The Tolkien Coming of Age Club 2 - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Ealasaide · 01-06-2005, 03:02 PM

I agree that the quote from Lewis is quite striking and that it would make an excellent topic for a thread of its own. Do you plan to open one? If so, please let me know, I would like to drop in there.

I went to college in the early eighties, so I missed out on the other memories you mention. My initial reading of Tolkien was very solitary - locked in my bedroom every day after school. I remember thinking that I was the only one who responded so strongly to Tolkien's work, as my friends and family at the time seemed rather uninterested at best. How wrong I was!

Raefindel · 01-06-2005, 05:09 PM

I wish I could have termed my family's reaction as "disinterest".

I was 14 when first I read Tolkien and was met with down-right horror! My family treated me like I was reading material printed by a witches coven or a satanic cult.
They still frown upon it, even now.

Hilde Bracegirdle · 01-07-2005, 05:10 AM

Yes, Tolkien’s works had until reaching the Barrow Downs been a rather private thing for me. The only person I knew who had read it was my brother, and over the next maybe 10 years I met about three others. Still we didn’t really talk about it, and it didn’t really enter conversation until Dungeons & Dragons started up. Then the debates began at our house. D & D seemed to cheapen Tokien’s world in my view, precisely because that mystical and heroic quality was totally obscured.

And while I did not have a Frodo lives button, and only very occasionally saw graffiti bearing the names of Frodo or Gandalf, I did have two prized t-shirts in the 70’s, one with a drawing of Gandalf and one of Smaug.

If the stories had been more popular with my peers, I wonder if I ever would have read them. Probably. I confess that it surprises me to see how large numbers of college students in sixties embraced them. I simply cannot picture 'my batch' doing the same.

Also news to me was the comment that they seemed most loved in the US. Is that true? Is it still the case?

Rae, I know what you mean about some people thinking that LoTR is somehow evil. If they only knew how wrong they are!

Lalwendë · 01-07-2005, 06:18 AM

I love these stories of what it meant to be a Tolkien reader in the 60's/70's. In the early 80's I used to daydream about that world where everyone seemed to be a Tolkien fan, although I know my daydreams were probably far removed from reality. I always used to think it would have been wonderful to experience university life at that time. I'd actually love to see a book written about what it was like to be a Tolkien fan in those years; it might well be nostalgic, but it would be interesting to see where some of these fans went to from Tolkien. Maybe some of the 'Downers might be in it?

Growing up as a Tolkien fan in the 80's was a welcome relief; it was quite a bleak world, with the ever-present spectre of unemployment, the 'greed is good' mentality and the horrors of a cruel world on the news every day. I sometimes wonder if my love for Tolkien's world partly grew as a response to that cruel time in history. There was quite a love for Tolkien and counter-cultural literature, music and art which grew up in the Liverpool area at that time; I remember seeing Pink Floyd grafitti on this one wall in Bootle every time I went into the city. I think there was a strong need amongst young people then for what Tolkien had to offer; it was seemingly a place full of dreamers. It was always quite easy in the 80's to find fellow Tolkien fans - his work was one of the many things shared by those who 'reacted' against the cultural commercialisation of the decade.

Then I was dropped into the academic world in 1989 and endured the wasteland of the 90's, when Tolkien was seemingly deemed unworthy and uncool, and it was nigh on impossible to find any fellow fans! Or at least, any who would admit to it. With the films, somewhow fans came crawling out of the woodwork - and that is one thing I will always be thankful to the films for! Are these years something of a Renaissance for Tolkien fans? If so, I hope it carries on!

Ealasaide · 01-07-2005, 07:57 AM

Quote:

The only person I knew who had read it was my brother, and over the next maybe 10 years I met about three others.

Hilde- am I counted amongst those three? As I recall Tolkien was quite a big thing with us in high school.

You were the only person I knew over those years who was into Tolkien the same way I was, even though I didn't meet you until years after I had first read LotR.

Raefindel · 01-07-2005, 09:32 AM

Ealasaide , It sounds like we might be about the same age. When did you graduate high school, if I may be so bold as to ask?

I graduated in 84. I just had my 39th birthday.

I went to a private school (a Christian school) and I knew only one fellow Tolkien reader. Well, actually, she is the one who started me reading Tolkien. For a Christian school they were fairly liberal on the Tolkien subject. I remember watching "The Hobbit" animated movie at school.

Ealasaide · 01-07-2005, 10:34 AM

Raefindel, yes, we are very close in age. I graduated high school in the Class of '81. I turned 41 in September.

I saw a coffee mug right about the time I turned 40 that said "40 - Welcome to the Wonder years! (Wonder where they all went...)" It gave me a chuckle because I was thinking the exact same thing.

