Tolkien Fandom - How much is too much?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Well, I should have added a caveat for Canadians and hockey jerseys.

We in Detroit merely win Stanley Cups, and don't require such tawdry displays of fandom.

Well, one does not win several Cups, as there is just one Stanley Cup (with a second string copy on display in the Hall of Fame), although many players and fans are often in their cups after winning.

And you've a bit to go yet before you best the string of wins of the Oilers of recent yore. Legend has it that Toronto once knew such heights, but the living memory of it is lean, lean and not even the return of the King (as in Clancy) did much to fatten those faded glories or bring a ring back to the hands of the Blue.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Well, one does not win several Cups, as there is just one Stanley Cup (with a second string copy on display in the Hall of Fame), although many players and fans are often in their cups after winning.

And you've a bit to go yet before you best the string of wins of the Oilers of recent yore. Legend has it that Toronto once knew such heights, but the living memory of it is lean, lean and not even the return of the King (as in Clancy) did much to fatten those faded glories or bring a ring back to the hands of the Blue.

Great! Isn't it always like this? Have a nice Tolkien discussion, and a hockey game breaks out.

[Lindale]

Originally Posted by Beregond

For me, The Lord of the Rings is the reason I have an interest in languages, in English, in maps, in art, in medieval history and culture, in archery, and in other things that do not spring to mind.

Same here. Back when I took my archery class, I always fancied myself as an Elf, and because our archery professor was never strict with uniforms, I came to class with my hair loose and in a Harry Potter-ish knitted dark green hooded coat, the nearest thing I can get to any Elvish thing I imagined. And I can say I learned my English from JRRT and JKR--they being the two authors I have read during my elementary and high school days. In history and the social sciences, however I found parallels and similarities, I never quite forgot the line between reality and his fantasy.

Oh and I took German as my foreign language because... I thought it resembles a bit the Rohirric, the harshness my Filipino ear perceives whenever I read out loud their names. I don't quite know how wrong I am on that one, but I chose it over Spanish, the easiest European language next to English for a Filipino to learn.

I may be a closet Don Quixote lost in Tolkien's legendarium in my daydreams, but I have my rather successful attempts to repress it.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Great! Isn't it always like this? Have a nice Tolkien discussion, and a hockey game breaks out.

It's not surprising. There is so much fighting in Tolkien, see, that one in search of reprieve turns to other winter time quests featuring legendary fellowships.

[LadyBrooke]

I owe a great deal to Tolkien as well. My belief in the world of the fantastical - yes, I am one of those crazy people who actually believes in elves, faeries, ghosts, ect. - was reawakened by reading his books.

More than that however I owe my love of languages. As a High School student with two years to go, I will already have three years of French and a year of Spanish when I finish this year. In addition I was in German Club at my old school - we don't have one here or I'd still be in it. And I know ASL to a certain degree - enough to have a short conversation. In college I want to major in languages and then get a law degree. After that I want a job working with immigrants or as a college proffesor. As a partially deaf person I doubt I would ever have been inspired to work beyond English into the study of foreign languages if it hadn't of been for his languages. However now I want to do it all - especially translate old stories and such into English so that more people can be exposed to some of them.

[Formendacil]

"How much is too much?" That is a VERY loaded question to ask a philosophy student in the middle of revisiting the "Aristotelian mean." I must answer though that "just enough is enough and an excess is bad and too little is bad." Situation-appropriate, of course. On the Downs, someone who isn't a Tolkien fan is deficient, and I think it takes an absurd extreme we've not seen to be excessive... but in day to day life... well... walking around in mail and using the second person familiar might be a bit extreme.

As to myself, I am most definitely known as a Tolkien fan, but as it is merely one among many oddities about me, I don't think it's excessive. Granted, I managed to write a paper for a Romantic Period (literature) course that was 50% Tolkien... and yes, I suppose there was that one day at school where I had the most spectacular discussion about the lack of pointy Elven ears. And yes, okay... so I wrote the "thesis paper" of my undergraduate degree about the metaphysical differences between Elves and Men and started out with a direct quote from the '77 Silmarillion.

But that's not excessive, right?

[Ghazi]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

But that's not excessive, right?

Yes it is. Where do you find all of that energy and can you send me some in a bottle? Thanks.