LotR-sparked relationships - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Encaitare · 05-07-2005, 02:21 PM

I just mentioned over at You know you're obsessed with LotR when... how LotR brought my boyfriend and me together, and I thought that LotR-sparked relationships might make a nice thread. We've all of course heard Lalwende and davem's story (and if you haven't, find out all the juicy details here

) and I'm sure others have stories to tell as well. Share them! (I searched to see if there was already a thread like this, and I couldn't find one. If there is one already... Esty knows what to do.)

So here's my story. I was at a Sweet 16 party and a friend told me that there was someone I should meet. I was rather wary because I didn't want to be pushed into some kind of awkward situation, and so I said "Yeah, okay," and kind of brushed it off. But the mutual friend kept nagging me, and finally he said, "Just go talk to him! He likes Lord of the Rings." So I gave in and went to talk to the guy, and struck up a conversation about the EE TTT DVD (so many acronyms!), and we hit it off and dated for over a year. We broke up a couple of months ago, but we're still friends.

So, have you had friendships or other relationships begin with LotR? I suppose the 'Downs could be included, but primarily if you've met face to face with other members.

HerenIstarion · 05-07-2005, 03:13 PM

July 1995

Yours truly is tested in French as the part of his admittance examination to Tbilisi State University

It so happens he's good (as good as he'll never again be, as he forsook his French long since), and is a candidate for a 10, that is highest, mark. It also so happens that 9 and 10 are given only after the final interview with the head of examination commission.

Young and shy as he is, trembling one with shaking knees, he is brought before the eyes of the head, which, it so happens, is the red haired lady of kind and the same time severe disposition (that is, kind to intelligence and severe to the opposite), who starts away in fluent and rather pleasant sounding French. Questions are asked, one of which is - who is your favorite writer, o young one seeking admittance? Yours truly, having strong suspicion French writer is expected to be named, holds on to his honesty, and starts replying hesitantly, as to: 'you probably haven't heard of him, and he is not, strictly speaking, French writer...' (former SU it is, LoTR is just translated, mind you). Lo! (or rather, Hark!) - The Name is named... Amazingly, young one seeking admittance, who was looking at his shoes for a while, hears no thunder rolls, and, raising his eyes to look at the lady, reads 'You too?' in the gaze returned...

Other competitors, I believe, were very surprised to hear, for the best part of the next half hour, exclamated exchange not in French but in English, rather passionate, rather flooded with 'And Gandalf? Yes, he's great! I just love it! Me too! And this, and this - 'you should not listen to all you hear!' ? ' Is it Gaffer? I remember, Gaffer tells the miller off so, but in translation it was all crumpled!' 'But I have read it in English! 'Did you, m'am. And..and...If I may be so bold as to ask, would you mind letting me have your book? Just for a day, it would suffice...' I suppose also other members of the commission were no less surprised.

I should add it was a 10 mark for me out of that exam, and I gained admittance all right, and, now that I'm already graduated, we are still friends with a fine red-haired lady

My first LoTR in English I borrowed from her (it was Russian translation for me afore it), it was one volume paperback published by Harper Collins, the one with the walking Gandalf by John Howe on the cover.

The Tennis Ball Kid · 05-07-2005, 03:16 PM

(wait, you're a she?

Congrats! )

Nothing personally for me, though there are some people I'm hoping to meet soon , but on a couple other Tolkien sites I post at there have been several cases where people met via the site and ended up together.

ttbk

Elentari_Elbereth · 05-07-2005, 03:21 PM

Actually, LotR brought together myself and my sister's best friend.
I didn't know her too well, but since the films came out, she became obsessed but with no Tolkien knowledge. I got her started reading the books, and I would explain all kinds of Tolkien things to her until she nicknamed me "Master"( similar to Smeagol and Frodo.)
Since then, we've become even closer friends, and I definetly say that LotR sparked our relationship

This is a really interesting topic! I look forard to hearing other's stories

p.s. I ate a Second breakfast today!.. 3 meals and it's not dinner yet! I could easily be a hobbit

(he he..)

Encaitare · 05-07-2005, 05:07 PM

Oh, this is turning out to be a nice thread (if I may say so myself). Happy stories about LotR beat the news any day. Mr. Istarion's tale is really very encouraging.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Tennis Ball Kid

(wait, you're a she?

Congrats! )

Yessir, I am indeed a she.

Interesting perceptions we have of people, really. I think I come off as my normal self here (relatively quirky teenage girl), but Eddy thought I was much older than I actually am, and now ttbk has experienced a gender revelation on my part. I suppose that's a subject for another thread, though. Masks of Inscrutability, perchance.

Lathriel · 05-07-2005, 05:27 PM

Although I haven't made friendships because of LOTR it has made one of my friends and i much closer than we were before. Together we saw ROTK five times in te theatres and make LOTR related jokes all the time.
When I was on exchange in Spain my love for LOTR also brought me really close to my spanish partner's cousin despite our age differences (He is in beginning of Middle School) and the language barrier.

