Happy Birthday, Tolkien!

2011 was the year of Tolkien in my household. My husband and I read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series for the first time. Each night before bed, we would read out loud to one another (if truth be told, Matt did most of the reading)-- we'd have fun making up tunes to go along with the songs the characters sing, and we'd help each other try to piece together the more complicated bits of lore. (I am still not totally sure about Valinor!)  We also purchased and watched all of the films, (some scenes multiple times--I can't get enough of the Shire), and the special features, like how they chose where to shoot on location, and  a highlight on the brilliant performance by Andy Serkis, the guy who 'plays' Gollum. And now, there is talk between us that we'll continue on in 2012 by delving into The Silmarillion. 

So it seems appropriate for me to wish a happy birthday to the man who created it all... And in my search to find a nice picture of Professor Tolkien to accompany this post, I discovered that there is a ritualistic toast that fans all around the world give to him on this day each year. Simple and sweet- and Matt and I will be raising our glass to him tonight... Here's what I read:

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892, in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State (now Free State Province, part of South Africa). If Tolkien was alive today he would celebrate his 120th birthday. And because he lives on in our hearts we do celebrate his birthday every year!

To celebrate Tolkien's birthday, each year Tolkien fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast the birthday of this much loved author 21:00 (9 pm) your local time.

The toast is "The Professor".For those unfamiliar with British toast-drinking ceremonies:

To make the Birthday Toast, you stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words "The Professor" before taking a sip (or swig, if that's more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of your drink.

-Excerpt from the Tolkien Library website

Sounds easy enough, right? (I love the specificity of the directions!) Should you feel the urge to do more than the two-word toast for the author's 120th birthday, you may also visit the Tolkien Society website and leave a comment in his honor. He has, after all, left us with quite a lot!

Leaving Middle Earth: Finishing Return of the King

We did it. We finished the Lord of the Rings 'trilogy'. My Matty, King of all bedtime stories, read out loud over 1000 pages of magic and battle and redemption. It took us nearly as long to read about the One Ring as it did for Frodo and company to destroy it. And it was such an amazing journey. Epic really.


Our travels though Middle Earth has been well documented on this blog. Check out this post if you want to hear about how and why we undertook such a task. And this post for a recap of the first book, Fellowship of the Ring. And this post for a recap of the second book, The Two Towers. Or just stay here to read about the finale of our journey- The Return of the King.

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We picked up by joining Gandalf, Pippin and Shadowfax as they arrive at Minas Tirith to warn the Steward of Gondor, Denethor, that Sauron is about to unleash the armies of Mordor. We beg him to prepare his city. We vow our service to Gondor to repay for the death of Boromir, Denethor's favorite son. We watch Denethor lose his mind, and order Faramir, his unfavored son, to sure death in the hopeless resiege of  Osgiliath against a hoard of orcs. We watch Faramir return, wounded and nearly dead. We see Denethor order to burn his son alive rather than seek medical attention. We seek Gandalf as Minas Tirith is under heavy attack from evil army of Mordor.


Meanwhile... In the kingdom of Rohan, King Théoden and his men recover from their battle against the forces of Saruman in the Battle of the Hornburg. Aragorn, hmmmmm Aragorn...

Wait... where was I?


Right. Aragorn abandons his ranger ways and confronts Sauron through the palantír of Isengard by claiming the throne of men. Along with Legolas, Gimli and the Grey Company (the Rangers from Arnor), we set out with Aragon through the Paths of the Dead and convince the undead to fulfill the oath to the King and fight against the black army. With Aragorn going one way, we watch as Théoden and the Rohirrim go the other, to the aid of Minith Tirith. We beg with Merry and Éowyn to fight with the men, and even though we are refused, we go anyway.


As we arrive at the fields of Pelennor in front of the gates of Minas Tirith, we see the chaos and carnage of war. We and the army of Rohan break into the foray and slay us some orcs! We watch as Aragon leads the army of the dead  fight along side us and the men of Gondor. We cry as Snowmane is slain by the Nazgul and collapses on top of the King of the Mark. But along with Éowyn (and Merry), we kill the Leader of the Black Riders before he can hurt Théoden further. Girl power.

