{"id":119205,"date":"2024-08-29T00:30:05","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T05:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=119205"},"modified":"2024-08-29T00:30:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T05:30:08","slug":"reflections-from-the-shire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2024\/08\/29\/119205-reflections-from-the-shire\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections from the Shire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In January I was reading a skeet on Bluesky about how people feel after every re-reading of The Lord of the Rings<\/em>. Do they still feel the same emotions, have the same reactions as they did when they first read it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the responses reflected that you can never feel or react the same way as you did during your first reading, as everything you were reading was new and fresh to you, which is very true. A much-shared readers lament is that you can never feel the way you did the first time you read a well-loved story.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Several responses went onto clarify that every re-read still affects them, though in different ways. Could this be due to being older? Having a greater understanding of world-issues? Being able to comprehend more nuances from Tolkien\u2019s writing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For myself it\u2019s probably a combination of all of these, after all, I was only 8 years old when I first read LOTR<\/em>. The complexities of the world-building have grown on me as I\u2019ve gotten older, and I\u2019m far more appreciative of these now than I was as a precocious 8-year-old. My main reason for reading LOTR<\/em> back then was to join in with the discussions my mother and older brothers were having about LOTR<\/em>. My mother tried to get me to read The Hobbit<\/em>, but I just wasn\u2019t interested:  Mum and the boys were discussing LOTR<\/em>, and I wanted to join in with that. I did say I was precocious \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This led to a life-long love of Tolkien\u2019s work. Many of my fondest memories are related to LOTR<\/em>. My brothers and I saved up to buy our mum a box set of Tolkien\u2019s books when The Silmarillion<\/em> was published, those books now live on my bookshelf, along with all my other copies. Many of my responses when re-reading LOTR<\/em> reflect where I was at that time in my life. Re-reading the books my brothers and I bought our mum reminds me strongly of when I first read LOTR<\/em> and how much I enjoyed discussing them with my mum and brothers. They also remind me of the wonder she introduced us to when she first shared her love of LOTR<\/em> with us, and how excited we all were to buy her the box set, so she finally had her own copies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, every time I re-read them; I\u2019m constantly finding new insights. I\u2019ve mentioned the world-building, something that all fans of Tolkien\u2019s work love, the themes of friendship, fellowship, enduring love, and simple joys are what resound with me and lead me back to read these books over and over again.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I\u2019ve mainly mentioned LOTR<\/em>, as since that was the work that the fans over on Bluesky were discussing, but I also regularly re-read Tolkien\u2019s other Middle-earth books. My favourite is The Silmarillion<\/em>, probably because I\u2019ve always been a bit of a history geek too, so I really love the deeper insight into Middle-earth that The Silmarillion<\/em> provides. I\u2019ve honestly lost count how many times I\u2019ve read it, and LOTR<\/em>. At one point I could quote whole sections of it from memory, but that was a few years ago, before children and other RL interests came along. Still, I can remember quite a bit of its lore. Every time I re-read The Sil<\/em> I uncover deeper meaning, beauty, and sorrow and it draws me firmly into Middle-earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I must admit that I appreciate The Hobbit<\/em> much more now I\u2019m an adult, than I did as a child. Being a quite advanced reader from a very young age, I absolutely hated anything that I felt was \u201ctalking down\u201d to children. As an 8-year-old, that\u2019s how it struck me, I disliked the narrator talking directly to me and skipping things they<\/em> felt I was too young to witness or understand. Now it just seems a quaint way of telling the story and doesn\u2019t distract me from the tale. I find I can more fully enjoy Bilbo\u2019s travels \u201cthere and back again\u201d a lot more from an adult perspective, and I notice and enjoy the nuances far more than I did as a child. Maybe that\u2019s just me.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I know many fans that have come to Tolkien\u2019s works via Peter Jackson\u2019s  movies, and, more recently, via Amazon Studios\u2019 The Rings of Power TV. One of the first questions I was asked when I finally crept out of Lurkwood and joined our Message boards was if I was a \u201cbook-firster or a movie-firster\u201d. The question wasn\u2019t asked to belittle me, it was asked out of genuine interest as to how I discovered Tolkien, and led to a truly enjoyable discussion about Tolkien\u2019s work and how wonderful it was that more people were discovering his work due to the release of the films. That, while I enjoy the films, the books will always hold the number one spot in my heart, and it\u2019s this first love that draws me back to Middle-earth over and over again.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We\u2019re seeing this again with the TV series, with people finding out about Middle-earth for the first time and wanting to know more. We regularly have new members join our Discord chat, wanting to know about Tolkien\u2019s books, which order they should read them in. Then they share their joy with us all as they read the stories. I have no doubt that we will see another influx after The War of the Rohirrim<\/em> is released in December.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"War<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We are so lucky today to have so many more adaptations set in Middle-earth. As a child the only film I ever saw was the Bakshi Lord of the Rings<\/em>. While I left the cinema with many questions for my mother, over changes and omissions, it didn\u2019t rob me of my original love: the books. I did immediately re-read the books, and was surprised at how Bakshi\u2019s film, while not perfect, led me to a greater appreciation of the written work.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s wonderful, and a privilege, watching others begin their journey into the wonder that is Middle-earth, and having new memories added to my own ongoing journey. As I, and others, have found, I am sure that those who have come to discover, and love, Middle-earth through the recent adaptations will discover the greater realm that awaits them within the written works. At least, this remains my belief and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wish them well as they embark on their own journey of discovery, of deeper understanding and wonder of the amazing world that we\u2019ve been gifted by J.R.R. Tolkien. This wonderful Middle-earth. I envy their new discoveries, their first steps into this immense literary world, but rejoice that they are joining our Fellowship. Welcome!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In January I was reading a skeet on Bluesky about how people feel after every re-reading of The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":119206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3119,197,331,7,4,35,5,6,2773,98,148,149,3734,3925,159,152],"tags":[3123,792,1262,221,2014,2857],"class_list":["post-119205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amazon-tv-series","category-fans","category-greenbooks","category-hobbit-book","category-hobbit-movie","category-lotr-books","category-lotr-movies","category-tolkbooks","category-ralph-bakshi","category-silmarillion","category-hobbit","category-lotr","category-the-rings-of-power","category-the-war-of-the-rohirrim","category-torn-community","category-tolkien","tag-amazon-middle-earth-tv-series-amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series","tag-jrr-tolkien","tag-ralph-bakshi","tag-the-hobbit","tag-the-lord-of-the-rings","tag-tolkien"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/bag-end-outside.webp","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tLoH-v0F","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119205"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119212,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119205\/revisions\/119212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}