This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Sadie and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase a print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Sadie’s responses:

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1. How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

When I was 10 or 11 years old, my aunt gave me The Hobbit to read. Now, I don’t remember why she did this, nor did she probably think it would grow into a total fanatic obsession. At the time, I had a bad habit of starting and stopping books, or starting books and never finishing them, so it took me a while to read it. I started it, got bored, read something else, and I picked up The Hobbit again when I was in middle school. Somewhere between starting The Hobbit and actually finishing it, I watched the Peter Jackson adaptations and fell head first in love and into this world. Over the past ten years, I have probably seen the movies 300 times. I would talk about them constantly to anyone who would listen, driving most people crazy.After I got myself invested in the movies, I decided to try the books. That led to me finishing The Hobbit when I was twelve. At the same time, the story itself inspired me to write my own (terrible) fanfiction that eventually morphed itself into its own creation that I now keep alive through a writing role play with my best friend. After I finished The Hobbit, I attempted (and failed) to read the trilogy. I got slowly through Fellowship and Two Towers and when I was in eighth grade, I read The Silmarillion for the first time. I finished Return of the King later that year. The story itself and the community around it has helped me through some hard times and helped me crawl out of my shell when I was in middle school, even if it did get me labeled as a nerd, which I quickly found to be a good thing. 🙂

2. What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

My favorite part(s) (it’s too hard to choose just one) are when Fingon rescues Maedhros from the cliffs of Thangorodrim, Fingolfin’s Challenge, the voyage of Earendil, and the passage in Return of the King when Aragorn is healing Eowyn and a healer recognizes him as the king saying, “the hands of the king are the hands of a healer, so shall the rightful king be known”. Along with the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen in the appendices. I have many more but I had to narrow it down

3. What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

My fondest experiences have probably happened in the past year or so. I am a sophomore in college and my department (history) has game nights every year (this year was different due to COVID). Last year, at both the Christmas Party and game night, a few of us played Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit and another Tolkien trivia game (that we thought we were going to be good at, we all sucked). We played so late into the night both times that we were kicked out of the areas we were in. Then, this year, at the beginning of spring semester, I decided to do a research proposal project for my Intro to Historical Studies class, on Tolkien’s works and the influence of Christianity and the Bible. One night, two friends and I were seated around a table, theorizing and trying to figure out who might have influenced characters and events in Tolkien. It was a special night for me, because I love discussing things like that with my loved ones and for one of the first times, I had found people who loved it as much as I do.

4. Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

The way I approach the works is very different now, than it was when I was a teenager. I like to approach them now as stories of hope and wonder. Stories that if given the chance, I would pour over for hours as a job. When I was a teenager, I approached them much the same way but also then, it was because I was much more connected with the films than I was with the books.

5. Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

Would I recommend Tolkien? Of course! I want people to find the wonder in it that I did and have their outlook on life changed the way mine was. It’s helped me find the good in the world, through the fandom and community. Every time I read them, I find something new.

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You can find more from Sadie on Reddit!

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Patrick and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase a print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Patrick Fulton’s responses:

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1. How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

Films by uncle and aunt at 7. Read more at 10 yrs old as a result, then Silmarillion at 11 yrs old.

2. What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

His unique imagination and ability to pull together resources, philology, tales and myth together in a ridiculously brilliant way.

3. What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

Going to an exhibition in Oxford , and meeting the illustrator Alan Lee.

4. Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Yes. Began with films, developed with reading books of his, and a few years ago I used my fascination with Tolkien to write (as part of my UK education) an EPQ on him.

5. Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

Yes. His detail and history in his Legendarium is (beyond being the lead influence in modern epic story) supreme to that of other franchises. Of course, others are also brilliant, but I believe his is the best universe in many ways.

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Annie B and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase a print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Annie B’s responses:

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1. How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

I was probably 4 or 5 years old when I was first introduced to The Lord of the Rings. My parents took my sisters and I on a picnic to Lake Michigan on a Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee. We were in the car when the PBS broadcast came on for LOTR and I remember listening intently and being fascinated by the characters and story. I was a fan from that moment on and read The Hobbit years later but have returned time and again to his works. When I began my PhD work several years ago, I was not intending to study Tolkien but through a chance visit to Marquette University I was once again set on the path of adventure. After my visit to Marquette, I could not deny how much Tolkien’s spoke to me, especially in his relationships with the women in his life. As a result of this experience I became a Tolkien scholar and am working on the layering of women within his academic and fantasy portfolio from their origins in original Norse and early medieval poetry.

