The two types of LotR fans

[Mad Baggins]

I'm a story-lover. I've read the Sil and part of UT but it just didn't catch me as the books did. I was first fascinated with the movies, and then afterward I read the books and I was hooked.

[Bungo Baggins]

For me, it is a combination of the story and the world. I first was intrigued by this whole world that Tolkien created of Middle Earth, but I would not have not continued my fascination had the story been poorly constructed. I think I would have not continued my love affair with the people and places of middle earth.

[Elentari_Elbereth]

I could not designate myself as either. I'd have to say I love every ounce of tolkien's works, whether it be the awe-inspiring story, characterization, the actualy writing itself (grammar, wording, vocabulary, etc..) or every little bit of the world itself- the races,( their uniqueness), the geography, the languages, the culture and history.... I can't decide one aspect or another as a favorite!

My younger sister is a story-lover by far...

[Thinlómien]

Maybe we all should do like eowyntje does:

Very very hard to decide, I think I'm 60% story, 40% world.

So I'm 65% world 35% story...

[ohtatyaro]

Can not separate, somehow. Alltogether - characters, language, story, world, (alphabetical order, see?)

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Don't think I'm not onto your game, Bêthberry and Rimbaud. Those are fine verses for a family-friendly barrow.

Now let us read them while we may,
And now, like literate birds of prey,
Swiftly at first these tales devour
Then languish in their slow-chapt power.

Although each story has its own appeal for me, I follow Tolkien in seeing the whole history of Middle-earth, even extending to its author's life, as a single narrative and part of a greater whole. It was the stories that first attracted me, and for me each separate piece, from The Hobbit to the unpublished fragments, has its own unique appeal as a complete story, an episode, a variation or an illustration. Then again, without the world and its details, the stories would have no foundation, and as for the history and details themselves, well, therein lies a tale. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Tolkien for me is best illustrated by the fact that the alphabet and language of the Noldor is bound up with the sad tale of Fëanor, which is then preserved and retold in the same language. That's the sort of detail that most of us only dream of creating: to know the whole story you have to know the world and vice-versa. I agree with ohtatyaro: the various elements are inseparable.

i am a fan of lotr. my favorite caracter is bilbo and then sammy and i also like pippin a lot but i don't know his real name so i think i shall ask someone.

bye

[Lush]

There are three types of fans! Those who can count, and those who can't!

Hardy har har.

I think the line between the 'world' and the 'story' can easily be blurred. They don't exist as two separate entities in my mind. Although it does happen that a thought along the lines of, "boy, it sure would be nice to live in Rivendell, as long as I'm not an Arwen," does pop into my head. I suppose based on that I can say that I somehow am drawn to the 'world' more. (?)

[Frodo Baggins]

I'm a both fan myself Lush. I love the stories and the World of Middle-Earth as well, and usually at the same time. Though I do sometimes wish elves and hobbits were in this world. *sigh*

[Thinlómien]

Though I do sometimes wish elves and hobbits were in this world. *sigh*

I sometimes find myself thinking "What if I popped into Rivendell; what would happen to me? Would I be killed as an orc or as a spy? Or would they let me stay there? Or how much I could explain to them with my few words quenya vocabulary?" After thinking about that for a while, I usually realize that it can never happen... *sigh*

[ohtatyaro]

I would like to land in Rivendell (I hope be spared I hope), learn proper elvish in time and then teach them concept of a piano It seems all other kind of musical insturments are know there already. Imagine what elven made piano would sound like?

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by ohtatyaro

I would like to land in Rivendell (I hope be spared I hope), learn proper elvish in time and then teach them concept of a piano It seems all other kind of musical insturments are know there already. Imagine what elven made piano would sound like?

I suppose they'd do things with it that we humans don't even think of. And I mean just playing tricks, nothing else!!!!

[Morsul the Dark]

well all start as a story afterall you cant learn about the world with out the story im more of a world however my scope is more on the world during lotr while other worldies can recite all history names and what not of all ages

[Valier]

I personally like all of it. I've watched the movies,read the trilogy more than twice,read the Sillmirillion,and the unfinished tales. I like the whole world I guess J.R R was brilliant!

