Tolkien Humor: What makes us different?

[Kates Frodo Temp]

I have a theory: I believe that Tolkienites have their own particular brand of humor. It shows itself by causing a person to suddenly collapse in fits of giggles at things other people don't seem to see. For example, particular lines in The Silmarillion, and MANY quotes of Shakespeare cause me to start laughing, although they are not particularly amusing.

I'd love to hear from people who have had similar experiences! Can anyone explain this phenomenon? Let me know!

~Kates~

[Meela]

I think I know what you mean, but I can't explain it.

Maybe it's because we see differently to other people because Tolkien's works makes us see differently, like his work is a separate style that only we pick up on. Then this style makes us see other styles in different ways? I know that doesn't make sense... I'm not really sure.

[The Barrow-Wight]

KatedFrodoTemp, if you are going to start a topic, you must give examples and explain then.

We await your response..... otherwise this topic cannot go on.

[Kates Frodo Temp]

What I mean is, I think that people who read Tolkien have to find the humor in things. Tolkien tends to be subtle, so we learn to look for what may be a joke. This style of reading seems to carry over from reading Tolkien to reading other things.

For example, was it Manwe in the Sil who said "That is a strange thought." For some reason I cracked up. Also, and I hope this is an exact quote, "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" I laugh whenever I hear that line.

I was just wondering if other people saw this tendency, and if they could give examples of how it affects them.

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

i know what you mean, i have some similar experiences when reading those books especially the Hobbit!
like when it is told how indecent it is to start a journey without a handkerchief i can't help myself bursting into laughter. but when i try to explane it to someone i make the whole thing sound silly and boring. maybe it works only if you read or is it just our twisted sence of humour?!?

[The_Hand]

I think I know what you mean...
It happens to me when I read The Hobbit mostly because of course it is the most... funny of the book and not so serious but also when I read Silm. Can't remember any good ones now.... If you find you laugh like this when you read other thing not written by Tolkien it may be because you read something that reminds you of his form of writing and find it funny in some strange and unusual may.... Like you find his! And maybe in the end the Silm gets sooo serious that you just can't take it!? I mean it's all written beautifully but maybe we just break-down in the end??? Anyone understand anything I just wrote??? Cause I don't

[Elennar Starfire]

I laughed when I was going to Washington (state) with my family, because there was a sign that said "do not pass" and everyone stared at me (except my dad, who was driving) until I explained what was so funny.

[elfearz1]

Yeah, I laugh at random things. My best friend and I have a really odd sense of humour. I think your theory is right. One time I yelled got milk at a cow... hahahahaha

[Sapphire_Flame]

I know exactly what you mean!

Last week I went on a camping trip with the youth in my church, and on the drive back home I saw so many signs that said "Do Not Pass", and I kept busting up laughing, and everyone in the bus looked at me like I was completely insane. More so when I started yelling "You cannot pass!" everytime I saw said signs.

On this trip, we happened to be traveling through Wyoming (those here who have been to Wyoming will know a bit more what I'm talking about next). And in the part where we were there was nothing. Just dirt and sagebrush. I was reading The Hobbit during the drive, and just after reading the description of the Desolation of the Dragon I looked out the window and thought "OMG, that's where we are now!" Again, I bust up laughing, and when I tried to explain it to the kids sitting around me they just didn't get it!!!

Ah, well, at least I thought it was funny. smilies/biggrin.gif

Abedithon le,

~*~Aranel~*~

[Daewen]

I can completley relate. Like in FOTR when Legolas says, "Ai! Ai! A Balrog! A Balrog has come!" I start laughing. And of course, TTT had plenty of funny bits in it, which is what made the movie much funnier than the FOTR movie. For example, and this is in the movie as well, Sam's po-ta-tos line always makes me laugh as well as Gollum's sikzophrenia.

[Lyta_Underhill]

My favorite example of the "You shall not pass!" mis-usage (if you can call it that) is a professor who tells his students that, if they cheat on the exam, they "shall not pass!"

Also, I don't know if I'm just stranger than your average reader of the Silmarillion, but I have this split personality reaction when Morgoth stomps Fingolfin--it is heroic, hopeless and Fingolfin gives him a scar to remember, but Morgoth steps on him as if he were a character in a Monty Python sketch! Anyone besides me find this funny? And I can't even begin to tell you how much Fëanor tickles my funnybone! He and Maedhros are probably my favorite characters in the Sil, but the Exploding Elf still makes me burst out with laughter sometimes! See, shortened quote from the Alternate Quenta Silmarillion, "Of Fëanor, the Exploding Elf." smilies/biggrin.gif

Cheers,
Lyta

P.S. Now that I've changed my sig, that aforementioned quote is now residing on the Quote Graveyard in the Barrowdowns Forum if you're interested! smilies/smile.gif