Lalwendë · 05-08-2005, 06:55 AM

I've got to know a few people through Tolkien, and this obsession has also improved a few realtionships. I remember my brother used to pick on me a lot until I had nicked his books and got into LotR soon after he did. He used to whinge if he had to share bunks with me on holiday and he wouldn't speak to me most of the time because I was just a pain, being a little sister. But then we ended up having something in common. He still wouldn't let me join in when he had his mates round to play D&D though.

At work there are always a few people who you don't get along well with, or who you simply don't speak to much. But when you find out that they also love Tolkien you end up getting along really well - that's happened to me a fair few times.

Tigerlily Gamgee · 05-08-2005, 06:23 PM

I have more new friendships than I can count thanks to LOTR... and my becoming the Line Party Administrator in Chicago. It's amazing how many wonderful friends I've made, and I'm so thankful for it. We try to meet up once or twice a year to hang out, because we are all spreadout, but a lot of us hail in the Midwest, at least. I haven't found Mr.Right from LOTR, but oh well

Ainaserkewen · 05-08-2005, 09:09 PM

I have next to no friends who enjoy LOTR anywhere near as much as I do, let alone have started a friendship with because of it. Maybe because I don't know many, or I just think they're incredible nerds that I shouldn't be associating myself with. But then I stop and remember that I'm an incredible nerd that I shouldn't be associating myself with and then I feel dumb. This doesn't include you guys. You're all super cool (pronounced in a French accent) to me. When I meet a LOTR nerd, I get all competitive. "I know more Tolkien than you" and that kind of thing.

Thinlómien · 05-09-2005, 07:02 AM

One of my classmates/friends became one of my closest friends when she read LotR and loved it. We had suddenly so much to talk about! I remember walking around the school yard teaching her the ring-poem both in Finnish and in English... People looked in a quite interesting way at us...

Later I've learned that this person is a very lovely person and I get very well along with her with also another issues than LotR. She's one of my best friends now.

Estelyn Telcontar · 05-10-2005, 08:53 AM

Well, it was actually the opposite for me - I got to know Tolkien through my then boyfriend many years ago. He lent me his books and I loved the story instantly. Later on, he gave me the boxed paperback set I still own and use. It has outlasted the friendship, and, as we live in different countries now, I've not seen him in years. I have no idea if he's still a fan.

I have had the privilege of meeting several Barrow-Downs members in real life, though, and have enjoyed being with them very much! I will meet some more this coming summer at the 'Tolkien 2005' event in Birmingham, England and am really looking forward to that.

I've also chanced to talk to people I already know about Tolkien's books and the movies and was surprised to find out that they are fans as well. We managed to get a good bunch together for an all-night movie showing a few months ago.

Orominuialwen · 05-11-2005, 04:12 PM

I met one of my good friends because she was a LotR fan. A mutual friend introdduced us because she knew we both liked LotR. She got us both together and said something to the effect of "This is (insert friend's name). She likes Lord of the Rings." It was rather effective!

Elonve · 05-12-2005, 03:19 AM

Yup! LotR totally brought me closer to my boyfriend. First we started the poetry club together and then one day he asks me, "You've read LotR? Right?" and I say "yes" he says "Do ya think legolas and gimli would hit it off together? if you know what i mean?"

we started going out after that!!
________
Itunes Gift Cards

Mithalwen · 05-12-2005, 01:47 PM

I have made some friends online through the Lord of the Rings which have become offline friendships as well. One person in particular was a rock and great support during a particularly bad time in my life and though we have had our ups and downs since, he remains one of the best friends I have ever had .... maybe it is because we live continents apart that we can talk about stuff you wouldn't talk to someone in the same room about.

To balance out the warm and fuzzy stuff, I should say I have also made some enemies and met some truly horrible people through Tolkien - inconveniently one of the enemies was the b/f of one of the good friends ..... I was so relieved when she dumped him....

Encaitare · 05-12-2005, 02:06 PM

Quote:

To balance out the warm and fuzzy stuff, I should say I have also made some enemies and met some truly horrible people through Tolkien

Alas! How could this come to pass? What, was the guy an orc? Or did you take the wing debate one step too far?

Mithalwen · 05-12-2005, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Encaitare

Alas! How could this come to pass? What, was the guy an orc? Or did you take the wing debate one step too far?

No..... he was an arrogant git who believed he was right about everything (even without supplying evidence).. and got very aggressive when disagreed with .... also he was a bit of a sleazy creep but I will spare you the details... Never have I more had the feeling that someone could be violent. So I was very glad when my friend ended it without my influence... you wouldn't believe how restrained I was....

Snowdog · 05-13-2005, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Encaitare

So, have you had friendships or other relationships begin with LotR?

