Early-teen fans on the Barrow Downs?
 

I am 13 and I was wondering if ANYONE at all here is in their early teens? It is driving me crazy, you are all in college and the like!

EDIT: To keep this topic Tolkien-related, I was wondering how you also came about the books. Any reply would be great!

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 5:25 PM December 06, 2003: Message edited by: Rindoien, elf of Lothlorien ]

Nah, there are a lot of teenagers here. As far as I know, anyway. I'm one, just for your comfort. And there are a lot more, who might or might not reveal themselves. Say, just about everyone in the Mirth forum.

EDIT: Has there already been a topic about how you found out about Tolkien? Not sure. I, for one, had it going really well, because I would have found the book sone way or another anyway. I read the Hobbit when I was eight (I saw it at school and then we had it at home, too), and then found out about LOTR from my dad (who also likes LOTR). So then I read the copy of LOTR that we got, and loved it. I was nine. But if my dad hadn't recommended it, then the friend that read LOTR during the same summer that I did would have made me read it (and it wouldn't have taken much convincing). Or else I would eventually have just gone looking for it, considering there were favorable reviews of LOTR in my copy of The Hobbit. So everything was working towards my reading LOTR. Weird, that. But cool, nonetheless.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 5:32 PM December 06, 2003: Message edited by: Luthien_ Tinuviel ]

Is in their early teens? I'm the only exception then.

Well, yes, you are a notable exception that I actually had in mind at the time of posting. I'm not sure that they're all in their early teens, say, but definately teens, for the most part. Hope I didn't disillusion you or anything, Meela.

Not at all.

I'm notably exceptional? Ooooh... I feel kinda special... *sparkles*

Of course you are. So, to keep this on topic, how did you discover LOTR? Did you dream about Denethor and search the world over for the book or movie that he was in- to eventually happen upon LOTR? Or did you happen upon LOTR and then fall in love?

I discovered Lotr when I was very young. Not on purpose... somebody read me the Hobbit when I was three, and I caught up on the rest when I was older.

After I saw TTT for the first time, I did some research on Faramir. That was how I discovered Denethor. Then I saw a picture of him in the film, and my true love was confirmed forever.

I don't know if all of us Mirthies are teens, but I'm willing to bet a good deal of us are, simply by the diction and the topics discussed: most have little relevance to 'old people'. I for one am 16. Not an early teen, but a teen nonetheless. I know some of the guests (they haven't made their own identities, content to read others' posts), and they are early teens.

I discovered The Hobbit in 7th grade Advanced Reading class. The teacher was a Tolkienite (albight one with a slight problem with Elvish 'c's). Keeper of Dol Goldur introduced me to the Trilogy. Interest drove me toward the Silmarillion (and pure stubborness kept me there). I've read snippets of the Lost Tales, and flipped through the Atlas a few times.

Fea

Well, I'm 15, so basically I'm a teen. Ang I think there are a lot of teens out here too.

I fist heard of LOTR when it came to thaters but it didn't exactly grab my attention. But then, a few months later, my mom buys it in DVD and I decided to whatch it because I was extremelly bored at the time. Now, I'm a total LOTR fan, I read the book and also other J.R.R.T.'s books. And I'm also waiting for ROTK to come out in theaters in December 17!!!!

I'm a "young" teen - 15. :-) My dad got me invovled with the books (and now most likely wishes he never had, beacuse I won't let them be!)
Elizabeth

I think you'd be surprised who among you is under twenty years of age! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Meantime, I found the Rings series only after whispers of a nameless fear; a MOVIE about them! So I read the books that we received for Christmas. I was 40 pages away from finishing FotR, so once we got to the Argonath in the movie, I was clueless as to what would happen. Not so, by TTT time! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I'm 16, but I've only been into LotR for about a year. I managed to completely misse out on all the FotR movie hype, having only read about half of the first book which was given to me as a present, then I watched the extended DVD, loved it, and read all the books again at turbo-speed. I've never actually seen the Theatrical FOTR film.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 1:21 PM December 07, 2003: Message edited by: Daisy Brambleburr ]

