Confession time - I was never a Tolkien fan. I read The Hobbit when I was about 9 years old and I hated it. I hated it so much that I didn't read any of the Lord of the Rings novels, nor did I see any of the movies (aside from bits and pieces.) In fact, I went out of my way to avoid anything having to do with the books or the movies.
Fast forward to January, 2021. I was finishing up my degree and to fulfill the requirements for my minor in English, I'd taken an Intro to Children's Lit class with an awesome professor in the fall of 2020. Originally, I'd opted to take a Creative Writing course for the spring semester to fulfill the requirement, but then I saw my Children's Lit professor, Professor Jackson, was teaching a critical lit theory class on Tolkien. I was unsure about switching, since I felt so certain I'd HATE the entire class and would suffer the entire semester, but I decided to take the chance and dropped Creative Writing, replaced it with Jackson's Tolkien class and the rest is, as they say, history. We read and analyzed not only The Hobbit, but also the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I confess, I don't like calling it a trilogy, since it's in actuality an epic, but that's neither here nor there.) I walked away with from the class with an A and a new appreciation for Tolkien and this amazing world he'd built.
I enjoyed each book and am now working my way through the movies as —Thorin became my favorite character in The Hobbit as I was reading (and even more so after seeing the movie because... damn...) But, as this world is fairly new to me, I ask you, my awesome readers, have patience with me. I cannot for the life of me keep most of the dwarves' names straight, I don't know all of Middle Earth inside and out as I know you lifelong, true fans do. Please, if I do make a mistake and get something egregiously wrong, feel free to point it out, but be kind about it. :) Also, I'm basing the characters more on Peter Jackson's films than Tolkien's novels.
Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this. I have no idea where it will go...
5/17/2022 update - I plan to rewrite most of this story as I think it's a VERY rough draft, so if chapters disappear, don't worry, they will be back. :)
YOU ARE READING
Warrior's Heart
FanfictionWhen exiled Elf Ariel Greenleaf is found unconscious just beyond the borders of Mirkwood by the Company, they are ready to dispatch her without hesitation. It isn't until their leader, Thorin Oakenshield convinces them that she could be a powerful b...