When I was a high school senior (1975-76) and was first reading Lord of the Rings, I spotted a beautiful blonde sitting on the stones by the flagpole at lunch one sunny spring day reading Return of the King. I had just finished the story and was myself digging into the Appencices the first time, and so I asked her where Frodo was. Now we had one class together, but we really didn't notice each other because I was of the parking lot crowd and she was of another crowd, but this broke the high school social barriers, and we started 'seeing' each other at lunch at the flagpole. We never really were a 'couple' or 'dated' but we were thought of as one alot just because we were seen together at lunch. We studied and taught ourselved Tengwar, and would pass notes to each other in the one class. We also cut class after lunch one day when they poured fresh cement curbs in the bus loading area and we imprinted 'Friends' in Tengwar!

We lost touch with each other after graduation, but that 6 months was a sort of magical time for me. I did re-connect with her last year through classmates.com (the ones wth all the irritating ads) and found out she i sliving in eastern Idaho on her own piece of Rohan raising horses! I told her I was caught in the confines of the Minas Tirith - Osgoliath coridor.

Durelin · 08-20-2005, 10:02 AM

First let me apologize for resuscitating this thread.

But LotR brought my boyfriend and I together, in a way. We both joined this *guild* for LotR Online, and fell madly in love with each other.

His obsession with the Witch King helped in making me interested in him....

Oh, and that boyfriend would be CaptainofDespair.

Morsul the Dark · 08-20-2005, 10:14 AM

Let me see, my girlfriend rather ex-girlfriend....pause.... "ok then lets move along"*

were initially brought to friendship through physics then once we got those conversions out of the way LOTR was a key topic.

but more dominately my friendship with my classmate kaylen or arwen as her nickname is and I amadeous(yes i go by many names, andrew,morsul,amadeous, and by some mantarok) anyway spent our entire acting career(we did the school play together "grease"(i was vince fontaine)) we were friends silly me trying to avoid getting close because my relationship with my ex was good...at that point...and i didn't want to sour it by cheating my parents divorced because my dad cheated and as they say the apple doesnt fall far from the tree...I didn't get her phone number so I havent spoken with kaylen all summer which is disappointing she kept me going through my downs absence of the school year

um yeah My friend Arwen and I got along most on the basis of LOTr so thats what that whole rant boiled down to

*willy wonka: JOhny depp

Gil-Galad · 08-20-2005, 02:37 PM

me and a rather new member, Lily Bombadil, have begun a interesting relationship, we talk on MSN Messenger almost everyday and we act like we are perfect for each other, never know what may happen...

Elrowen Tinúviel · 08-20-2005, 09:13 PM

I met one of my friends because of LOTR... Actually, he was my older brother's friend who came over for dinner one time. Everybody talked at the dinner table, and afterwards, the friend, my brother and I cleaned the kitchen. Anyways... this guy was talking to my brother about a fantasy roleplaying group he is involved with. My brother was like completely uninterested and told him that I'm the one he should be talking to... I'm the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars freak. The guy was like "You like Lord of the Rings?!" And me... "duh" is an understatement...

So, now I talk to him more than my brother does, and we've talked for hours on end about LOTR. Yeah, he's cool!

-Elrowen

Lily Bombadil · 08-20-2005, 10:33 PM

Aye, 'tis true. Gil and I talk for a long time, very often. We may well be soul-mates, one never knows. If it hadn't been for the Downs, I would never have met such a wonderful young man. My Secret Canadian Love...

A friend of mine who graduated this May is very into LotR. I don't know if she is a Downer, but she should be. You all would have positively loved her as she is purely a delight. Anyway, she's obsessed with LotR, and I mean obsessed! She's so great. I thought we'd never be like real friends, but I think our mutual love of LotR and her sweetness paved the way. She even shouts at me in public now. One time, we were coming home from a one act play clinic, and she let me wear her Elven brooch on my scarf for hours! I love her; she's so cool! Oh, and for her patch in our drama class quilt, she sewed a perfect leaf brooch out of green cloth and silver thread. Isn't she awesome?!

the guy who be short · 08-21-2005, 08:20 AM

Relationships in the romantic or general sense? 'Cos if it's the latters... I have wonderful relations with everybody on the Downs cos of LotR.

Arwen Eruantale · 08-21-2005, 09:49 AM

I don't know how many of you will remember me. But, for those of you who do, I'm back... So to speak.

I was teased about a guy I hadn't even met for a couple of years, we all went to the same small church and there was one lady who basically made couples out of the young people for fun.
He was one of those guys who just sort of smoulders all alone in the darkest corner, I'm sure you know the type. People I sort of associated with at the time used to whisper when they talked about him... "..that guy... he's weird...".
So you can imagine my discomfort when my family was invited to his house for dinner.

