27 year old reads and watches The Lord of the Rings for the 1st time(spoilers duh)

[@themoodyreaderpodcast]

Hii everyone, just wanted to say thanks for all the love on this video! Anything more than a couple hundred views for me is wild, so 7k is insane! And most importantly, I have loved reading everyone’s stories of how they found Mr. Tolkien and how much they adore the world he created. Readers unite!❤️ *also lol I guess we’re not called ringers… how was I to know???😂

[@kalh4907]

Hello from Vancouver 🇨🇦 I read the books by chance because my ex had the complete book and she didn’t get into it. I did and although a writing style I could not get into, I persevered and really loved the fascinating world & lore. 😍 That was just before the movies came out. Unpopular opinion but I wasn’t a fan of Tom Bombadil nor was I a fan of the scouring of the shire. So I was relieved neither were in the movies. 🤷🏽‍♂️ I loved the romance in the movies 😍. I enjoyed your journey through the books. I’m glad you watched one extended version but I could not do a first watch of a movie with you as I get totally immersed into it especially the LOTR - no distractions, commentary nor jokes 🥺. Contrary to what all the naysayers and incels/racists/misogynists harp on and on about newer content of Middle Earth/Marvel/Star Wars… The Rings of Power TV series is excellent! If people have issues with Black, PoC & Women as leads and elves/dwarves on our screens in ADAPTATIONS of Middle Earth (and sci-fi) then by all means don’t watch. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. 💛

[@Fluffyfoodog]

She mentioned Viggo's Broken Toes! That's when you know you're a real fan 🤣

[@bsmith3506]

Ashley-Hannah: I love Balin so much! I hope nothing bad happens to him Everyone watching this reaction: 😬

[@tomiwilliams4273]

ringer? yeah, no, how about you are part of the Fellowship?

[@haleyschreiter9746]

I was very happy to hear you'd ventured into the Appendices! It's so great to learn what happens to everyone after the big events, plus we get great background info - especially on Arwen, like you said. She was a late addition to the story in Tolkien's imagination, so incorporating the details of her and Aragorn's love story into the main narrative would have required massive rewriting...in a huge work that had already been rewritten several times 😊 Her death really is the end of the great tale, though, and I get choked up every time I read it. Thank you for taking the time to make this vlog and share your journey with us! ❤

[@themoodyreaderpodcast]

Thank you for watching and listening to my rambles! And yes, the appendices really got me in the end!

[@alb0zfinest]

@@themoodyreaderpodcastIf you ever do a reread of Lord of the Rings, you should listen to the free audiobook made by Phil Dragash. It has sound effects and music from the movies. Absolutely one of the best audiobooks in existence.

[@SatisfactoryUX]

Peter Jackson had to cut a lot for the theatrical releases. Like the death of Saruman which is only in the extended editions. Christopher Lee (Saruman) was really upset that he was cut from the theatrical release. So you’re really missing out by not watching the extended editions. I think you’re missing out by not checking out the bonus features like the New Zealand extras doing a Maori ceremony for Viggo & the actor who played Theoden (very cool & very emotional) but that’s just my opinion.

[@Criteon]

gandalf didn't force bilbo to go, according to the book biblo was always more adventurous than other hobbits and when thorin is explaining what happened to erebor bilbo grew curious and excited, yeah he was scared but it was still his choice to go in the end and by the end of it he didn't regret it i dont understand the hate on gandalf, it doesn't make sense, erebor had to be reclaimed for the greater good, it was necessary otherwise smaug might join forces with sauron

[@GirlOfTheTardis]

Perfectly explained, came to the comments for this

[@GirlOfTheTardis]

Perfectly explained, came to the comments for this

[@deanzaZZR]

Yes and no. Gandalf had a job to do. Taking care of the dragon at Lonely Mountain and resettling a Dwarf settlement there was part of his "geopolitical calculation".

[@rickardroach9075]

1:27:26 “I will not say ‘Do not weep’: for not all tears are an evil.”

[@motleyh9427]

Gandalf was really dead. He got sent back.

[@rppdfire]

"Really dead", you really can't kill a Maiar, you can destroy the body but only Eru Ilúvatar could actually "kill" him.

[@SNWWRNNG]

​@@rppdfire You can kill a Maia with a body the same way you can kill an elf or human. You destroy their body, until their eternal soul leaves it behind. What the soul can do afterwards is different, but the act of killing is the same for all.

[@nothingbutlove40tis]

I read these books in 1975 (age 13) and had read them multiple times before the movies came out. I have loved them for years.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

Yeah, I discovered these around 78-79. I had loved the Hobbit, but it took me a few tries to get into LotR. Finally, I forced myself to read the first 200 pages & told myself I’d stop if I still wasn’t enjoying it. Once they hit the Barrow Downs, I was hooked🤣

[@blackeyedlily]

I love your joint listening to the audiobook and reading! That is my favorite way to enjoy a book. And the Andy Serkis narrations are wonderful! I fully understand having a tough time starting in on the Fellowship. It definitely has a slow start. And Tolkien’s writing style is unusual, especially for a modern audience. But the further one gets into the trilogy the more you fall in love with it. His detailed descriptions of landscapes is due to his deep love of the natural world.

[@bitterzombie]

Its so funny that people act like fantasy is a genre for children, when the majority of children dont have the attention span or social context to really appreciate them. When I was a kid I just wanted to see dragons & monsters, but as I get older I appreciate those things existing in a world that makes sense, where every character has their own story, including the monsters.

[@peterlewis2178]

Well, it's probably largely because Fantasy used to primarily be a genre for children. Fairy Tales, and books like Alice in Wonderland, which are primarily targeted towards children, and the worlds aren't super intricate or complex. Before Tolkien, it was rare to find fantasy that wasn't written primarily for kids. Though I think it's safe to say that Tolkien would disagree with you about children not being able to really appreciate them. This is a quote from his essay "On Fairy Stories" that I think encompasses what he thought of the common perception of fantasy and children: "[The] age of childhood-sentiment has produced some delightful books (especially charming, however, to adults) of the fairy kind or near to it; but it has also produced a dreadful undergrowth of stories written or adapted to what was or is conceived to be the measure of children's minds and needs. The old stories are mollified or bowdlerized, instead of being reserved; the imitations are often merely silly, Pigwig-genry without even the intrigue; or patronizing; or (deadliest of all) covertly sniggering, with an eye on the other grown-ups present."

[@chadbennett7873]

Welcome to the family, from a guy who has a Tolkien photo and actual signature on his wall for daily inspiration. I became a writer after reading The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings back in the early 1970's/. I began my book in 1975 and finished it about four years ago, but I haven't attempted publishing yet ... still making adjustments. I admire your desire to learn, and I am here to cheer you on!! Tolkien changed my life, but I'm not a Tolkien scholar, who can quote or explain all of the appendices, but I love every word. He did not write in the most accessible language, because he was a Professor of language and created multiple languages of his own that are recognized today as true languages. At times he describes every leaf of a tree, but there is a beauty in that that took me a bit of time to discover. Enjoy your journey. Also, If you wish to try something brilliant afterward, try Melanie Rawn's The Dragon Prince series ... it has three books, followed by three more ... The Sunrunner seies. It changed my approach in storytelling and it's simply brilliant, just not well known. Enjoy!!

[@themoodyreaderpodcast]

Thanks for the welcome and the recommendations! Hope to see your book out there soon!

[@chadbennett7873]

@@themoodyreaderpodcast What a kind response. Thank you. I truly enjoyed your journey.

[@JediS1138]

“They got promise rings 💍” sent me! 😂

[@veridadtruth]

I hope you give the action parts another chance. My second time reading, I realised that Tolkien doesn't hype the action. You get mixed feelings when you read it, the relief, the loss, the hope. It makes sense because of how Tolkein felt about war. That isn't communicated as much in the movies.

[@davbooms]

I'm in my early/mid thirties, but the older I get, the more I detest any form of violence

[@Laurelin70]

Sorry if I spoil your video for a personal purpose, but what you said about Arwen (that so many readers have said before you) pushed me to finally try to make a poll. Ad this is the poll: am I the only one who understood perfectly since Arwen appeared the first time in the chapter "Many meetings" that she had "something" going on with Aragorn? And who wasn't baffled by her sudden "apparition" in Minas Tirith to marry Aragorn? I don't know, maybe because I'm from a generation where if a boy at a party talked with a specific girl it meant that he liked her (and vice versa), so reading that Aragorn was "standing beside her" and that they "spoke together" (and that Bilbo, before, told Aragorn that he was surprised he didn't attend the feast, since "Lady Arwen was there"), it was immediately clear to me what that could mean. And then in Lothlorien, when Aragorn is showed lost in his dreamy thoughts and whispers "ARWEN vanimelda, namarie" (that the first time I didn't know what that could mean, but Arwen's name was very clearly there), nobody noticed that? Or when Elrond's sons ad the Dunedain meet with Aragorn and Gandalf, etc. and Halbarad gives to Aragorn the great banner embroidered by Arwen, and Aragorn, hearing this, becomes all emo and brooding? Or when Eowyn is trying to convince him to not taking the Paths of the Dead and he replies to her that "if he could go where his heart desires, then he would go to Rivendell"... not even then a bell rang in your ears? So, am I alone in my "not-surprise" about the Aragorn+Arwen relationship the first time I read it? Tell me I'm not weird...

[@mayaboone5756]

No, you're definitely not the only one who picked up on that. I didn't notice ALL the details on my first time through the book but I also wasn't surprised when she showed up in Return of the King. If anything, I was excited and was like, "I was right! I KNEW there was something with them!"

[@AlaskanGlitch]

Welcome to the wonderful mythological world of J.R.R. Tolkien. Anyone who has read, or listened to the audio books of Tolkien's works is automatically a most welcome member of his fan club. I am very surprised that you read and/or listened to the books before watching the movie. That does not happen very often. I applaud your dedication to know the source material from which the movies are based. I am certain that the more you delve into Tolkien's extremely detailed world the more you will appreciate the complexity of the story, far beyond what those who simply saw the movie and never read any of the source material may experience.

[@davbooms]

One thing I don't like is that the worldbuilding was never finished

[@velkonemriam1935]

@@davboomsI mean… only because he sorta literally ran out of time… Lol

[@davbooms]

@@velkonemriam1935 I know but it sucks

[@theotherside8258]

I think in the UK when these took off in the fifties and sixties we had our own background traditional ideas of what faeries, goblins, dwarves, elves, wizards were supposed to look like that were not tainted by all the modern takes of these. The idea of the 'dales' and the Rohan middle earth world as being like our Saxon/Arthurian age also provided a background image to work with. It was so intertwined with our own mythology.

