The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - When did you first read Lord of the Rings?

***Mister Underhill*** · 05-08-2010, 08:21 AM

Here's an old iteration of the question for the curious. Some of you old timers -- ahem -- I mean veteran wights will see the names and "first time" accounts of familiar old ghosts: Taimar, Birdland, burrahobbit, Maril[...], lindil, Inziladun as a young wight with only 123 posts, and others. I took special delight in reading Sharkû's less-polished English in the second post in the thread. What are you up to these days, I wonder, my old German brother?

Anyway, I noticed that I didn't answer the question in that thread. I'm sure I answered it at some point somewhere around here, but since it's been years...

The exact details of my first time are, for me, like so many others, hazy. I would have been around 12 or 13. I'm sure I was in a bit of a swoon, being ravished by the professor's vision. Among the things I do recall with some detail are being absolutely floored by Gandalf's seeming death, and the moment in Cirith Ungol when Sam realizes that Frodo isn't really dead!

I was up late that night reading on, I can assure you. One thing I remember with some clarity is that soon after finishing LotR, I almost immediately picked up The Hobbit and started right over again.

Just thinking about it is bringing back some good old memories. I used to have this treehouse two stories off the ground where I'd go to read in quiet and solitude. I can't think of a more appropriate place to read the LotR than reclining comfortably in a tree. I can remember the slight sway of the branches in the breeze and the creaking of the wood as the structure flexed and relaxed, flexed and relaxed. It was almost like being aboard ship. What I wouldn't give to have a lazy afternoon in that treehouse. God. I have a vivid memory of reading the Star Wars novelization in that tree before I had ever built the actual treehouse. There was just a plank to sit on that I'd nailed into the saddle between two branches.

I'm trying to remember how the progression went. I was a voracious reader of sci-fi, due mainly to the aforementioned Star Wars, but that would also have been around the same time that I got into D&D. I'm pretty sure I was already branching into fantasy when my uncle noticed and gave me "the real stuff". I still have the paperbacks he gave me, though I don't read them anymore or else they'd crumble in my hands.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

05-08-2010, 08:21 AM	#7
*Mister Underhill* Dread Horseman Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Behind you! Posts: 2,744	Here's an old iteration of the question for the curious. Some of you old timers -- ahem -- I mean veteran wights will see the names and "first time" accounts of familiar old ghosts: Taimar, Birdland, burrahobbit, Maril[...], lindil, Inziladun as a young wight with only 123 posts, and others. I took special delight in reading Sharkû's less-polished English in the second post in the thread. What are you up to these days, I wonder, my old German brother? Anyway, I noticed that I didn't answer the question in that thread. I'm sure I answered it at some point somewhere around here, but since it's been years... The exact details of my first time are, for me, like so many others, hazy. I would have been around 12 or 13. I'm sure I was in a bit of a swoon, being ravished by the professor's vision. Among the things I do recall with some detail are being absolutely floored by Gandalf's seeming death, and the moment in Cirith Ungol when Sam realizes that Frodo isn't really dead! I was up late that night reading on, I can assure you. One thing I remember with some clarity is that soon after finishing LotR, I almost immediately picked up The Hobbit and started right over again. Just thinking about it is bringing back some good old memories. I used to have this treehouse two stories off the ground where I'd go to read in quiet and solitude. I can't think of a more appropriate place to read the LotR than reclining comfortably in a tree. I can remember the slight sway of the branches in the breeze and the creaking of the wood as the structure flexed and relaxed, flexed and relaxed. It was almost like being aboard ship. What I wouldn't give to have a lazy afternoon in that treehouse. God. I have a vivid memory of reading the Star Wars novelization in that tree before I had ever built the actual treehouse. There was just a plank to sit on that I'd nailed into the saddle between two branches. I'm trying to remember how the progression went. I was a voracious reader of sci-fi, due mainly to the aforementioned Star Wars, but that would also have been around the same time that I got into D&D. I'm pretty sure I was already branching into fantasy when my uncle noticed and gave me "the real stuff". I still have the paperbacks he gave me, though I don't read them anymore or else they'd crumble in my hands. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.