Without the works of Tolkien, would you remain unchanged? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

firncristwen · 03-17-2002, 04:36 PM

I do believe I would be a very different person without Middle-earth in my bookshelves and simultaneously in my thoughts.

When reading "The Hobbit" or the trilogy, I am no longer the child everyone expects me and knows me to be. And what a feeling! For sometimes I am nothing at all as I follow Frodo and Sam over the Cracks of Doom or Legolas rapturous amongst the trees he loves. I am leaning against JRR Tolkien's side and his arm is around my shoulder as he takes me through the strange paths of his imagination, possibly in the same allure of a young child between wake and sleep as the father she never had reads her the loveliest fairy tales ever created.

Tolkienites are a strange race. We muster great love towards another, and to those outside we remain demented; but we are not even mildly insane. We live, as I said, between wake and sleep. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Nufaciel · 03-17-2002, 06:00 PM

I love the way you put it. I would definitely be a different person if it wasn't for Tolkien and his works. Because of him, I have a great love for languages, and am going for a degree in linguistics. He also increased my love for reading. People think we're kinda weird? I say so what!?

Kalimac · 03-17-2002, 06:07 PM

Obviously I wouldn't remain totally unchanged, but I would have changed in different ways. I'm with the last poster - Tolkien did get me more interested in languages and alphabets (I had been interested before, but the sheer scope of what he did made me realize how much great linguistic stuff there was out there). And it just got me very interested in mythology and legendry and so forth...read a lot of histories and mythologies and so forth to see what he was building off of. It gave me a much richer sense of the world's history and how much power a legend or a myth can have...sigh. Sorry, hope that didn't come off sounding too pretentious. Bottom line, they're great stories, Middle-Earth is a vivid and wonderful world, and they're the best places out there to escape to [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img].

Lyliac · 03-17-2002, 06:39 PM

hmmm...unchanged? i think his works have changed my life. i try to look for the more meaningful things in life. but thats about it.

Alchrivëwen · 03-17-2002, 06:52 PM

i agree also, i have changed in many ways, i am braver, and stronger than i once was and now am constantly half asleep daydreaming

red · 03-17-2002, 08:16 PM

Yes, I would remain unchanged.

Glenethor · 03-17-2002, 09:13 PM

[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Joy · 03-17-2002, 10:37 PM

I don't think so, though I do have more "words of wisdom" now that I have read the books. "The burned hand teaches best. After that advice about the fire goes to heart."

I can talk with people who have read the books and remind them to walk the course they have been put on by using examples from the books.

Gabo Darvas · 03-18-2002, 04:14 AM

I like Tolkien's way. The way of wisdom and friendship he has shown me in these books. But our lives are complex we're influenced by many books, stories and people as well... We can never be unchanged. I love other "tales" as much as LOTR, for example The Endless Story, a magical book of Michael Ende.

So I select and fantasize a lot and I create my own world with a place for every tale of my life. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img] [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

goldwine · 03-18-2002, 09:10 PM

Hmmmn back to the fate topic! Was the book placed in our hands by some force to influence us!! As others have said.. many things in our lives give us opportunities to expand our horizons.. all the way to ME! LOTR in particular because of is heroic theme has influenced many in a variety of ways. I have heard quotes that Tolkien's works have encouraged them to seek God, to be braver in everyday life, to be more involved in environmental concerns etc. Sometimes all we need is a catalyst.

Child of the 7th Age · 03-19-2002, 01:25 AM

I would definitely be a different person. Partially,that's because I first read the Hobbit and the LOTR almost forty years ago. Back then, there were very few solid fantasy writers--because of Tolkien, all that has changed. People are willing to take fantasy more seriously than they did back in those ancient days. I ended up going and earning a doctorate in medieval history not because I read Tolkien, but because I dicovered that the same wonderful things that made me attracted to Tolkien and to chasing after Hobbits also made me want to go to the Shires of England and dig furiously through the local record offices to learn more about how people lived in a pre-technological society.

So yes, the Lord of the Rings (and also White's books on King Arthur) helped me learn more about myself and what I really wanted from life--instead of just following along with what everyone else thought they wanted for me--and I am very grateful for that. Almost 40 years later and I'm still chasing hobbits!

Gabo Darvas · 03-19-2002, 03:17 AM

It's a touching story, Child (huh, I surely won't find the right English words, sorry for that)and I'm happy reading it. To find the real meaning of our own lives - it's one of the greatest things.