I'm an early teen (13). I was introduced to the books by my Grand'da, and I think he wishes he never read them to me some eight years ago. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

~Fëa

yay I'm 13 which i think is great because it practically gives me a liscence to be annoying and bratty and disrespectful to parents... not that I use it... *cough* I'm a mirthie through and through... I like that word. I read The hobbit-LOTR in 2-3rd grade and have been obsessed in fluxuating degrees ever since. But I think it's reaching its highest point ever this year. hmm. Is it any coincidence that parents and parenoid seem to have the same root word? i'm not really supposed to be giving out "personal info" but I mean, people can't be both LOTR freaks AND cyber pervs, so I guess I'm okay here... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I'm 16, and I'm one of those scary Tolkienites who has been reading LotR ever since she was a little kid. The Hobbit was my first "grownup" book, and soon after that, I got my hands on LotR (I think I was about 7 or 8) and I read it cover to cover nonstop since then. I was a fan then, but once the movies came out, I lived and breathed Tolkien.

I'm more middle teens than early teens - I'm 15.

I am 15 too and I started to like LOTR when I was 13! Wow 2 years already...how time flys lol. My friend from school got me to start reading it! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

im 14. I got into LOTR about a year before the first moie came out. I had no idea they were even making a movie about it when i was 11. I read the hobbit in 5th grade, that would make me 10 years old. I have been into it ever since.

I'm 16. Not really *early* teen, but a teen nonetheless.

I read The Hobbit in the sixth grade and loved it, so my parents bought me the LotR boxed set for my birthday. I tried to read FotR, but could never get past the first chapter. *stupid me* Time passed, and the FotR movie came out, which I watched and loved. I picked up the book again and this time read it, then read TTT and RotK. I'm now busily getting through all of Tolkien's other works. I am also now obsessive...

So, it seems that most of us on this thread (and most Mirthies, for that matter. Would I be considered a Mirthie, by the way? I'm not quite sure) are teenaged girls. Odd, that, especially when one thinks of the labelling of LOTR as a "boy's book". Or has that idea died, and I'm just remembering it from elementary school?

Well, physically I'm 18, but spiritually I'm about twelve.

I discovered the joy truly when I was thirteen, when my Dad read it aloud to us. (The experience was mixed in with huge hunks of chocolate, that might have cemented my love too [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] )

Pre-teen girls, I would think, are attracted to LotR nowadays because of the "hunks" who travestize characters in it.

Oooh... we're talking spiritual ages? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] Well, that entirely depends on teenage hormone imbalancing and how my day went. Some days I'm perfectly cheerful (remember being so happy around age 9?) and scare little children by skipping and dancing down the school halls... Those days get people telling me to grow up, act mature, and stop goofing off. Other days (and these tend to be more frequent)... well, lets put it this way: Angsty Teenage #$%*@-the-worldness. Those are the days that people tend to say things like "Quit being so cynical.", "Have fun! You're still a teenager!" and "Stop being such a buzzkill." So I suppose that makes me a nice mix between my girls (my little cousins) and my teachers.

I was just thinking about my first "big-kid" book... I was in second grade and bored out of my mind, so I read a 100-page documentary about Endangered Species (Komodo Dragons, California Condors, and the like). At least that's the one I remember. My parents (and brothers) claim that I learned to read from a big green animal book and that I used to toddle about our house saying things like "Ring-tailed lemurs come from Madagascar" and pointing to the pictures...

I remember reading The Hobbit for the first time shortly after I turned 12 and wondering why I was the only person in my class who enjoyed it...

I almost wish I could claim to have been one of the ones who grew up hearing the mastery, but I'm thankful that I wasn't introduced until I was older. I don't think I would have appreciated the books as much had I heard them when I was younger. I just wouldn't have understood as much.