[Elu Ancalime]

For me i started on the story. I first got into lotr by seeing the two towers with a friend. I didnt understand anything that was going on, so i read the books. But then after reading the silmarillion, the hobbits, and others like unfinished tales, the world Tolkien created was overwhelming. I dont really refer to the books as lotr, because the lord of the rings is juust a part of the Ea created. I would refer to it as Ea or Arda, but few nonreaders understand that. I just think of it as Tolkiens works.
________
Fusion (europe)

[Thinlómien]

I dont really refer to the books as lotr, because the lord of the rings is juust a part of the Ea created. I would refer to it as Ea or Arda, but few nonreaders understand that. I just think of it as Tolkiens works.

I agree! It's impossible to say that you're a Arda-fan, or you'd like to play an Arda-quiz, because no one understands what are you talking about. But saying LotR or Middle-Earth isn't just the same thing.

[ArathorofBarahir]

To be brutally honest with you, I couldn't choose, and you can't make me. I love the story and the world just the same.

I'm both.. I first loved the story, and when the movies came out, I became attached to Middle Earth itself. all I remember saying when I first saw FotR was: It's sooooo pretty!!!!

[Oroaranion]

First thoughts after many readings of the books is that I am a story man. I have read the Hobbit and the Silm, and enjoyed both, although initially the Silm was quite hard to get into. I have a hard time imagining teh world and places inside my head, the images in there ae supplied by the movies, and this is only one person's view of the world.
Also, reading the appendices is very interesting, as it helps develop characters and give the story more of a history.

[Calan]

Like so many, I began with the story - read The Hobbit in elementary school, and subsequently lost interest for a few years. When the movies were initially announced, I found the thread again, and went headlong into the trilogy; aided in no small part by the interest in Dungeons & Dragons that I had developed in between times. These days, I read the trilogy in full once or twice a year, and just odd chapters at a whim.

I suppose that makes it fairly recently that I've dug deeper into the rest of the milieu. I'd never really much paid attention to the appendices in Return of the King before, much less the other books; now that I actually have the patience to churn through the weightier volumes, so much the better! The real joy is in the details as well as the vast view, and years of tabletop roleplaying have made me very aware of both views.

In short: though the story came first, the two ideas are far too intertwined now for me to decide between them - and why would I want to?

PS: Q#5 - b) Elrond, for the prose version.

[Eowyn Skywalker]

How can you possibly put it into words? The story is incredible. You have to fall in love with the story to ever love the world. I read the story, and I loved it, but the world contained so much depth... I wanted to fanfic, I wanted to learn the language, I wanted to know more and so much more! It's what drove me to love Star Wars just as much. They both had these worlds. And with both fandoms effecting me, I have to say with both it's the worlds, the races, the languages, the possibilities for so much more!

I love the stories. The worlds wouldn't be the same without the "canon". But after I read/watched/etc, I found myself thinking fanfictions up in my head. I built on to the worlds and made characters, immediately became a role-player of sorts. I loved RPs on sites like these because they allowed further exploration.

You can't love the world without loving at least one of the stories. But the world offers so much more than the plot does. It allows for room to run, to play, to let your fingers do the speaking over text rather than merely read it once, get the story, that's it.

I love worlds that offer the emmensity of Middle-earth, the sorts of worlds that let you make forums and fictions and RPGs. I'm not entirely a world lover. I'll never be able to read all of HoME and like it better than the LotR books. But it's probably a 60:40 in favor of the world.

[elfearz1]

I am definately a lover of the world of Middle Earth. From the moment I found Lord of the rings (since I found it before the hobbit,the Silm. etc) I was captivated. It's so rich in culture and creatures I had never heard of. It has got a deep history like no other fantasy. It was a place my imagination could get lost in and my heart could roam free leaving my problems and the real world behind. I wasted time in math class daydreaming I was off in Mirkwood singing or riding horses. Pretending I was on a journey with the fellowship made walking home everyday bearable. I was seriously stunned with it and found I loved the Hobbit even more than Lotr. Since then I try to soak up as much knowledge about ME and it's history as possible.