[ July 25, 2003: Message edited by: Lyta_Underhill ]

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Brilliant. I've now discovered the cause of my insane sense of humor! (maybe!) I too find myself laughing at odd things. When I try to explain them, nobody else thinks it's funny. For instance the other day I was in a restaraunt and this guy was wearing suspenders and a belt. I was cracking up. I mean really, there is no point in wearing suspenders if you have a perfectly good belt on, and vice versa. In Tolkien's books though, I've got part where I crack up- In the Hobbit, I laugh for extended periods of time over the Rivendell Elves saying things like "don't dip your beard in the foam father" because 1) they're making fun of Dwarves, and 2) they're so much older than them. In the Silm, I crack up when I read the line "they shall have need of wood" or however it goes. I also keep renting the cartoon movie version of ROTK because it absolutely cracks me up. I die laughing when I watch it. My ribs actually hurt from it. It's insane. Maybe I'm just cracked though, maybe it doesn't stem from being a Tolkienite... Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fea

[Kates Frodo Temp]

Glad to know I'm not the only one! Ah, yes, the "Ai! Ai!" I know, I know! It's an anguished wail of unspeakable horror, but I just laugh, every time. In fact, I yelled it out while watching FotR last night. My sister loves that part, (I do, too, but it was one of those weird moods) and she kept telling me to shut up. I just wanna hear Orlando say it once! "Ai! Ai!" I love it! Really, I'm not insane!

~^-Kates-^~

[Amarantha_Daisy]

I just wanna hear Orlando say it once! "Ai! Ai!"

Same here! I wish they had put that in... I'd love to see him crying "Ai! Ai! A balrog has come!" ...I could just imagine it... I always shout that out when I'm watching the movie, but of course no one knows what I'm talking about... Pity.

[Nehani]

Yah! I'm not the only one (feeling special)! there is this really anoying kid that my friends and I hate. the cool thing is that if you re-arange his first and last name a bit, it combines to Eliphont. So, when ever I see him, I lean over and say "look Ms. Ross, an eliphont!" I can put a friend to tears with this, she thinks it's the funniest thing in the world!

Well, I hope that's what you are talking about!

Nehani of the Eliphont-infested forest

[Amarantha_Daisy]

the cool thing is that if you re-arange his first and last name a bit, it combines to Eliphont. So, when ever I see him, I lean over and say "look Ms. Ross, an eliphont!"

smilies/biggrin.gif That's great! That would certainly make me crack up...

I do think I have a different sense of humor than my friends... I think it's like...lighter. Hobbit-ish. I take things very lightly and find humor in the strangest things. My friends just roll their eyes and don't get it, but... I dunno. I just feel light. smilies/smile.gif

[Arien_Tinuviel]

us tolkienites are special!!

About a month ago, I was in the car with my family on vacation. (we were going through some state I can't rememb. past some small town i can't remember) Then we started passing all these old abandoned mines and I saw this one sign that said 'Mines of Mo-' of course, the last part of the town's name had fallen off but it registered as 'Mines of Moria' and I started cracking up.

also, at school whenever I'm trying to get my friend's attention I run to the doorway she's going through and yell 'you shall not pass!' and it gets us both in tears.

[THE Ka]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/BOOOOO2NIH.01.LZZZZZZZ.ipg
yes! finally someone has broke the ice! we're unique because we have are own other different level of humour!! and Elennar i too have seen that same sign, or another one like it! ... proubly due to the fact that i live in washington state... weird.... well, anyway, i think what makes me laugh the mosts is lines from the hobbit... especially when Bilbo helps the dwarfs escape the elven prison by stuffing them in barrels... no wonder that every time when i see a barrel or wooden container floating in puget sound i begin to laugh..... smilies/rolleyes.gif smilies/wink.gif smilies/biggrin.gif

oh this hapless earth there's small sincerity of mirth,
and laughter oft is but an art to drown the outcry of the heart.
- Hartley Coleridge, Addresses to certian goldfishes

[Lucinda]

Oooh! i'm not alone! I burst out lauhing at anythin. Like watching Back to the secret garden, she says "Thank you, mr fox" I love that! I dont know why, but I find it really funny, and noone else does!

[Arien_Tinuviel]

I find that funny but for probably for a whole different reason.

I always laugh when the ringwraiths start to show up because I expect them to suddenly draw sporks and start sporking people. (long story)

[Elennar Starfire]

Hah, It will be a while before I can look at a spork without laughing, even though I don't know why you think of sporks, it's a funny mental picture.

and Elennar i too have seen that same sign, or another one like it! ... proubly due to the fact that i live in washington state... weird.... no wonder that every time when i see a barrel or wooden container floating in puget sound i begin to laugh.....

I was at Puget Sound! Didn't see any barrels though. I saw the signs in Idaho. I also discovered that there is a town in Idaho called Greenleaf, which also made me laugh.

