#my last silm re-read was a while ago

[moonchild-in-blue]

yoooo omg i didn't know you're into lotr!! not to go on a thousand tangents but it's also one of my fav media properties, are you a movie or book person or both? are you into any of the supplemental books like silmarillion, beren and lúthien, etc? fav characters or plotlines/moments? :0

HA! It seems we're once again bonding over our shared feral love over media, Aqua. Get out of my brain (joking, this is extremely cool to me!!!)

You have no idea the ancient can of peas worms you just opened. To say I love LOTR is an understatement lmao. Also, I can't help but go off a million tangents and write Way Too Much, so I feel you, really. Let's get to it then (this is so loooooong i apologise) 🧝‍♀️

Movie or Book Person?

Both! Although I have to confess, it has been many years since I've read the books. I've been meaning to re-read them, and for some reason I have been noticing a spike in LOTR content on my dash, so I guess I kinda really have to now! I absolutely ADORE the movies (yes, even The Hobbit trilogy with it's unnecessary plotlines -> looking at you elves and that weird romance. Everyone did such a great job! Also, Thranduill, my beloved elf daddy, and Sauron, you sexy evil dragon), and have re-watched them an ungodly number of times.

They are beautiful, iconic, and just so comforting. AND THE SOUNDTRACK AAAA. I still get chills hearing Pippin sing "The Edge of Night" while Denethor destroys that tomato. It's such a beautiful, chilling, and poignant tone shift and portrayal of Pippins loss of innocence due to the cruelty of the world, and the realities of war.

Supplemental content?

Not yet! I have read The Hobbit a long time ago, and I really want to read The Silm. I tend to procrastinate a lot, but I want to get them done during this next year! I have yet to watch Rings of Power as well. Speaking of Silmarillion, may I nudge you in the direction of @summeringminor? I have only recently discovered their account, and they make BEAUTIFUL Silm fanart, among others. I can't recommend them enough!

(oh, if you're into asmr and/or audio books, I'm leaving here these links of Cavern, a guy on youtube who read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of The Hobbit, in sort of a soft-spoken, cozy tone. He does all the voices and accents - his voice is so so beautiful and warm to hear! Also he's cute lol. He has done some other soft-spoken reading as well, like E. A . Poe! I find it super calming and relaxing 😚)

Fav Characters/Moments/Plotlines?

Samwise Gamgee my beloved 💙🥔

If I'm being honest, I can't really say I have A Favourite. The 4 Hobbits are just!! my babies. Legolas is SO COOL (also Orlando Bloom has 100% influenced my view of him, sorry). My girlies Éowyn and Galadriel, Gandalf my beloved. I just love them all hehe.

This may be a bit of a cop-out answer, but rather than a favourite plotline, I am just so so in love with the underlying themes. Some of my favs:

-> All the different types of friendship and love portrayed:

Sam and Frodo - how they rely on each other, and have genuine pure love for one another, and constantly acknowledge it! The whole Samwise The Brave scene, and of course the Mountain of Doom climb 😭😭 | Gimli and Legolas - how despite of centuries of prejudice and hatred between Hobbits and Elves, they form a beautiful bond and fight side by side as friends!!! | Aragorn and Arwen "I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone" | Boromir and Aragorn - how Aragorn cares and honours him to the very end, and never blames him for being corrupted by the ring, "my captain my king" | MERYY AND PIPPIN MY MOST BELOVEDS | the general friendship and self-sacrifice displayed by the fellowship for Frodo and the other hobbits throughout the whole journey

-> The parallels with war and its ugliness; The effects of the corruption by the ring and how different characters react to it:

The last scene when the 4 of them return to The Shire. The movies and books differ a lot, but both are incredible portrayals of how war is never quite over; how it changes you forever; how your home changes as well | Again, that scene with Pippin in the Gondor court in contrast with Sam's speech "There is some good in this world, Mr. Frodo" from the Two Towers. I just !!! yeah | How Saruman gave in to fear and power vs Gandalf and Aragorn who refused power in fear of being corrupted | How Smeagol was shown no compassion for his condition, for which he had very little control of, aside from Frodo, who understood exactly how the Ring operated and was afraid of facing the same fate

-> All the gender/stereotype subversions

Éowyn my beloved!!! How determined she was to prove she was as capable as any man, and SERVED | Galadriel and her immense power and presence | How no one had faith in 4 little Hobbits, and yet they were the ones who saved them all and changed the world forever - "My friends, you bow to no one" (i am tearing up as I write this) | How Radagast was mocked and cast aside, treated as lesser, ONLY TO BE RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!!! ; and how him and Gandalf, "lesser/minor wizards" turned out to be LIKE THAT in comparison to Saruman | the huge pressure put on Frodo, a little halfling, to go and do the most difficult task of all - something something the true heroes were the outcasts and how wonderful it was to see those who had actual power and means to aid them and put their faith in them

-> Anytime Merry and Pippin interact or make an appearance; LEMBAS; Po-tay-toes

There is A LOT MORE but I'm stopping myself here. I just adore LOTR so so much. Me and my friends are huge fans of the series, and it was one of the earliest thing we bonded over when we met, so it has an extra special meaning to me 💙💫

#sorry for taking this long - i wanted to make this as complete as possible!! #feel free to drop by and send me aaallll of your thoughts on lotr!!! it's one of my fav things ever!!! #lotr #lord of the rings #darya answers

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

I’m over a week past my Lord of the Rings first read anniversary. I really wanted to start a reread by now (Fall is always and forever associated with The Lord of the Rings for me, and I can’t see the leaves changing color without tumbling emotionally into Middle-earth and the Shire and the start of Frodo’s journey). I had wanted to finish Kocher’s Master of Middle-earth and Rateliff’s History of The Hobbit before I started a re-read, but it doesn’t look like that will happen, certainly not HotH: as fun as it is to watch the story evolve, you can only reread the same text while tracking minor variations in it for so long before you need something new (though Bladorthin (aka Gandalf) casually mentioning Beren and Luthien’s overthrowing of the Necromancer in the first draft was an awfully enjoyable discovery!) I’ll have to soldier on through it alongside LotR.

It has been several years—more years than I can really believe—since my last reread. There was a time when I read it every year, and then full, real, non-collegiate adulthood hit. This time I plan to read along with Hammond and Scull’s A Reader’s Companion. I just reread The Hobbit a few months ago and after LotR I hope to do a Silm reread and then a reread through...everything else. I’ve not gone all the way through Unfinished Tales or The History of Middle-earth since I was a teenager, though Morgoth’s Ring, The Lost Road, The Book of Lost Tales, and The Lays of Beleriand have all popped back into my consciousness now and then as I’ve needed to reference things. God knows what I’ve forgotten or gotten mixed up with fanon in the interim.

There’s a part of me that’s a little bit scared that, 15 years on, it won’t feel quite the same as it used to. I suppose it’s silly to expect a story to continue to feel the same over the span of decades, but it’s practically a holy text to me—or as close as I have to a holy text. Not to mention, the further I’ve gotten from my last reread, the less critical I have been of the films. I suspect, after this, they’re going to start raising my hackles again.

#tolkien #lord of the rings #lotr #reread #Fall is for Tolkien #personal