Somehow we ended up talking after everyone had finished eating, and I found out by degrees how completely foolish it was for me to have believed what everyone else had said about him. In fact, it still embarrasses me that I was ever like that.
Anyway, he'd just recieved the FotR soundtrack for his birthday and asked if I wanted to hear it, so we went up to his room (our siblings were all upstairs taking lego-men apart) and listened to it and talked some more. And I found out that, besides being a really cool guy, he hadn't finished reading LotR yet, but he'd taught himself most of the Tengwar (he even showed me how to write my name with them), and he wrote poetry.
Now he's my best friend, we went to the midnight showing of RotK together with another friend before crashing at my house, and we're in a band together.

I also found out that he's obsessed with swords and knives. So I bought him a replica of Narsil for his birthday last year. And it sits in a place of honour in his bedroom, on the wall between his LotR poster, and the translation of the first few verses of Genesis into Quenya.

Gil-Galad · 08-21-2005, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lily Bombadil

Aye, 'tis true. Gil and I talk for a long time, very often. We may well be soul-mates, one never knows. If it hadn't been for the Downs, I would never have met such a wonderful young man. My Secret Canadian Love...

stop it...your making me blush...

Glirdan · 08-22-2005, 10:32 AM

No relationships or friendships started through LotR or the B-D. They both have, however, brought me and one Wilwa closer as friends. She is the one who showed me this site and I was immeadiatly interested and so I thank her for showing me this wonderful site.

Lily Bombadil · 09-02-2005, 04:07 PM

Quote:

stop it...your making me blush...

Oh, Gil-Galad, you know it's true. In fact, I've returned to this thread to embarrass Gil and tell you all that I love him madly and am now sure he is my soulmate. We talk on the phone now and are even planning to meet in person in the next few years. And all thanks to the Power of Tolkien!

(I'm officially a member of Gil's Harem, in case you're wondering.)

Orominuialwen · 09-02-2005, 05:27 PM

I met another one of my friends (not the one I posted about above, another) when I overheard her say at fencing club "I'm from the Shire." Of course I couldn't let that go without saying something, and now we're friends. She's joined the 'Downs (she's Strider), but doesn't post much. She's not obsessed with LotR, but likes it well enough that she finds my obsession fun. Her nickname for me is actually Hobbit, which those who know me well could tell you suits both my personality and appearence.

vanwalossien · 09-06-2005, 03:01 PM

My English teacher in lower secondary school told me once when we were talking about books that another girl in my class also read Tolkien. I'd hardly talked to her before that day, but for the rest of our last year at the same school we got pretty close friends. In my lower secondary school, there were very few who had read LotR, and when I started upper secondary (which I will be sad to leave next spring) I felt as if it was a way of showing how different the schools were when already in the first week of school, people began to talk about the upcoming movie which wasn't out 'til half a year later.

I also fell a bit in love with one of my classmates who suggested to our Norwegian teacher that we should write fantasy. He's a wonderful guy, and sure got my attention with that. We're great friends now, and I still bask in the glory from once having won over him in a Tolkien quiz. This was a very serios arrangement, I tell you, properly supervised by our classmates who wanted to find out which one of us was the ultimate nerd

I might've won the quiz, but he definetly scored high by summarizing the SILM in ten words ("Bad Elves, bad Men, bad Dwarves, bad Gods, happy ending") for me for a BD-thread

But one of the most Tolkien-influenced relationships I have is the friendship with the terribly nice Dane Melephelwen, whom I haven't seen at the 'Downs for a while, but I still talk to her over MSN. We missed a great chance at meeting each other in real life a year ago (jeez, a whole year already?), but geeky as I am, I think online friendships can as real as offline ones.

alatar · 10-31-2005, 09:23 PM

My sister, with whom I have nothing in common (I still think that I was adopted and that my real parents are space aliens...), used to tease me when we were children as I was a bit geeky and she was a biker, as in motorcycle. She'd even refer to me as "Bil-BO BAG-gins" with the emphasis shown. Well, when the PJ movies came out, she actually went and saw them and suddenly 'liked' LotR and had about 1000 questions for me regarding the movies - what was in them, what was left out etc.

Not that she's ever been nice, but at least we talked now and again.

And once, my future wife and I (at that time she was officially my girlfriend) were invited to a very strange party. We were to meet others in the woods and were to bring a book or story that we would like to read. Considering the hosts, I thought that the book either was 'cover' for some illicit activity or possibly fuel for the bonfire. But I brought my copy of FotR anyway. My wife, even more incredulous than I, figured that she'd just wing it.

Well, as the 'party' continued we realized that we, like everyone else, were to recite or read a story, preferably something scary. My wife decided that she'd do whatever I'd planned, and so we read the part of the "Bridge of Khazad-Dum" where Gandalf falls.