[Arien_Tinuviel]

ah, sporks are just something from another lotr sight I know of. We use them to spork elves...but....yeah

[Oddwen]

I find Gandalf hilarious in The Hobbit!

"In truth, Gandalf never minded explaining his cleverness more than once."

"You do remember my name, but you do not remember that I belong to it. I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me!"

"Great Elephants!"
That last quote alone is one of the reasons I love that book so much. It's so light-hearted and happy.

And then there are the misread quotes.

"In a hole in a ground lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty wet hobbit, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell..."

"He stuck out his bushy tongue and Bilbo was silent."

The Silm? Well, I'm reading it again, I'll have to let you know if there's anything that strikes me as funny.

Ai! Ai! A Balrog is come!

Oh, I do so wish they had kept that in. I might have been able to forgive Orlando Bloom if so. That's the one quote I remember from when my Dad read the books aloud.

[Amarantha_Daisy]

"In truth, Gandalf never minded explaining his cleverness more than once."

*laughing hysterically* I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Gandalf's the funniest Istari on this side of the Anduin! I laughed at *and* with him throughout most of The Hobbit. *When he was there, of course smilies/tongue.gif * That book is just so light-hearted and happy, most of the time... *sigh*

[Lhunardawen]

We really are weird! I also get cracked up by that "You shall not pass" thing! smilies/smile.gif

Sometimes, as I reread LotR, I end up laughing at some parts for some reason, and the people around me would just give me weird looks as if I'm an escaped Mental Hospital patient.

Another thing, whenever I'm reading BD posts and sigs, I crack up and people would ask me what's funny. I try to explain but they just don't get it.

Lowly firimar...(is that the right spelling?)
smilies/cool.gif

[Pyroclastic]

I love having a more abstract sence of humor!
Aragorn: "You still speak in riddles."
Gandalf: "No! For I was talking to myself. A habbit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to." We pick the funniest people present to laugh with. My personal favorite, which gets me every time:
Saruman: "I am Saruman of many colours!"
Gandalf: "I liked white better."
In the moment of such intensity, Gandalf makes a joke! It's just so unexpected.

[Goldberry]

Us Tolkienites have very strange senses of humour indeed...I am always finding myself laughing hysterically, then, looking around, finding that I am the only one and people are giving me funny looks. smilies/biggrin.gif

One thing that always gets me is the part near the end of The Matrix when Agent Smith says to the other agents, "Find them, and destroy them!" I don't know why, but it always makes me crack up!

[Imsirion]

Yes, every time I see or think of Legolas, I start laughing about the "Ai Ai! Its a Balrog!" line. Especially since I got the FotR computer game. He sounds so funny saying it, especially when he rolls his tounge on the r.

[Amaris Ethne]

My entire family thinks I am insane. I mean seriously. My mum wanted to take me to a shrink becuase after my Grandfather's death I really *really* *really* got into the Lord of the Rings and didn't really cry over my Grandfather a lot, but anyway... I spent
13 1/2 hours making a family tree of the Elves. And not just little ones of each household, I did a huge one with *everyone*. Mum burned it...then I spent about 9 hours reconstructing it (i didn't have to do research the second time) My mum thinks I have a serious problem.

[Maikadurwen]

i laughed for some reason in the hobbit when
bilbo runs off without his pocket hankerchifs
and his hat.

i thought it was awfuly funny if you get my meaning smilies/biggrin.gif

[Kates Frodo Temp]

I like to think I've brought comfort to many people who were beginning to think they really WERE crazy. Just remember, it's the non-Tolkien people who are really nuts!

You people must be madlib fans, eh? I know I am! Yes, I've done them all over and over, but I never get tired of it. My sister and I get together and close the door, so we at least don't have to SEE the weird looks smilies/smile.gif I was thrilled when someone brought the madlibs "discussion" back to the top!

Gandalf is hilarious...hmmm...I think that's the correct spelling...hilaryus...hilarous...I'm getting a kick out of this! Gandalf is very funny! I think in the Hobbit the reason he seems so funny is that he's the only one who really knows what's going on. At least, you get that impression. *giggle* Okay, I'm shutting up!

*^Kates^*

[Morgul Queen]

Yep, anyway....I have a dare for you: Watch Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (the Aussie version) and then watch the Matrix or LotR. If you don't die laughing then...well....I'm not sure, actually *sheepish*

* Oh, look at yourself Mitz, I always told you green wasn't your color*

[Amarantha_Daisy]

Yep, anyway....I have a dare for you: Watch Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (the Aussie version) and then watch the Matrix or LotR.

Woo! "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" is a bloody brilliant movie! I'll never see Elrond in quite the same way again... Of course, I couldn't look at him straight-faced in the first place since I'd already seen The Matrix, but still...

I could just imagine Elrond in a pretty dress...