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Kuruharan · 05-09-2009, 08:24 AM

I've noticed that a number of people (myself included) have hardback copies of Tolkien's works that they admit they never use and said books normally fulfill the very important job of looking spiffy in the library.

When did Tolkien's works become a prestige item? Have they always been? (I personally don't think so.) Is it a result of the influence of the movies? ("Oh, you've seen the films have you? Well, I've read the books! In fact they are all over there looking pretty and heavy and practially unusable on my shelf! Just think of the agony I went through trying to heft those things about and be impressed with me, o lesser mortal!") Or has it been something more gradual?

New Idea: This relates to the Why Tolkien? thread, but is there something about Tolkien that sort of promotes this kind of gathering and hoarding of obscure lore? We all want to get in touch with our inner Gandalf and have multiple volumes of tomes at our fingertips that are only well understood by a few others, with whom we feel the need to fellowship?

05-09-2009, 08:24 AM	#22
Kuruharan Regal Dwarven Shade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold Posts: 3,593	A Question I've noticed that a number of people (myself included) have hardback copies of Tolkien's works that they admit they never use and said books normally fulfill the very important job of looking spiffy in the library. When did Tolkien's works become a prestige item? Have they always been? (I personally don't think so.) Is it a result of the influence of the movies? ("Oh, you've seen the films have you? Well, I've read the books! In fact they are all over there looking pretty and heavy and practially unusable on my shelf! Just think of the agony I went through trying to heft those things about and be impressed with me, o lesser mortal!") Or has it been something more gradual? New Idea: This relates to the Why Tolkien? thread, but is there something about Tolkien that sort of promotes this kind of gathering and hoarding of obscure lore? We all want to get in touch with our inner Gandalf and have multiple volumes of tomes at our fingertips that are only well understood by a few others, with whom we feel the need to fellowship? __________________ ...finding a path that cannot be found, walking a road that cannot be seen, climbing a ladder that was never placed, or reading a paragraph that has no... Last edited by Kuruharan; 05-09-2009 at 09:13 AM. Reason: Had a new thought.