[@KennethAGrimm]

It was 1965, I was fifteen, the cover looked fascinating, I took it along on a hundred mile canoe trip in West Virginia - every morning before launch, every lunch break, every evening - the hobbits' journey and our journey merged together. Twenty-five complete readings of the trilogy later, Peter Jackson made his wonderful adaptation on the big screen.

[@Pru1PC]

“I’m not gonna cry on camera”… We’ll see about THAT, during the movie watch!…

[@semcarpintero6805]

Yeah, I've never heard of "ringers" lol I think we call ourselves the "Fellowship" and you are now an official member 👑

[@KevDaly]

Gandalf *was* dead, but he got better. The Wixards are basically angels (in a very real sense - it's not meant to be an imaginary world, but our world in an imaginary distant past). Wormtongue's real name is Gríma - people call him Wormtongue because he's a weasel. The Silmarillion is not a single story, and it can be heavy going. It's mainly useful for understanding the history of the world (it starts with the creation of the world) In the books there are a few parts where Legolas is almost out of arrows and looking around for replacements.

[@richardcoffin7577]

The Extended version of Two Towers is a better experience for book readers so I recommend it for you sometime. I think its the extended version that improves the theatrical version the most out of the 3.

[@steele8280]

Agreed. It goes from a 3 to a 5/5

[@johnywhat8601]

You might really enjoy Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice" followed by the BBC's adaptation. 6 episodes, about 50 minutes each. So 5 hours in total, but it certainly keeps to the book quite beautifully.

[@bryanmyers5620]

Yes! IMO The Lord of the Rings and Pride and Prejudice are the two greatest works of English Literature ever written. And I they both have great movie adaptations (along with some not so great ones as well), the BBC Pride and Prejudice is by far the best version ever, although I miss some of the lines and moments from the A&E version. I would love to watch a similar reaction to book and movie as you did here. Unfortunately, most reactors watch the more modern one which butchers the story and I refuse to see a second time. Most versions are too short to contain the whole story or try to modernize it. The two I mentioned, BBC and A&E are both faithful to the book and I like to alternate watching them.

[@mangomanrapper]

Thanks for bringing us along for this journey! Im happy you enjoy this world as much as I do.

[@pamdawkins13]

I got into LOTR by listening to an audio version of the Hobbit when I was a kid. A few years later, I read the book, and then tried reading Fellowship. I didn't get very far that first time, but years later a couple friends found out I hadn't seen the movies. So they showed them to me, and I fell in love with the world and story. Comparing Gandalf to Sam-I-Am is my new favourite thing. Your read on Sam and Frodo is spot on. The closest thing to a real world inspiration would have been the officers and their batmen (basically an assistant, but not exactly) that he saw in the army during WWI

[@martinacusetti8002]

Please DO NOT skip the Appendixes!!! There is a lot of very important material, expecially the story of Aragorn and Arwen!

[@raikaschieck1634]

Dont forget that this books are around since the 60s. So many fans got into the books first :D Since the movies came out, they probably became the gateway drug

[@rickardroach9075]

*50s (30s for The Hobbit)

[@blkluster1986]

Pippin gets to much hate. In the books if you remember he had great ideas that helped. Also to note, he saw Sauron, he tortured him and Pip did not break. Also to remember he is still a child.

[@GirlOfTheTardis]

Also he was the one to persuade the ents to ransack insenguard, and he saved Faramir, and in the books Merry is too sick to be in the battle of the black gate so Pippin is the only Hobbit there

[@Hockey4lyfe34]

Pippin is the true hero of the story. Minus the cave part.

[@toads13]

at some point, you should definitely watch the extended editions! there is much that's cut out

[@mjdaniel8710]

Been reading Tolkien since I was in junior high around 1975

[@SunnyLovetts]

And its still just as amazing today isn't it? :D

[@LMironono]

Getting pissed off at tiny changes between the movies and the books? Even though the movies are some of the best based-on-a-book movies of all time? Yeah, you're a LOTR fan for sure.

[@solicitr666]

Tiny? TINY????

[@Real_LiamOBryan]

I've only just finished your intro, but I accept you. You're in! Congratulations! Glad to have you.

[@kittyhawkwb]

Just watched the book reading segment so far. Gandalf is a tough love kind of person. He might be hard on you, but you'll thank him for it later. Boromir was misguided, but he atoned for it with his death. You don't like maps? Well, to each his own. I love maps. The Arwen Evenstar story is quite dramatic, in that she had to give up her elven immortality to marry Aragorn. Aragorn himself was very long-lived, being descended from the Kings of Numenor (who you would read about in The Silmarillion). I read The Lord of the Rings back in the '70's, long before the Peter Jackson movies came out. Also, I noticed that conspicuous thick blue colored book on the table behind you. Have you done a reaction to that one? It is my own favorite. Also like the Dostoyevsky novel next to it.

[@Aldarandir]

I have been reading the books since age of 12 and have read them at least once a year every year since then (now in my 30s). I know the movies so well that no one in my life can stand to be in the same room as me because I know every line and every sound effect. Though I wouldn't presume to be a voice for the community writ large, I say to you... Welcome Sister of the Rings.

[@themoodyreaderpodcast]

Ahh thank you! I just wanted one person to formally accept me. And I can’t wait to do a reread!

[@cranberrybe]

did you read the appendices? Arwen's and Aragorn's story is there.

[@Tedger]

The maps were essential.. i have always been map nerd since reading the lotr

[@philipbutler6608]

Galadriel is Elrond’s mother in law and Galadriels Grandmother. She is the most powerful woman of the Noldor. Gandalf served for a time in the Halls of Mandos where he learned Pity and Sorrow.

