The Tolkien Birthday Toast

[Lalwendë]

9pm, 3rd January. Don't forget.

You are kindly requested to grab a glass of your favourite tipple and raise a toast to "The Professor!".

And you may see more on the Tolkien Society page - maybe even add what you'll be drinking here. (http://www.tolkiensociety.org/toast/index.html)

:smokin:

[Thinlómien]

Are we supposed to raise it 9 pm GMT or 9 pm the current british time or 9 pm our own time? ;)

[Lalwendë]

At your local time, I believe!

Thus avoiding the risk of people raising a glass of porter at 11am during a business meeting or a class in Chemistry. Of course, this means the Prof could get 24 lots of toasts in one day...

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Today's the day - Tolkien's birthday! Happy Birthday to our favourite author!

Will you be joining in the toast? I plan to raise a glass of champagne at 9pm CET this evening. As Lal says, the toast is meant to take place at your local time; the drink is your choice and need not be alcoholic.

[Parmastahir]

It is precisely 9 PM here! Cheers, Professor!

[The Might]

I didn't have any champagne but I make a toast for Tolkien with some beer...guess that's ok too, even though it's not really my favourite

An interesting fact- if the Professor had still been alive today, he would have been 115, that's as long as Erendis was Queen of Numenor

[Nogrod]

It was a nice site you linked Lalwendë!

Cheers! or "kippis"...

[Naria]

To the professor! Cheers :)

[Brinniel]

Well, it's 9pm here, so... Happy Birthday Mr. Tolkien! :D

Cheers! *sips imaginary champagne*

[MatthewM]

Happy Birthday, Professor Tolkien!

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Due to my busy (read: Not very busy) schedule, all I had to hand at 9:00 yesterday was a glass of coke. It was a really nice glass though, and that's what counts. :smokin:
Now, when is Christopher Tolkien's birthday? :p

[Mänwe]

To the Master, I raised a pint of "Fursty Ferret", a superb ale.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Once again it's Tolkien's birthday - I hope many members will join me and Tolkien fans all over the world in toasting the man who brought us here!

At 9 pm this evening, I will raise my glass of bubbly to the Professor.

[Lhunardawen]

Oh, I missed it by almost a couple of hours, but better late than never!

*raises a glass of water to the Professor*

[Lalwendë]

You could ignore official advice and do it at 9pm GMT anyway - as I think this is much nicer and then everyone globally will be doing it at the same time, and not just little groups of folk at verious 9pms :(

In which case everyone can join in, though they may have missed the official time :p

[Bêthberry]

Once again it's Tolkien's birthday - I hope many members will join me and Tolkien fans all over the world in toasting the man who brought us here!

At 9 pm this evening, I will raise my glass of bubbly to the Professor.

Well, I'm a wee bit late as 'tis 3:28 here and we've been all a-gog over the announcement of the new Doctor Who.

Pity we didn't plan a chat to celebrate. We should, one of these years.

[Beregond]

The Professor! http://www.landofrohan.com/forum/images/smilies/cheers.gif

Better late than never, though I toasted on The Tolkien Society site earlier. :)

[Formendacil]

Bah! The professor would have loathed a Mordorian contraption such as universal timezone synchronisation! Might as well live under the black cloud of Mordor as toast him at 9:00 Greenwich time!

At least, that's my excuse... at 9:00 Greenwich time I was in nothing resembling a toasting mood or time of day.

But at 9:00 more locally, I was drinking an English beer and reading aloud "The Grey Company" and "The Muster of Rohan" and having a grand time.

Here's to the Professor's 117th! (1892-2009 DOES make 117, right? The whole fact that this isn't 2008 anymore had me confused...)

[Beregond]

Here's to the Professor's 117th! (1892-2009 DOES make 117, right? The whole fact that this isn't 2008 anymore had me confused...)

Yes, that was my conclusion. It was the first time I'd had to use the figure "2009" in any computation.

I had an import beer and watched ice hockey (a sport our good Professor would have loved were he born Canadian). However, compared to your verbal oration of favourite chapters, I feel like a deadbeat Tolkienite. I shall make amends by pouring over The Two Towers before bed.

[Inziladun]

I was in an 'on call' status with my employer, and regrettably was unable to toast the Professor with my drink of choice. Perhaps next year's timing will be kinder.

[Rumil]

Well Happy New Year everyone,

As its the 3rd of Jan, remember we have another anniversary to celebrate, JRR Tolkien's birthday.

Apparently a toast at 9pm local time is the thing,

Cheers!

[The Might]

Good thing you just posted here, I would have otherwise totally forgotten this, I'll definitely get a beer at 10 PM CET.

Maybe we could do this in our Barrow chat?

[Pitchwife]

Thank you, sir, for giving us your world to dream of!

[Eönwë]

A virtual toast (http://www.tolkiensociety.org/toast/2010/) to The Professor!

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Same procedure as every year, James! :D

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Now if only I'll be able to get my mother, my brother, and my cousin to toast with me. . .

[Pitchwife]

Now if only I'll be able to get my mother, my brother, and my cousin to toast with me. . .
Never mind, you've got us to toast with!
*clinks tankards with TGEW*

The Professor! Cheers, slainte, nazdraví, prost, whatever it is in Quenya and Sindarin!

[Inziladun]

And once again, I am denied my preferred beverage due to my on-call status. A glass of milk, it is.

*toasts*

[Rumil]

Happy New Year All,

and a toast to the Prof of course. Last night I may have toasted to some excess, so today my toast will be coffee!

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Never mind, you've got us to toast with!
*clinks tankards with TGEW*


Oh wonderful, but it's not that time yet here, and unfortunately I missed 21.00 GMT. So I have to do it later. :p

*clinks with you anyway*

[Lindale]

Several days too late, but better late than never. Belated cheers to the Professor! :D

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Tomorrow's the Professor's 120th birthday, so be sure you have your favourite drink in the house, or meet with friends at a nice place, so you can toast the man without whom we'd never have met!

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

I will be starting a new job tomorrow so will undoubtedly give my toast over coffee. ;) Can't think of a nicer way to remember a hire date!

[Bêthberry]

Galadriel55 and I will not only be toasting The Professor tomorrow, but we shall be having our own mini-moot and toasting together! :smokin:

Congratulations on the new job, Hilde!

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Galadriel55 and I will not only be toasting The Professor tomorrow, but we shall be having our own mini-moot and toasting together! :smokin:

Can't imagine better way of celebrating The Prof's birthday :)

I have to see yet what I am going to toast with, but since I've been keeping this tradition carefully for several years (I believe since this thread was started), I'll make sure to toast The Prof even this year.

[Mithalwen]

I will be starting a new job tomorrow so will undoubtedly give my toast over coffee. ;) Can't think of a nicer way to remember a hire date!

Good luck!!!! I shall think of you too - it will probably be with a G&T.. I have an African inspired gin that will be a nod to Tolkien's birthplace.

[Rumil]

Happy New Year All, and Cheers! to the Prof!!

[Galadriel55]

I've done this with Bethberry earlier today, and I'm doing it once again with all of you.

The Professor! Happy eleventy-tenth, Mr. Tolkien! Many people including myself were inspired by your work, and this is the day we make ourselves remember this. Thank you!



And happy new year everyone!

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

The Professor!

[Galadriel55]

It's coming! Don't miss it!

[Galadriel55]

This year I've done the Tolkien Toast in the most pleasant and (in)appropriate ;) company.

Agan, Greenie, Lommy, Nog, skip, Rune, Eonwe, Squatter, Legate, Oddwen, Hooky, Bethberry, and yours truly (I hope I haven't missed anyone, but I'm sure I'll be corrected quickly if I have) did not wait till 9:00 but all toasted (and roasted!) the Professor sometime early via Skype. And, to honour the day, we read two chapters, and possibly more after I left.

Once again, happy eleventy-eleventh, Mr. Tolkien!

[Aganzir]

Happy birthday, Professor!

During the afore mentioned event, we learned that if you ask Hookbill to read the passage in the Window on the West about toasting, you'll have to face the consequences that he may continue the passage with "And then Théodred said..."

[Nogrod]

"It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to child or a man that hears it, when the 'turn' comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a peculiar quality.

Even modern fairy-stories can produce this effect sometimes. It is not an easy thing to do; it depends on the whole story which is the setting of the turn, and yet it reflects the glory backwards. A tale that in any measure succeeds in this point has not wholly failed, whatever flaws it may possess, and whatever mixture or confusion of purpose."

J.R.R. Tolkien: "On Fairy Stories"


Happy birthday Mr. Professor, and may your words of ("realism-based") encouragement enlighten our souls!

[Bêthberry]

And I sadly had to leave with a coughing fit before the readings got underway. What a great way to celebrate The Professor. I love Noggie's quote. I think it's a fascinating glimpse into Tolkien's concept of narrative.

I'm half an hour away from my official toast here.

[Mithalwen]

I shall be raising a glass later in honour of Christopher Tolkien's eighty ninth birthday. Without his efforts we would have far less to talk about here.

[Inziladun]

I shall be raising a glass later in honour of Christopher Tolkien's eighty ninth birthday. Without his efforts we would have far less to talk about here.

Hear, hear.

[Mithalwen]

Don't forget to raise a glass in memory of JRRT at 9pm your time...

[Bêthberry]

Haven't decided yet if it will be a mug of tea or a snifter of brandy, but I have an hour left to decide. :)

[Bêthberry]

"yet its maker was telling of things already old and weighted with regret, and he expanded his art in making keen that touch upon the heart which sorrows have that are both poignant and remote. If the funeral of Beowulf moved once like the echo of an ancient dirge, far-off and hopeless, it is to us as a memory brought over the hills, an echo of an echo. There is not much poetry in the world like this."

A glass of South African shiraz.

[Formendacil]

"Indeed, he [Frodo] at once began to carry on Bilbo's reputation for oddity. He refused to go into mourning; and the next year he gave a party in honour of Bilbo's hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called a Hundred-weight Feast. But that was short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited, and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as hobbits say."

-Samuel Adams "White Christmas" brew (a Belgian White ale)

[Aganzir]

We raised glasses of port wine with Lommy, Greenie, Nog, Legate, Kath, Hookbill, Rune, and Oddwen. It was part of our dinner which consisted of tea, cake, scones, seed-cakes, coffee, more cakes, beer, red wine, pies and cheeses, raspberry jam and apple-tart, salad, eggs, cold chicken, and pickles. Some observant individuals may notice that's pretty much what Bilbo served the Dwarves at the Unexpected Party.

[Galadriel55]

Rather missed the time, but better late than never. The Professor!

"Dear-bought those songs shall be accounted, and yet shall be well-bought. For the price could be no other. Thus even as Eru spoke to us shall beauty not before conceived be brought into Ea, and evil yet be good to have been."

[mark12_30]

Thanks to Bethberry' s note on FB, I was able to enjoy a tribute to the man who provided my mythos and the Legendarium in which I remain most comfortable.

Cheers, Professor. Grace and peace.

[Morthoron]

A Birthday Toast:

Here’s to Tolkien,
And here’s to you and me.
If perchance we disagree
On Middle-earth canonically,
Hell with you, here’s to Tolkien and me.:D

[Guinevere]

To the Professor! I raised a glass of Moscato Spumante, together with my husband & sons.

man, sub-creator, the refracted light
through whom is splintered from a single White
to many hues, and endlessly combined
in living shapes that move from mind to mind.

[McCaber]

The Professor!

[Inziladun]

*raises a cup of tea*

[Formendacil]

There are two pre-eminent feasts in the Barrow-downer year: Bilbo & Frodo's Birthday and Tolkien's birthday, and the latter of these is upon us. Break out the toasting glasses and something nice to drink this evening.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I will be toasting with my traditional mimosa.

How about some birthday cakes (http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2016/1/3/sunday-sweets-for-jrr-tolkiens-birthday.html) for the occasion?

[Mithadan]

Happy 123rd, Professor.

[Galadriel55]

Milk for me. :) Happy birthday, Professor!

How about some birthday cakes (http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2016/1/3/sunday-sweets-for-jrr-tolkiens-birthday.html) for the occasion?

Half of these don't look edible. They're beautiful and creative, but I somehow hesitate to trust any cake that doesn't look like food. :D I really like the Gondor and Lothlorien inspired ones, though.

[Rumil]

Happy Birthday Prof!

And hail and well met to all the Downers, hope you al have a very Merry New Year

Rumil

[Inziladun]

A cup of tea, as usual. Prosit!

[Guinevere]

The Professor! * raises a glass of cider *

[Kuruharan]

There are two pre-eminent feasts in the Barrow-downer year: Bilbo & Frodo's Birthday and Tolkien's birthday, and the latter of these is upon us. Break out the toasting glasses and something nice to drink this evening.

Huzzah and so forth!

[Bêthberry]

To the Professor!

(And because of the requisite time of the toast, I could raise but a glass of goodly dihydrogen monoxide.)

And as for my quote, well, 'tis a newish one. Let's see if any can identify it.

"Let us rather be glad that we have come suddenly upon a storehouse of those popular imaginings that we had feared lost, stocked with stories not yet sophisticated into a sense of proportion, with no thought of the decent limits of exaggeration, with no sense (or certainly not our sense) of the incongruous, unless, as we may at times suspect, incongruity is delighted in."

[Pitchwife]

A day late, thanks to binge-watching Outlander with Pitchwife-Wife, but nevertheless: *raises bottle of Czech beer*

The Professor! To adventures we seek and to those that seek us, to things fair and terrible, vast and small; to mountains and mushrooms, silmarils and cooking-pots; to chamber music and songs at the campfire; to the stories we weave to make sense of our lives and the world we live in, and to language, that many-faced glass through which we view the world and ourselves and never stop discovering new facets.