Tolkien's Writings

[TolkienGurl]

I was wondering, all you die-hard Tolkien fans who have read the books bazillons of times (or even a few smilies/wink.gif ) , how have Tolkien's writings influenced you? Have they motivated you to write a book/story? Have they changed your life in any way? Have they inspired you to enlarge your view on life? Replies would be greatly appreciated!

In my case, I've tried to write fantasy, but I guess I am too self-critical and don't have enough patience. Tolkien's writings (especially his awesome descriptions of surroundings)have helped me to look at and appreciate nature in a whole new way.

See ya,
TolkienGurl smilies/biggrin.gif

[ October 02, 2002: Message edited by: TolkienGurl ]

[arelendil]

ha i've actually replied first wow!
sorry!!
hem i think that tolkien has had deeper effect on me than even i know. he's world makes more sense to me! he has taught me to be more aware of nature, and others!
i seem to have founded a new religion! tolkiens makes much more sense and is less contradicting than re in school.
i have tried writing but compared to tolkien it is more my feelings and day dreams than i story but then how did tolkien start?
tolkien has changed my life in soooo many ways i can't possible list them all...

[lathspell]

I do know that it has changed me, but I can't explain in what way. Sounds rahter not self-knowing smilies/frown.gif
Well, I know that it gave me interest in fantasy-things (weird uh? smilies/rolleyes.gif )

greetings,
lathspell

[Tirned Tinnu]

I'd read Tolkien and Lewis by the age of 13. One of my friends, whom I met in summer camp also liked Tolkien and had many suggestions as to books to follow Tolkien's work.

Then she invited me to a feast. She said she'd bring me a costume. On the way to the feast at a local college we nearly ran down a man that looked so Viking, so real, I thought Oden himself had climbed in the van. He carried a double bladed axe unshielthed at his side. His hair was flaxen and his beard neatly braided into a fork, as well as having long braids of wonderfully historical looking hair that flowed past his shoulders. His name was Gart, and he scared the willies out of me. His costume was perfect. His accent was Brooklyn!

When we attended the feast I was introduced to mead. Yes, Gart made sure that I passed that course - Mead 101 - and that I met the handsomest man there by sitting me at his table as though I were of his family. What was the man's name? heh...Talieson, of course. smilies/smile.gif

In those days, the accents and words spoken were usually the best attempt at Middle English as fairly well schooled people can affect. At least they knew some older sayings, and bandied them about as they reveled into the night. The costume, that dance, the speach! Merely saying hello and introducing yourself was a new experience. Their names were Welsh, and Scottish and Viking and German...and they were interesting. Each person had a coat of arms, or a losenge, a persona from a specific period in time, a family crest and motto, vassals and squires and knights, all gathered together at the great table to discuss battle and sport.

I was smitten. Since then I've participated in Medieval Restoration on a grander scale, with more specific time periods in mind. I like things the old fashion way, like Tolkien was said to feel. I'd rather make my beer and soap than buy it...

And now I wish I was camping. Dang it. Actually, you cen see the group I used to work with at: MSR (http://www.kingdomofacre.org/faire99.html)
and these brave souls joust:
jousting page (http://www.kingdomofacre.org/jousting.html)

I wish I had the time to volunteer my services but alas i work long hours these days. They're a fun bunch. smilies/smile.gif
smilies/biggrin.gif

[ October 02, 2002: Message edited by: Tirned Tinnu ]

[littlemanpoet]

I also read Tolkien and Lewis by the time I was 13. Huh. Funny coincidence, especially since I come from Long Island. Anyway, after having read them (especially Tolkien) I looked here and there for some author who could hold a candle to JRRT, without success. I've read LeGuin, L'Engle, Anthony, Cherryh, and many others, but they always left me needing to come back to LotR and The Hobbit. I finally decided to take Tolkien's lead and if I couldn't find any of the stuff I wanted to read, I'd have to write it myself. I've been at it for 15 years and can attest to the value of just spending the time at it to get reasonably okay at the craft. It also helped me figure out what it really is about Tolkien that truly sets him apart as a fantasy writer. I won't go into that here. Just check out "If Feels different near the Shire" and "The wrong kind of details" if you're interested.