[@aerynoftalyn1307]

Wonderful. Thank you for sharing your journey. Movie 2 is full of that "action" that you said you don't love so much in books either, so it's not surprising you don't love it as much as the other two. And you sound like a real LOTR fan being so frustrated about changes from the book (where is Tom Bombadil?).

[@deanzaZZR]

What a fun journey. Thank you for sharing it with the us. I read LOTR for the first time when I was in high school in the early 1980s. There were far fewer tech distractions back then so more people actually read books. Imagine such a world!

[@Tedger]

There were no proper lotr movies when i read.. so.. didnt have to think which ones first.. when i saw the movies i had read the books good 10 times..

[@wynnyx7071]

You are charming and I'm so happy to have be recommended your video. Welcome to the fandom!

[@jmontgomery891]

Hannah calls for aid! Rohan will answer!!! Welcome to the fandom...

[@luciep9741]

Such a fun watch ! Good job on finishing it all ! I was 11 when Fellowship first came out. My parents and brother had all read the books so we had them all. I had read the Hobbit and attempted to read LotR but it was too much ! Then I watched the movie in the theatre and then I JUMPED on the books and devoured them !! Watching the first movie helped me get through the beginning of the first book and since then I have read and watched it all more than I can count, in my mother language (French) AND in English ! I have also read and enjoyed the Silmarillon greatly, but maybe read it when you feel ready ?? I'm not certain you're quite in the right place right now. Anyway, enjoy being a ringer and happy readings !

[@matttyree1002]

I love that you've made a channel out of reading actual books! I feel like the younger generations don't read anymore, so you are a great role model for your peers 😊

[@mottwoman6775]

Never been called a “Ringer.” Thats a new thing I guess. Read the books before the movie because the movies didn’t exist when I read them. Though I did see the animated Hobbit movie when I was very young. I would also like to add that the reasons the hobbits were actually chosen to carry the ring that because they were not really powerful people. The ring didn’t really have the same effect over them as it would’ve had over the more powerful people. Boramir is it very honorable man. He is also a very strong and powerful man, strangely, that is why the ring affected him so badly.

[@MikeKat11]

Andy Serkis reads a recent version of the audio books, and they are wonderful. Definitely recommend them

[@rickardroach9075]

59:02 Exactly! They’ve merged the timelines from herein on. One day I hope they do a six film version, one for each “book”. (The story was originally published in three volumes for practically.)

[@mikelant6802]

The first book I ever read was the Hobbit. A year later, I read LOTR. I grew up when you had to go to the library for knowledge. If Tolkein was mentioned, the conversation would eventually conclude with this statement, "These books will never be made into movies. (except animated)". That was 1981, and then 30 years later, I watched the 1st movie in 2001. Personally, I believe reading the books first allows your imagination and interpretation to connect with the material in a unique way. Watching the movies first (does help some people with reading the books after but) makes you opinionated when you read the source material for the first time. (Just my opinion, lol). J.R.R. Tolkein is the father of fantasy fiction. His works inspired generations of writers and artists.

[@themoodyreaderpodcast]

Totally agree, I’m glad I read the books before watching the movies!

[@velkonemriam1935]

I’ll be honest, being a Tolkien fan for most of my remembered life, this is the first time I’ve heard Tolkien fans be referred to as “ringers.” Lol

[@JoshuaLivie]

My fifth grade teacher read them to me and I have reread them and much other Tolkien since then, so i cant really remember my first time reactions. I love this as it refreshed my feelings for the book and her enthusiasm makes watching this so much fun.

[@StarvingArtist600]

The only requirement to be a Ringer is a love of Tolkien's world. No petition needed, just read and/or watch and enjoy. And Tolkien's writing can be dry. I tried reading Lord of the Rings in my 20s, but couldn't get into it. I went back later, in my 30s, and loved them.

[@lelmdrWHO]

I was 11 and my parents were super conservative, little to no Tv, consume nothing that involves magic, type parents. Like we weren’t even allowed to watch things like Cinderella. So of course us kids became very good sneaks and liars and thieves. I was 11 and stolen a portable DVD player to secretly watch stuff and then found the LOTR extended movies in my brothers room (he had hidden as contraband) and then “borrowed” them from him. Binged them. Obsessed over them. Fell in love with fantasy for the first time. Then watched all of the behind the scenes and commentaries on repeat. Fell in love with cinema and filmmaking. Our house was avid readers (remember basically no TV.) at the start of summer I was 12 and super bored and begged my mom to take me to the library. She was busy and didn’t want to take me, but I begged so much she said I could walk if I wanted. That was the first time I was allowed to walk that far alone and so the first time alone at the library. The Fellowship was checked out so I started at the Hobbit and that’s what I did summer. Read LOTR! I wanted to read them once a year like Christopher Lee, but I’ve probably only read them 3 times all the way through again. I remain obsessed with the movies and they jog enough memory i dont read the books more. But yeah, I owe my love of both fantasy and film to LOTR so they are very dear to my heart

[@Lethgar_Smith]

What an exciting childhood you must have had! What an interesting way to experience it.

[@brandongray5043]

My introduction to LotR was through the cartoon movies from the 70s and 80s. I was addicted to it as a preschooler and first grader. Then the live action films came out and my parents said that I could watch them if I read the books. So as a 2nd grader I read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings just so I could watch the movies. It took me a whole year and I pretty much had the book checked out from the library that whole time. I've re read them all well over a dozen times now and have read the Silmarillion 4 times.