After we escaped the party, I then explained to my girlfriend why this was such a significant scene and why I liked it so much. Over ten years later, I had to do the same thing after we left the theater showing of FotR.

05-07-2005, 02:21 PM	#1
Encaitare Bittersweet Symphony Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: On the jolly starship Enterprise Posts: 2,033	LotR-sparked relationships I just mentioned over at You know you're obsessed with LotR when... how LotR brought my boyfriend and me together, and I thought that LotR-sparked relationships might make a nice thread. We've all of course heard Lalwende and davem's story (and if you haven't, find out all the juicy details here ) and I'm sure others have stories to tell as well. Share them! (I searched to see if there was already a thread like this, and I couldn't find one. If there is one already... Esty knows what to do.) So here's my story. I was at a Sweet 16 party and a friend told me that there was someone I should meet. I was rather wary because I didn't want to be pushed into some kind of awkward situation, and so I said "Yeah, okay," and kind of brushed it off. But the mutual friend kept nagging me, and finally he said, "Just go talk to him! He likes Lord of the Rings." So I gave in and went to talk to the guy, and struck up a conversation about the EE TTT DVD (so many acronyms!), and we hit it off and dated for over a year. We broke up a couple of months ago, but we're still friends. So, have you had friendships or other relationships begin with LotR? I suppose the 'Downs could be included, but primarily if you've met face to face with other members.

05-07-2005, 03:13 PM	#2
HerenIstarion Deadnight Chanter Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,301	July 1995 Yours truly is tested in French as the part of his admittance examination to Tbilisi State University It so happens he's good (as good as he'll never again be, as he forsook his French long since), and is a candidate for a 10, that is highest, mark. It also so happens that 9 and 10 are given only after the final interview with the head of examination commission. Young and shy as he is, trembling one with shaking knees, he is brought before the eyes of the head, which, it so happens, is the red haired lady of kind and the same time severe disposition (that is, kind to intelligence and severe to the opposite), who starts away in fluent and rather pleasant sounding French. Questions are asked, one of which is - who is your favorite writer, o young one seeking admittance? Yours truly, having strong suspicion French writer is expected to be named, holds on to his honesty, and starts replying hesitantly, as to: 'you probably haven't heard of him, and he is not, strictly speaking, French writer...' (former SU it is, LoTR is just translated, mind you). Lo! (or rather, Hark!) - The Name is named... Amazingly, young one seeking admittance, who was looking at his shoes for a while, hears no thunder rolls, and, raising his eyes to look at the lady, reads 'You too?' in the gaze returned... Other competitors, I believe, were very surprised to hear, for the best part of the next half hour, exclamated exchange not in French but in English, rather passionate, rather flooded with 'And Gandalf? Yes, he's great! I just love it! Me too! And this, and this - 'you should not listen to all you hear!' ? ' Is it Gaffer? I remember, Gaffer tells the miller off so, but in translation it was all crumpled!' 'But I have read it in English! 'Did you, m'am. And..and...If I may be so bold as to ask, would you mind letting me have your book? Just for a day, it would suffice...' I suppose also other members of the commission were no less surprised. I should add it was a 10 mark for me out of that exam, and I gained admittance all right, and, now that I'm already graduated, we are still friends with a fine red-haired lady My first LoTR in English I borrowed from her (it was Russian translation for me afore it), it was one volume paperback published by Harper Collins, the one with the walking Gandalf by John Howe on the cover. __________________ Egroeg Ihkhsal - Would you believe in the love at first sight? - Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time! Last edited by HerenIstarion; 05-08-2005 at 02:17 AM. Reason: typos

05-07-2005, 03:21 PM	#4
Elentari_Elbereth Pile O'Bones Join Date: May 2005 Location: North Carolina (moving to Calif.) Posts: 24	Actually, LotR brought together myself and my sister's best friend. I didn't know her too well, but since the films came out, she became obsessed but with no Tolkien knowledge. I got her started reading the books, and I would explain all kinds of Tolkien things to her until she nicknamed me "Master"( similar to Smeagol and Frodo.) Since then, we've become even closer friends, and I definetly say that LotR sparked our relationship This is a really interesting topic! I look forard to hearing other's stories p.s. I ate a Second breakfast today!.. 3 meals and it's not dinner yet! I could easily be a hobbit (he he..) __________________ Who shall see a white ship leave the last shore, the pale phantoms in her cold bosom Like gulls wailing? ...Who shall see the last evening?

