaped like a sow giving birth. As Frito considered an “Uncle Piggy’s OinkOink Burger-on-a-Bun” flambéed in purest linseed oil, Spam hungrily ogled the scantily clad “piglets” who served as waitresses, each buxom wench also outfitted in fake tail, ears, and snout.
> 
> One of the piglets sidled up to the table for their order as Spam greedily took stock of her big red eyes, crooked blond wig, and hairy legs.
> 
> ...


– _Bored of the Rings_, “Indigestion at the Sign of the Goode Eats”​
BTW, _Peoples of Middle-earth_ has Tolkien’s notes for the Appendices, including extra names of Princes of Dol Amroth, years for births and deaths of Stewards of Gondor, extra names and years of births and deaths of Lords of Andúnië; and lots of extra, interesting detail on “The parentage of Gil-galad”, the meanings of the father-names of the sons of Fëanor (they were all named after his father, Finwë), the story of Glorfindel, and others. It’s fun to browse.

But _Fellowship of the Ring_ is still my favorite. After the attack on Weathertop, I could never get enough of the story.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 29, 2019)

Alcuin said:


> After the attack on Weathertop, I could never get enough of the story.


It was so long ago now that my memories are fuzzy, but for me, I think that moment came in the first chapter, with the confrontation between Bilbo and Gandalf about the ring. It was at that point that I saw that this book was not another Hobbit, a "there and back again" adventure story, but something darker. A mystery presented itself, and I had to see what lay behind it.


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## Olorgando (Sep 29, 2019)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> It was so long ago now that my memories are fuzzy, ...


Pretty much the same here, 1983 the older German translation, 1985 the original.
But as I was an adult (over 25) when I did my first Middle-earth reading, by nature I obviously got the stories in reverse order (and I'm not sure if TH or the Sil came next).
So I had zero background and expectations, and only some guidance (for the first reading in German by the owner of the book) that I would have to "persevere" through some parts.
No clear memory, but Tom Bombadil may have figured in these warnings.
What I do remember somewhat is a sense of puzzlement, perhaps even confusion, which I'd guess was caused by the chapter "Shadow of the past". Quite a few names never heard before being bandied about (the Sil, described by "someone" as a "telephone directory of Elves", IIRC  , was still some years in the future ...).
But I did "slog" on, getting past Bombadil, and I think Bree and the appearance of Strider may have put the hook in me.
Then the original, and the rest is one of those sad stories of incurable addiction. 😁


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## Student of Tolkien (Dec 31, 2019)

If counted as only one book, I'd say _The Lord of the Rings_ is my favorite. If it is counted as three books however, I'd say _The Two Towers_.


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## Alice (Apr 16, 2020)

I dont really know. Because I love them all. But let it be The Silmarillion


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## Sir Eowyn (Apr 26, 2020)

Right now, The Hobbit. Reading it now, for the first time since my childhood. Amazed by how fresh it really is, how great.


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## Alice (Apr 27, 2020)

Sir Eowyn said:


> Right now, The Hobbit. Reading it now, for the first time since my childhood. Amazed by how fresh it really is, how great.



Wow, you appreciate Hobbit as I do! I think it is a great book even without LOTR


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## Tulukastaz (Jun 1, 2020)

I really like Farmer Giles of Ham! What a wonderful story.

Mr.Bliss is fascinating with the pictures. Good story. . . no bad stories from Tolkien - the best storyteller that I know. Not just the best stories, also the language and "atmosphere" - it is cozy and magical and authentic to a degree that I find no match to.


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## Sir Eowyn (Jun 1, 2020)

Welcome, Tulukastaz. He is indeed great.


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## Elthir (Jun 1, 2020)

Mmm. Ham.


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## Ealdwyn (Jun 1, 2020)

It would have to be LotR. I've been reading it for 30 years and I seem to get something different from it every time. There's always some little detail that jumps out at me or some new insight or impression that I haven't had before. It just keeps on giving.

That said, I also love the Turin Turambar saga. I guess I'm a sucker for a tragic hero.


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## Tulukastaz (Jun 1, 2020)

The Book of Lost Tales, is a very archaic (correct word?) version of the Silmarillion. . . It really has a special vibe, with the everlasting fire in the storyroom, the gongong, and the drink "limpe" - the island itself. I think if I recall correct he had some "visions" to link these stories with the *Notion Club Papers* ... or something along those lines ? Anybody aware of this ? I think somewhere in the History of Middle Earth - Christopher Tolkien describes that J.R.R. had plans for something bigger but he did not have time to complete it, correct me if I'm wrong or even better paraphrase the section if it is found.


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## Spirit of Fire (Jun 18, 2020)

The War of the Ring, Book V of Return of the King. The complexity, the tragedy, the combat, and the growth of all the characters. I also liked Children of Hurin. It expands so well on the wealth of material in the Silmarillion.


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## Aramarien (Jun 19, 2020)

Ealdwyn said:


> It would have to be LotR. I've been reading it for 30 years and I seem to get something different from it every time. There's always some little detail that jumps out at me or some new insight or impression that I haven't had before. It just keeps on giving.


I feel exactly the same way. It's almost like poetry, that one can see something different every time one reads. Sometimes I read LOTR with a purpose: to just enjoy the story, sometimes to look further into some chapters, savor the prose and poetry, enjoy the character exchanges. 
As with all good books, when one reads them at different times in one's life, we have a different perspective and see things that we didn't see before, or have a different understanding. 

