The First LOTR Fans - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

William Cloud Hicklin · 01-31-2008, 01:17 AM

Well, I didn't discover it until 1970 or 71, which was after the first Big Wave, but I hadn't heard any of it, living on a little Army base in Germany. I had checked The Hobbit out of the library many times, but since it was a First Edition there was no mention of a sequel. I don't remember how I learned of the LR, but when I did I had to special-order it (the original ugly Ballantines).

Selmo · 01-31-2008, 05:25 AM

I found Tolkien as a young teenager in 1961.
My younger brother brought The Hobbit home from school; I read it; I was hooked.

I quickly moved on to LoTR, borrowed from my local library, and then bored all my friends with my enthusiasm for the books. None of them were in the least bit interested.

The long wait for the publication of The Silmarillion was many years of torture.
.

Estelyn Telcontar · 01-31-2008, 08:26 AM

Back in 1973, my boyfriend gave me the four books (Hobbit and LotR) and said I simply had to read them. I've always been an avid reader, and though fantasy was a category which did not yet exist for me, I had read some science fiction (because of a brother who gave them to me and said I had to read them!) and lots of fairy tales, so I was quite willing to start.

It's a good thing I had finished all major projects for that semester because, aside from the bare necessities of life, I did absolutely nothing but read for the next three days. I was enthralled, and I know I didn't pay very close attention to the poetry and merely skimmed the battle scenes, because I was eager to continue. Can you imagine my disappointment when, all of a sudden, the book was finished?! I thought I still had half a volume to go, and there the rest of it was appendices and index! I'm not sure - it's very possible that I reread the whole thing immediately, just to get back to Middle-earth.

For Christmas of that year, my boyfriend gave me the Ballantine's red box with all four volumes, Tolkien's heraldic emblems on it, and Tolkien's illustrations on the covers, and Tolkien's words on the backs:

Quote:

This paperback edition, and no other, has been published with my consent and co-operation. Those who approve of courtesy (at least) to living authors will purchase it, and no other.

That was the answer to the Ace publication.

I remember seeing a Tolkien calendar in a shop some time that summer, IIRC, and not liking the images, because they did not fit in with my own mental pictures. I've often wondered who the artist(s) was/were? I don't remember. Anyway, shortly thereafter I came to Germany, and over here no one had ever heard of Tolkien - even Lewis' Narnia books (which I had come to read about the same time) were unknown. I'm not sure just when the first translation of the books appeared in Germany. I became a lone closet fan, rereading the books occasionally (LotR more often than the Hobbit - I've come to enjoy it more in recent years than I did back then), and not talking to anyone about them.

The boyfriend faded out of my life, but the books stayed with me. When my children were growing up, I never read the books to them, because we spoke German at home, and I only had them in English. Later, when I found the translation and tried to read it, it could never measure up to the original, so I let it be. I was very excited when the Bakshi movie came out and was shown here - dubbed, of course (always a disadvantage!), but still, it was hyped to be state of the art animation technique. I went to see it, did enjoy it at least somewhat, and was again very disappointed when what I thought was only a break turned out to be the end of the movie! I can remember protesting that the story wasn't over yet! I never did get around to seeing the other two (RotK and Hobbit) animated movies, except in bits on YouTube these days.

Then, more years later, the Peter Jackson movies came out; I was in the States visiting family there, and went to see FotR with my siblings and several family members - nine of us altogether, to be exact! I very much enjoyed it, got out the books and reread them, talked to my family about it, read every magazine article I could get my hands on - and soon everyone around me was bored with my attempts to tell them what I thought and felt!

Somewhere I got the web address of a site that listed the best LotR websites; after combing through several of those, I checked out one of the "community sites" on the list. That was the Barrow-Downs; I started with the main page before discovering the forum - when I found the discussions there, I was hooked! Finally there were other people just as interested as I - as a matter of fact, even more interested and knowledgable! That was six years ago, and though many of the discussions that I found most fascinating date back to the "good old days", I'm still here and still enjoying it! I have been incited by the discussions to read the Sil, Letters, and many, many other books both by and about Tolkien, learning a lot from the books and the people here.