[Gil-Galad]

hmmm... heres a comic that deals with different LOTR fans

LinkY!!!

[Thinlómien]

Nice comic. And I've certainly seen that somewhere before. I'm the yellow.

[JennyHallu]

I love the story, but it's dependent on the world for its existence. You can't separate the two...the story without the world would nver have had the depth and mystery and epic feeling, the ability to remind us that our lives are just chapters in a larger story that began before our earliest ancestors were born and will never end. But the world without the story wouldn't have the same power to hypnotize and capture. Those that love Middle-Earth want to go there...

[Salacia Deloresista]

I am a world lover, completely and totally. I was never drawn into the plot. For me, the apeal lies in the cultures, the land descriptions, the fact that the books illustrate not just a plot line but a living history as well...

The characters, for me, are only important as far as they show the cultures of their own races, the plot line simply a way to travel through and experience first-hand as many aspects of Middle Earth as possible. That's why the differences between the movies and the books don't bother me so much. I'd have paid just as much to see 3 hours worth of screen shots, or paintings. It's all about the artistry, bringing the world so much to life. *sighs happily and walks off to write more RPG entries*

[Essex]

but the plot is the most tightly bound, superbly worked out one I've ever read. Just try and change one small part of the story and it has a domino effect right across the rest of the book.

for example

- hobbits fall asleep by the barrow - merry doesn't get the sword from the barrow. Witch King doesn't die. Minas Tirith may therefore fall - and most importantly the two orcs (one of them a tracker) near sam and frodo wouldn't argue and would no doubt find the two hobbits and the Quest would be over.

just becasue the hobbits fell asleep by the barrow Middle Earth is saved!!!!


But then to add to this, the Characters of the hobbits, the little people, the 'ordinary' guys are close to my heart. I live and breath middle earth through their eyes. I cry and laugh and feel pride and heartache with them every time I read the book.

[Legolas in spandex]

I found the world to be very captivating and at times I find myself wishing to be exploring the lands of Middle-Earth in person . It gives me such a sense of adventure and wonder. 'Tis way cool.

[Glaurung]

I suppose I myself am a world-lover, though I love the story too... Maybe I am a 35% story 65% world LotR fan. I think at first I was a story fan (might be because I was very little when LotR was read aloud to me...I suppose nearly all children who read LotR are story-lovers rather than world-lovers, at least in the beginning..)

[Mithalwen]

World, totally and overwhelmingly. When I read the hobbit I wanted to know more about Rivendell and the elves and the history. When I came to the LoTR I ground to a halt at the end of the two towers.Partly perhaps because the world was rather horrible at that point and partly I didn't care enough about Frodo and Sam to persist (and clearly it would be ages before theere was any more Legolas!) The story didn't have enough hold to get me to the end at that time. Although I got through the story a year or so later and moved on to the Silmarillion, UT and the early volumes of HoME, LOTR was really a resource book for my fascination with elves and their languages. I really must read LotR properly again but the long haul to Bree is a bit off putting.

[deal_with_it]

I love the entire Middle Earth world and have dreamed of travelling in it and seeing it for real. I have played the role playing games and taken the descriptions of places in those games as a sort of supplement to the world of Tolkein even though the places are never described in the books.

Silmarillion has always been a tough read for me. I've never gotten into it, but everything else Middle Earth I love.

[Taralphiel]

I have a feeling my post will be more a record of my indecisiveness than anything! :P

When I read the first post I though 'Ha! I'm a (newly returned) roleplayer. I must be more of a world fan!' So 60-40.

I began to read all of the posts discussing reasons for why people are more world or story fans (or both), and it began to make me wonder. I love Tokien's writing. I love his creation of a unique, delicate, and extremely detailed culture of an entire planet. I love his characters interation, and their cultural beliefs mixing in with one another. I can't really say that I don't love the stories in LOTR. So I change to 50-50.

