FINALLY!!!

[ArwenUndomiel02]

Well, I finished LOTR in few minutes ago. I must say, I'm proud of myself. I'm sure I paid much better attention than last time. I was rushed the first time because a certain Elven Lady-of-the-Golden Wood was breathing down my neck to get her books back, not to name any names, GALADRIEL. I have come to a conclustion. J.R.R. Tolkien must not have had much of a life. Ever read the Appendices? Appendix A, ii, pg.356, "THE REALMS IN EXILE?" It lists the full lineage of every freaking character in the book(or so it seems). Tolkien must have had a lot of time on his hands; making up all those names! Not that I'm complaining. All that time produced one hell of a great book! But seriously, who really cares that Aragorn's great-great-great(on and on) was also named Aragorn? Or that the first ruling Steward of Gondor was Mardil? These people never, ever come in to the stories! Come on people, I want to hear your opinions. I'm posting this elsewhere, so if you see it twice, there's no need to answer twice. Arwen Undomiel, Evenstar of the Elves The days are now short. Either our hope cometh, or all hope's end. Therefore, I send thee what I have made thee. Farewell, Elfstone!

[emilsson]

I thought like you the first time I read LOTR. Since then I´ve changed my mind. These appendices give the story depth, it´s like a sense of history. Personally, I think that is one of the reason LOTR is so good. I get an understanding of what has happened before and that places the events and the characters in a bigger picture. I guess I should mention I´m a history buff and that is another reason I love the information in the appendices. It gives me a chance to learn about the different aspects of Tolkien´s Middle Earth in the same way I study real life societies from the past. Lastly, I have to admire Tolkien´s imagination. To come up with all those details and stories are amazing and they deserve, in my opinion, to be included. :)

[ArwenUndomiel02]

Of course he had imagination. The stories in the back are a good idea, don't get me wrong. I just don't see the point in telling us the entire ancestry of everyone, unless they are mentioned in the actually book!

[bmilder]

It was very interesting to me... The depth of Middle Earth is incredible, and it's almost surprising that it's not real :D.

[Darth Tater]

I care!

[anduin]

bmilder's reply touches upon my sentiment on the inclusion of the Appendixes. When I first read LOTR, I found it so detailed, that I wondered if it was true. After I read the Appendixes, I believed it to be so. Why else would the lineage of Aragorn be neccessary, unless it was historical fact and deserved respectful mention? Please don't get me wrong, I am not so far gone (yet :P), that I believe a work of fiction to be true.....it is just that I had never read a book that caused me such pause!!

[Elanor]

I replied to this at the Shire, so go there if y'all want to read what I said . . . And you can all try out my initiation ceremony while you're at it. First you should know that you'll need the Hobbit and LotR books, a building of some sort, a ring, and some common chemicals.

[ArwenUndomiel02]

Someone save us. Elanor's gone and lost her mind. We must find it! I 'll bet she dropped it doing that initiation ceremony....:)

[Fastred of Greenholm]

Elanor's mind is perfectly fine. She's just more intelligent than the rest of the hobbits.

[Darth Tater]

Actually, though I know it makes no sense I've been convinced for quite some time I'm a either a descendent of Aragorn, or I'm Gandalf returned to earth. Run away!

[Elanor]

So what was the point of your message, Tater? Thank you, Fastred. I think you're pretty cool, too.

[samwiselvr2008]

well, he may have had a lot of exstra time, i'm not sher, but I find it intresting!

[entss89]

he had a lot of extra time, i guess!:D

[katya]

personally i dont think you really have to care what so and so's great great great so and so is but it can still give the story more depth. it all makes it seem so real that you almost start to believe it. i like the hobbit family trees the best though. maybe thats because i like the hobbits the best.

[Gildor]

Actually, we don't have extra time. We use the time we have. I'm glad he took the time for the history behind the story. He could have used it swapping jokes down at the local pub or (if he were alive today) chatting on message boards. The first time I read LOTR, I hardly glanced at the appendices, or read the poems and songs. Now, well, I've changed with age. Quality matters more to me than it did. Tolkien was an absolute perfectionist. (Read his letters and you'll see whereof I speak). I'm not like that. Unfortunately, I'll never write a masterpiece either. Sigh.

[Elenka]

Actually, I felt the same way, wondering if LotR could in some bizarre way be real, when I first started reading. So much detail. I felt like I was transported to a different world and it took me a long time to come back out of that world, even when I wasn't reading it.

[BeardofPants]

Originally posted by Gildor
The first time I read LOTR, I hardly glanced at the appendices, or read the poems and songs.

Oh god, I'm am SO guilty of that!

[olsonm]

Originally posted by BeardofPants


Oh god, I'm am SO guilty of that! Tsk. For shame! :eek: ;)

You'd be surprised how many of these names in the appendices come into other tales just as interesting as LotR, though unfortunately, most of these tales remain unfinished. :(

[BeardofPants]

How did I know that you were gonna berate me? :rolleyes:

[Artanis]

I agree with bmuilder and others, the lineage of people like Elrond, Aragorn, Denethor and Theoden is one of the things that makes the world of Tolkien seem so real. In elder days (in the real world), your place in society was determined by your inheritance. History writers would often start their stories by listing family trees of the persons involved.

Remember also how vital it is to Aragorn, to know he is the heir of Elendil and Isildur, his right to the throne of Arnor and Gondor is inherited in direct line from father to son.

[Sminty_Smeagol]

am i right in saying that tolkien didn't really necessarily want other people to read about ME? if my understanding is correct, he didnt think anyone would want to. He was just kind of inventing another world, right? So it's no ordinary book that takes place in some invented world. it is another world... an alternative universe...

[Gildor]

Tolkien said in his letters that he was not creating another world. He was writing about our earth in another time. The Shire was roughly in the vicinity of England. Numenor corresponds to our legends of Atlantis.

Also, he may have wondered whether anyone would be interested in his creation, but he did appreciate it when someone encouraged him by saying how much they enjoyed his works, and he wanted to publish Silmarillion long before he did. (The publishers thought there would not be a market for it.) Tolkien felt he had been directed to tell this story, that the story was already there, and he was discovering it as a sculptor discovers an image in granite and brings it into being. It's an interesting form of inspiration. I think that partially explains why he was so insistent that details be correct.

[markedel]

And the fragments we get are pretty good.

[RosieCotton]

I, at first, didn't even read the appendices. I thought they looked boring. But after I did read them, I'm glad I did. Also, after reading the Silmarillian, you really get a different perspective when you read Lord of the Rings again. I highly recommend it if you haven't read it yet. I also heard that Tolkien thought that no one would care about the history of M.E. Yet there will always be people like us. :)

[BeardofPants]

Yeah, there's nothing like re-reading LOTR after reading UT, Letters, and the Sil. :) And what made it really, really, special this time around, is that I actually enjoyed reading all the poems and songs, because I knew the background behind them... Plus I finally read the appendices. Now, I'm re-reading Harry Potter, and eagerly (and impatiently) awaiting my orders of Lost Tales Vols I & II that I ordered off amazon...

[RosieCotton]

I'm planning on reading Lost Tales 1 & 2 as well...I saw them at the library once, but I didn't have my card with me. Next time I went, someone had taken them out.

[galadriel]

Originally posted by RosieCotton
Also, after reading the Silmarillion, you really get a different perspective when you read Lord of the Rings again. I highly recommend it if you haven't read it yet. I agree; for me, rereading LOTR after reading the Silmarillion was almost like reading an entirely new book. So many obscure references suddenly become crystal clear. Definitely a worthwhile experience.