I've always been fond of the Middle Ages. I don't know why. That age maybe has given me more about human being and been the root of many wonderful stories in my mind. I've always spent my spare time with reading and creating tales so I have been told a fool...

Tolkien's and others' works gave me proof of that this kind of living is worthy and important. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

muffin_goddess · 03-19-2002, 12:23 PM

My life would be very different if these books were never written. i think Tolkein helped unlock the doors of peoples imigination and show them how books should be, so real that you think that if you look out the window you'll see a nazgul swooping past or if that rustling in the bush was a hobbit. I think that with his fantastic tales of hobbits elves and dwarves not to mention the other races inhabiting middle earth he not only opened doors in peoples minds he opened doors for peoples career and even still there are not enough well written fantasy books but compared to Tolkein very few are well written

03-19-2002, 01:40 PM

I think Tolkien didn't make me a different person but helped me develop some good characteristics and made me a better person.

Brimstone Goldenwing · 03-19-2002, 02:04 PM

I would change, but only a little. I remember a long time ago, I thought that reading books was boooooooooooooring! But when I heard if Tolkien's works, now I think that they're are alot more things to do then playing video games all day. Alot more things to read then just comics..Back then, everyone would say "Kristel has no life!", "All she does is play video games!", "Why always talking about Final Fantasy?". Tolkien gave me a more "well-rounded" kind of life. Ever since I started reading The Hobbit, I realized that there is much more to do then spend your entire life playing video games [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I like Tolkien's books alot. The way he made up his own fantasy world. When I was little I always imagined and made up my own fantasy world also! I never knew that someone else out there did the same thing. If Tolkien and I ever meet, I'll say, we'd prolly be the best of friends [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] Our worlds have so much in common! The only difference is, I planned on my world being a video game series..and his was a book series [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

dragongirlG · 03-19-2002, 04:08 PM

I believe reading Tolkien changed my life. As well as reviving my love for reading, it also exposed me to a lot of wisdom. For example, in The Grey Havens, Frodo says something to the effect of "I have to give things up so that others can enjoy them." LOtR and Tolkien's other works changed my life; without reading them, I think my life would have been much more shallow. Maybe. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]_

Aralaithiel · 03-19-2002, 04:25 PM

Tolkien tapped into my unused imagination, and showed me that anything is possible. I am more expressive, and have a greater love of life. I also owe the greater love of life to Jesus.
I also have become more attuned to things around me, and made my perspectives broader.
Yep, I am a changed person, thanks to Tolkien & Jesus! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Airedae · 03-20-2002, 09:05 PM

It made me appreciate my friends more and weed through the ones that I realized didnt care about me. Sam and Frodos friendship was the truest I've ever seen and I found out what a real friend is. If you share hard times with your friend, my best friend to be exact,then it most certainly binds you to them for the rest of your life. That is if you are a true friend. I appreciate my best friend now more than i ever did. I thought i was appreciating her but it wasnt enough...it was something i didnt realize. Tolkiens lesson of friendship saved what is now a 10 year best friend relationship. She has had a child now and Ive been there to see her daughter be born and to share in her happiness. I really have to think Tolkien for my realizing true friendship before i lost the one person that means the most to me in my life. So yeah i was changed alot by the books. i grew alot and learned alot. even if its alot of mythology, it still has great lessons and meanings within the pages of the books. That's a really good question. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Marileangorifurnimaluim · 03-20-2002, 10:43 PM

I love Tolkien, but that's too great a claim for any book.

Melian · 03-22-2002, 07:22 AM

I don´t know if I would remain unchanged, but I can tell you that I would´n have met some of my friends if it wasn´t for Tolkien! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

VanimaEdhel · 03-26-2002, 02:55 PM

I most whole-heartily agree that without Mr. Tolkien, I would be very different.

But then again, all that occurs in one's life changes how one is. If you woke up 10 minutes later today, how would your life be different? It may not have been, but, then again, you may have gotten to work late, and gotten in troulbe. Or you may not have had that annoying conversation. Or you may have just checked your mail 10 minutes later, which means you may have had something new in your inbox. Without anything in our lives, our entire lives could be changed.

I thought about that a lot, being from New York, recently. What if 9-11 never happened? What would be happening in our country? I cannot even begin to fathom where we would be, being merely 14 years of age. But, if one person had discovered the plot and reported it, it may not have happened, and I wonder: how would the world be different?