Meeting real life fans and being part of an internet community do not exclude each other. I attended "Tolkien 2005" in Birmingham, met Barrow-Downs members and members of the German Tolkien Society there as well as other international fans, and generally had a wonderful time! Then I decided to join the German Society to have that opportunity more often. Now I'm preparing (for the second time) a serious lecture for our annual Seminar, have sewn costumes for the casual get-togethers, attended Oxonmoot once, and met over a dozen Downers on my various national and international trips.

Dear me, I'm rambling like a geezer, aren't I?! I guess since you asked for "it all", you got it!

For those who are interested in more tales from the olden days, I invite you to read the "Tolkien Coming of Age Club" threads 1 and 2. Over five years ago, I invited all Downers whose acquaintance with Tolkien's works goes back at least 18 years to join in reminiscing there, and though I have repeated my story here, many who posted several years ago have faded into memory, legend, myth even. Their tales are worth reading! Oh, and those of you who, like Ibrîn, have been Tolkien fans for over 18 years are very welcome to join us geezers there. We have plenty of rocking chairs to go around, and though things are slow, we are rather Entish beings and have long memories!

Laurinquë · 02-02-2008, 03:20 AM

That is amazing tale, how you must have suffered without any other LotR fans to pontificate with! I don't think I could have managed that, I might have "imploded" from pent up exuberance!
I would like to hear other Tolkien Coming of Age club members stories, i hope they pay a visit! I myself have been a fan for mere months, in fact I finished the less then a month ago (I read LotR first)! Really quite sad...
Oh, and no your not rambling Estelyn Telcontar, I love hearing this stuff!

Estelyn Telcontar · 02-02-2008, 04:06 AM

I'm glad you enjoyed my historical meanderings!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurinquë

I would like to hear other Tolkien Coming of Age club members stories, i hope they pay a visit!

You are very welcome to read the stories for yourself on the two threads to which I linked in my above post - anyone can look in! We've only restricted posting (not reading) to those Downers who have been Tolkien readers/fans for at least 18 years.

Lalwendë · 02-02-2008, 03:39 PM

Do I count as 'old time' then? I first read Tolkien in the early 80s (when it was deeply uncool, and the province of D&D fans, who were also deeply uncool then). In fact it is my silver anniversary this year...

There was certainly no internet then. I remember my first 'go' on the net was sometime around 1996-ish when my mate sneaked me into the University computer rooms because "this internet is brilliant and you've got to have a go on it, I reckon you can find anything on it, honest"

I looked up Stereolab, F1 and... Tolkien. Even then there were silly numbers of sites. I didn't get home internet until about....oooh....2000? And that was considered luxuriously 'high tech'! How times change...

***Mithadan*** · 02-02-2008, 04:48 PM

I have previously discussed at length my early and later experiences with being a fan of LoTR http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...019#post531019

TheGreatElvenWarrior · 02-03-2008, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurinquë

That is amazing tale, how you must have suffered without any other LotR fans to pontificate with! I don't think I could have managed that, I might have "imploded" from pent up exuberance!

If it wasn't for me then you wouldn't be a Tolkien fan... You would've barely even gotten halfway through the Fellowship, if I hadn't made you finish it... And for me it's all you know who's fault(I won't say her name online) for making me want to read Tolkien.
On another note, I wasn't even born before some (okay, most) BDers discovered LotR... I'm young and haven't even come up on my 1 year anniversary on reading LotR...

Thinlómien · 02-04-2008, 03:40 AM

I certainly don't qualify as one of the first LotR fans and not as an early Tolkien fan either, but as I became a LotR enthusiast before the films came out and before I discovered internet, or at least before I discovered discussion forums, so I feel like I have a "right" to ramble here...

I was introduced to Tolkien's work in 1996 when I was only six years old. I saw the Bakshi animation and TH and LotR were read aloud to me, later followed by Sil and UT. I did not know any other people who liked Tolkien except myself, my father (who introduced me to it), my sister (who also became a fan) and a friend of my mother's. It really didn't bother me, I was so small that I didn't care about discussing about LotR deeply (only things like "who's your favourite character" and those could be well discussed with my sister) and I could always immerse myself in ME by playing ME with my sister. I also introduced several friends of mine to LotR - means I told them about the races and the places - and then we played ME together. My friends didn't totally grasp everything it was about, but they thought it funny and some even read LotR.