05-07-2005, 05:27 PM	#6
Lathriel Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wandering through Middle-Earth (Sadly in Alberta and not ME) Posts: 612	Although I haven't made friendships because of LOTR it has made one of my friends and i much closer than we were before. Together we saw ROTK five times in te theatres and make LOTR related jokes all the time. When I was on exchange in Spain my love for LOTR also brought me really close to my spanish partner's cousin despite our age differences (He is in beginning of Middle School) and the language barrier. __________________ Back again

05-08-2005, 06:55 AM	#7
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,814	I've got to know a few people through Tolkien, and this obsession has also improved a few realtionships. I remember my brother used to pick on me a lot until I had nicked his books and got into LotR soon after he did. He used to whinge if he had to share bunks with me on holiday and he wouldn't speak to me most of the time because I was just a pain, being a little sister. But then we ended up having something in common. He still wouldn't let me join in when he had his mates round to play D&D though. At work there are always a few people who you don't get along well with, or who you simply don't speak to much. But when you find out that they also love Tolkien you end up getting along really well - that's happened to me a fair few times. __________________ Gordon's alive!

05-07-2005, 03:16 PM	#3
The Tennis Ball Kid Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 38	(wait, you're a she? Congrats! ) Nothing personally for me, though there are some people I'm hoping to meet soon , but on a couple other Tolkien sites I post at there have been several cases where people met via the site and ended up together. ttbk

05-08-2005, 06:23 PM	#8
Tigerlily Gamgee Hostess of Spirits Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Meduseld Posts: 1,056	I have more new friendships than I can count thanks to LOTR... and my becoming the Line Party Administrator in Chicago. It's amazing how many wonderful friends I've made, and I'm so thankful for it. We try to meet up once or twice a year to hang out, because we are all spreadout, but a lot of us hail in the Midwest, at least. I haven't found Mr.Right from LOTR, but oh well __________________ ~ ExerciseJunky.com (Hobbits fitness of choice!)~ ~Lady of Rohan: An Eowyn Fansite ~ ~The NEW/OLD Barrow Downs Photo Page~

05-08-2005, 09:09 PM	#9
Ainaserkewen Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: A cosmic waiting room Posts: 766	I have next to no friends who enjoy LOTR anywhere near as much as I do, let alone have started a friendship with because of it. Maybe because I don't know many, or I just think they're incredible nerds that I shouldn't be associating myself with. But then I stop and remember that I'm an incredible nerd that I shouldn't be associating myself with and then I feel dumb. This doesn't include you guys. You're all super cool (pronounced in a French accent) to me. When I meet a LOTR nerd, I get all competitive. "I know more Tolkien than you" and that kind of thing. __________________ Solus... I'm eating chicken again. I ate chicken yesterday and the day before... will I be eating chicken again tomorrow? Why am I always eating chicken?

05-09-2005, 07:02 AM	#10
Thinlómien Shady She-Penguin Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In a far land beyond the Sea Posts: 8,385	One of my classmates/friends became one of my closest friends when she read LotR and loved it. We had suddenly so much to talk about! I remember walking around the school yard teaching her the ring-poem both in Finnish and in English... People looked in a quite interesting way at us... Later I've learned that this person is a very lovely person and I get very well along with her with also another issues than LotR. She's one of my best friends now. __________________ Like the stars chase the sun, over the glowing hill I will conquer Blood is running deep, some things never sleep Double Fenris

05-10-2005, 08:53 AM	#11
Estelyn Telcontar Princess of Skwerlz Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles) Posts: 7,645	Well, it was actually the opposite for me - I got to know Tolkien through my then boyfriend many years ago. He lent me his books and I loved the story instantly. Later on, he gave me the boxed paperback set I still own and use. It has outlasted the friendship, and, as we live in different countries now, I've not seen him in years. I have no idea if he's still a fan. I have had the privilege of meeting several Barrow-Downs members in real life, though, and have enjoyed being with them very much! I will meet some more this coming summer at the 'Tolkien 2005' event in Birmingham, England and am really looking forward to that. I've also chanced to talk to people I already know about Tolkien's books and the movies and was surprised to find out that they are fans as well. We managed to get a good bunch together for an all-night movie showing a few months ago. __________________ 'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'

05-11-2005, 04:12 PM	#12
Orominuialwen Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: May 2003 Location: Umbar, but before the corsairs took over. (Ave Maria University, FL, USA) Posts: 705	I met one of my good friends because she was a LotR fan. A mutual friend introdduced us because she knew we both liked LotR. She got us both together and said something to the effect of "This is (insert friend's name). She likes Lord of the Rings." It was rather effective! __________________ Gone for lentSeeyou at Easter! (And on Sundays too, maybe.)

05-12-2005, 03:19 AM	#13
Elonve Wight Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Where the stars go blue. Posts: 153	Yup! LotR totally brought me closer to my boyfriend. First we started the poetry club together and then one day he asks me, "You've read LotR? Right?" and I say "yes" he says "Do ya think legolas and gimli would hit it off together? if you know what i mean?" we started going out after that!! ________ Itunes Gift Cards Last edited by Elonve; 04-09-2011 at 05:56 PM.

