Hello!
 

I am Ring Bearer, I joined this forum to post just one reply--like many here I believe.

The Forum is older than me.

I don't think The Hobbit Trilogy is considered to be a great series among the fans but that is what got me(and I believe many of my generation) into the Fandom--about 8 years ago.

I have only read "The Hobbit", I was too young to read hefty books like LOTR back in 2013. I do intend to read them someday. I don't think I'll read the Silm tho, have read too much of the "One Wiki To Rule Them All".

Love all 6 movies and it was actually a Movie Prediction by Mister Underhill in 2000 that got me into this forum--I believe that post was read by Peter Jackson bcoz it did find its way into the movie.

Since I was toddler when the original trilogy came out--I was never interested in it until I watched the "Riddles in the Dark" scene too many times on TV in 2013(was running continuously before DoS was too be released I believe).

P.S. This website is ancient.I love it!

Hi Ring Bearer! Welcome to the Downs. I'm always fascinated by communities appealing to people younger than them, so double welcome in fact. :)

Around here you will find people who hate the Hobbit movies but loved the LOTR ones, who hate the LOTR ones but love the books, and no doubt who hate LOTR and think Tolkien shout have stuck with The Hobbit alone. :D All views are welcome, which is great if you're inclined to go off on random tangents (like me... hi).

I'm really curious now - what was the prediction? :O I knew a fanfic way back that predicted 'Frodo falls off the ledge in Mount Doom' in 2002, so this is fascinating.

hS

Fascinating.

We used to speculate (excuse me, I left my porch rocker and cane around here someone... going to want them if we're talking about "when I was your age") about "Downer babies"--i.e. the children of the Downers joining the forum some day. Granted, I am assuming here that you're not a literal Downer baby, the fact that you're actually younger than the forum does make you the closest comparison I think we've seen yet.

Hail and well met!

Hello Ring Bearer good to see another new face around here.
Can you link the thread in question? I'd like to see this prediction.

Hi Ring Bearer! I want to echo the welcome, and the plea for posting the prediction thread. Is it the one you linked in your very first post here?

Yeah that same link.

I didn't know that links need to be linked...

Here it is--http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...oto=nextoldest

Hello,
nice to meet you all. I'm Paul, I'm new and of course I am a fan of basically everything even softly related to LOTR as many people here...I guess.

I have to admit I saw the first movie before starting reading the books (full version of course)...so I am not one of those despise the movies. To be honest I like them. Yes of course they are not so complete as the books...but I guess that's happen always...not just in Tolkien's world.

I also like to say always that I became more passionate about LOTR in forums, blogs and chats...because thanks to the knowledge of other fans I learned more and more (such as starting - years ago - learning a bit of elvish). So thanks in advance for your sharings. I will send a thank you card to the one that will reveal me something I don't know yet.

So, super excited to be here, discover more and meet cool people :)
Paul

Hi Paul! Mae govannen, and welcome to the Downs! If you're looking for Tolkien lore, I'd say you've come to the right place. I am no loremaster, but I have learned quite a lot from hanging around this place. Very happy to see more LOTR enthusiasts here, you are always welcome in all the forums: go lore digging in Books, or talk about the movies in Movies, or hang a turn by Mirth or Quizzes or Quotes for some fun games.

Hi Paul, and I am just seconding Galadriel55 here in welcoming you. I'd say she is being unnecessarily humble and I think pretty much everyone here is a loremaster of sorts. So I very much invite you to take a look around, dig for questions and answers, ask those of your own and share your own discoveries and insights. You will surely found many local Barrow-Wights interested in discussing nearly any aspects of the vast lore of Arda.

And as for the films - I daresay we are a mixed bunch here, but even those who are rather on the critical side (I would count myself among them) aren't opposed to discussing them, and perceive and appreciate many of the films' positive elements.

So welcome to the 'Downs, and enjoy your stay!

P. S. As for revealing something you did not know yet, just taking a shot here - do you know what Amon Lanc is? ;)

Hello Paul, and welcome!

Do you know who Pervinca Took is? ;)

Hello, everyone! I'm Nikolasha (I couldn't think of a good Tolkien related username, sorry). My dad was a massive Tolkien fan and had... just about every book by or about him that one can have, so I grew up reading Smith of Wootton Major and the Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Roverandom (my childhood dog was named Roverandom, in fact) but never actually read LOTR because my dad hounded me constantly to read them.

Well, a few years ago I finally did. I'm currently reading them again with a friend, and exchanging feverish discussions every week (mostly about Sam--we both really love Sam) and realized I'd like to see what other people have to say. I remember my dad talking about this site a great deal when I was younger. I was pretty surprised that it's still here and still active, but definitely glad to see it.

