How were you introduced to Tolkien?

[TilloW]

My parents had read the Hobbit so I thought that I would try it. It's a great book so I thought read the sequels. They were great books so I read the Silmarillion. That was a great book so I read Unfinished Tales. Oh, and I've seen the movies in between.

[Inziladun]

My father first read The Hobbit to me when I was probably around 5 years old, and I've been enthralled with Middle-earth ever since.

Today is his birthday, and the first since he passed this last March. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that particular debt of gratitude.

[Formendacil]

I am surprised to discover I never replied to this thread (that surely means I replied to some similar once)--but, a decade or more on, it's certainly not too late.

I came to Tolkien by way of Narnia: my dad had both the Narnia books and The Hobbit and LotR on his shelf--he'd been into both authors in his college years. I was about 9 when, having exhausted Narnia and tired temporarily of rereading it, I decided to sample the thicker, darker volume with a dragon on front (a Methuen softcover featuring Tolkien's famous Smaug on the hoard illustration). I had read enough--I was a voracious reader then, as I can sadly no longer claim--to know that Tolkien and Lewis were friends, and I hoped it would satisfy the itch.

I'm not sure it, but the new itch reading The Hobbit opened up has never been satisfied. Naturally, reading The Hobbit led to reading The Lord of the Rings. I was definitely just a little too young to QUITE enjoy it, but I enjoyed more than enough that I came back to it again and again. I've guesstimated for the sake of putting numbers into Goodreads that I read The Lord of the Rings twice a year from then until the mid-2000s, but that number is probably low. When I finished it, I went back and restarted it. I devoured the Appendices.

Naturally, it was only a matter of time before I read The Silmarillion. It was difficult and required even more attention, but it clicked somewhere around the second or third reading (roughly when I sorted out all the Fin-s). That barrier broken, Unfinished Tales was smooth sailing. That exhausted my dad's collection, and I was now working the library system to get ahold of the HoME in the year or two immediately prior to the movies being released. I was not emotionally ready for those, which turned my private passion into something that just about everybody had an opinion about and seemed to think they knew (but really, said 14-year-old me, how dare they even say "Haldir is hot" if they haven't read The Lays of Beleriand or "The Sea-Bell"?)

Slowly the teenaged years passed and I found the 'Downs at the end of them, and I'd mostly leeched the need to "possess" Middle-earth as mine and mine alone out of my system. Just as well, since this website and the shared nature of the fandom has become, well, rather important to my life's story. (cf. the wife I met through the 'Downs and our nearly-year-old baby...)

[Urwen]

I watched the movies, and I took a shine to Frodo. Then I got LoTR and Silmarillion books, and I started liking Eowyn, Maedhros and Lomion, and the rest is history.

[Mithadan]

I was a young science fiction fan and wanted to try fantasy. By reputation, The Hobbit was among the best. The other fourth grade class was reading it and I borrowed a copy. When I finished, I learned about the sequel and read that. The rest is history (and well-documented elsewhere).

[Barandiun]

I was introduced to Tolkien by TheGreatElvenWarrior. Since Tolkien is her life, and I am her partner, I had an obligation to read The Hobbit then Lord of the Rings. So we read the Hobbit together, then we read Lord of the Rings together. Right after then we watched all the Peter Jackson movies (extended versions.) I appreciate how unfamiliar I was with the plot and most characters because the read was always surprising and totally exciting.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Barandiun

I was introduced to Tolkien by TheGreatElvenWarrior. Since Tolkien is her life, and I am her partner, I had an obligation to read The Hobbit then Lord of the Rings. So we read the Hobbit together, then we read Lord of the Rings together. Right after then we watched all the Peter Jackson movies (extended versions.) I appreciate how unfamiliar I was with the plot and most characters because the read was always surprising and totally exciting.

That is actually really cool. I don't remember not knowing what happens, so I'm curious about what your thoughts were reading through it for the first time. Do the cliffhangers actually work? Who do you cheer for the most? How do you imagine the characters? *hovers excitedly*

Also, on a similar note, may I suggest the Chapter by Chapter forum? A good place to post chapter-specific questions and impressions [which I personally love reading, hence the selfish moment].