Public Research: How did you become Tolkien-lover? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

The Sixth Wizard · 05-30-2007, 04:52 AM

I got the Hobbit from my parents.

I'm pretty sure the origin of my interest was reading a classic Australian storybook called "The Magic Pudding". There were rhymes on many pages, and my dad would do all the right voices. (the croaky one for the pudding, the squeaky penguin!

) Anyways, I discovered it again in the bookshelf again at the age of nine, found it funny and my dad told me I should read the Hobbit for a good book with songs, rhyming etc. I read the Hobbit in a month or so and eventually got LOTR and spent a whole year reading that, on and off.

So ... yeah. Whole obsessive nature developed from that.

Aganzir · 05-30-2007, 11:30 AM

I was 10 years old and had just befriended a girl nowadays called Thinlómien.

I had heard of a book called The Lord of the Rings, but I had never thought about reading it. As a child I often read books because their names, covers or descriptions seemed interesting, and the Lotr unfortunately looked rather nondescript (in a child's opinion the Finnish edition indeed looks dull out).

I remember walking with Lommy in the wintry schoolyard, and she spoke to me about the Lord of the Rings and roleplaying and everything that was already a part of her life, but by now a part of my life, too. I actually owe everything to her.

When I turned 11 I got the Lord of the Rings from my aunt as a present. I read it quickly, and started rereading almost immediately when I had finished it for the first time. At some point my father thought I had become hooked and read no other books anymore, so he forbade me reading it for two or three months (I had read it say 6 times in 1,5 a year, but I don't think it was that much). I took it with me to school and read it anyway.

By my next bithday I had read the Lotr for several times, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales. There was something in Tolkien's works that made me love them, and that love is something I will probably always carry with me.

Morthoron · 06-09-2007, 08:32 PM

I alluded to this elsewhere on the forum, but oddly enough it was Tolkien's obituary that led me to read his books. I was in grade school and happened to see his obit in The Detroit Free Press (complete with his picture and some drawings of Hobbits). Out of curiousity I began reading The Hobbit, and decades later I still keep the Tolkien estate subsidized through annual purchases of their product (which take up most of one of the bookcases in my study).

View Poll Results: I've read Tolkien, for I have...
Found him on my own in a bookstore	4	3.77%
Heard about him from a friend/sibling	31	29.25%
Watched the movies	18	16.98%
Read exalted criticism in a paper/book and read his works to look for myself	0	0%
Read spiteful criticism in a paper/book and read his works to look for myself	0	0%
Found the books prohibited in my school/university and decided to have a go	0	0%
Been taught his works in school/university	4	3.77%
Been read his works by my parents as a child/read the books bought for me by my parents	28	26.42%
Enjoyed another artist (poet, writer, etc, please indicate)	3	2.83%
Other	18	16.98%
Voters: 106. You may not vote on this poll

05-30-2007, 11:30 AM	#2
Aganzir Woman of Secret Shadow Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: in hollow halls beneath the fells Posts: 4,511	I was 10 years old and had just befriended a girl nowadays called Thinlómien. I had heard of a book called The Lord of the Rings, but I had never thought about reading it. As a child I often read books because their names, covers or descriptions seemed interesting, and the Lotr unfortunately looked rather nondescript (in a child's opinion the Finnish edition indeed looks dull out). I remember walking with Lommy in the wintry schoolyard, and she spoke to me about the Lord of the Rings and roleplaying and everything that was already a part of her life, but by now a part of my life, too. I actually owe everything to her. When I turned 11 I got the Lord of the Rings from my aunt as a present. I read it quickly, and started rereading almost immediately when I had finished it for the first time. At some point my father thought I had become hooked and read no other books anymore, so he forbade me reading it for two or three months (I had read it say 6 times in 1,5 a year, but I don't think it was that much). I took it with me to school and read it anyway. By my next bithday I had read the Lotr for several times, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales. There was something in Tolkien's works that made me love them, and that love is something I will probably always carry with me. __________________ He bit me, and I was not gentle.

06-09-2007, 08:32 PM	#3
Morthoron Curmudgeonly Wordwraith Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Ensconced in curmudgeonly pursuits Posts: 2,515	I alluded to this elsewhere on the forum, but oddly enough it was Tolkien's obituary that led me to read his books. I was in grade school and happened to see his obit in The Detroit Free Press (complete with his picture and some drawings of Hobbits). Out of curiousity I began reading The Hobbit, and decades later I still keep the Tolkien estate subsidized through annual purchases of their product (which take up most of one of the bookcases in my study). __________________ And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision. Last edited by Morthoron; 06-09-2007 at 10:14 PM.

05-30-2007, 04:52 AM	#1
The Sixth Wizard Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stuck under a rock in Valinor with Ar-Pharazon. Posts: 480	I got the Hobbit from my parents. I'm pretty sure the origin of my interest was reading a classic Australian storybook called "The Magic Pudding". There were rhymes on many pages, and my dad would do all the right voices. (the croaky one for the pudding, the squeaky penguin! ) Anyways, I discovered it again in the bookshelf again at the age of nine, found it funny and my dad told me I should read the Hobbit for a good book with songs, rhyming etc. I read the Hobbit in a month or so and eventually got LOTR and spent a whole year reading that, on and off. So ... yeah. Whole obsessive nature developed from that.