Quote:
Originally Posted by Beregond
*Found it hard to place this topic - I didn't mean it to be silly enough for Mirth or bookish enough for The Books.
For example, do you ever catch yourself believing, even for a moment, that Gondor was a real place, that Earendil is still there up in the night sky, and that Frodo is the reason you aren't leading a life of slavery (even though you know these things are not true)? Can you tell me when the Brandywine froze over or recite the Lay of Leithien, but not know the dates of World War II or the words to your country's anthem? Do you brush off family and friends to meet an RPG deadline? Would you even consider marrying someone who thought The Lord of the Rings was rubbish, if they read it at all?
|
While I obviously greatly admire Tolkien's works, I honestly don't believe I've ever taken that to the level of an obsession. I've never had any trouble separating fiction from reality in any interest of mine. However, every time I'm at the beach, looking across the unquiet waters, it
is hard to not think of Tuor standing upon the coast of Nevrast, watching the Sun slip beneath the waters in the West...
As a rule, I can't recite Tolkien-related dates off the top of my head, but I generally have enough ME lore at the ready to well earn the honourable 'geek' moniker from non-reading friends. I am a devoted collector of useless facts anyway, so that isn't really a side effect of Tolkien interest, just my general oddity.
Fandom, I think, only becomes a problem when one is constantly shirking real responsibilities in catering to one's hobby. There is a difference between staying up an extra half hour because "I just have to reply to that thread now", or using one's lunch break to play in an rpg, and doing things like forgetting appointments and excluding one's friends and significant others who do not share one's dedication to an interest.