But the world, the scenery (both built up in my mind, and on the screen in the movies) is wonderful, and the history beyond that of The Lord of the Rings is what has kept me a fan so long. So now, smoke begins to come out of my ears.....

I think in the end I state myself as a Tolkien fan - through and through. Every part of his writing, and the wonderful way his mind wove a world of its own. That world, and every story in it, will always have me in wonder.

Am I just dodging the question? *giggles*

[Goldberry101]

There isn't really one or the other...world or story fans I mean. The silmarillion, while a history, is also a collection of stories. It is all told in story form. If I had to make a distinction, I would say that there is those who love the story of the characters, and those who love the story of all of middle earth, or if you want to call it something more historcaly accurate, like Arda :-)

[Rhod the Red]

I'm both. I love the world of Middle-Earth and the stories.

[Texadan]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

I've noticed that there are two different kinds of LotR-fans; those who love the story and those who love the world.
This actually is also for those who have become fans because of the movies; what in the movies fascinated them most?

My aunt is a perfect example of a story-lover LotR-fan. She reads it always again and again (as she does with a few other books). Once I asked her, has she read The Silmarillion. "I started it, but it was so boring, that I couldn't read it any further", she answered.
So story-lovers love just the story, and the characters maybe. They usually don't read The Sil, or HoMEs.

The others, world-lovers, love Middle-Earth. Its places, cultures, peoples and languages. They may end up with playing RPGs in ME.

Of course people can't be divided so roughly; I don't say that the story-lovers wouldn't love Middle-Earth as a place, or the world-lovers wouldn't love LotR as a story.

Have you ever noticed this distinction? Which group do you belong in?
I myself belong to the world-lovers, I suppose, though I love the story too...
I'm interested to hear your answers...

I'm a little of both. Now. The first time I picked up The Silmarillion my reaction was the same as your Aunt's. I didn't touch it again for years. Then I tried it again and found myself enjoying it, though not as much as the story. I'm still a story person but I now enjoy the history and culture of Middle-Earth as well.

[Laitoste]

It alternates. Sometimes, I just want to wander the eaves of Doriath, or those of Lorien, or even the plains of Rohan, and discover their secrets for myself. Others, like right now, I am simply struck by how much I love the story of The Lord of the Rings, and all I want to do is curl up and relive the narrative. So, it depends on when you ask me, really...which is absolutely inconclusive. But there you go.

[ninja91]

Both! The world itself is a beautiful creation of adventure and myth. The story is full of valiance, friendship, and integrity. Tolkien is a genious- to make the world of Arda, to build societies, create histories, and then to make an elaborate story that beats out the Bible (sorry God). I going to go play with my LOTR warhammers now! later

[Volo]

(Don't take it too seriously)
Like the greatest Finnish philosopher said: "It's fifty-sixty."

Silm is my favourite book from Tolkien, for both world and plot. I'm really interested in Tolkien's languages and the history of Arda, but I'm too lazy to read enough about it. I rather invent my own world...

[MatthewM]

I'm in the "Story" group. I haven't read the Silm or even The Hobbit yet. I intend to one day, but I've never had the ambition to like I have with The Lord of the Rings. I'm currently re-reading TLotR, and I'm in love with all things in the story---it's characters, it's places, it's feeling, it's magic....I get so much fulfillment by reading The Lord of the Rings that right now I just don't have the ambition to read the other works.....yet.

That doesn't mean that I don't read the HoMe, though. I have a few of the volumes of it (I will get them all soon), and I also have The Letters, The Reader's Companion, amongst other analtyical Tolkien (and predacessors) on LotR.

[SarumanCymraeg]

I very much fit into the 'world' category, and I love all the 'what ifs' and all that and theorising on stuff such as what would happen if Galadriel took the Ring, if Helm's Deep was lost, if there were more Balrogs etc etc etc etc

However, I love the story, but I always wish for more (a full account of the Battle of Dale, of Saruman's devices in Dol Guldur and so forth). It's unquenchable!