[TolkienGurl]

No way! You're a part of a Medieval Re-enactment group!? Me too! It's called the Steel Ravens and we have sword-fighting practice every Thursday and Sunday. That's basically what our group does - sword-fighting with rapiers for Renaissance, broadswords for Medieval, axes, quarterstaves, even a large wooden spoon! I don't participate but it sure is great to watch. We might be going to Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and other states even though we've only been formed since about April or May (we split from another group). On October 12-13 we'll be at Grand Valley State University's Renaissance Faire in Michigan (that's where we're based as it says in my sig)

Anyway, back to Tolkien! That is a really great idea. Hey everyone, post your experiences with Middle Earth/or Medieval/ or Fantasy related experiences like Tirned Tinnu did. It's so interesting to hear about what you guys do related to Middle Earth!

~TolkienGurl~

[Donisile Of Mirkwood]

Tolkiens books have greatly changed the books i read and to be truthfull the ays i view some aspects of life,i am now much more interested in history. I won't boe you all with details though smilies/biggrin.gif

[Ruthwen]

Reading Tolkien's books was liberating for me, where writing is concerned. Before, I'd been restricted by the kind of language we use today, and I felt almost embarrassed to use a wide vocabulary and proper grammar and so on. I know it sounds as though I must have been a terrible writer - perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. But reading works by Tolkien and realising that language doesn't have to be perfectly simple to be popular really freed me.

[DarkRose]

Tolkien's triology has effected me in numerous ways. Probably ways buried and impressed so deep within me that I am not yet aware of them. There are a few ways that I am currently aware of, thus, I shall share them.

- Description. As we all must know, Tolkien was a master, a genius of description. Description happens to be my all-time favorite part of writing, and it is what I believe I am best at. When I sit and read even just a mere paragraph of one of J.R.R's books, I am thrown into the 3-D story, feeling the viridian grass wedge between my toes, and seeing the gleaming white tower in the distance. I was so moved and inspired by the magnificence of his description, that it, in turn, inspires me to write. I sit and let my pen flow, not copying his work, but following his wondrous example. His descriptions inspire me to write.

- Slang. Although this may not be seen as vital and important as the previous way Tolkien's works effect me, it is something to notice. Ever since I was a child and heard my dad and brother energetically discussing the books, and ever since I watched The Hobbit and read it, the language in the stories has effected me. Even in the simplest ways. Instead of the usual colliquial "hay ya'll!" I catch myself cheerfuly saying "Hullo!" And etc.

- Values. Although they are just fictional stories, the books of Tolkien's trilogy have taught me about actual aspects of modern life. Reading about the incredible boldness and bravery of the characters pushes me to stop cowering away from life's twists and urges me to face them like a soldier of Gondor faced the orcs on a battlefield. I have learned that loyalty is more precious than I ever imagined, and I think back to Sam's loyalty and I stay true to my friends. Valor, honesty, strength, and determination are other values I have learned about so far from these books, and I hope to learn more. smilies/smile.gif

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

Well, I have elaborated on this a little more in older posts...

Reading Tolkien brought back my love of fantasy from my childhood. I've always loved things of such a nature, but I think as I grew up it remained in the shadows until reading The Lord of the Rings brought it all back.

As for reinactment... I have never done this, but it is a dream of mine to get together with a group of performers and write a show that can be brought to Renaissance Faires across the country. I must work at those one day... I must, I love it!

[Diamond18]

When I first read LotR I was writing my own "fantasy" novel. It was very dark and depressing, and I had just set up all my characters to be killed and defeated. Hey, I had a nightmare and it inspired me...what can I say...

But after reading LotR, I realized the importance of hope in a story. I didn't go back and change anything major in my story, but I introduced ways that my characters could triumph over their foe, even if some of them were still killed.

So the way it affected me was to help me understand that even in the darkest hour, you can always, always find something to lift your spirits and renew your courage.

