I consider a major fan to be one who buys the best books, serious merchandise (flimsy copies of the Evenstar don't count), costumes in intricate detail, even change their names. A document was done wrong in my name change. Also spending considerable time studying the books to compare it to society and find the similarities Tolkien put into the book. How about learning Quenya and/or Sindarin?
I spent $200 on a leather copy of LotR on bible paper, $600 on HoME, $200 for a leather Silm, $125 for a leather Hobbit, thousands more on sterling and gold jewelry, costumes, weapons, pewter chess sets, and the like. And spun myself into major money problems. This is taking it too far.
A good fan is one who loves the books and knows them well, but doesn't go overboard.
A so-so fan is one who just saw the movies and has no idea Eowyn marries Faramir because they never got together in the movies, only a brief glance at each other in the end.
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