Welcome, Nikolasha!
I also credit my father with introducing me to Tolkien, though with me, it was The Hobbit and LOTR that I read first, with the others coming much later.

This is hands down the best place to discuss Tolkien I know.

Enjoy yourself!

I second that. Welcome aboard, Nikolasha, and please do share your thoughts about Sam! I was also introduced to Tolkien by my parents, though for me LOTR was the first one. It would be fascinating for me to find out what you think of LOTR as a first time reader - that time for me was long enough ago that the impression has worn off under the impressions of re-reads.

Welcome, Nikolasha (and, for that matter, paul10)!

You say your father remembered this as a good site for Tolkien discussion. Does that make you a second generation 'Downer? (Or does that mean that--GASP--some people only lurked?!)

Thank you!

I don't know for certain, but I'm pretty sure he did have an account. He was very, very into Tolkien and pretty outspoken, so I doubt he lurked!

Thank you!

This is the second time I'm reading it, though the first time that I'm really stopping to analyze it. I don't know that 2 read-throughs are enough to really wrap my head around it--every chapter I come across tons of things that I had missed the significance of the first time around. My friend and I only just finished the Fellowship yesterday, so that's what's currently fresh in my mind. But what has stood out so far is all the foreshadowing, like how Gandalf very scrupulously doesn't promise to accompany them the whole way.

My Sam thoughts are mostly just a very emphatic GOD, I LOVE SAM. I remember watching the movies as a kid thinking "all those pots and pans must have been kind of heavy to carry to Mordor, I wonder why Sam brought them with him." As a adult with a pretty extensive cast iron pan collection, all I can think is that he must be VERY dedicated to making sure he and his companions (or really, mostly just Frodo) eat well. Which I find admirable, but also very endearing!

Thank you! I'm sure I will enjoy myself immensely.

It's cool to learn how many people were introduced to Tolkien by their parents! I imagine that one would enjoy his short stories more with a thorough LOTR education, so the Hobbit and LOTR coming first sounds like the way to do it!

Welcome to the Downs, Nikolasha! Now I'm curious - as I've been on the Downs, active both as a member and as a moderator for many years, I would love to know what your father's user name was! Maybe you can ask him - and maybe you'll inspire him to post again!

Unfortunately, I have no idea :( I can't ask him (as he's dead), but it'd be cool to find his account on here some day! So I'll be keeping an eye out, but in the meantime I don't think I can be of any help, sorry.

This is really cool and makes me grin. :D Riiight down at the bottom of the forum homepage there's a birthday ticker; if you keep an eye on it when your father's birthday rolls round you might see him cross it, potentially even with age listed for easy identification.

And welcome to the Downs! Hope you stick around a long time.

hS

Is the photo page still active tried searching couldn’t find it but a possibility?

It's been down for quite a long time. Since it was hosted from a different domain, I'm doubtful it's recoverable.

Oh ye of little faith.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

It isn't clear that Page 4 ever existed. For pictures which show as a Photobucket error image, you can right click > open link in new tab, then remove the "https://web.archive.org/web/20081221111918/" or similar to view it directly on Photobucket. This also works for the ones which have picked up a watermark; from Page 2, here's Morsul's.

hS

Ha! I was like 15 and convinced I looked like Robert Carradine

Narrator: he did not

So maybe the gentleman in question also had his photo on there

What a treat.

Corona shutdown has made it impossible to get a hairdresser appointment, and so I have made it a quest of mine to return my hair to its former glory.

Possibly this could be classified as an early mid-life crisis.

You are amazing, sir. These should absolutely be archived for posterity. *can't bear to look at the youngsters' faces - and by youngsters, I mean everybody*

Looking good, Morsul!

And Rune, I wholeheartedly support you regrowing your hair to its former glory.

Anyway, I think it is amazing that we are having second-generation members. I wholeheartedly support the quest of finding your dad's trace, Nikolasha. That sounds like a great quest. Best would be if you could find some post he made, if he did. Anyway, welcome! :)

All hail Huinesoron, necromancer of dead websites! :D

Seconded! And -

Seconded!

To add to the now recovered photo page, I would add two threads that could also contain some info:

The photo thread: many photos got uploaded here and never made it to the "official" photo page.

The meeting thread: holds records of Downer moots and meetings, and also has some photos. If you think your father might have met up with other Downers, this is the place to look.

And to add to Hui's suggestion of the birthday ticker - all the birthdays show up on the calendar, where you can just scroll to the right day. It's kinda been stuck in 2012, but you can still flip through the months and check the birthdays. Not all members display their birthdays, but it could be a start.


Best of luck with the quest to find your dad, as well as your quest to somehow organize Silmarillion chronology!

Hm. I guess the Internet really doesn't forget! :eek:

I thought my pic was there at one time, but I could be mistaken. It's here on the forum anyway.