Tolkien, through Sam, put it best (of course):

Far above the Ephel Dùath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. 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 foresaken 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. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him.

[Anarion]

There was a time when people suddenly rediscovered The Hobbit and The Trilogy in what was like a blaze of starlight and renewed interest(the books had actually been published earlier than that). I wasn't interested in such things because I considered them frivolous, and a little too childish or romantic. But the fact was that the books were sweeping a whole generation of people. Years later, a friend of mine told me that she had read some of these books during the Tolkien 'rennaisance', described above. After that, I was more interested and thought that I might like to try some "fantasy". I had never read a 'fantasy' book, ever. So I picked up The Hobbit. As soon as I was part way through it, I realized what a misconception I had been under all that time about Tolkien. I realized that he was no mere writer of fairy tales(like Lewis Carrol, for instance), but a master craftsmen of syntax, imagery and character. I quickly moved on to LOTR, in increasing awe and wonder. When I finished ROTK, and consequently the cycle, I felt that I knew some of what my friend had experienced in her reading of these stories, and perhaps why she had been interested in them and how they may have influenced her. But as a result of the process of all this, which initially had to do with someone else, I had entered what I felt was a gateway into a new world of literature. I had gained an understanding of a master's works and a huge increase in my own level of literary appreciation. Several years went by, and I attempted The Silmarillion, but put it down for a long time. Earlier this year, I picked it up again and went all the way through, this time mesmerized and in a greater reverie than during any of the previous works. These books have had a significant impact on me which is hard to describe, entirely. But I meditate upon it quite a bit. I enjoy talking about them, I'm glad for having discovered them and happy about the whole set of circumstances which led up to all this. I consider the phenomenon something fortunate which we all have in a 'real' world which can sometimes be viewed as a twisted evolutionary result of the confusion, mistakes and general undoing of 'modern' man. The idea of Middle Earth is actually beautiful, albeit fraught with all the danger and evil which we face here, but in different form..

[TolkienGurl]

Well, I have suddenly been inspired to write my own fantasy stories, and would actually like to write for a living, (along with other crafts I enjoy). My mom keeps telling me that my posts on here, and my "insightful answers" to others posts are "amazing". smilies/rolleyes.gif Huh. Parents. Are there any of you writers out there who can give advice from your own experiences with writing? Or could you post links to other discussions about your experiences? Thanks a bunch!
~TolkienGurl~

[ October 21, 2002: Message edited by: TolkienGurl ]

[Arwen1858]

They've influenced me greatly!! I just became a Tolkien addict at the beginning of August, as I started reading LOTR for the first time. I started The Hobbit yesterday. I already knew I wanted to be a writer, but since reading his books, that desire has grown so much! I want to be able to write like he does. His description is wonderful! He can describe things so elaboratly, in such detail, without boring you to death as some writers do. I sincerly hope that as I writer I will be able to describe things like he does! Also, when I start thinking that I won't be able to, sometimes I remind myself that 'Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.'
Arwen

[ October 21, 2002: Message edited by: Arwen1858 ]

[TolkienGurl]

Greetings, Arwen! I hope you enjoy reading the Hobbit! Good luck in your writing expeditions!

[elfling]

The books are magic for me. I have always liked some fantasy books and I only recently have read Tolkien but I can't stop now. I'm always reading a new one or rereading one of LotRs. I have started hiking again and wish to do a long hike (quest) now. I also look for more honorable characteristics in people, searching for a little Tolkien in people. I would also like to get involved with some reenactment groups but family and work leave little time now but I have hope later that will be possible.
I like getting on line alot more now looking for others moved and affected by Tolkien, too.

[Sleeping Beauty]

The books have influenced me very much. I started reading them in the 10th grade and I haven't put them down since. Tolkien's attention to details keeps you so enthralled that every time you read, you learn something new. That is a sign that it is a great book if it keeps drawing it's audience like that. I have read many a fantasy book(some that I felt were a waste of time) and they don't leave you with that some feeling. It's like choosing between a salad and a steak. One is more satisfying than the other.

