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24 Mar, 2010
2010-3-24 9:49:07 AM UTC
Has your wife already made it clear she wouldn't appreciate the tea Parmastahir?

BH
24 Mar, 2010
2010-3-24 11:44:29 AM UTC
I also think that 'Mr Burns' would be the rightful winner, but I will nevertheless post my little 'Tolkien history', just for fun and for old time's sake.

I am now 19 years old (actually my 19th birthday is tomorrow!) , and I first got in touch with Tolkien via my grandparents who had a little bookshop. I was 12 years old when I received the Dutch version of The Two Towers from them (a film tie-in) a few weeks before Christmas. They knew I was a fan of The Lord of the Rings, although I had not yet seen the films... I had a sticker book of The Fellowship of the Ring with pictures from the film (also a gift from them) but that was all I had ever seen of the films.
A few weeks later, I received The Return of the King (also a dutch film tie-in) for Christmas. Over the next year, I did see the films and was completely fascinated by the world of Middle-earth, its heroes, its villains, its creatures, its buildings, its nature, the whole lot in fact.
Then I began to flip through the pages of The Two Towers and started to 'read' the chapter The Forbidden Pool but I didn't manage to read more than the first two pages of the chapter.

At the end of this year, I finally bought the Dutch The Fellowship of the Ring. I could finally start, or so I thought. It wasn't until another year had passed, and I was about 14-15 years, that I really started to read The Lord of the Rings! The first time I read it, I thought the First Book was quite dull, but the rest was really 'supercool'. I was for the second (but not for the last!) time fascinated, even more than I was by the films!

I then bought The Hobbit (an old Dutch paperback edition I found in some second hand bookshop) and read it too. I thought it very good, but I liked The Lord of the Rings more, so I read the latter again. And then, my eyes really opened: I found the First Book not so bad after all, in fact, it was one of the parts of the book, that were really easy to get my imagination work, withouth being disturbed by images from the films. Later on, I managed to read almost the whole book without any film image popping up in front of my eyes. That was soooooooo coooool!!

I then bought The Silmarillion and Tolkien's Fairy Tales, and then, I sold my soul to dear Ronald. What a Great Tale was The Silmarillion! Of course I faced some difficulties in reading it (the first time, I only read a part of Ainulindalë, I let it rest for some time, and then I started again and managed to read through the whole book, and then read it again, and then I finally 'got it'.)
Also the Fairy Tales are so Great, they were (and are still!) so beautiful, especially Leaf by Niggle and The Smith of Wootton Major.

If I would have to choose what my favourite work by JRR Tolkien is, I can say, without any doubt, that I have no idea. They are all just so wonderful, that if you think this one is your favourite work, you start thinking about that other work and realize you just can't make the decision.

And so I started collecting! I have now more than 100 books by, on or with contributions by Tolkien, some old ones, some new ones, some commons, some rares (Ancrene Wisse (1962) in mint condition, alas without dj; Essais de philologie moderne (contains Middle English Losenger);...). A great find, that really set me off collecting about three years ago was a first edition of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight. It's spine was in poor condition, but nevertheless I was really proud of my first old, rare Tolkien book.
I also have some calendars, some LPs and some other miscellanea.
I wrote some articles for a Dutch Tolkien forum, and won a contest with one of them (it was about Valinor) and that article will probably be published in Lothelanor, the journal of the Flemish Tolkien Society Elanor.
I also did my end work for English at high school completely about Tolkien (I named it "Wanderings in Middle-earth, essays on Tolkien and his works") , and almost got the highest marks possible! (I did put a lot of effort into it, because it was of course a subject that interested me greatly )

But now I'm at university studying Dutch and English Philology - I even based my studies a bit on Tolkien! He arose my interest in Old and Middle English and Dutch - , I have a lot less time to dedicate to one of my main hobbies...

And that's my story!

PS: I really liked reading the other stories! Very nice concept for a contest!
24 Mar, 2010
2010-3-24 7:07:42 PM UTC
I hav been watching these posts with interest and agree with a number of others that Mr Burns post is an interesting contribution and merits the prize.
25 Mar, 2010
2010-3-25 6:30:13 PM UTC
I have a lot of tea to give.... so "prizes" not "prize".

More stories, please! I am loving this thread.
27 Mar, 2010
2010-3-27 3:46:14 PM UTC
As a keen lover of Tolkien and Tea this was a competition for me. I acknowledge that my story is terribly uninteresting, especially compared to the stories already posted, which were all pleasant reads. I agree with the general consensus that Mr Burns story has so far been the outstanding one, but they are all good tales.

I was first introduced to Tolkien when I was in year Four and our teacher read us The Hobbit. He had different voices for most characters and made the chapter Riddles in the Dark a particularly memorable experience, with his Gollum voice and encouragement of us to get the riddles. My Nine year old mind was blown away and my imagination was given a good workout. My passion for Tolkien was started and over the next year I read The Lord of the Rings, and by doing so got my year Five teacher into it.

