[Rynoah, the Overly-Happy]

It's hard to explain, for I was introduced to Tolkien many, many times, so I will do my best to keep it as short as possible:

I know this'll sound so horrid and such, but I was actually "introduced" to Tolkien when I was about seven years old. However, I never actually got into his books until recently. I had an older brother and sister who had a teacher by the name of Mr. Cottle for their sixth-grade teacher. Mr. Cottle read The Hobbit to all his classes year after year, and my sister came home and immediately wanted the actual book from a Scholastic Book magazine. My mother obliged and bought it, but I took little interest in it (I was seven!). Then, my brother came home years later praising it and borrowed the book from my sister, reading it by himself. I still took no interest in it. I was 9. Finally, by the time I was 12 and in sixth grade, I got Mr. Cottle. He read to us The Hobbit (also The Grey King, which is also an excellent book in a good series by Susan Cooper) and I grew slightly interested in it. However, when he said there were more books in the series, it went in one ear and out the other. When I was twelve, I wasn't a big fan of book series and had no interest in reading them. Finally, at the age of thirteen or fourteen and in Junior High, I borrowed The Hobbit from my sister and read through it again. By this time, I was suffering a horrible bout of depression and had blocked most of my childhood, so I didn't remember there were more than one. Pity, because I probably would've read them earlier if I had as I was interested in book series by then, now that I think about it. I was again ensnared by the book, but depression set in, my sister moved away (taking the book with her) and I forgot about it again for three years. Then, rumor grew of a new movie trilogy based in a fantasy world. Taking little interest in the movie itself, I didn't pay much attention to it, but I did get a few bookmarks from the High School library for my brother-in-law (the one married to the sister who owns The Hobbit). He was delighted and began to spout off names of characters and histories. I was less than amused, until he mentioned that Ian McKellan would be doing the part of a familiar name: Gandalf. A rusty chest in the depression-scorched area of the library of my mind opened and I drew forth old, half-charred documents of memories of a book about a little man who lived in a hole and went on an adventure with a wizard named Gandalf. I was interested, however, I still didn't realize that there were books involved. I just figured that the movie was a spinoff of the children's book.

I didn't actually hear of the book trilogy until the ride to the theater, when my brother-in-law and his brother began to talk of them. When I got out of the theater, I was completely blown away (and surprised. I hadn't known Sean Bean, whom I have been a bit of a fan of for quite some time, was going to be in the movie!) and wanted desperately to get a hold of the books. The last sister living with me (who is getting married in May) bought the entire trilogy after I got a hold of the Fellowship of the Ring and I was blessed to be able to read all three in their entireity without having to wait to borrow them.

So, you could say my sister introduced me to Tolkien, or Mr. Cottle, or my brother-in-law or even the movies. It is your choice. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[ March 02, 2003: Message edited by: Rynoah, the Overly-Happy ]