Happy Tolkien Week and Hobbit Day!
75 years ago this week, The Hobbit was published, and today is Bilbo and Frodo Baggins' birthday! Hobbit Freaks like myself all over the world are celebrating, and for this momentous occasion, The Hobbit has a new trailer!!! I don't know about you guys, but I am
SO EXCITED! Like, seriously!
Okay, I sound beyond lame. Anywho...
So, since I have like, 1 picture for this week, I'm gonna do this blog instead.
When I was a kid, one thing that my brother and I absolutely LOVED was listening to our dad read something. He would usually read something from the scriptures, but sometimes, he would read The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings. I remember my dad reading Bilbo and Smaug, Sam fighting Shilob (I think that's one of the reasons I'm so terrified of bugs, and especially spiders), Aragorn and the Western Alliance talking with the Voice of Sauron, The Final Council, Eowyn vs The Lord of the Nazgul, Eowyn and Faramir talking, among others. I loved The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit before I could read, and have been an advid fan ever since.
I knew about The Lord of the Rings movies over a year before The Fellowship of the Ring's trailer was released. My dad told both me and David, my brother, that we couldn't see any of the movies until we finished the books. My brother cannot focus on books and barely reads. But we both finished The Hobbit and all of The Lord of the Rings long before The Fellowship's released date. We ordered tickets a month in advance, and went with a full crew of family and friends for all 3 movies.
But more than anything, because I'm a writer, and have had a love of fantasy and stories since I was very little, The Lord of Rings literally changed my life. I've never read such a beautiful book before. Very few novels have anything like the language found in those novels. In fact, I've actually never found one that came close. LA Knight can do it when she really, REALLY tries, though that's not often. So does Juliet Marillier's Seven Waters Series, Wicked by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie (though I don't reccomend that one, it's description is the only thing I like)...and that's about it that I can think of. LA Knight hasn't published anything with that voice, but she has some great unfinished works from a while back that can do it, and her Once Upon a Time has it at times.
The Lord of the Rings was so amazing. I remember me and my brother talking about how it just sucked us in, taking us to a magical world where trees talk, elves run around, dragons can burn your house down, and a simple archer can be a king. And "the smallest person can change the course of the future". Since we were in such a terrible place at the time, it was so uplifting.
Basically, this week is a week to celebrate something that has brought so much amazing experiences into my life. Just sitting down on the floor while my dad read four pages out of a huge book when there was nothing else to do is one of my favorite memories I will always carry with me.
So thank you, Professor Tolkien. You really changed my life.
<3