Fea

Yo!. 14. It's not a bad age, really. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Now that's just stereotypical! Even if, unfortunately, it is quite true in may cases. Sad, really.

I do not want to set a spiritual age on myself, because the age that others have is such that if I stated it, it would be bragging. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Bet you guys didn't know you had this many fellow teens in the crowd, did you?

This is a board-related topic, not a Tolkien discussion. I'm moving it to the Barrow-Downs forum; you may continue there.

Wow! I had no idea I'd get so many responses [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

And just for the record.. I'm not a fangirl [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Heehee... eh. I first read LOTR directly after I saw FOTR. My brother had got the box set for Christmas but was too young to understand so now they have a better home... in my room [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

I'm 14, and I read the books when I stole them ( [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]) from my sister only about a year and a half before the movies came out.

-Aylwen

I'm 13, and I read LotR right after the second movie came out. My friend who I had seen the movie with (he'd already read the books) told me that the movie was nothing like the book, so I figured it was quite a good movie, so the book must be even better. I read them right after that. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I'm 13, and have liked LotR a lot for about two years now. I found it because my mom told me she'd heard that Tolkien was a good author. I was a bit reluctant to read it, as I hadn't liked the Hobbit on my first reading, but quickly got hooked.

-Menelien

SO NOT TRUE!!! well... not for me... even though Orli is soo cute. but my points are
1.) i got interested in the books loong before the movies came out
2.) legolas doesnt fit the hunk category. hes more the hottie kind. (there IS a difference... take it from the 13-year old)

Oh dear lord, there's a difference?!? [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] Man, do I feel old....Must keep up with the pop-culture. Maybe I should go stand in the GAP for a while..... [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

And you are very special Meela, I laugh at every one of your posts. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

And I read the LOTR series when I was 15...was very good timing in my life. My history teacher in high school recommended it to us in an external reading list for the summer. It sounded more interesting than some of the books on the list(Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald) so I squirreled away the books from the library and read to my little hearts desire. I think being a teen is a really good age to start it....You're overcome with the majesty of it all and as you grow, you learn to see the depth in the stories. It's almost like the books grow with you. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Though no longer a pre-teen, I was a fan of the book when I was in the 13-15 (and still am, btw), but I must say that I didn't think that Legolas was all that...handsome (shall we say) when I first saw the movie (even though I loved it). *shrug* Things do change though...

I'm 15...if that counts [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]. I thougth Legolas was cool, but the guys code certainly bans me from saying he was hot! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

OK, Snickerdoodle, now you've got to explain that. I deal with young teens on a regular basis and this strikes me as extremely important information, especially since we'll be rerunning FotR and TTT next Saturday. So please educate me!

How about you PM me (otherwise the mods will hang me from Orthanc!) and rate (Hottie!/Hunk!/Not!!) the whole Fellowship PLUS Eomer, Faramir, and anybody else you feel belongs in the list for enlightenments' sake. But the key thing is you've gotta tell me your logic behind each choice (without embarassing me TOO much.)

Doable?

ps. It is ancient history now, [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] n fourth grade our Very Coool teacher read The Hobbit to our class. I was about nine, then, I guess. Then in sixth grade the Hobbit was floating around, and I read it myself; Classmates raved about LotR and so in seventh grade (after several false starts) I read LOTR, so I was about twelve or thirteen... That was Thirty years ago.

First Aragorn, then Eomer and then Boromir each held my full attention for many long years. (Why is it that so many of us older women seem to "graduate" to Frodo?) Wow, how's that for off-topic? [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] I feel the noose tightening around my neck now! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] Gibbets and crows! [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 1:19 PM December 11, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

Well I am in my middle teens so I guess it counts. I was surprised to see how many teens there are I thought there would be less. This just shows how Tolkien encouraged reading and actually helped some of us. I don’t know about some of you but not many books interest me and if it wasn’t for Tolkien I wouldn’t be reading much today.