Tolkien's work helped somewhat get my juice flowing for writing. I have written a couple of short stories (fantasy and otherwise)and am working on a longer one that maybe someday with a miracle it can be published. I also write fanfiction as stress reliever. (College classes, bleh...)

But yes, Tolkien's books will always be an influence to me since he is the standard for fantasy writing. No one else can be as detailed as he was with his works and still be able to weave a tale. That is the sign of a true author.

[ October 24, 2002: Message edited by: Sleeping Beauty ]

[Matthew2754]

As a matter of fact, these books kept me alive for a while. I, in middle school, was a depressed, suicidal person and Star Wars and JRR Tolkien were the only things i found that made me happy. But unfortunatly, that was not enough. Nothing in this world is enough to give us true hope for very long. Luckily, I gave my life over to Jesus Christ, who erased my depression and gave my life meaning.

[Arwen1858]

Nice screen name, Matthew! I assume it is a reference to a Bible verse? As a Christian myself, I'm always excited to see fellow Christians in here!!
Arwen

[TolkienGurl]

Me, too, Arwen1858!

Anyway, since I'm homeschooled, I can choose what I want to do for my highschool classes. I've chosen for an English credit a series called: Learn to Write the Novel Way. It guides you step-by-step through the process of writing a story and the end result is your very own novel! I'm so excited! If anyone is interested, you can get it on www.Christianbook.com. (http://www.Christianbook.com.) Hopefully it'll workout. Maybe I'll post my story in the FanFiction section. Hmmm...

Many Greetings,
TolkienGurl

[Arwen1858]

TolienGurl... You're homeschooled??!! So am I!! Cool!
Arwen

[ October 24, 2002: Message edited by: Arwen1858 ]

[TolkienGurl]

smilies/biggrin.gif Homeschooling Rocks! smilies/biggrin.gif

Anyway, I just realized, Tolkien has made me become more "detailed." I actually appreciate all the details in books, nature, everyday life, etc. and try to become descriptive like him, even if its just for some school assignment.

... That is the sign of a true author. - Sleeping Beauty

Ditto!

[ October 24, 2002: Message edited by: TolkienGurl ]

[Arwen1858]

I'm doing the same thing. I've had a lot of writing assignments lately, and have been trying to be more detailed and descritive in them. I'm so glad I read LOTR!
Arwen

[Anarion]

Agree. Tolkien is the Standard of the idiom. I don't find any of the other stuff interesting, in comparison. I wish some author who could both write and tell a story on that level would pick it up and continue. Then it would go on and on. Imagine.

[Helkasir]

Aaah. My first real introduction was watching that Lord of The rings cartoon at the age of 2. Fairly young. Next, I saw the hobbit movie, just around the same time. They became my favorites. Watched em all the time. I believe I saw return of the king at age 5. At the age of seven, I saw a copy of the Hobbit in our local labor day book sale going for 10 cents. Not knowing there was a copy actually in the house, I bought it. I finished it within the week (Spent hours reading it) and while much of it was still a little over my head (Queer lodgings) I loved it just the same. Then came fourth grade, when I found, in our library, a genuine copy of lord of the rings. It took me one weekend to read it all. Gobbled them up. At 10, I started really thinking about the world of tolkien in general, and started picking up te details and the customs, underlying plots and themes, questioning about tom, etc. It was too long after that I got a set of LOTR and The Hobbit (Making 3 copies total in the house) and set out on my search for the histories. So far, I only have the Last Tales 1&2, the lays of Beleriand, The shaping of middle earth, the treason of Isengard, Morgoths ring, the end of the third age, UT and the Sil. Through all of this reading, I really truly believe I got my own sense of how to write. I have, so far, a 362 page story. I started it in seventh grade, and it's mostly a historical record of my writing improvement. The story starts out a bit disjointed, hopping from one thing to another. Later on, it runs smoothly. But the world it self reflects my imagination, and for once not something contemporary; which can only have come from such large amount of time in ME. smilies/smile.gif