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Then, Gandalf and Pippin help us nick Faramir off of the funeral pyre, who was healed by the hands of the true King, Aragorn (along with Merry and Éowyn who were injured taking down the Black Rider).    We watched love bloom between Éowyn and Faramir. We strategized with Aragon and Gandalf and stood bravely in front of the Black Gates of Mordor to draw the armies out of the lands and distract the Eye of Sauron from the movements of Sam and Frodo as they move toward Mount Doom.

Speaking of Sam and Frodo... We met up with Sam as he realized that Frodo was still alive and we follow him into the Tower of Cirith Ungol to rescue his master. We disguise ourselves in orcish armor. We walk. We thirst. We tire. We hide. We march in line with other orcs. We think we see something following us. We can't go on. We ditch the heavy armor, our pots and pans, and everything else we can spare. We walk boldly toward the fiery mountain. We collapse. We are carried. We are attacked by Gollum! We reach the Crack of Doom and we are so close... but we can't throw the ring in. We are overtaken by its power. We put it on. We are attacked again by the former ring bearer- and we watch as Gollum bites off our finger and falls into the fire, with the ring. The ring is destroyed. We free Middle Earth from Sauron's power. We think about the Shire, and we are happy to be with Sam, here at the end of all things. Then... we are rescued by the Eagles!

Aragorn is crowned King, as in, the King has returned to Gondor. Now is the time of men... sexy, sexy men.

Sorry... Then we celebrate. We are honored. Faramir is named Prince of Ithilien, Eromer is the new King of the Mark in Rohan, and Elrond's of Rivendell's daughter, Arwen, finally marries her mortal love. We head back toward the Shire with all our friends and say goodbye to them each one by one along the journey.  We say goodbye to Tree Beard and Legolas and Gimli head back to Fangorn forest. Galadriel and Celeborn head back to Lorién. Gandalf goes as far as Bree and then tells us that we are on our own from here on out. 


We find the Shire is in ruins, run by ruffians! [This part of the book is not in the movie, so for those of you who have not read the books, I will be vague so as not to ruin it]. Regardless to say, we brought our worldliness, bravery and general awesomeness back to the Shire and helped set things right. We run into Saruman and Gríma and they get their comeuppance. We prove how bad-ass Hobbits really are.

Time passes and the Shire heals. Holes are rebuilt and trees are replanted. We watch as Merry and Pippin lead Buckland and Tookborough and rejoice as Sam marries Rosie Cotton and moves into Bag End. But we suffer with Frodo, who cannot fully heal from the wounds of his journey and the burden of the ring. We welcome the birth of Sam and Rosie's little girl, Elenor.

We journey with Sam and Frodo once more. We head to the havens. We feel sweet sadness as Frodo meets with the other ring bearers- Bilbo, Gandalf, Celeborn, Galadriel and Elrond- and tells us that he is leaving the Shire, and Middle Earth, forever. We say our goodbyes. We watch from the shores with Merry, Pippin and Sam as Frodo sails away to Valinor. With the ring bearers gone, so ends the Third Age of Middle Earth. We head back to the Shire. We finish the book with Sam saying the words, "Well, I'm back."

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Continuing journey though Middle Earth: The Two Towers

Matt and I have finally finished the second book in the Lord of the Rings 'trilogy', The Two Towers. There were a few parts that were fun and magical, but for the most part, the story, and the act of reading it, felt long and arduous. Like Frodo and Sam, and the others in the fellowship, I found myself recalling better times from the first leg of the journey. (If you'd like to read my shorter and sweeter 'synopsis of The Fellowship of the Ring, it is here.)

In this book, we hear Boromir's horn, and find him after he has been attacked by orc, but before death. He confides in us that he tried to take the ring, and also that the other halflings were kidnapped. We promise to defend Minas Tirith and then send him down the river in a funeral boat. We decide which halflings to persue, and start on foot to find and hew some orcs.

We who are kidnapped, are tied and dragged along side a large company of orcs. We have little water, and won't eat the horrible meats. When our captors are attacked by the Riders of Rohan, the Rohirrim, we escape into the forest of Fangorn and enjoy its restorative waters, but fear the darkness and old growth. We meet Treebeard, aka Fangorn, the oldest of the giant Ents. He asks us about the Entwives. He knows of Gandolf. We listen as the Ent council decides if they should get involved in the terrible goings on at Orthanc. We celebrate that they decide to take action against Sarumon.