Or was it fate: was that meant to happen that day? The wonders of the universe are far too complex for even religion to grasp, I think. I mean, what if the universe would not have been complete without Mr. Tolkien's books? What if, somehow, the books convinced a group of people NOT to kill innocent lives? The world would be different if that group HAD killed.

Or maybe, just maybe, another author would have come and written a similar story and we would be on these boards talking about THAT author...I don't know...this topic is getting big: I'm going to give it its own topic in the room.

Mirkgirl · 03-26-2002, 07:34 PM

I don't believe any buss would come over me if I hadn't read the books [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

No, change no, maybe it would make you look a bit deeper in yourself, maybe it won't, but no book can change you

03-17-2002, 04:36 PM	#1
firncristwen Pile O'Bones Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: The light-swept paths of imagination Posts: 15	Without the works of Tolkien, would you remain unchanged? I do believe I would be a very different person without Middle-earth in my bookshelves and simultaneously in my thoughts. When reading "The Hobbit" or the trilogy, I am no longer the child everyone expects me and knows me to be. And what a feeling! For sometimes I am nothing at all as I follow Frodo and Sam over the Cracks of Doom or Legolas rapturous amongst the trees he loves. I am leaning against JRR Tolkien's side and his arm is around my shoulder as he takes me through the strange paths of his imagination, possibly in the same allure of a young child between wake and sleep as the father she never had reads her the loveliest fairy tales ever created. Tolkienites are a strange race. We muster great love towards another, and to those outside we remain demented; but we are not even mildly insane. We live, as I said, between wake and sleep. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ 'For many life is only the border of a terrible dream; shall we pass, I wonder?' ...from "Quest in the Blue"

03-17-2002, 06:00 PM	#2
Nufaciel Wight Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 133	I love the way you put it. I would definitely be a different person if it wasn't for Tolkien and his works. Because of him, I have a great love for languages, and am going for a degree in linguistics. He also increased my love for reading. People think we're kinda weird? I say so what!? __________________ Member of Pervy Elf Fanciers Anonymous...I need professional help.

03-17-2002, 06:07 PM	#3
Kalimac Candle of the Marshes Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Flyover Country Posts: 780	Obviously I wouldn't remain totally unchanged, but I would have changed in different ways. I'm with the last poster - Tolkien did get me more interested in languages and alphabets (I had been interested before, but the sheer scope of what he did made me realize how much great linguistic stuff there was out there). And it just got me very interested in mythology and legendry and so forth...read a lot of histories and mythologies and so forth to see what he was building off of. It gave me a much richer sense of the world's history and how much power a legend or a myth can have...sigh. Sorry, hope that didn't come off sounding too pretentious. Bottom line, they're great stories, Middle-Earth is a vivid and wonderful world, and they're the best places out there to escape to [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]. __________________ Father, dear Father, if you see fit, We'll send my love to college for one year yet Tie blue ribbons all about his head, To let the ladies know that he's married.

03-17-2002, 06:39 PM	#4
Lyliac Pile O'Bones Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: The Dead Marshes Posts: 25	hmmm...unchanged? i think his works have changed my life. i try to look for the more meaningful things in life. but thats about it. __________________ "Atheism is a non-prophet organization" [img] C:\Documents and Settings\user1\My Documents\My Pictures\sig1.gif [/img]

03-17-2002, 06:52 PM	#5
Alchrivëwen Haunting Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Everywhere and aywhere, look behind you! Posts: 56	i agree also, i have changed in many ways, i am braver, and stronger than i once was and now am constantly half asleep daydreaming __________________ A Elbereth Gilthoniel!

03-17-2002, 08:16 PM	#6
red Spirit of Mischief Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Land of the free and home of the brave Posts: 368	Yes, I would remain unchanged. __________________ "Cats are like greatness: Some people are born into cat-loving families, some achieve cats, and some have cats thrust upon them." -William H. A. Carr

03-17-2002, 09:13 PM	#7
Glenethor Wight Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow Posts: 176	[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] __________________ "Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people, living life in peace..." Dr. Winston O'Boogie

03-17-2002, 10:37 PM	#8
Joy Spirit of a Warrior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wandering Posts: 1,020	I don't think so, though I do have more "words of wisdom" now that I have read the books. "The burned hand teaches best. After that advice about the fire goes to heart." I can talk with people who have read the books and remind them to walk the course they have been put on by using examples from the books. __________________ God bless, Joy KingdomWarrior@hotmail.com http://kingdomWarrior.jlym.com As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

03-18-2002, 04:14 AM	#9
Gabo Darvas Pile O'Bones Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Hungary Posts: 23	I like Tolkien's way. The way of wisdom and friendship he has shown me in these books. But our lives are complex we're influenced by many books, stories and people as well... We can never be unchanged. I love other "tales" as much as LOTR, for example The Endless Story, a magical book of Michael Ende. So I select and fantasize a lot and I create my own world with a place for every tale of my life. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img] [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ "...szívem gazdagabb, / Mint nyelvem: abban bizonyos vagyok."