My mother would always read The Hobbit at night to put me to sleep when I was little. So The Hobbit has always been a treasure. I came upon LotR a few years ago but never bothered to read it but one day I picked it up and was glued to the pages. I have read the Silm once but I am reading it again to make sense of it all lol!

This is funny but I think all the teens in this room haven’t got a PT except Aman… that’s odd!

~Niluial

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 5:44 PM December 11, 2003: Message edited by: Niluial ]

*Raises hand* And me, and me! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] It's not odd, it's just that there's that whole teen fangirl stereotype and not a very large amount of the teens on this site give intelligent (comprehendable? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ) input.

I had no idea there was a difference. Then again...well, that's me... [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] I always thought Legolas had the weirdest lines, even in the book (but even moreso in the movie, now that I think about it).

Anyway...before the noose hangs us all...

-Aylwen

Please allow me to take a crack at this... I spend a lot of time drawing and people seem to think that you can't draw and listen at the same time, so I hear a lot of pre-teen conversation in the Art Rooms. Correct me if I'm wrong...

Hottie = exceptionally attractive person of the opposite sex that is usually (exceptions here) in your approximate age group. Tends to have other wonderful qualities as well. (ex: That hottie over there is the most amazing snowboarder! or Oooh- that hottie in my Art class is a really talented sketcher!) In some cases, I believe the actions make the hottie. (I believe some Hottie-characters could be Legolas, Merry, Eomer, Faramir, and perhaps Pip.)

Hunk = more along the lines of whoops-all-the-good-genes-went-to-his-looks-and-avoided-his-brains. Hunks tend to be very good looking, but usually have the irredeeming quality of not being all that bright. Many times they are sports enthusiasts. (For some reason I see Boromir as a bit of a Hunk... he's too obsessive over battles and such. He's attractive, but doesn't have balanced interests.)

And so our wonderful, kind, understanding-of-hottie/hunk-confusion moderators don't cut my heart out with a spoon after threatening me with a hundred hunks in a weight room, I know quite a few pre-teen Tolkienites. They aren't sure enough of themselves to get on here and argue yet, but give them a year and a few more readings and they'll be up there with the best when it comes to "yeah, but this is actually what happened"s.

I think it's wonderful that Tolkien was/is capable of turning bored kids into avid readers and debaters. Cheers all,

Fea

Fea, I heartily agree. Hence my main frustration that the esteemed Mr. Christopher Tolkien is reluctant to let PJ put The Hobbit on film. Simply put, if LOTR on film has inspired so many (so VERY many) teenagers and preteens to read the Trilogy, what would putting a good solid film of The Hobbit do for getting kids to read The Hobbit?

My own beloved husband didn't read The Hobbit until he saw the Rankin-Bass cartoon. Once he read it, he loved it. In the same vein, he thought "Shakespeare was for longhairs" 'til he saw Mel Gibson's Hamlet. Nowadays it's movie first, book second with the vast majority of people.

(So please, esteemed Mr. Christopher Tolkien, turn PJ loose on the Hobbit for all those uninspired vid-kids out there who've never met Smaug, and won't unless they meet him onscreen.)

I am 15, and I started reading LotR when my friend told me about them. I had just finished reading the chronicles of narnia and I longed for another fantasy book. I read the hobbit and I was hooked.

Well, if all you tell us is how old you are, we still can't stalk you! It's not enough information. Just don't tell us where you live, what your full name is, etc. (Not that I suspect anyone here of being a stalker, but it is possible)

I am 15 and have known of Middle-Earth since my dad started reading me The Hobbit when I was 4. I would look over his shoulder and read ahead. Mostly I would get stuck on a word and have to wait until he read it to figure out what it was, so I think that The Hobbit was the book that really taught me to read. After that, my dad started on LotR, and eventually finished it. I never was obsessed until I saw the movie.