Meanwhile, we who are pursuing the orcs who captured two of our company meet the Riders of Rohan, and Eomer. We learn that the Riders attacked the orcs and left no survivers. We feel terrible, but must see for ourselves. We go to the battle sight, we see burning orc corpses, and also tiny footprints that lead into the forest. We also see an old man, who disappears, and he creeps us out. We head into the forest and we meet the old man again. He is still creepy, we think he is Sarumon but he is not. He is GANDALF! We rejoice. We listen to him tell about his battle with the Balrog and his resurrection. He tells us to forget the pursuit of the halflings and to go with him to Edoras. We do. We have to leave our weapons outside as we meet King Theoden in his great hall. We watch Gandalf rid the King of Sarumon's spy,  Grima Wormtongue. We ride with Theoden's troops to Hornburg, in Helm's Deep. We lose Gandalf again (he's busy). We fight hard against Sarumon's orcs. We are losing, and Gandalf returns with backup and we win. Then we head to Isengard.

We, the pursuers and warriors, are united with us, the once-captured halflings. We tell each other our tales, as Gandalf finishes what the Ents started and destroys Orthanc. Sarumon is given a chance to repent, but does not take it, so he is to be sorted out by the Wizard's council. Grima throws something out the window trying hit Gandalf, but it misses and we got to retrieve it. We like it, it is a pretty glass ball (a plantiri) and later that night, we look in it and see bad things, including the eye of Sauron. Gandalf yells at us, and then puts us on the back of Shadowfax and rides us away from the others. Everyone plans to meet again in Gondor, where a big war is a-brewin'.

MEANWHILE:

We ringbearers set out for Mordor and captured Gollum allong the way. We use him as a guide. We travel through the Dead Marshes. We are weary. We are scared. We are hungry. We see the Black Gate but it's too heavily guarded to enter. We decide to go another way. We walk and walk and walk. We fell the burden of the Ring. We switch between hating and pitying Gollum. We encounter a group of men, Gondorian rangers led by Faramir, Boromir's brother. We are blindfolded and taken to their hidden camp inside the mountain. We eat. We drink. We find out Boromir is dead. We worry about the rest of the company. We trust Faramir, we tell him about the Ring and our burden to destroy it. We save Gollum's life.

We leave the men, and continue with Gollum as our guide. We pass the dark city of Minas Morgal and up the steep staircase of the Tower of Cirith Ungol. We have to travel through a dark passage way. We smell the worst smell. We are abandoned by Gollum and attacked by Shelob. We get stung. We attack the great spider and fend of Gollum's attack, and discover he had planned this. We assume Frodo is dead. We decide to finish the quest and destroy the Ring. We head toward the tower and hear orcs. We watch the orc find Frodo and hear them say he's not dead. We kick ourselves. We follow the orcs and vow to rescue Frodo and return the Ring to him, so that we may finish the quest as planned.

Journeying through Middle Earth: The Fellowship of the Ring

Last night, Matt and I finished the first of The Lord of the Rings 'Trilogy'. We had a party, we inherited a Ring. We journeyed from the Shire across the Brandywine to Buckland. We met old Tom Bombadill and his wife, Goldberry, in the Old Forrest (and again when we were attacked in the Barrow Downs). We sang. We made it to the Prancing Pony in Bree (where we sang) and added Strider and Bill the Pony to our group.  We searched for signs from Gandalf on Weathertop and were attacked by Black Riders, twice, on either side of the Last Bridge. Injured, we crossed the Ford of Bruinen and rested in Rivendell.  We healed, we saw Bilbo, we got Gandalf back, we sang, and we found out the Strider is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. We discussed the heaviness of this burdensome quest, and then met the rest of our Fellowship. 

We left Rivendell as 9, and spent some nights fighting off Sauron's wolves. We tried to cross the Misty Mountains over the High Pass, but could not. We ventured to the Gates of Moria and sadly left Bill the Pony behind.  We waned through the dark mines, we saw the tomb of Balin, we fought a pack of orcs and then we lost our wisest leader to the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-Dum.

