A big halofirian welcome to our newest member, Húrin!
Jump right in and make yourself at home.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
<hardly dares pat the baby for fear of frightening him off>
It's good to see you, too, bt.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Hello, everybody! Thanks for the friendly welcome. I've been lurking and reading you folks on this board and several previous ones (including Board 77, the previous Hall of Fire and TORC) pretty much daily for at least 5 years. I finally got around to registering although I don't know how much I'll have to contribute. It was the new LOTR discussion that motivated me to join, thinking that eventually I might have something to say. After today, I'll be on vacation the rest of the week. On Saturday my wife, 9 year old daughter and I will be going to an all day LOTR movie showing near Chattanooga. It should be fun to see the films on the big screen for the first time since 2003 and the first time in a theater for my daughter. We read LOTR to her last summer (wanting to know what all the fuss was about, she had been asking for a reading for a couple years and we decided she was now old enough for the book and movie) and then watched the extended DVDs. She has now read the book herself twice since then. This will be the first time I've seen the theatrical versions since the extended DVDs came out. At least I won't have to wince through the skull avalanche and PJ's death as a Corsair.
Húrin, welcome again! I'm thrilled to hear that the new LOTR discussion motivated you register. Jump in anytime. That discussion should be ongoing for a long time, so there will be plenty of opportunity. Have fun on your vacation, and at the LOTR film showing. Let us know how you enjoyed it, particularly in terms of seeing all three movies together, and in terms of seeing the theatrical versions again after getting used to the extended versions.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
My absence had nothing to do with taunts from the board. bt has thick skin, for a baby. It was the exigencies of modern life, like this job thing. What a drag.
Mahima is beautiful, what with her new glasses and enrapt upward glance and all.
Húrin, welcome! I finally got my son into Tolkien, starting with the musical of all things. He then watched the Fellowship on the flight back from London (yay for British Airways and their personal entertainment screen!) He looked as rapt as the little hobbit kids at Bilbo's party. Now the dilemma - do I encourage him to read the books so he comes to the changes in the story from the book perspective, or do I let him watch the movies and let him discover the books when he is better prepared to appreciate the depth. Ah well, I'm pleased either way that he discovered the hobbit-world.
"What a place! What a situation! What kind of man would put a known criminal in charge of a major branch of government? Apart from, say, the average voter."
Hi, WampusCat. Yes, I live in the Southeast. It took about an hour and 45 minutes to drive from a little north of Atlanta, where we live, to Chattanooga Saturday morning for the LOTR film showing Saturday.
My daughter can hardly avoid gaining an appreciation for Tolkien. At age 5 we read her The Hobbit. Around the same time we took her to Howard Shore's LOTR Symphony in Atlanta. She had been asking us to read her LOTR for a couple years prior to last summer when we finally did, just before she turned 9. She wanted to know what all the fuss was about, since it was obvious that I loved LOTR and Tolkien. I have 2 small bookcases in our family room filled with about 15 feet worth of Tolkien stuff, including multiple editions of The Hobbit, LOTR and the Sil along with HoME, other Tolkien reference works and several LOTR board games. In the last year bookcase additions included the History of the Hobbit, The Children of Húrin, and Scull and Hammond's LOTR Reader's Companion and their JRRT Companion and Guide set. So my daughter really wanted to find out what Daddy was so obsessed with. I had forbidden her from looking at any LOTR books or pictures to avoid giving away any of the plot prior to the first reading. This caution worked and she was appropriately surprised at Gandalf's reappearance (I had sworn to her that Gandalf the Grey would not return), Dernhelm's true identity, etc.
I grew up in Atlanta (Decatur, to be precise). Always good to know there are more LOTR-obsessed people there. When I was growing up, we were far too few.