05-12-2005, 01:47 PM	#14
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,916	I have made some friends online through the Lord of the Rings which have become offline friendships as well. One person in particular was a rock and great support during a particularly bad time in my life and though we have had our ups and downs since, he remains one of the best friends I have ever had .... maybe it is because we live continents apart that we can talk about stuff you wouldn't talk to someone in the same room about. To balance out the warm and fuzzy stuff, I should say I have also made some enemies and met some truly horrible people through Tolkien - inconveniently one of the enemies was the b/f of one of the good friends ..... I was so relieved when she dumped him.... __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace

08-20-2005, 10:02 AM	#18
Durelin Estelo dagnir, Melo ring Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3,121	First let me apologize for resuscitating this thread. But LotR brought my boyfriend and I together, in a way. We both joined this guild for LotR Online, and fell madly in love with each other. His obsession with the Witch King helped in making me interested in him.... Oh, and that boyfriend would be CaptainofDespair.

08-20-2005, 10:14 AM	#19
Morsul the Dark Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 3,502	Let me see, my girlfriend rather ex-girlfriend....pause.... "ok then lets move along"* were initially brought to friendship through physics then once we got those conversions out of the way LOTR was a key topic. but more dominately my friendship with my classmate kaylen or arwen as her nickname is and I amadeous(yes i go by many names, andrew,morsul,amadeous, and by some mantarok) anyway spent our entire acting career(we did the school play together "grease"(i was vince fontaine)) we were friends silly me trying to avoid getting close because my relationship with my ex was good...at that point...and i didn't want to sour it by cheating my parents divorced because my dad cheated and as they say the apple doesnt fall far from the tree...I didn't get her phone number so I havent spoken with kaylen all summer which is disappointing she kept me going through my downs absence of the school year um yeah My friend Arwen and I got along most on the basis of LOTr so thats what that whole rant boiled down to willy wonka: JOhny depp __________________ Morsul the Resurrected Last edited by Morsul the Dark; 08-20-2005 at 10:18 AM.*

08-20-2005, 02:37 PM	#20
Gil-Galad Psyche of Prince Immortal Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Above a Parapet Obvious exits are: North, South, and Dennis Posts: 5,054	me and a rather new member, Lily Bombadil, have begun a interesting relationship, we talk on MSN Messenger almost everyday and we act like we are perfect for each other, never know what may happen... __________________ Love doesn't blow up and get killed.

08-20-2005, 09:13 PM	#21
Elrowen Tinúviel Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: East of the Sun, West of the Moon Posts: 45	I met one of my friends because of LOTR... Actually, he was my older brother's friend who came over for dinner one time. Everybody talked at the dinner table, and afterwards, the friend, my brother and I cleaned the kitchen. Anyways... this guy was talking to my brother about a fantasy roleplaying group he is involved with. My brother was like completely uninterested and told him that I'm the one he should be talking to... I'm the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars freak. The guy was like "You like Lord of the Rings?!" And me... "duh" is an understatement... So, now I talk to him more than my brother does, and we've talked for hours on end about LOTR. Yeah, he's cool! -Elrowen

08-20-2005, 10:33 PM	#22
Lily Bombadil Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hold on...let me consult this broken compass... Posts: 279	I Confess. Aye, 'tis true. Gil and I talk for a long time, very often. We may well be soul-mates, one never knows. If it hadn't been for the Downs, I would never have met such a wonderful young man. My Secret Canadian Love... A friend of mine who graduated this May is very into LotR. I don't know if she is a Downer, but she should be. You all would have positively loved her as she is purely a delight. Anyway, she's obsessed with LotR, and I mean obsessed! She's so great. I thought we'd never be like real friends, but I think our mutual love of LotR and her sweetness paved the way. She even shouts at me in public now. One time, we were coming home from a one act play clinic, and she let me wear her Elven brooch on my scarf for hours! I love her; she's so cool! Oh, and for her patch in our drama class quilt, she sewed a perfect leaf brooch out of green cloth and silver thread. Isn't she awesome?! __________________ "YOU!" "Indeed."

08-21-2005, 08:20 AM	#23
the guy who be short Shadowed Prince Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Thulcandra Posts: 2,496	Relationships in the romantic or general sense? 'Cos if it's the latters... I have wonderful relations with everybody on the Downs cos of LotR.