We hurried through the Drimrill Dale and sought refuge in beautiful Lorien. We sang. We slept on flets and met the Elf Queen Galadriel. She gave us gifts. A month we stayed, and then left by elven boats, south on the Silverload to Anduin. She sang. We knew we were followed. We camped on the shores and stood watch. We traveled by night and were attacked by orcs who could not see us, we nearly went over the rapids and falls of Sarn Gebir and Rauros. We carried our boats over Emyn Muil. We had to decide if the Fellowship should split, some venturing on to Mordor or if we should all head to Minas Tirith. We were attacked my a member of the Fellowship. We saw the eye. We decided to go to Mordor alone. We were foiled by Sam. We two set out together, leaving the other 6 behind.

Where do we go next? 

The Fellowship of the Ring

Matthew and I are reading another book together- one we have both been putting off for too long.  We are delving into Tolkein's classic,  Lord of the Rings.  Matthew had started it before, years ago, but didn't get into it enough to read it all the ay through.  I had never, until quite recently, expressed any interest in the fantasy genre.  My desire to read these books comes from my love of Harry Potter. For years I have listened to fans of both epics compare one to the other--or detail the points of obvious inspiration that JK Rowling got from Tolkien, and I guess I just got tired of having to sit out of the conversation. 

Oddly, I really spent a lot of time considering if I should read this "trilogy".  I thought it would be best to watch the movies first-- as in sit down and pay attention and watch them all the way through-- and see if I enjoyed them.  Up until recently, I had seen the first hour and a half of the first movie, none of the second, and the last 45 minutes of the third movie. My brother claims that I had a knack for ruining some of the best films by "watching" them "half-assed".

So I watched. And I liked.  My favorite part of all three movies is the Shire seen at the beginning of the first film- after Bilbo's birthday celebration, I was sold.  

But even then I didn't pick up the books, I needed to be sure that it was not just the story (or fantasy world) that I enjoyed, but the actual writing. I decided that before I read Lord of the Rings, I ought to read The Hobbit. (If only I put so much thoughtful consideration into the big decisions on my life! I think I thought about applying to law school for a total of 15 minutes). Matt and I read The Hobbit to each other (alright, Matt mostly read it to me...he's so much better at reading out loud!).  It was a perfect bedtime read.  The story was entertaining and the style was simple and fun. I read that Tolkein wrote it as a bedtime story for his own children. Once we finished it, and watched the animated film, there was nothing left to do, but tackle the story we had been putting off...



So far, it is a surprisingly easy read! For some reason I was expecting it to be dry and full of biblical-style histories, but it moves along and is truly a fantastic adventure.  Of course, we are only about half way through the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, so I guess it is possible for the story to change pace. It is clearly a bit more sophisticated than The Hobbit, but this doesn't detract from the story. Rather, the opposite is true. The characters, the friendships, the setting, the danger--all seem much more developed in Fellowship.

And it is full of songs- just like The Hobbit! One of the best things in the world is to see your hubby have to make up a tune on the spot and belt out a song about 3 hobbits taking a bath together!

Sing hey! for the bath at close of day

that washes the weary mud away!

A loon is he that will not sing:

O! Water Hot is a noble thing!

O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain,

and the brook that leaps from hill to plain;

but better than rain or rippling streams

is Water Hot that smokes and steams.

O! Water cold we may pour at need

down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;

but better is Beer if drink we lack,
and Water Hot poured down the back.

O! Water is fair that leaps on high

in a fountain white beneath the sky;

but never did fountain sound so sweet

as splashing Hot Water with my feet!

He delievered a top-notch performance that was one of a kind (since he can't remember the tune:). A few nights later, I rocked the Tom Bombadil song, if I do say so myself. And then had it stuck in m head for nearly a week! He is one of my favorite characters so far!

Tom Bombadil and his wife Goldberry invitng the four traveling hobbits to their home

http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/Interview_Jos_Tolkien_Artist.php

Now we are reading the scenes at The Prancing Pony in Bree.  We have been introduced to Strider and the hobbits are deciding whether they will allow the ranger to accompany them to Rivendale... we wait until tonight to see what they choose; to face the perilous road alone with the Black Riders in persuit, or trust the ragged stranger, who seems to know too much about their quest, to lead them through the unknown territory!

My man, Viggo!