[@RoadDoug]

I was on a 4 month cruise while in the navy. Work, sleep, watch, work etc. the Hobbit was being passed around and it was fun. Then I got a hold of LOR. The books took me away from a mundane life to a world of magic and myth. It was incredible how many of my shipmates were wanting these books.

[@erth_mu]

Tolkien is the originator of high fantasy - as we know of it today in games, movies, books etc :) . Can you imagine reading this in the 50's when it first came out and was something new and just magical

[@themoodyreaderpodcast]

Right?! I wish I could have been around for that magic.

[@julieours4135]

I hope you watched the extended editions. They have vital scenes for Saruman and Borimer and the romance between Aragorn and Arwen. I discovered and fell in love with middle earth over 30 years ago with the books and they have been a center point of my life. I reread them every year at least once and do the same with the movies since they were released. There is so much perfection in them. So many scenes in both the books and the movies still bring me to tears even after the many many many times I’ve revisited them.I wish The Hobbit movies were better, but I do have a love of them for being middle earth.

[@TYANTOWERS]

But Faramir is worse in the extended edition than the theatrical one

[@pillmuncher67]

I've said it, like, a million times: Uncle Iroh and Samwise Gamgee are peak masculinity.

[@kregmaffews]

Elijah is NOT that short lol

[@jeromeburoker1770]

I first read the L:OTR in 1967 when I was 15 yrs. old. At that time LOTR was considered part of the "counter culture's" curriculum which I consumed ravenously. Since then I've revisited Tolkien's magnum opus 7 or 8 times over the years. The Silmarillion is great if you have any interest in the history of how middle earth came about, without which LOTR would not have the foundation that makes Tolkien's creation believable.

[@ccchhhrrriiisss100]

Book recommendation: Have you ever read Dumas's THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO? It's one of my favorites. Like many great books, I feel that there has never been a truly faithful TV or movie adaptation of the novel. It is well-written and includes many moments that give you intense philosophical pause. I'm still holding out hope that someone will eventually adapt the book faithfully onto film. It's a story of history, romance, betrayal, revenge and discovery that needs to be told.

[@williamivey5296]

When I got into it all we had were the books. It was listening to a friend of my brother who had done an English term paper on the languages of Middle Earth that got me to try The Hobbit. I think I was 14 at the time.

[@kkyrajoy]

I looove the vibe of your shelves and books on books on books ! 📚

[@jensablefur155]

I watched the films before reading the books. Enjoyed the movie trilogy a lot. With the books I struggled up until the Midgewater Marshes. It felt honestly very saccharine to the point of being corny, surprisingly child-like, old-fashioned and kind of weird (a sapient fox has a small monologue, that strange group bath scene in Crickhollow, Tom Bombadil?) but from Bree onwards I really got into it and after the incredible Council of Elrond chapter it was a rapid page-turner. There were literal tears at the end of ROTK. I've now read them three times since and I've even learned to love those early chapters and their place in the wider narrative.

[@theotherside8258]

Hobbit book first, then LoTR then animated movie then Silmarillion, then modern movies. movies just cannot recreate the minds images of elves, dwarfs and goblins so you have to do books first. Silmarillion is like LoTR Genesis story, its a heavier read but answers questions and its worth reading for its language IMHO

[@fantasywind3923]

Barrow-wights may be one of my favorite moments! Wonderfully creepy, undead, ancient ritual (in what seems like a ritualistic sacrifice they wanted to subject the hobbits to) and sorcery...Tolkien could write some good horror if he put to it! He definitely knew how to do suspense and tension in the narrative.

[@Len0Grady]

Gollum eats whatever he can lay hands on and kill with no resistance. There’s particularly horrible line in Fellowship describing the swathe of fear he inspired as he passed through a territory- dude snatched babies out of their cribs to eat. He’s baby eating cannibal, so all this Catholic redemption arc stuff can take a hike.

[@JoeMama410]

I love the Silmarillion but it isn’t for everyone. If you read and enjoy Appendix A and B at the end of Return of the King, you may like the Silmarillion, but it is not a traditional novel. It is a collection of mythological stories with a much more distant narrative style.

[@michaelconnor1542]

The best Hobbit in movie form is the Rankin Bass animated film. From 1977. Much of the song in the book are performed.

[@blairhaffly1777]

Nice video. I'm forever grateful to my sixth grade teacher who read the Hobbit to us. I was enthralled. Later on, I read it to my cousins. They loved it too.

[@NicholasMcClure]

"Wormtongue" was a nickname given to him by people who didn't like him, due to his tendency to worm his way into the confidence of those more powerful than him. Actual name Grima.

[@themikemac1234]

My dad gave me The Hobbit when I was 6 and it is still my favorite book ever. The LOTR was harder to read but I listened to book on tape in the 90s on a roadtrip with my family as a kid

[@Theomite]

I didn't read the books growing up because I, too, was intimidated. This was pre-Internet so nerd-dom was kind of exclusive, with levels of status one had to ascend through to gain recognition. LOTR was the mountaintop and so getting into it required a Jedi-like commitment; dabblers were not respected. But when the movies were announced I had to jump into the books before the films came out so at least i could claim I *did* read the books first. So yeah, the reputation of LOTR is well-earned but at least it's easier to access it nowadays.