08-21-2005, 09:49 AM	#24
Arwen Eruantale Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: My Field of Paper Flowers Posts: 282	I don't know how many of you will remember me. But, for those of you who do, I'm back... So to speak. I was teased about a guy I hadn't even met for a couple of years, we all went to the same small church and there was one lady who basically made couples out of the young people for fun. He was one of those guys who just sort of smoulders all alone in the darkest corner, I'm sure you know the type. People I sort of associated with at the time used to whisper when they talked about him... "..that guy... he's weird...". So you can imagine my discomfort when my family was invited to his house for dinner. Somehow we ended up talking after everyone had finished eating, and I found out by degrees how completely foolish it was for me to have believed what everyone else had said about him. In fact, it still embarrasses me that I was ever like that. Anyway, he'd just recieved the FotR soundtrack for his birthday and asked if I wanted to hear it, so we went up to his room (our siblings were all upstairs taking lego-men apart) and listened to it and talked some more. And I found out that, besides being a really cool guy, he hadn't finished reading LotR yet, but he'd taught himself most of the Tengwar (he even showed me how to write my name with them), and he wrote poetry. Now he's my best friend, we went to the midnight showing of RotK together with another friend before crashing at my house, and we're in a band together. I also found out that he's obsessed with swords and knives. So I bought him a replica of Narsil for his birthday last year. And it sits in a place of honour in his bedroom, on the wall between his LotR poster, and the translation of the first few verses of Genesis into Quenya. __________________ And he became somewhat grim to look upon, unless he chanced to smile... Will you pay attention?

08-22-2005, 10:32 AM	#26
Glirdan Energetic Essence Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Where Lark Nor Eagle Ever Flew Posts: 3,449	No relationships or friendships started through LotR or the B-D. They both have, however, brought me and one Wilwa closer as friends. She is the one who showed me this site and I was immeadiatly interested and so I thank her for showing me this wonderful site. __________________ *I'm going to buy you a kitty, I'm going to let you fall in love with the kitty, and one cold, winter night, I'm going to steal into your house and punch you in the face!* Fenris Wolf

09-02-2005, 05:27 PM	#28
Orominuialwen Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: May 2003 Location: Umbar, but before the corsairs took over. (Ave Maria University, FL, USA) Posts: 705	I met another one of my friends (not the one I posted about above, another) when I overheard her say at fencing club "I'm from the Shire." Of course I couldn't let that go without saying something, and now we're friends. She's joined the 'Downs (she's Strider), but doesn't post much. She's not obsessed with LotR, but likes it well enough that she finds my obsession fun. Her nickname for me is actually Hobbit, which those who know me well could tell you suits both my personality and appearence. __________________ Gone for lentSeeyou at Easter! (And on Sundays too, maybe.)

09-06-2005, 03:01 PM	#29
vanwalossien Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: middle of Nowhere/Norway Posts: 376	My English teacher in lower secondary school told me once when we were talking about books that another girl in my class also read Tolkien. I'd hardly talked to her before that day, but for the rest of our last year at the same school we got pretty close friends. In my lower secondary school, there were very few who had read LotR, and when I started upper secondary (which I will be sad to leave next spring) I felt as if it was a way of showing how different the schools were when already in the first week of school, people began to talk about the upcoming movie which wasn't out 'til half a year later. I also fell a bit in love with one of my classmates who suggested to our Norwegian teacher that we should write fantasy. He's a wonderful guy, and sure got my attention with that. We're great friends now, and I still bask in the glory from once having won over him in a Tolkien quiz. This was a very serios arrangement, I tell you, properly supervised by our classmates who wanted to find out which one of us was the ultimate nerd I might've won the quiz, but he definetly scored high by summarizing the SILM in ten words ("Bad Elves, bad Men, bad Dwarves, bad Gods, happy ending") for me for a BD-thread But one of the most Tolkien-influenced relationships I have is the friendship with the terribly nice Dane Melephelwen, whom I haven't seen at the 'Downs for a while, but I still talk to her over MSN. We missed a great chance at meeting each other in real life a year ago (jeez, a whole year already?), but geeky as I am, I think online friendships can as real as offline ones. __________________ "The ships hung in the air in much the same way as bricks don't"

10-31-2005, 09:23 PM	#30
alatar Doubting Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Heaven's basement Posts: 2,499	My sister, with whom I have nothing in common (I still think that I was adopted and that my real parents are space aliens...), used to tease me when we were children as I was a bit geeky and she was a biker, as in motorcycle. She'd even refer to me as "Bil-BO BAG-gins" with the emphasis shown. Well, when the PJ movies came out, she actually went and saw them and suddenly 'liked' LotR and had about 1000 questions for me regarding the movies - what was in them, what was left out etc. Not that she's ever been nice, but at least we talked now and again. And once, my future wife and I (at that time she was officially my girlfriend) were invited to a very strange party. We were to meet others in the woods and were to bring a book or story that we would like to read. Considering the hosts, I thought that the book either was 'cover' for some illicit activity or possibly fuel for the bonfire. But I brought my copy of FotR anyway. My wife, even more incredulous than I, figured that she'd just wing it. Well, as the 'party' continued we realized that we, like everyone else, were to recite or read a story, preferably something scary. My wife decided that she'd do whatever I'd planned, and so we read the part of the "Bridge of Khazad-Dum" where Gandalf falls. After we escaped the party, I then explained to my girlfriend why this was such a significant scene and why I liked it so much. Over ten years later, I had to do the same thing after we left the theater showing of FotR. __________________ There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it.

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