I also enjoyed Unfinished Tales, that gave more perspectives or "deleted scenes" so to speak. Believe it or not, I find the first chapter of the Sil, Ainulindale, very moving and quite beautiful. There is a depth of spirituality that speaks to me, especially that although Melkor was trying to destroy things, he inadvertently made thing beautiful, like snow. There's sadness, but hope in this chapter.


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## rollinstoned (Jun 26, 2020)

......You know, i just cannot pick one. I love them all for different reasons. The Hobbit is fast and fun. Lord Of the Rings is just epic and invokes wanderlust and it contains so many of my favourite fictional people. Smith Of Wootton Major is just pretty. Dreamlike. 

All the supplementary material is just great too - but less enjoyable to read, I treat them as reference books. Very interesting reference books!


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## Aukwrist (Aug 28, 2021)

ArwenStar said:


> Just wondering what everyone’s favourite j.r.r.t book is?


The Silmarillion, definitely. Even more than LOTR. 

My favourite narrative in the Silmarillion volume is the Akallabeth.



ArwenStar said:


> “Some books should be tasted,some devoured but only few should be chewed and digested thouroughly”
> 
> ― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart


That is clearly borrowed from Lord Bacon (1561-1626): see his essay "Of Studies", pages 11-12: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edit...acon,+"Of+Studies"+online&printsec=frontcover


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## Elthir (Aug 28, 2021)

Ahh . . . to be the Lord of Bacon!

🐾


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Aug 28, 2021)

And the Duke of Earl of Eggs!


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## Olorgando (Aug 28, 2021)

Elthir said:


> Ahh . . . to be the Lord of Bacon!
> 🐾





Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> And the Duke of Earl of Eggs!


_*GROAN*_ 😖

The beggcon binary strikes again! 🐷🐔🐖🐓


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## Þráinn Þórhallsson (Aug 28, 2021)

The Hobbit.


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## Shadow (Aug 28, 2021)

The Lord of the Rings, then The Hobbit.


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## Melkor (Sep 11, 2021)

Childern of Húrin


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## anelffriend (Nov 15, 2021)

All of them of course, but I have a soft spot for “Leaf by Niggle.” It’s a very profound story.


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## ZehnWaters (Nov 15, 2021)

The Silmarillion, though I'm aware of the necessary changes needed to bring it better in-line with Tolkien's conceptions.


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## Halasían (Nov 15, 2021)

ArwenStar said:


> ArwenStar said:
> 
> 
> > Just wondering what everyone’s favourite j.r.r.t book is?


Somehow this totally derailed topic managed to get back on the rails!



Ealdwyn said:


> It would have to be LotR. I've been reading it for 30 years and I seem to get something different from it every time. There's always some little detail that jumps out at me or some new insight or impression that I haven't had before. It just keeps on giving.
> 
> That said, I also love the Turin Turambar saga. I guess I'm a sucker for a tragic hero.


I totally agree! Lord of the Rings is first and foremost, and Children of Hurin has done well with the whole Turin and family tale.


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## Sulimo (Feb 9, 2022)

For me its The Silmarillion. I'd never read anything like it before, and it is what inspired me to learn everything I could about Middle-earth and its architect.


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## vor0nwe (Feb 10, 2022)

anelffriend said:


> All of them of course, but I have a soft spot for “Leaf by Niggle.” It’s a very profound story.


Same here. Somehow _Leaf by Niggle_ strongly resonated with me when I first read it; and it’s still a charming little tale every time I read it. I know Tolkien ‘cordially disliked’ allegory, but I find it very ...applicable for anyone creative with a tendency to get lost in details.

Other than that, _the Lord of the Rings_ of course, which started my infatuation with Tolkien’s works; I’ve read it in its entirety over 20 times by now, and countless loose passages or chapters. Then _Unfinished Tales_, I think; I _so_ wish he could’ve finished that version of the story of Tuor and Voronwë in Gondolin. I also really liked the part on the _Quest of Erebor_, and the more detailed version of the hunt for Gollum, and Gandalf’s discovery of Isildur’s scroll.

_The Hobbit_ is a good third; though it is more childish than the others (I only read it after the _LotR_), it definitely has its own charm. I also liked that Tolkien used actual, historic, Anglo-Saxon runes, and just provided enough to be able to decipher them (and then read up on runes in general in the library — before the advent of internet, naturally). I _was_ somewhat disappointed that the runes hadn’t been translated (I first read _The Hobbit_ in Dutch), but that turned out to be an extra incentive to figure them out anyway. 🤓 I loved telling that story to my kids when they were little — and so did they.

Then there’s _the Silmarillion_. It’s the one I reread the least often, and yet without it I probably wouldn’t have started on _Unfinished Tales_. It’s _such_ a pity Tolkien never _really_ completed the Great Tales.


Sulimo said:


> For me its The Silmarillion. I'd never read anything like it before, and it is what inspired me to learn everything I could about Middle-earth and its architect.


Exactly.

Oh, and I absolutely love _Farmer Giles of Ham_ and its delightful light-hearted humour.

And of course there’s the entire _History of Middle-earth_, and the _History of the Hobbit_; so much interesting stuff...


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## LadyGaladriel1980 (Mar 3, 2022)

The Lord of the Rings, i have read it around 100 times...and second the Hobbit.


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## Persephone (Apr 4, 2022)

I am biased to the Hobbit... it was the book that introduced me to the wonderful world of Middle Earth. I also love the ending more ... it ended on a more positive note (despite the really sad deaths) compared to LOTR (for me). I find the endings of LOTR a bit depressing - what with all the leaving Middle Earth parts and the fellowship breaking in pieces like that. 

Bittersweet - I like it in chocolate, but for my stories, especially these days, not really a fan. (MY goodness I'm old! )


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