[@jensablefur155]

I'm similar, I wish I'd read the books when I was younger but there was this reputation that LOTR is big, intimidating and super heavy which put me off as a teenager. And it's not a reputation I necessarily agree with as an adult. There's more going on from a World-building point of view of course, more dots to join, and The Council of Elrond is absolutely one of those parts of a novel that you really REALLY need to take time with and wrap your head around it on the first read-through... But I don't think LOTR is any more of a "difficult" read as a book as something like The Stand, and A Song of Ice and Fire and Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant stuff is definitely more of a slog to get through (at least to me) in the fantasy genre. I'd consider those intimidating for your average teenage nerd. I think the unapproachabiity of the Silmarillion is legit though. It's not a book I'd actively recommend to anyone unless they said that they loved LOTR AND the appendices.

[@Theomite]

@@jensablefur155 Believe it or not it wasn't the book size. Back then, it was more common to find it in the 3-book editions rather than the 1-volume edition. And if you weren't in the deeper circles, you wouldn't have known it was supposed to be 1 book; I thought it was 3 until after the Extended Edition DVD. No, it was the reputation. This was _War & Peace_ or _The Bible_ of nerd-dom: it was THE BOOK. The sacred text against which all other things were compared to. So you knew going in that you were supposed to read it WITH PURPOSE. You couldn't be casual with it. That is what scared me and many others in those days. I wanted to "get it right" and read it properly, but the December '01 release date forced my hand.

[@Zodryn]

I watched the Fellowship in theaters and read the whole trilogy by the time the Two Towers movie came out. As for reading the Silmarilion, if you don't think you'd enjoy it it's not necessary, but there are a lot of great videos on youtube covering stories and history from it/the other Middle Earth books.

[@Jessejec109]

Elijah is definitely not that short. They basically used a combination of doubles and perspective shots. Any time they arent facing the camera it’s a double. Any time they are the hobbit actor are actually standing further away from the camera to trick your eye. They even built elaborate sets that would move relative to the camera to maintain the illusion

[@jeandoten1510]

I read the books. That was in 1968. I had read them at least 20 times before I saw the movies.😁

[@themoodyreaderpodcast]

Wow! I’ve always said the way to test if a book is good is: is it reread-able?

[@blackeyedlily]

As far as the relationship between Sam and Frodo, since you asked if it was representative of something, it is based on the relationship in the British Army for what was historically an Officer and his Bat Man. Tolkien served in World War I. That war still used horses in a Calvary. And Tolkien initially trained horses before they joined the Calvary. It was also the first war with tanks as well. It was an absolutely horrific war, which included the use of nerve gas and other types of chemical warfare. Tolkien lost many of his school friends in that war. And he saw the lifelong effect it had on many soldiers who were disabled physically and/or mentally. While Tolkien was always very clear that the Lord of the Rings is not supposed to be an analogy for something specific, many people felt it was a fantasy take on World War II. But Tolkien always insisted that it was his attempt at creating a modern mythology in the style of the ancient mythologies he loved and studied. However there are definitely a number of significant themes that shine through. And Frodo’s inability to heal from the injuries and trauma he endured feels very influenced by Tolkien’s World War I experience. As does the Scouring of the Shire at the end, which demonstrated how the evils of that time even touched his beloved homeland that he was fighting for. But going back to Frodo and Sam, an Officer in the British army was typically assigned a Bat Man, who was his personal servant and saw to his needs. Typically these were two people from very different parts of the rigid British social structure. But their experiences through war often created some of the deepest bonds of their lives. And it was not unusual for a Bat Man to go on and work for the Officer in some capacity after their military career. This relationship can seem very antiquated from our modern perspective. But it would have been very familiar to Tolkien. And while I have many characters in this story that are beloved by me, Samwise Gamgee is undoubtedly my favorite.

[@NicholasMcClure]

People have probably said, but worth saying again - Gandalf coming with three Eagles possibly meant he was hoping to rescue Sméagol as well.

[@AprilLaRae]

Watching Jurassic Park made reading the book so much easier to comprehend all the technical jargon, I was only 13 when the movie came out and had zero knowledge of splicing dna etc

[@T.Florenz]

This is inspiring me to try to get through the books, again. Tolkien is a very dry writer -- I love The Hobbit, which has a lot of humor in the first part to carry me through to the final battle, but LotR has always lost me in the first book. I adore the movies, and my mom always filled me in on the lore behind them. But I would love to be able to say I finished the book series, finally. Your idea of reading it while listening to the audio book is pretty genius, and should help with my dyslexia, which I think has been a big part of why I struggled with it.

[@simonhassnilsson7009]

If you havent seen them i would recommend the Extended editions of the trilogy, feels like a much more complete experience in my humble opinion

[@NigelIncubatorJones]

Wormtongue. It's actually a complimentary name. In our world, it would translate to something like "well spoken", like the French "Beauparlant". The reason is that "worm" is another word for "dragon" in this world, and dragons are renowned for being very clever in speech. I'm sure Tolkien enjoyed the double-entendre in Wormtongue's name, because he's also obviously slimy in spirit. Keep in mind that Tolkien's greatest love was in the meaning and origin of words, so every name in the books has meaning.

[@chuckb.9507]

Great reaction!

[@plspriska]

A friend of mine challenged me to read the hobbit before the movie came out so we could read it together then watch the movie. After i read and watched the hobbit, i watched the LoTR movies and loved them. I just read LoTR and am on The Two Towers now!

[@bettinanielsen6336]

I feel so bad for you that you didn't watch the extended versions. You would have seen alot of the things you asked for.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

Yeah, I don’t get why a book reader wouldn’t want the extended versions. Especially when it’s so easy to get them nowadays

[@Kavala76]

Application to join the LOTR fandom, approved. Welcome aboard!

