Verity's Book

Le Middle Earth Tag

Tagged by stringslady

What was your first introduction to LotR?

I read The Hobbit when I was six (in one afternoon; my father didn't believe me at first when I told him I was finished). It was the Ballantine Books version, I remember, small and old and yellow-paged with the peculiar bulbous tree on the front cover. I skimmed the blurb for the Lord of the Rings at the end, thinking that it didn't sound very fun and Bilbo was a much nicer name than Frodo. I told my parents so and they laughed.

Four years later I was considerably more interested in reading the Lord of the Rings, and when we visited my cousins I discovered they had the books.

I devoured them.

For four days of our week-long stay I holed away in their book-room every chance I got, lost in the world of Middle-Earth. As soon as I was finished with one, my next youngest sister demanded them. We left for home unquestionably LotR-obsessed.

Have you ever read the books?

Um, yes, I think I just stated that.

Which version of the movies do you prefer, extended or theatrical?

I've never seen the extended, just a few clips on Youtube, so I can't say. (Saruman's death... overdone. Kind of overdone.)

Who's your favourite character and why?

Really? I'm supposed to pick??

Aragorn, because... because he is so wonderful, yet so relatable. I think we all wish that if we were a king, we could be one like him.

Boromir, because he is strong and loyal, courageous and occasionally rash. And because he is also relatable. His temptation is one that we fear we might have succumbed to as well.

What other Middle Earth books have you read?

The Hobbit (as stated), The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, and some small bits of the Book of Lost Tales.

What parts of the movie would you change if you could?

Faramir. Need I say more? The movie did NOT do him justice, and it perturbs me to no end.

If we're talking about the Hobbit movie... groan. All right, just please cut out the love triangle. Then I can live with it. Just. No. Love. Triangle.

What's your favourite scene in the book and movie and why?

Um... this is worse than characters!

Book: in the Fellowship of the Ring, the long-lasting discussion on how they should cross the mountains after abandoning Caradhras. Why? Because of Boromir. He's hilarious.

Movie: Helm's Deep. I like battles, and I like seeing the conflict increase on a larger scale while interpersonal relationships grow as well.

How would you rate your addiction to LotR, with Aragorn being the lowest and Gollum the highest?

This is difficult. Why don't they have any of the in-betweens? I'll go with a scale of 1-10, and say I'm an 8 or 9.

If you could be any character, who would you be and why?

I think I'll be a happy random elf in Valinor. No worries about what's going on across that ol' sea.