2. What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

I love all of Tolkien’s fantasy works but my true affinity lies with his poetry, especially his academic works. I find his language development and verse truly magical, especially his rewriting of women. He creates deep and powerful figures who transcend the pages they occupy; his translations often hone in on otherwise marginalized figures and offer them a chance to speak of the power they possess in the works themselves but also through history. It is through his poetry that I discovered much of the underlying ideas of history and strength within his female characters. This is especially evident in his manuscripts and personal notes from his undergraduate days, which I find engrossing and inspiring.

3. What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

I have so many fond experiences but I think reading the stories to my children and having them love the characters and stories as much as I do is truly eye-opening. My youngest even had to dress up as Samwise Gamgee for Halloween one year. A close second would be my time sitting down with the manuscripts at Marquette University. I was searching through microfilm/fische on Galadriel (I think) and came across his notes on scansion on “The Owl and the Nightingale.” I was in awe, it was a curious glimpse into the mind of a serious thinker; at that moment I realized the depth of his genius and his teaching. Tolkien’s writing has always reached out to me but through his academic work, I have begun to understand what an influential medievalist he was, and through his written examples I understand my own affinity for Medieval verse and history – the real history.

4. Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Absolutely, especially as a teacher and in my own research techniques, my approach has become much slower and more directed. I laughed out loud at Andrew Higgins’s commentary on your recent podcast, he mentioned the hours of transcribing a certain document, only to find the typescript a few boxes down the line, and that those hours of work can be so telling—I have done this so many times. Working with his personal papers has taught me to really savor each layer of his writing and focus on the process as well as the construction. 

5. Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

Yes, I do everyday. Actually his works are one of my favorite gifts to give, especially to my students. He teaches us so much about humanity and the creative mind through his world building and character relations. I can’t help but feel privy to a special community that embraces you as you read and experience his creations; it is a feeling I want to impart to others if I can. As a teacher I want my students to understand the kindness and understanding that comes from a whole new world. Teaching empathy—even through darkness and despair—is something that we all need to experience and maybe can help someone else understand that kindness and love really are the greatest things in life. I am trying to get a Smial off the ground here in Cleveland, Ohio and eventually would love to bring a Tolkien conference to Kent State University.

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You can find more from Annie B on Instagram or her blog!

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Pauline and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase a print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Pauline’s responses:

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1. How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

I had to read The Hobbit in high school in the late 1980’s.

2. What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

That he didn’t just tell a story, he built a world and apparently inspired/set the stage for people like George R.R. Martin to do the same.

3. What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

My late son and I watched Jackson’s LotR movies repeatedly and just before his death (at age 11) had begun discussing LotR on a level deeper than “just a cool story”.  It was the Good vs. Evil struggle and Campbell’s idea of The Reluctant Hero and his Mentor like Skywalker/Kenobi. As well as Chaotic vs Lawful.  (I had also introduced him to Dungeons and Dragons Online.)

4. Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

• Didn’t care for it in HS when I was forced to read it.
• It became s connection point w/ my son, and I have since gone back and re-read it numerous times.
• I now feel it is so monumental in our culture that I chose to read it aloud as part of my English/Language Arts curriculum while teaching Graduate Equivalency classes at a Medium Security Men’s Prison here in Georgia.

5. Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

Always. It is unlike so many other ‘High Fantasy’ works and like Jimi Hendrix or Nirvana, it was the first of its kind; the flag bearer; the harbinger of Fantasy for All…or at least a large percentage of ‘All’.

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Pauline and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase a print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Pauline’s responses:

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1. How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

Quite honestly, I’ve been rather lucky. It all happened 20 years ago (!) : When I was 11, one of my teachers told us about The Hobbit; she really wanted us to read, to become readers, to discover the wonderful worlds hidden behind book covers, and it’s crazy how I perfectly remember her presenting The Hobbit to our class (an illustrated edition). And I perfectly remember how I told myself that ‘Yes I SHOULD read this book’! I didn’t immediately though… but a few weeks later, Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring was opening in French theatres, and my father (who had read The Lord of the Rings as a teenager), took me to the cinema. I remember my amazement accompanying those first steps into Middle-earth ; I knew I wanted to be part of it, although I didn’t really catch everything about the plot!

