[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Thanks for the accolades, folks: they make your exquisite taste obvious. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Strangely enough, and all joking aside, those who've said nice things about me are the very wights I most like. Here are some nice comments about them and others, most of them echoes of what's already been said. They're in no particular order:

The Barrow-Wight: Without his tireless effort and personal expenditure this forum simply wouldn't exist. His tireless efforts to add new and interesting features, and his inclusion of others in that process have made this easily the best Tolkien site I've ever seen. As if that weren't enough, he's also a lot of fun and shares with us interesting and well-expressed opinions. An all-round good egg.

Rimbaud: The superpiscine punmaster general. Quick-witted and blessed with a social conscience to boot. His return to the United Kingdom ought to be declared a national holiday.

Estelyn: Along with the aforementioned radical instrumental in bringing about my continued presence in the chat rooms. She helps with my German, offers encouraging comments and has found the time amid keeping Books and Movies tidy to come up with an excellent RPG. Laudate Telcontaria!

Bethberry: Brings a welcome note of formal scholarship to literary discussions and has even seen fit to praise my own writing. For that alone she deserves a place in my list of top 10 Downers. Otherwise a lot of fun to talk to and mistress of the 1960s pop-music allusion.

Lush: What is there not to like about the bête noir of po-faced morality? Witty, self-deprecating and refreshingly open; not to mention her rather flattering public proposal. Yes, I am really that shallow. Did I mention that she's nice to look at too?

Underhill: The only criticism I could offer is that I don't see him often enough. Always entertaining, often profound and co-inventor of the Travest-o-meter(TM). I understand that he's currently working on a better safety shut-off system for checking my Entish Bow posts.

Marileangorifurnimaluim: Another entry in the "Wish you were here" list. Consistently witty and with easily the most complicated name on the forum. Hurry back to us, Maril.

Sharkû: He appears to know more about English than I do, which is galling since he isn't a native speaker. His contributions are backed up with a great weight of knowledge and he invariably leaves me with only rather weak agreement to offer. So much for my alleged articulation.

burrahobbit: Says in a word what takes others a whole paragraph. I reward his economy with brevity.

Legolas: As has been said above, he can always lay his hands on quite the mot juste from Tolkien's writings. Like those mentioned above he has every cause to be big-headed, but isn't.

Diamond 18: A gem. Her style, wit and command of language belie her relatively scant years. Plus she too has said nice things about me and flattery appeals to me a great deal.

There are many others, but I promised myself that I wouldn't spend all day on this post. Worthy of note, but without a mention above are, again in no particular order, lindil, obloquy, Bill Ferny, Child of the Seventh Age, Kalessin... Let's just say I like all of you. This site is full of great people.