[@raimat66]

It is very interesting to follow someone who gets through the phenomenon of "The Lord of the Rings" both as a book and as a film. I also started with the books, simply for the reason that there were no movies to watch. The animated movie came while I was reading and I watched it, which had a strong effect on me, but also slowed down my reading because the movie takes the story much longer than I had read. So I lost interest in large parts of The Two Towers for that reason, unfortunately. Another thing that partially influenced me was my spoiling friend who had already revealed the ending to me, unfortunately. However, I finished reading the books and have loved them ever since. The movies portray the books very well. Of course I'm missing some essential pieces and think other pieces are porly wristed. But clearly high marks all in all. You seem to have a completely different fantasy mind than I do. What I like best you mention as problems for your interest: Tolkien's language, the fact that the books are largely a guided tour through the world and nature of Middle Earth. Oddly enough, you're mad at Gandalf for dragging Bilbo out on an adventure. After all, he saves Bilbo from himself and his worse self and makes him a stronger, more independent and better person. We should all have a Gandalf who knows our own good better than we do ourselves. You seem to have misunderstood how Gollum was freed. He wasn't set free, he was freed with the help of an orc attack that was very well planned. But it's easy to miss details in such a complex story. Very touching that Balin's death affected you emotionally. I missed that detail, because I didn't know who Balin was when I read The Lord of the Rings. You tend to judge people as either good or evil. You mention Boromir, among other things, "I didn't like no Boromir". He is one of the most interesting characters, in my opinion. The very human person who falls for a corrupting temptation. He is a bit blunt, but extremely loyal and helpful in various situations until he succumbs to the ring's influence. But he has learned, among other things, that Lothlórien is a dangerous place from his upbringing. Who hasn't had preconceived notions about foreign countries that we've never visited, but heard skewed opinions about? And he redeems himself at the end, giving his life in defense of the smallest members of the fellowship. You also mention the ents and the ent wives, and say it went over your head. I love these passages with Tom Bombadil, Treebeard, etc. They add history and depth to Tolkien's magical world. Treebeard's very tragic story of how the entire rase lost their wives and the possibility of survival with offspring is so moving, tragic and melancholicly beautiful, I think. To me, that IS much of the essence of Tolkien's storytelling. No, it's not Gimli who ends up getting everyone else blindfolded. It is Aragorn who increases his new role as the leader of the fellowship. He says "We all travel as equals and get to go blindfolded together". I think it is important. But I agree that Gimli's protest in the forest is bad ass. (Yes, anyone who hasn't been following social media for the past 25 years but has read the books without prior knowledge is completely convinced that Gandalf actually died in the deep.) Look at maps in fantasy. Period! You misunderstand Gandalf. Gandalf likes Pippin very much. But Gandalf is a strict teacher, so to speak. His role is not to be friendly and soft, rather challenging and nurturing. Don't forget that it was Gandalf who persuaded Elrond to let Merry and Pippin come along. Gandalf's intuition is divine and he knew from the start that he would take Bilbo as well as Merry and Pippin on adventures that might seem too big for them. In that way, Gandalf saved the world, precisely with the help of naive hobbits. But you may find it difficult to understand Gandalf's role because you are not impressed by Gandalf. You may not know that he is a deity who was there even before the creation of the universe and whose mission is to awaken the resistance of the free peoples of Middle Earth, not to fight the battle for them, only to inspire - in the literal sense of the word "in spiritus", i.e. a spiritual power that urges and awakens the best sides of ordinary people. He is a conductor, you could say. No offense, but it sounds like you're focusing more on the physical events and overlooking the symbolic, intellectual and - shall we say - poetic/high fantasy games that occur between the lines and between as well as within individuals. But maybe I'm misunderstanding you, sorry if so. (No exactly, unlike Gandalf's fate, few if any actually believed that Frodo died at the end of The Two Towers.) Not trees. Own beeings that are extremely similar to trees. The walking trees - the huorns - are, on the other hand, real trees, albeit rather bizarre ones. You can choose for yourself if you want to read The Silmarillion. It is strongly reminiscent of a religious/historical writing and is not in the true sense a novel with character development and close relationships, more fragments that in summary stories account for what happened during different eras of history. One can compare with the Bible rather than with the Illiad and the Odyssey. But it is certainly worth reading for true "Ringers". 😊 There was this elven maiden Arwen in Rivendell. Did you miss it…? How can you miss how Frodo lost his finger? Interesting to follow how you read. Okay, if you loved the appendix, you might also enjoy The Silmarillion. They are in a way quite similar in their design. I love your description of Gollum's role and how Frodo and Sam view him, after all. No, we don't defeat Saruman because Wormtounge kills him. We defeat him because Gandalf's whole plan was to throw hobbits (and all other peoples) into an adventure that would strengthen them and their resilience, so that they would be able to defend themselves and their lands against the evil forces of the world, such as Saruman, etc. * * * No, Elijah is not that short. They have used dozens of film tricks, and far from all of them are CGI!!! You missed the best jump scare in movie history because of some sound behind you!!! Books and film are two very different media. You have to rearrange the story to fit it into cinematic storytelling. Then you move on Shelob and a few other things. I'm so curious about your focus. The greatness of Tolkien is that we both enjoy this story so much, but in such different ways. And in the middle of the movie you get tired? Were you generally tired, or bored? We work differently. I can probably stay up until four in the morning if it's a film that engages me. I have never heard the expression "a Ringer" and will never call myself such a thing. I'd like to say that true fans of Tolkien and his total storytelling world doesn't call themselves something that geeky. But I belong to a different generation, so what do I know... But a true "Ringer" prefers the extended seven days a week. So…? Nah, I'm just kidding. Of course you are one.

