I'm participating in a Tolkien blog party over at "The Edge of Precipice." It's complete with giveaways of awesome Tolkien stuff, so be sure to check it out. :)
Now on to the meme!
1. Have you read The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit? If so, how many times? Once for each book, though I've only read the abridged Lord of the Rings on audio.
2. Have you seen any movies based on them? Yes, part 1 of "The Hobbit." I'll be watching all three Lord of the Rings movies soon. :)
3. Who first introduced you to Middle Earth? My parents (mainly my dad) along with a bunch of our friends.
4. Who are your three favorite characters? (Feel free to elaborate on whys). Ooh, that's a tough one. I like Golem, just because he's so odd and adds so much to the story. The Ents were funny, and I like Gandalf.
5. What's your favorite Middle Earth location? Hobbiton.
6. If you could belong to one of the races of Free Folk (Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents), which would you choose? The hobbits, because they like food and a good time. :)
7. Would you rather eat lembas or taters? Lembas. Or taters. (Can I say both)?
8. If you lived in Middle Earth, what weapon would you prefer wielding? (Well, magic, but I'm not sure that's what they're looking for). In that case, a bow and arrow. Call me a coward, but I'd rather shoot from far away than be in combat where the enemy is a foot away from you.
9. What draws you to Tolkien's stories? (The characters, the quests, the themes, the worlds, etc.) The wonderful storybuilding. Everything is so precise and detailed, down to the maps in the books.
10. List up to five of your favorite lines/quotes from the books or movies. "Not all those who wander are lost." "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." "My precious." "You shall not pass!" (Get ready for a long one):
"Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights
we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories,
Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger,
they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how
could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was
when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing
thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And
when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the
stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too
small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I
know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back,
only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to
something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."
(And because I couldn't resist, here's a bonus one): "The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now
mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater."
Be sure to check out the post below this one. I have some exciting news!!! :D
Yay! Thanks for joining the party :-)
ReplyDeleteI love that last "bonus" quote of yours -- one of my favorites too!
This is great fun! What a fantastic idea. :) Love reading all these. And I agree - great quotes. Fun answers, too!
ReplyDeleteI would do a bow and arrow too! :) Although, I've held a replica of Aragorn's sword and kinda fell in love with the idea of a sword. :)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. That long quote gives me the chills. I love it so much. :)
Great post! I love Tolkien so this is really fun to read. In fact, I think I'll answer all the questions briefly in your comments.
ReplyDelete1. The Hobbit: at least five times. The Lord of the Rings: three times at last count.
2. Yes. All three LOTR movies, part 1 of "The Hobbit," and the old animated versions of both works. Those were some great movies.
3. My mother. She used to read the chapters and then summarize them for me. I don't know when she first started telling me the stories, but I couldn't have been older than six or seven.
4. Samwise Gamgee. He's a loyal friend who ends up being one of the great heroes of both series. Bilbo Baggins. He's the ultimate "accidental hero." Gimli. Even in print he is comic relief in otherwise tense situations.
5. The Shire. How could you not want to live there?
6. Hobbits. They enjoy good food, good company, and good fun.
7. Taters.
8. A bow. There is something cool about being dangerous from so far away.
9. He is the master of world building. The detail with which he constructs not only the immediate setting of his stories, but also the landscape, histories, race relations, languages, and so much more is second to none. He is the standard by which all fantasy authors should inevitably be judged.
10. I'm terrible with remembering these things. I'll just agree to enjoy yours.
Thanks for the comments! :D And awesome answers, Dr. Mark! The Shire would be a pretty cool place to live. Good think the Ren Faire is a close second. ;)
ReplyDeleteLooks like fun, I'm going to do this as well!
ReplyDeleteLooks like fun, I'm going to do this as well!
ReplyDelete