Fellowship of the Ring: Signup

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Brona is hosting a long, leisurely readalong of The Lord of the Rings, and this month we're reading The Fellowship of the Ring.  I haven't read it in years -- before the movie came out! -- and I've really been enjoying it.  Brona asks that we do a signup post and answer these questions:


Tell us your history with Tolkien and the LOTR.

I first tried to read LOTR in 8th grade, but got bogged down in The Two Towers.  After that, I didn't get around to reading it properly until I was in college; I had a lingering feeling that LOTR was boring, when in fact I just hadn't quite been there yet.  Thus while I've read the whole thing more than once, this is probably only going to be about my third time through it.









Why are you reading or rereading it now?

Doing it as a readalong is a great idea; I plan to enjoy this a lot!  And it's high time I re-read it.




Have you learnt Elvish? Or read any other Tolkien books?

I have never learned any Elvish.  The closest I've ever come to anything like that is when I was a kid and deciphered the runes in The Hobbit.   I have never read The Silmarillion (shame!  My husband got really into it), but I have read On Fairy Tales, Leaf by Niggle, Farmer Giles of Ham, "The Monsters and the Critics," and the prose Beowulf that came out a year or so ago.  Oh, and reading The Fall of Arthur actually triggered the Arthurian literature challenge of 2014!  And I have also really enjoyed his translations of Pearl, Sir Orfeo, and Gawain and the Green Knight.  I should revisit those!

So here we go.  I hope you're in the mood for a lot of singing and poetry-reciting.  The road goes ever on and on...

Comments

  1. BronaMarch 4, 2017 at 3:38 AM

    Welcome aboard!

    Which edition are you reading?

    Like you I have no Elvish, but I did decode the runes in The Hobbit too :-)

    You've read several more of Tolkien's stories that I have. Part of the pleasure I've had in this readalong so far is the encouragement by others to read beyond the HLOTR. On Fairy Stories was fascinating and I'm also enjoying his Letters.

    I'm planning on rewatching the LOTR movies in September when I finish all the books, to round off the whole experience.

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  2. JeanMarch 4, 2017 at 12:32 PM

    Oh yes, you should certainly read more Tolkien! He actually has lots of stuff that is short and pretty easy (Silmarillion, on the other hand...).

    I am reading a paperback trilogy with Alan Lee covers, though not the ones you have. FOTR has Rivendell and a waterfall on the cover. They came out around the time the first movie did. My mom has really old hardbacks from the early American editions, and her sister has the unauthorized American printing! But mine are just ordinary. :)

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