[@andrewmcfarlane7015]

Book recommendation for you - "the Ballad of the Songbird" series by Jon Ford (book 1 is "Hunters"). 3 books released so far out of the planned 7 and I've loved every second of them so far.

[@MacAisling]

An 80 year old rural British white boys adventure tale doesn’t always speak to your modern experience? The shock and horror! I admire your determination to get through it. Long, drawn out, complex, sausage fest, all fair criticisms. In the books, Arwen was seen from afar in passing twice before the wedding. If it was a struggle for you to get deep enough into The Hobbit to get hooked into the story, you definitely should NOT try to read The Silmarillion for pleasure. It basically reads like a bible for Middle Earth. Leave that one for those who really geek out over deep lore.

[@Nicholly1084]

I remember my first contact with the LOTR was through the movie poster for the first movie, back in 2000 (I was living in Paraguay at the time), and I had no idea what it was about, but was interested in watching because I recognized a few names from the cast (I was 12 or 13yo). And as soon as I came out of the cinema with my family, I asked my mom to buy me the book as we passed by a bookstore (my dad was annoyed, but my mom was pretty supportive with my reading habits - same thing happened with Harry Potter). So in between the first and second movies from the LOTR trilogy, I read the book a few times, knew by heart what was going to happen and got annoyed with some of the cuts and changes they made for the movies (don't even get me started with movie Shelob's stabbing Frodo in the stomach instead of the back of his neck when he still had his mithril on!), but still love them all, for different reasons. Still need to go through the rest of Tolkien's work to feel like I'm a step closer to Stephen Colbert's level LOL

[@NicholasMcClure]

When I first read LOTR, there were only the books (well, there was this weird Rankin-Bass animated movie but I didn't know about that till later). I got into LOTR because I read The Hobbit when I was smaller, and loved it, so I was thrilled that the story continued. I couldn't believe when I heard they were actually making the movies back around the turn of the century, and was worried they wouldn't be able to capture it. Nope. Now LOTR is my favourite book series AND my favourite movie series.

[@Broom-SSN]

The books are superior in every conceivable way - but the films do a great job of capturing the “spirit” of the books

[@cpmf2112]

"I can't throw it in for you, but I can throw you!" 😂

[@DanielDibbern-b4p]

Gandalf the villain? ehh, villain, hero,- he's a wizard. I suppose he's both. Goes with the job.

[@sylvanaire]

I enjoyed your reactions, especially going from thinking Gandalf was a villain to saying how kind his eyes looked, lol. And if you think about it, Saruman’s fate wasn’t changed, it was just moved. Wormtongue still stabbed him in the back and was shot by an arrow in both scenes. It’s just happened sooner in the movie than it did in the books because the movies cut out the whole Scouring of the Shire episode. And I’ve never heard of the fandom being called Ringers. 🤷‍♀️😄

[@GirlOfTheTardis]

Christopher Lee was too sick to film the scouring, that's why they killed Saruman early as getting another actor to play his part would ruin it. And yeah we are not 'Ringers', I've never heard anyone say that, it sounds weird.

[@drivers99]

54:55 distracting environment stole that moment from you. It usually makes people jump if they don’t know it’s coming

[@tomiwilliams4273]

I had watched the first movie, couldn't wait for the second and third, I read all three books before the second movie, the two towers came out.

[@Rodshark75]

You don't have to ask... if you love the world that Tolkien created, you are a Ringer... period.

[@marilynleslie472]

I read the Lord of the Rings when I was in junior high. At first I was disappointed because there was no romance, but very soon I got caught up in the adventure. I enjoy all the descriptions and frequently look at the maps. Re the Hobbit, sometimes life doesn’t go as planned and we get swept up into something more complex and difficult than we expected.

[@LordEriolTolkien]

All that is required for a passport to Middle Earth is to read the texts. I first read these works over 40 years ago and had read them all in entirety at least a dozen times before the movies had been made. Hail and well met, fellow traveler. It took me 3 months to read it the first time. I agonised over pronunciation and memorising both the names, and constantly cross referencing the appendix to get the meaning of the names. I took that shit serious. As you can see given my avatar is Tolkien and Eriol is a name taken from Tolkien

[@buddystewart2020]

I'm only 7:53 into the video, but as for your question about movie first then the book or the other way around. I don't think it matters. There's more than a few differences between the book and the films. You'll see that no matter which way you do it. I'd say do it whatever way you want to. hahahahaha, like I said, there's a lot of differences between the books and the films. I happen to like them both. I've seen some people try to say there's not that much different but no, no, there's a hell of a lot they changed for the films. I still love both the book and the film though. The spirit of the story is still in the film, at least to me. Edit: ok, so now I watched your whole video. Not the greatest reaction I've seen for the films, super condensed, but I get it. This video was about your whole experience, and I enjoyed that. I really did. I could nitpik the film for a while, but there's not much point in that. Mainly, I'm glad you got to experience the books and the films. And let me correct you on something, you don't need anyone's approval to be a LOTRs fan, you are what you are. If you loved it, you are a fan. Period. There are no gatekeepers. I sure won't let somebody else tell me what I am. Have a good one, see ya around the web.