A couple of years later I picked up The Silmarillion. I was a tad apprehensive about this book as I was advised by people that it was a bit of a tough read. I started it and couldn’t put it down, finishing it in a few nights; not understanding all of it but thoroughly enthralled.

I do not pretend to be an expert on Arda, and still have lots to read by and about Tolkien. I am in no rush to do this however as I have a whole life to do so (having just turned Nineteen) and want to appreciate Tolkien’s work over many years.

I am working towards a decent Tolkien library. The only special/rare/collectible books I have so far are the modern special/deluxe editions. Possibly my favourite Tolkien books I own are three paperbacks of the LOTR ‘trilogy’, which I purchased at the age of nine. I took them everywhere so they are a little well used; creased and slight foxing. The feature I like about them is that they are the paperbacks with the Geoff Taylor cover artwork, which I find almost as captivating as the story itself.* Also the fact that they were my first Tolkien books.

I love Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings, but am not a huge fan of Peter Jackson’s versions. My favourite Tolkien Tale is The children of Hurin. This contains the best chapter ever written, The Words of Hurin and Morgoth. I love the power in this chapter. My favourite passage being Morgoth’s curse, Hurin's defience, and Hurin being placed on the “chair of stone upon a high place of Thangorodrim……”.


Well, that’s my story and thanks for reading.

Loonka







*I am hunting another set of these paperbacks, in mint condition. I also once saw a set that were hardcover’s, in a foreign language I would be interested in having. If anyone can help me with these it would be much appreciated.
28 Mar, 2010
2010-3-28 6:56:49 AM UTC
I acknowledge that my story is terribly uninteresting, especially compared to the stories already posted, which were all pleasant reads.

I found your story very interesting

I am working towards a decent Tolkien library. The only special/rare/collectible books I have so far are the modern special/deluxe editions. Possibly my favourite Tolkien books I own are three paperbacks of the LOTR ‘trilogy’, which I purchased at the age of nine. I took them everywhere so they are a little well used; creased and slight foxing. The feature I like about them is that they are the paperbacks with the Geoff Taylor cover artwork, which I find almost as captivating as the story itself.* Also the fact that they were my first Tolkien books.

*I am hunting another set of these paperbacks, in mint condition. I also once saw a set that were hardcover’s, in a foreign language I would be interested in having. If anyone can help me with these it would be much appreciated.

I assume you mean this set (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/html/lotr-sc-hc_8.htm). It is nice to still be able to get to some of the pages on Deagol's site.


They are very common on eBay, here are a few current auctions but there are a lot more if you look.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/The-Lord-of-the ... oks_2?hash=item3a59327110

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOLKIEN-J-R-THE ... ks_EH?hash=item439e337738

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tolkien-LORD-OF ... ks_UK?hash=item3359cdbdd9

The same picture is also used on the cover of the later copies of the Journeys of Frodo - An Atlas of J R R Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS By Barbara Strachey

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Journey-of-Frod ... on_GL?hash=item23061323ca

You can also buy the original paintings and signed prints from Geoff's website

http://www.geofftaylor-artist.com/gal ... r-art/art/fellowship-ring
http://www.geofftaylor-artist.com/gal ... /cover-art/art/two-towers
http://www.geofftaylor-artist.com/gal ... cover-art/art/return-king
29 Mar, 2010
2010-3-29 11:54:48 AM UTC
Yep, those are the ones. Cheers for the links, one of those looks promising.

I have previously e-mailed Geoff and plan to get some prints soon. The originals however are at this time a little out of my range. I am glad he is selling them as a set.
10 Apr, 2010
2010-4-10 4:26:49 PM UTC
Don't keep me in suspenders! Did you hold the drawering? If so, (drum roll please) the winners are . . . ?

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parm
12 Apr, 2010
2010-4-12 6:25:38 AM UTC
Thanks for all the stories, people! I have enough to give all of the story posters here some tea - laurel, Parmastahir, Onónion, loonka and of course Mr Burns! I will drop each of you an email to get shipping information. If you happen to try the tea (and it's ok if you don't want to crack open the box...) please drop us a line about how you liked or didn't like it.

I have some extra too - I heard from some of the regulars that they didn't want to "brag" (my word) and so did not write in. If any of you want some tea, just drop me an email! The next drawing will not be so arduous, I promise.
13 Apr, 2010
2010-4-13 10:17:50 PM UTC
Wow! I'm a bit embarrassed, really. Thanks to everyone for the votes of confidence, but I was just as impressed with all the stories I read from everyone else. I'm really pleased that we all get to give the tea a try!

I, for one, will be merrily sipping the tea, and I'll be sure to let you all know what the Mrs and I think!

Thanks very much to Jeremy, too, for the opportunity and awesome prizes!
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