[Thenamir]

Just a drop-in to say that at age 40 (soon to be 41) Thenamir qualifies for the Middle-Age Middle-Earthers.

Found Tolkien as a High School Sophomore in 1978, in part because friends were quoting passages from Bored of the Rings, the Harvard Lampoon parody, and though I did not know the subject being parodied, it ad me in stitches. I hit the library next day and found myself a copy of FOTR, and was inextricably hooked.

I was a casual, almost closet fan of LOTR until news came out that a movie was in the works, whereupon I became a crusader for canonic purity, and found the Barrow Downs. After frequenting the chat for several months, I found myself in the good graces of the Barrow-Wight, who allowed me to use the name of the site for my openly-capitalistic Tolkien store. We formalized a joint venture, and I've been associated with the Downs ever since.

Good to be here, and to have some mature perspective. Party on, dudes.