Not new but...
 

I was formerly R.R.J Tolkien but I had trouble logging in, its good to be back.

Welcome back! :)

Good to see you're back!
 

Good to see you're back, bilbobaggins764!

Welcome back in your new incarnation... no that doesn't work for a wight... Uncarnation?

Another returnee re-joining the fellowship!
 

Greetings to you, my fellow wayfarers and travellers of Middle Earth!

I am Nacilme Mapare (which according to this lovely site should mean something like "seizer of victory" freely translated), but you may call me "Cilpa" or "Cil" or "Cili" if you so wish to. I am from the western corner of Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany and was once before a member of this lovely community (though under another name which sadly I cannot get myself to remember). Hence I would say I am not quite a new member but rather a returnee to these glorious halls. It's been a long, long time though and life and it's manifold adventures have made me stray off the path for quite some time. But due to the eagerly awaited Big River Rings Of Power production my passion for everything Tolkien has been vitally refueled and I am ever the more in awe of his works, wisdom and legacy.

My love for Tolkien and his stories started early. I was but 5 or 6 years of age when my father read The Hobbit to my twin sister and I and about 6 or 7 when we were first allowed to watch Ralph Bakshi's Lord Of The Rings movie (of which I was equally fascinated and terrified). Both first contacts with Tolkien's works are fond and cherished memories of mine! My sister and I watched the Bakshi movie a good dozen times (we literally couldn't stop, even thought we used to skip the ringwraith scenes because they gave me nightmares), we loved it (especially Legolas) so much! We even made our dad re-read The Hobbit to us a second and third time! Ah, ye good old times!

For our 13th birthday then we both got a copy of the Lord Of The Rings and in our high phase of Tolkien fanship we would soon learn that there were movies to be made of our most favourite work of literature at that time by a Mr. Peter Jackson we had never heard of back then. I still remember it vividly: We used to hang out at an internet café and read the news on an Elijah Wood fanpage (we knew and loved him form The Faculty). Can you imagine? We were thrilled! Not only was our favourite work of literature and childhood treasure The Lord Of The Rings being made into a movie, it would also star our at that time most favourite actor as the main character! If that's not an absolute bull's-eye stroke of fate I don't know what is!

The rest, I guess, is history. Ever since then my passion for anything Tolkien has only become stronger and more solid. And though there are phases of more and less active examination of Tolkien-related topics taking turns, my deep love, respect and fascination with his genius mind's creations will always and forever remain.

What more is there to say? Perhaps a bit more about myself. I am now 38 years of age, have since studied English language and literature (what else, eh?), became a bookseller and am still a lover of literature, languages and moving images (movies, tv shows, you name it). I'm a pc gamer at heart (also since early childhood) and Guild Wars 2 is my all-time favourite go-to mmorpg. My interests (beside the above mentioned literature, languages and moving images) and hobbies include music (I used to be and still am a huge fan of musical theater, I know whole shows by heart, and for three years now I'm a loyal BTS ARMY), mysticism/esotericism (including crystals, Tarot, Human Design and more), personality psychology and typology (such as MBTI) and so on. If you have any questions feel free to ask! I will be happy to satisfy your curiosity (within the limits of general decency that is of course)!

Having said this I am again greeting you warmly and I hope that I can make my renewed stay here worthwhile!

Meet you in Middle Earth,
Nacilme Mapare

Welcome, Nacilme! You arrive to a rather sleepy dell, though I expect we shall see a goodly volume of posting in... oh... about two months, say. Perhaps, however, your new-not-new blood will help liven things up a bit.

Greetings, Formendacil and thank you for your welcome!

Ah, is it but so quiet at the moment? :( Well, The Rings Of Power are said to air September 2nd (yes, that's for real) on the Big River. That's only a few weeks from now. I shall eagerly await and help re-liven these ancient halls! :)

Welcome, or if you prefer, welcome back, Nacilme!

Greetings, Mithadan! I have no preference either way. Both are fine with me. :D

Welcome (back), Nacilme - and I like your nicknames, I think Cilpa is particularly fun! :) The place may be sleepy but not desolate - as evidenced by three welcome posts in pretty rapid succession. All's needed is to toss the right stone at the crowd, and then you'll see it's not as asleep as it pretends to be. ;)

Greeting, my Lady of Lothlórien! And thank you for your warm welcome! The evidence is quite striking indeed and I am glad that's the case! Figuratively tossing stones is my kind of thing (not practically though, I'm really bad at flipping stones across the water surface). I shall see where I can be of use! :D

Welcome, Nacilme! I too live in Germany (southwest corner, near the French and Swiss borders) and am curious - have you discovered the German Tolkien Society? I've been a member for quite a few years and love having opportunities to get together with other fans in person.