01-06-2005, 05:09 PM	#2
Raefindel Sword of the Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Washington State Posts: 1,313	I wish I could have termed my family's reaction as "disinterest". I was 14 when first I read Tolkien and was met with down-right horror! My family treated me like I was reading material printed by a witches coven or a satanic cult. They still frown upon it, even now. __________________ Blessed be the Lord my Strength, Who trained my hands for war and my fingers to fight. Psallm 144:1

01-07-2005, 06:18 AM	#4
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	I love these stories of what it meant to be a Tolkien reader in the 60's/70's. In the early 80's I used to daydream about that world where everyone seemed to be a Tolkien fan, although I know my daydreams were probably far removed from reality. I always used to think it would have been wonderful to experience university life at that time. I'd actually love to see a book written about what it was like to be a Tolkien fan in those years; it might well be nostalgic, but it would be interesting to see where some of these fans went to from Tolkien. Maybe some of the 'Downers might be in it? Growing up as a Tolkien fan in the 80's was a welcome relief; it was quite a bleak world, with the ever-present spectre of unemployment, the 'greed is good' mentality and the horrors of a cruel world on the news every day. I sometimes wonder if my love for Tolkien's world partly grew as a response to that cruel time in history. There was quite a love for Tolkien and counter-cultural literature, music and art which grew up in the Liverpool area at that time; I remember seeing Pink Floyd grafitti on this one wall in Bootle every time I went into the city. I think there was a strong need amongst young people then for what Tolkien had to offer; it was seemingly a place full of dreamers. It was always quite easy in the 80's to find fellow Tolkien fans - his work was one of the many things shared by those who 'reacted' against the cultural commercialisation of the decade. Then I was dropped into the academic world in 1989 and endured the wasteland of the 90's, when Tolkien was seemingly deemed unworthy and uncool, and it was nigh on impossible to find any fellow fans! Or at least, any who would admit to it. With the films, somewhow fans came crawling out of the woodwork - and that is one thing I will always be thankful to the films for! Are these years something of a Renaissance for Tolkien fans? If so, I hope it carries on! __________________ Gordon's alive!

01-07-2005, 09:32 AM	#6
Raefindel Sword of the Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Washington State Posts: 1,313	Ealasaide , It sounds like we might be about the same age. When did you graduate high school, if I may be so bold as to ask? I graduated in 84. I just had my 39th birthday. I went to a private school (a Christian school) and I knew only one fellow Tolkien reader. Well, actually, she is the one who started me reading Tolkien. For a Christian school they were fairly liberal on the Tolkien subject. I remember watching "The Hobbit" animated movie at school. __________________ Blessed be the Lord my Strength, Who trained my hands for war and my fingers to fight. Psallm 144:1 Last edited by Raefindel; 01-07-2005 at 09:36 AM.

01-06-2005, 03:02 PM	#1
Ealasaide Shadow of Tyrn Gorthad Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: The Fencing Lyst Posts: 810	I agree that the quote from Lewis is quite striking and that it would make an excellent topic for a thread of its own. Do you plan to open one? If so, please let me know, I would like to drop in there. I went to college in the early eighties, so I missed out on the other memories you mention. My initial reading of Tolkien was very solitary - locked in my bedroom every day after school. I remember thinking that I was the only one who responded so strongly to Tolkien's work, as my friends and family at the time seemed rather uninterested at best. How wrong I was!

01-07-2005, 05:10 AM	#3
Hilde Bracegirdle Relic of Wandering Days Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: You'll See Perpetual Change. Posts: 1,480	Yes, Tolkien’s works had until reaching the Barrow Downs been a rather private thing for me. The only person I knew who had read it was my brother, and over the next maybe 10 years I met about three others. Still we didn’t really talk about it, and it didn’t really enter conversation until Dungeons & Dragons started up. Then the debates began at our house. D & D seemed to cheapen Tokien’s world in my view, precisely because that mystical and heroic quality was totally obscured. And while I did not have a Frodo lives button, and only very occasionally saw graffiti bearing the names of Frodo or Gandalf, I did have two prized t-shirts in the 70’s, one with a drawing of Gandalf and one of Smaug. If the stories had been more popular with my peers, I wonder if I ever would have read them. Probably. I confess that it surprises me to see how large numbers of college students in sixties embraced them. I simply cannot picture 'my batch' doing the same. Also news to me was the comment that they seemed most loved in the US. Is that true? Is it still the case? Rae, I know what you mean about some people thinking that LoTR is somehow evil. If they only knew how wrong they are!

01-07-2005, 10:34 AM	#7
Ealasaide Shadow of Tyrn Gorthad Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: The Fencing Lyst Posts: 810	Raefindel, yes, we are very close in age. I graduated high school in the Class of '81. I turned 41 in September. I saw a coffee mug right about the time I turned 40 that said "40 - Welcome to the Wonder years! (Wonder where they all went...)" It gave me a chuckle because I was thinking the exact same thing.