03-18-2002, 09:10 PM	#10
goldwine Haunting Spirit Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South Australia Posts: 64	Hmmmn back to the fate topic! Was the book placed in our hands by some force to influence us!! As others have said.. many things in our lives give us opportunities to expand our horizons.. all the way to ME! LOTR in particular because of is heroic theme has influenced many in a variety of ways. I have heard quotes that Tolkien's works have encouraged them to seek God, to be braver in everyday life, to be more involved in environmental concerns etc. Sometimes all we need is a catalyst. __________________ 2A Balrog. A demon from the underpants (Gandalf)

03-19-2002, 01:25 AM	#11
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,135	I would definitely be a different person. Partially,that's because I first read the Hobbit and the LOTR almost forty years ago. Back then, there were very few solid fantasy writers--because of Tolkien, all that has changed. People are willing to take fantasy more seriously than they did back in those ancient days. I ended up going and earning a doctorate in medieval history not because I read Tolkien, but because I dicovered that the same wonderful things that made me attracted to Tolkien and to chasing after Hobbits also made me want to go to the Shires of England and dig furiously through the local record offices to learn more about how people lived in a pre-technological society. So yes, the Lord of the Rings (and also White's books on King Arthur) helped me learn more about myself and what I really wanted from life--instead of just following along with what everyone else thought they wanted for me--and I am very grateful for that. Almost 40 years later and I'm still chasing hobbits! Last edited by Child of the 7th Age; 01-24-2005 at 05:38 PM.

03-19-2002, 03:17 AM	#12
Gabo Darvas Pile O'Bones Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Hungary Posts: 23	It's a touching story, Child (huh, I surely won't find the right English words, sorry for that)and I'm happy reading it. To find the real meaning of our own lives - it's one of the greatest things. I've always been fond of the Middle Ages. I don't know why. That age maybe has given me more about human being and been the root of many wonderful stories in my mind. I've always spent my spare time with reading and creating tales so I have been told a fool... Tolkien's and others' works gave me proof of that this kind of living is worthy and important. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ "...szívem gazdagabb, / Mint nyelvem: abban bizonyos vagyok."

03-19-2002, 12:23 PM	#13
muffin_goddess Pile O'Bones Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: uk Posts: 22	My life would be very different if these books were never written. i think Tolkein helped unlock the doors of peoples imigination and show them how books should be, so real that you think that if you look out the window you'll see a nazgul swooping past or if that rustling in the bush was a hobbit. I think that with his fantastic tales of hobbits elves and dwarves not to mention the other races inhabiting middle earth he not only opened doors in peoples minds he opened doors for peoples career and even still there are not enough well written fantasy books but compared to Tolkein very few are well written __________________ I don't aski much... just worship me feel free to eat my subjects

03-19-2002, 01:40 PM	#14
Anarchist Guest Posts: n/a	I think Tolkien didn't make me a different person but helped me develop some good characteristics and made me a better person.

03-19-2002, 02:04 PM	#15
Brimstone Goldenwing Animated Skeleton Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Right behind ya...BOO! Posts: 32	I would change, but only a little. I remember a long time ago, I thought that reading books was boooooooooooooring! But when I heard if Tolkien's works, now I think that they're are alot more things to do then playing video games all day. Alot more things to read then just comics..Back then, everyone would say "Kristel has no life!", "All she does is play video games!", "Why always talking about Final Fantasy?". Tolkien gave me a more "well-rounded" kind of life. Ever since I started reading The Hobbit, I realized that there is much more to do then spend your entire life playing video games [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] I like Tolkien's books alot. The way he made up his own fantasy world. When I was little I always imagined and made up my own fantasy world also! I never knew that someone else out there did the same thing. If Tolkien and I ever meet, I'll say, we'd prolly be the best of friends [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] Our worlds have so much in common! The only difference is, I planned on my world being a video game series..and his was a book series [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ http://www.3do.com/products/pc/heroe...golddragon.gif The glistening eyes from the demons of the sky, They can hypnotize the soul, but nobody knows why, Telepathic powers and strength of the gods, Gives them an advantage that beats all the odds, Elves and orks and humans alike, All have a fear of the dragon’s great bite, And nobody dares to fight the great creature, For there’s something to fear of its every little feature. -"Dragon's Feast", part of poem by David Bankson