It’s only a few months later, when my dad came back home with the VHS (!!!) of The Fellowship of the Ring, that I finally understood what I was watching and I loved it ; I then read the books, first The Hobbit, then the LotR. And little by little, I discovered the hidden part of the iceberg: The Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales, and the whole History of Middle-earth, followed by Tolkien’s scholarly writings, and other scholarly works about Tolkien, in both French and English

2. What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

I’m what I call “an elder-days-lover”. I obviously love the LotR, I read and reread it passionately, but the Noldorin part of me always returns to Beleriand, or even farther! To Tirion, or even Cuiviénen! The discovery of The Silmarillion and HoMe changed everything in my life, both personal and professional. I have a deep affection of the last volumes of HoMe ; “The Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth” is one of my favourite texts, but I’m also fascinated by the “Laws and Customs of the Eldar” and “Myths Transformed.” I read “The Shibboleth of Fëanor” way too many times, along with the chapter about Maeglin that we find in The War of the Jewels (those are just a few examples of my favourite parts).

3. What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

Ah, that’s a tough question!

I should mention here that my first attempt at translation happened with one of his texts ; long story short, I was part of Tolkien fan group on Facebook, and I wanted to discuss a part of HoMe that hadn’t yet been translated into French, but most of the members didn’t speak/read English; so I translated excerpts of those texts for them. That’s how I realized how much I loved translating, and that’s why now I’m studying to become a professional literary translator!

Working on my own on Tolkien’s texts also made me realized how much I loved studying: It might seem weird, but I had left university for a couple of years when I started digging deeper into his works and related works: it made me understand how important it was for me. That’s why I returned to university to complete a second degree, and that’s how I was finally able to follow a training in translation!

4. Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Oooh yes! Remember, I mostly encountered Tolkien through PJ’s first trilogy! After I read and reread all of Tolkien’s texts about Middle-earth, my perspective greatly evolved ; not only about the first trilogy (which I somehow judge more severely now, but which will always be special to me because they represent the window through which I discovered Arda), but also about the texts! After all, I grew up with those texts, and my interpretation of them, my approach to the characters and to the events evolved with me; partly because I don’t see the world today as I did when I was 20, but also because of my increasing knowledge about Tolkien not only as a writer, but also as professor and as a man. Besides, I said, I enjoy reading scholarly works about Tolkien precisely because they help me look at Arda through other perspectives; I don’t always agree, but at least it allows me to take some distance with my own vision of Tolkien’s world – and I love that!

5. Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

I always do recommend it, but not always with the same arguments! It depends on who I’m talking to

A quick example: I live in Paris, so I had the magical opportunities to go and return (9 times, up to now) to the wonderful Tolkien exhibition at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. I took a lot of people there: friends, parents or aunts, people who didn’t know ANYTHING about Tolkien. None of them had read the books, only some of them had watched the Peter Jackson’s movies… But they were all fascinated by the exhibition and asked me where they should start if they wanted to read Tolkien’s texts. For my friends still in their 20s, I recommended starting with The Hobbit and, if they enjoy it, LOTR. As for my parents and aunts I mostly recommended starting with The Children of Hurin, which, even though it is related to the whole Silmarillion material, stands very well as a story in itself, and is maybe more appealing to people who don’t usually read fantasy. Mr Bliss and Revorandom I will soon offer to my young niece, both in French and English, and I also plan to record myself reading them so that she can listen to those stories as soon as possible!… then, I hope she’ll ask for more.

The (hi)stories of Arda can appeal to anyone because the themes treated are universal; but not everyone would have the time/patience to read The Lord of The Rings, or The Silmarillion. But Tolkien treated so many genres, so many literatures, that I believe anyone can find something, a book or a story, which will delight them.

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You can find Pauline on Twitter!

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Peg and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase a print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Peg Powler’s responses:

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1. How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

The first reference I remember came in a novel I read in early childhood, though I don’t recall either title or author. In it the characters read The Lord of the Rings together in the evenings to give them sustenance through a time of difficulty. The way LotR was described, the richness of its contents, intrigued me, but I never came across any Tolkien in my local library. I loved fantasy and I devoured the work of authors like Alan Garner, George MacDonald, Alison Uttley, Peter Dickinson and Rosemary Sutcliff.