Mostly my classmates thought I was a bit odd. It maybe is no wonder as when they read those "I just learned to read"-books with big font and less than 50 pages, I read LotR.

Later, too, they considered my fascination with LotR (and history and other stuff they thought strange) as something odd and abnormal and I didn't meet any fellow enthusiasts.

When the movies came out, everything changed. Everybody knew what LotR was about and suddenly it was much easier to convince people to read LotR. Not only did I either meet my current best friends or more or less managed to make them Tolkien fans back then, but I met other people of my age who liked LotR. I soon became disappointed, though, as they were mostly just interested in Orlando Bloom and had never read the book.

Then, some years later, I had become more interested in and accustomed to the internet and my English skills had developed into a satisfactory level. So, when I came across a certain forum, I registered - first just to ask a question that had troubled me - became hooked and have met lots of awesome Tolkien fans since then.

And I don't know if it's because the people who I socialise with are older, or because I hang around in certain sort of places or because the movies have raised LotR awareness significantly, but it seems I really meet/discover fellow Tolkien fans far more often than before in RL too.

Sauron the White · 02-04-2008, 08:48 AM

When I graduated from college in '71 I was sick and tired of reading only non-fiction as my major was political science and my minors sociology and history. I had just gotten married and my wife bought me a bunch of books to read over the summer and HOBBIT and LOTR were among them. I had a good friend who had read them and I would call him to discuss the latest chapters I had read. He kept saying that as good as I thought it was, it only kept getting better as the book developed. And he was right.

About the same time I worked as a recreation director for Dearborn Michigan and became friends with a guy named Tom Tataranowicz. We were both Polish Catholic kids with similar backgrounds and he was interested in both LOTR and antimation. He ended up working for Bakshi on a few films including LOTR and sent me a couple of hobbit cels.

I never went in for the societies or academic groups, but kept rereading the books every five to seven years. Bought SIL the first day it came out and read a bit of it in the car on the way to a Frank Frazetta convention in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania --- at least thats how I remember it.... it could have been a World Fantasy Con... who knows anymore?

Have read all the HOME and love the Jackson movies and am looking forward to the next ME films. I am lucky to have first US editions of HOBBIT and LOTR and lots of stuff from the films. My prized possession is a signed JRRT record album - POEMS AND SONGS OF MIDDLE EARTH which I bought from the collection of a rather well known New York city collector.

01-31-2008, 01:17 AM	#1
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	Well, I didn't discover it until 1970 or 71, which was after the first Big Wave, but I hadn't heard any of it, living on a little Army base in Germany. I had checked The Hobbit out of the library many times, but since it was a First Edition there was no mention of a sequel. I don't remember how I learned of the LR, but when I did I had to special-order it (the original ugly Ballantines). __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.

02-02-2008, 03:39 PM	#6
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	Do I count as 'old time' then? I first read Tolkien in the early 80s (when it was deeply uncool, and the province of D&D fans, who were also deeply uncool then). In fact it is my silver anniversary this year... There was certainly no internet then. I remember my first 'go' on the net was sometime around 1996-ish when my mate sneaked me into the University computer rooms because "this internet is brilliant and you've got to have a go on it, I reckon you can find anything on it, honest" I looked up Stereolab, F1 and... Tolkien. Even then there were silly numbers of sites. I didn't get home internet until about....oooh....2000? And that was considered luxuriously 'high tech'! How times change... __________________ Gordon's alive!

02-02-2008, 04:48 PM	#7
*Mithadan* Spirit of Mist Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Tol Eressea Posts: 3,393	I have previously discussed at length my early and later experiences with being a fan of LoTR http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...019#post531019 __________________ Beleriand, Beleriand, the borders of the Elven-land.

