It's been forever since I read Lord of the Rings back in high school, so I'm rereading it and I just finished Fellowship. It's even better than I remember. The Shire, Rivendell, Moria, and best of all, Lothlorien. So much magic (you know, metaphorical magic) in those books. When the world is ruled by chaotic, cynical nihilism, LOTR makes sense.

Hey Bat!! Me too! Except, I started with the Silmarillion. Half way through it so far. I love LotR, but especially Thranduil. Y'know, the Party Elvenking.

hi, steelydan. :wave:
i like your user name. have you checked out the thread about the steelies yet ?

http://www.musicbanter.com/rock-n-ro...teely-dan.html

i`m glad you`re enjoying a colin dexter book, but you know he`s not american, right ? he was born in Lincolnshire, england I believe.

I assume that he's a fan of the novel Naked Lunch with that username.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DCg__LoTP7...le_332x500.jpg
If you can get past the crunchy granola **** and the shameless self-promotion, this is actually a really neat read with great fundamental meditation advice.

As far as elves go, it's all about Galadriel. She is just the quintessential elf. Unknowable and remote, with mysterious powers that are awe inspiring. I mean, come on, she wields the White Ring Nenya and slows down time for an entire forest. Yet she is still somehow kind and accessible. The two or three times that she talks to Sam are some of my favorite parts of Fellowship. She talks to him about gardening like an actual friend without any condescension for Pete's sake. I could swear that she even made a subtle joke to him.

Besides, she's thousands of years old with the knowledge of the Valar. So she's gotta be dynamite in the sack.

I actually kind of agree with this, but she is sort of a nasty b*tch at times in the Silmaril, gotta say. Like when she sided with Feanor. Anyway I'd tap that.

If by dynamite you mean a biter.

:laughing:

apparently, those were Tolkien`s exact words in the original manuscript, but they were edited out of the printed edition for some reason.

Well if you read Unfinished Tales it addresses this very point. Tolkien added these parts later and never put them into the actual narrative, so his son never included them into the Silmarrilion. Apparently she never liked Feanor and was actually staying with her kin in Alqualonde at the time of the Kinslaying and fought against Feanor. She went to Middle Earth with the rebels A.) because she just wanted to go there, and B.) because she wanted to keep Feanor in check.

I wouldn't mind being her Lembas bread.

****! you know your ****, Batfriend!! I can't wait to read them seriously, never got to it as a kid. Would it be better before or after the Trilogy, you think??

I was wonder about that. I kept referring back to the elf family trees and being extremely confused.

Learning so much about Middle Earth lately I'm kinda geeking out for reals.