03-19-2002, 04:08 PM	#16
dragongirlG Wight Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Stock, the Shire Posts: 151	I believe reading Tolkien changed my life. As well as reviving my love for reading, it also exposed me to a lot of wisdom. For example, in The Grey Havens, Frodo says something to the effect of "I have to give things up so that others can enjoy them." LOtR and Tolkien's other works changed my life; without reading them, I think my life would have been much more shallow. Maybe. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]_

03-19-2002, 04:25 PM	#17
Aralaithiel Ghost Eldaran Queen Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A remote mountain in Valinor Posts: 353	Tolkien tapped into my unused imagination, and showed me that anything is possible. I am more expressive, and have a greater love of life. I also owe the greater love of life to Jesus. I also have become more attuned to things around me, and made my perspectives broader. Yep, I am a changed person, thanks to Tolkien & Jesus! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ A lelyat, wen! (Quenya Elvish for "You go, girl!"

03-20-2002, 09:05 PM	#18
Airedae Pile O'Bones Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Fangorn Forest Posts: 21	It made me appreciate my friends more and weed through the ones that I realized didnt care about me. Sam and Frodos friendship was the truest I've ever seen and I found out what a real friend is. If you share hard times with your friend, my best friend to be exact,then it most certainly binds you to them for the rest of your life. That is if you are a true friend. I appreciate my best friend now more than i ever did. I thought i was appreciating her but it wasnt enough...it was something i didnt realize. Tolkiens lesson of friendship saved what is now a 10 year best friend relationship. She has had a child now and Ive been there to see her daughter be born and to share in her happiness. I really have to think Tolkien for my realizing true friendship before i lost the one person that means the most to me in my life. So yeah i was changed alot by the books. i grew alot and learned alot. even if its alot of mythology, it still has great lessons and meanings within the pages of the books. That's a really good question. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ Frodo Lives! ~Valerie~

03-20-2002, 10:43 PM	#19
Marileangorifurnimaluim Eerie Forest Spectre Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Buried in scrolls of fanfiction Posts: 798	I love Tolkien, but that's too great a claim for any book. __________________ Deserves death! I daresay he does... And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them?

03-22-2002, 07:22 AM	#20
Melian Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 27	I don´t know if I would remain unchanged, but I can tell you that I would´n have met some of my friends if it wasn´t for Tolkien! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] __________________ "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens."

03-26-2002, 02:55 PM	#21
VanimaEdhel Etheral Enchantress Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wellesley College! Posts: 1,473	I most whole-heartily agree that without Mr. Tolkien, I would be very different. But then again, all that occurs in one's life changes how one is. If you woke up 10 minutes later today, how would your life be different? It may not have been, but, then again, you may have gotten to work late, and gotten in troulbe. Or you may not have had that annoying conversation. Or you may have just checked your mail 10 minutes later, which means you may have had something new in your inbox. Without anything in our lives, our entire lives could be changed. I thought about that a lot, being from New York, recently. What if 9-11 never happened? What would be happening in our country? I cannot even begin to fathom where we would be, being merely 14 years of age. But, if one person had discovered the plot and reported it, it may not have happened, and I wonder: how would the world be different? Or was it fate: was that meant to happen that day? The wonders of the universe are far too complex for even religion to grasp, I think. I mean, what if the universe would not have been complete without Mr. Tolkien's books? What if, somehow, the books convinced a group of people NOT to kill innocent lives? The world would be different if that group HAD killed. Or maybe, just maybe, another author would have come and written a similar story and we would be on these boards talking about THAT author...I don't know...this topic is getting big: I'm going to give it its own topic in the room. __________________ "I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each others dreams, we can be together all the time." - Hobbes of Calvin and Hobbes

03-26-2002, 07:34 PM	#22
Mirkgirl Haunting Spirit Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Germany Posts: 84	I don't believe any buss would come over me if I hadn't read the books [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] No, change no, maybe it would make you look a bit deeper in yourself, maybe it won't, but no book can change you __________________ "Hobbits! Well, what next? I have heard of strange doings in this land, but I have seldom heard of a hobbit sleeping out of doors under a tree. Three of them! There's something mighty queer behind this."