02-04-2008, 03:40 AM	#9
Thinlómien Shady She-Penguin Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In a far land beyond the Sea Posts: 8,093	I certainly don't qualify as one of the first LotR fans and not as an early Tolkien fan either, but as I became a LotR enthusiast before the films came out and before I discovered internet, or at least before I discovered discussion forums, so I feel like I have a "right" to ramble here... I was introduced to Tolkien's work in 1996 when I was only six years old. I saw the Bakshi animation and TH and LotR were read aloud to me, later followed by Sil and UT. I did not know any other people who liked Tolkien except myself, my father (who introduced me to it), my sister (who also became a fan) and a friend of my mother's. It really didn't bother me, I was so small that I didn't care about discussing about LotR deeply (only things like "who's your favourite character" and those could be well discussed with my sister) and I could always immerse myself in ME by playing ME with my sister. I also introduced several friends of mine to LotR - means I told them about the races and the places - and then we played ME together. My friends didn't totally grasp everything it was about, but they thought it funny and some even read LotR. Mostly my classmates thought I was a bit odd. It maybe is no wonder as when they read those "I just learned to read"-books with big font and less than 50 pages, I read LotR. Later, too, they considered my fascination with LotR (and history and other stuff they thought strange) as something odd and abnormal and I didn't meet any fellow enthusiasts. When the movies came out, everything changed. Everybody knew what LotR was about and suddenly it was much easier to convince people to read LotR. Not only did I either meet my current best friends or more or less managed to make them Tolkien fans back then, but I met other people of my age who liked LotR. I soon became disappointed, though, as they were mostly just interested in Orlando Bloom and had never read the book. Then, some years later, I had become more interested in and accustomed to the internet and my English skills had developed into a satisfactory level. So, when I came across a certain forum, I registered - first just to ask a question that had troubled me - became hooked and have met lots of awesome Tolkien fans since then. And I don't know if it's because the people who I socialise with are older, or because I hang around in certain sort of places or because the movies have raised LotR awareness significantly, but it seems I really meet/discover fellow Tolkien fans far more often than before in RL too. __________________ Like the stars chase the sun, over the glowing hill I will conquer Blood is running deep, some things never sleep Double Fenris

01-31-2008, 05:25 AM	#2
Selmo Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: The Shire (Staffordshire), United Kingdom Posts: 273	I found Tolkien as a young teenager in 1961. My younger brother brought The Hobbit home from school; I read it; I was hooked. I quickly moved on to LoTR, borrowed from my local library, and then bored all my friends with my enthusiasm for the books. None of them were in the least bit interested. The long wait for the publication of The Silmarillion was many years of torture. .

02-02-2008, 03:20 AM	#4
Laurinquë Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 347	That is amazing tale, how you must have suffered without any other LotR fans to pontificate with! I don't think I could have managed that, I might have "imploded" from pent up exuberance! I would like to hear other Tolkien Coming of Age club members stories, i hope they pay a visit! I myself have been a fan for mere months, in fact I finished the less then a month ago (I read LotR first)! Really quite sad... Oh, and no your not rambling Estelyn Telcontar, I love hearing this stuff!

02-04-2008, 08:48 AM	#10
Sauron the White Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 903	When I graduated from college in '71 I was sick and tired of reading only non-fiction as my major was political science and my minors sociology and history. I had just gotten married and my wife bought me a bunch of books to read over the summer and HOBBIT and LOTR were among them. I had a good friend who had read them and I would call him to discuss the latest chapters I had read. He kept saying that as good as I thought it was, it only kept getting better as the book developed. And he was right. About the same time I worked as a recreation director for Dearborn Michigan and became friends with a guy named Tom Tataranowicz. We were both Polish Catholic kids with similar backgrounds and he was interested in both LOTR and antimation. He ended up working for Bakshi on a few films including LOTR and sent me a couple of hobbit cels. I never went in for the societies or academic groups, but kept rereading the books every five to seven years. Bought SIL the first day it came out and read a bit of it in the car on the way to a Frank Frazetta convention in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania --- at least thats how I remember it.... it could have been a World Fantasy Con... who knows anymore? Have read all the HOME and love the Jackson movies and am looking forward to the next ME films. I am lucky to have first US editions of HOBBIT and LOTR and lots of stuff from the films. My prized possession is a signed JRRT record album - POEMS AND SONGS OF MIDDLE EARTH which I bought from the collection of a rather well known New York city collector.