I didn’t actually read LotR until I was 16 or 17, when a close friend urged me to buy the books. Back then, the cost represented a significant outlay, but once I’d begun to read Fellowship I couldn’t relax until I had the other volumes lined up ready. Subsequently I read Humphrey Carpenter’s biography (feeling rather sorry for Edith’s lot) and toyed briefly with the idea of studying philology at Leeds – in which case I would have been taught by Tom Shippey!

By my mid-twenties, I’d re-read LotR several times, and The Silmarillion once, but by then I’d been coping with severe health problems for some years, so I set Tolkien aside. Admittedly, my reading of him then was rather superficial, given my physical and cognitive debility

2. What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

Being close to the natural world has been essential to me my whole life. Tolkien’s evocations of weather, sky, hills, trees, scents and sounds, the seasons and times of day and night still have the power to enchant. All this, together with the sense of mystery and otherness has meant certain parts of LotR, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales have stayed with me vividly since my first reading: the journey to Rivendell; the departure from Lothlorien; travels through Ithilien (I’m retiring there); the long, quiet return journey through the lands of Middle-earth back to the Shire, parting with friends along the way; the progress of Ungoliant and Melkor through Aman; the Helcaraxë; Tuor’s journey along the Rainbow Cleft and down into Beleriand.

The themes of persistence in the face of certain loss, eventual consolation, questions of death and the implications of immortality, the mythic atmosphere, the transmission of memory and the evocation of passing ages are all aspects of Tolkien’s work that I find endlessly absorbing.

3. What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

Coming back to reading Tolkien after a gap of 25-30 years, while sitting in my rural garden over a long bright summer, I felt as though The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion were completely different books to the ones I had read in my youth. I thought I knew them.

4. Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Coming back to Tolkien after so long, I can appreciate much more now the depth and complexity of his themes, and the subtle psychological portraits of certain characters. The Silmarillion, which I’d found a beautiful but baffling slog at 20, I now find an engrossing story cycle of creation and fate.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been reading works of Tolkien criticism for the first time. Verlyn Flieger’s work in particular has been a revelation to me.

5. Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

No. I think about my schoolfriend (a friend to this day) who encouraged me to buy Fellowship all those years ago. When we were studying for our A Levels, she tried to write about LotR for one of her Eng. Lit. dissertations, but the department treated the idea with derision. I encountered a similar attitude later from friends I made at university. Even my own husband believes fantasy and science fiction are for kids, or for adults who don’t want to grow up! For a large part of my life Tolkien has not been considered worthy of serious attention by intelligent people. Too many people still regard him, and readers of fantasy, myth, legend and folktale, as atavistic and childish. That’s completely wrong of course, but at this stage I’m happy to keep my love of all things Tolkien to myself.

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Samantha and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase a print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Samantha Y’s responses:

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1. How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

When I was 7 years old, I had a babysitter named Becky. She is half-Korean like me, and she was an incredibly exciting and charming person. I was totally enthralled with her. She loved The Lord of the Rings, and so I wanted to be a fan as well. She took me to the first movie when it came out, and she took me to a “hobbit party” that many years later has inspired me to host my own every year.

2. What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

It’s so hard to choose! Generally, I love the message that even the smallest, most insignificant being can make the difference in turning the world from dark to light. For that reason, I think the moment the One Ring is destroyed and you recognize all of the moments and choices that led to that outcome is my favorite part of his work. However I also really love his essay On Fairy-stories!

3. What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

I spent a summer in high school studying children’s literature at Oxford. I met a couple other Tolkien fans in my class, and the three of us went to the Eagle and Child pub. Discussing his and C.S. Lewis’s works in that room was such a magical experience, it felt like the Professor could have been just around the corner.

4. Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Yes! I was such a big fan from an early age, so it was really disappointing and sad to read Junot Diaz’s book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and realize that some young readers may have had such a negative reaction to Tolkien’s work. However that inspired me to investigate further the racial implications and impact of the Orcs for example. I have had conversations about these issues with a professor of critical race theory, read Tolkien, Race and Cultural History, and even corresponded with podcast hosts of The Prancing Pony Podcast on the issue. I don’t think there’s anything “wrong” with Tolkien’s works. Rather, I see it as my responsibility as an avid fan and member of a 21st century society to wrestle with these issues and self-educate.

5. Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

Absolutely! I love these stories for so many reasons. They are foundational for anyone interested in fantasy fiction. There is likely no other example of a canon so meticulously and beautifully detailed. Regardless of a person’s interest in fairy stories, it is a true masterpiece, an objectively significant work of art that made a huge mark on our culture.