Public Research: Age Groups
 

This is also part of wider Public Research Project. Not much to discuss in this particular thread (this is more like a survey than anything else so far), unless you wish to share with us what was your age when you became acquainted with Tolkien. The poll is supposed to collect information scattered through three 'Age Clubs' and other related threads of the forum

[edit]In case intro was somewhat unclear (it seems it indeed was), let me stress that the poll itself concerns your actual age. [end of edit]

Again, the poll is private, so no one will learn your age unless you wish to make it public in the post. Ages can be learned from viewing member public details, true, but I suppose it will be more suitable to have these in one place. Besides, according to 'member details' information, some of the Downers are couple of hundred years old, so informaiton there must be, er... inaccurate.

PS. Again - there is an option 'over 100' up there, but please, please - humour is all very well in proper places, but do not mess up the poll out of sheer playfulness. Thanks

But which of those categories is " a certain age"? :D

Nice polling work, but I suspect that a wider range between the ages of 13-40 and a smaller range at the upper end would perhaps have been better.

As for myself, I was probably very small when I discovered Tolkien.

Erm... I'm a bit confused.

Is this a poll concerning our current age, or the age at which we discovered Tolkien?

I thought it was the first, but now I'm thinking the second...

Please elucidate.

I too was confused, but I think I've solved the mystery...

I read the Hobbit at five, and Lord of the Rings at six, though I was seven by the time I finished...I didn't become truly obsessed, though, till I read the Silmarillion, at, I hazard, about twelve.

Ah...

How did I miss that?

Anyway, to vote.

Woops. I may have answered slightly incorrectly then, having filled in the 13-20 bracket; I read LotR when I was about 11 or 12 (year 7 anyway), and the Hobbit when I was in year 3 or 4 (so somewhere between age 7 and 9). Sorry...

Clarification
 

The poll question concerns our actual age at this time. Additional information on the age at which we read LotR etc. is optional for those who wish to post about it.

NOW you tell me!!

Too late... I've posted into the wrong category then, for I am assuredly not under the age of 13 at this time.

Wow. I couldn't even read when I was five, let alone finish any more intelligent books than "Mary and her Little Basket" when I was six. Are you quite sure you're human? ;)

At least there was no confusion for me - I am still the exact same age as I was when I first read the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion. Miraculous, no?

Ahh...I just realized it is what age of Tolkien aquaintance, but since I've really have only been interested in Tolkien for a few years (the first Tolkien thing was seeing Two Towers with a friend), I guess that would be....Seventh Grade for me? So....my age and Tolkieness are in the same bracket. What a lucky break!
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MICHIGAN DISPENSARIES

Repeat of Clarification

No - it's actual, current age. Additional information on the age of first acquaintance with Tolkien is optional.

First acquaintance with That Guy's Work: I turned twelve a few weeks before.

Garn, can't beat Anguirel (inevitably). I read the Hobbit just after my seventh birthday and LotR before I turned eight.
I have divulged my age bracket on the poll, and I am sure Heren will in his usual gentlemanly fashion draw a discreet veil over such confidences.

Like Anguirel, I first encountered Tolkien at about the age of five, when my mother read The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings to me. I read The Silmarillion when I was in third grade and The History of Middle-earth when I was about 17 or 18.

Not that anyone's interested...
 

I first heard of Tolkien when I was a high school freshman of nearly thirteen years of age, just before the FotR movie was released. I started reading and finished LotR just before TTT was shown in theaters (obviously almost fourteen by then), and joined the Downs a few months after. I read The Hobbit after I'm already two years dead. :o

I'm 16 now, read LotR when I was 14 (or just going to be), the Hobbit later and Silm even later. Haven't read Homes and things yet :), but hope to soon

I believe I read the Hobbit (and Lord of the Rings right after it) at about 10 or 11. It is hard for me to nail down since the summers back then tend to run together in my memory. I read Silmarillion when it first came out here. I was high school age I think. In between I read what other of Tolkien's works I could get my hand on, but I still haven't finished them all.

My father read both The Hobbit and LotR aloud to me and my sister when I was six, or something like that. Then we continued with Sil and UT. I read LotR by myself when I was eight (and it took me half a year, I think...).

Anguirel? He's a southerner; of course not. ;)

Actually I'm half-Scottish!

That explains even more... :D

It would be interesting speculating who amongst us has passed the prestigious age of 100.

That must be someone who didn't take this seriously...

I prefer to think that somebody is indeed more than hundred years old - I've included option at all because it was possible to have someone that old, even if improbable. Next time I feast, I drink his/her health (even more so if s/he is unscrupulous cheat :))

edit: Just thought how wondeful it must have been to read the Hobbit as it first was published, and probably be in correspondence, or even meet with JRRT himself!

If there's such a person I really envy him/her and request that she/he starts a thread on his/her experiences... ;)

You should compare your results against a general survey of internet users.

The kids are alright, eh? ;)

I'm 32 now, will "come-of-age" in The Shire reckoning in a couple of months. Discovered the books in Aug/Sep of 2001 because of the movies.

I read the Hobbit and LotR for the first time at the age of 50! ( 5 years ago) Discovering Tolkien was quite a revelation ! It was just what I needed at this point of my life - it opened up a whole new world and made my life so much richer . Not only did I set out to explore Middle-earth and learn more and more about Tolkien, but thanks to this I also discovered the internet (and therein the Barrowdowns) Before becoming engrossed with Tolkien I had never even used a computer!

Me too, except move everything 1/2 years earlier

Hmm... well, didn't answer the optional part of this yet...
I read The Hobbit when I was 7, if I recall correctly - LOTR when I was 8. I started the Silm when I was 8, lost the book, and finished it when I was 28. :rolleyes: