Tolkien Nerd Thread

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Desdichado

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2014
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#41
The guy who said that clearly never made himself an omelet.

Neither have I. "He who breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." Mistakes in books have a nasty way of jumping out at me when I'm not looking for them.
 
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Tinuviel

Guest
#42
The guy who said that clearly never made himself an omelet.
Omelets have a nasty way of jumping out at me when I'm not looking too.

( I looked at that post and laughed foolishly for about 3 minutes. I think I will have to temporarily steal the randomness award from my sister).
 
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Tinuviel

Guest
#45
I gave up. Got 62%

And how on earth does Tom Bombadil get more mentions than Sauron AND Galadriel?

Wow
I was rather surprised at Treebeard. I wonder: do they count every time Fangorn is mentioned? Because if you were doing a simple word search, you would be counting times when they're talking about the forest, not the person.

The first quiz like this that I found, I took it along with my sister. Together, we got 98%. Apparently this test counted the appendices, because Arvedui got in there! He was the one we missed...we could have gotten a perfect score, but for this guy who is mentioned ONCE in the actual text of the book. As you can tell, we're still sore on that :p.
 

EarnestQ

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2016
2,588
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#47
As if anyone really cared, I am re-reading the series. They are about to approach the gates at Moria.

(I always thought that should be pronounced mo RI a. But in the movie it's MOR ia. What's with that, anyway?)
 
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Tinuviel

Guest
#48
As if anyone really cared, I am re-reading the series. They are about to approach the gates at Moria.

(I always thought that should be pronounced mo RI a. But in the movie it's MOR ia. What's with that, anyway?)
Me! I care! I'm always up for talking about Tolkien :eek:. They have several recordings of Tolkien himself reading; they have a recording of him reading "Durin's Song." So we actually DO know how Moria is officially said. I can't turn the sound on right now to see if this is actually what it says it is, but check it out:

[video=youtube;N6UabeJ9ksM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6UabeJ9ksM[/video]

I am not always a fan of Tolkien's reading style, but at least the pronunciations are official! And I love the way he says the names and the Elvish.

This is the point in the story where I always really, really wish Boromir was more of a good guy. I have a soft place in my heart for Boromir...I am usually more sad when he dies than when Gandalf dies.
 

Desdichado

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2014
8,768
837
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#49
You know, if I just made up a ton of words and my own proper way to pronounce them, people would call me insane. He gets to be known as a great writer. Not fair. :p

Gandalf's death never had much sting for me. Even when I saw him plunge into Moria with know prior knowledge of his story, I thought "Well, he'll be back."

You knew Boromir was worm food. He's cool though because he's just sort of this tragic pre-Christian, Anglo-Saxon hero caught up in a very Christian narrative. But he transcends it and finds himself redeemed. It's almost like Tolkien was giving Beowulf the ending he deserved.

Me! I care! I'm always up for talking about Tolkien :eek:. They have several recordings of Tolkien himself reading; they have a recording of him reading "Durin's Song." So we actually DO know how Moria is officially said. I can't turn the sound on right now to see if this is actually what it says it is, but check it out:

[video=youtube;N6UabeJ9ksM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6UabeJ9ksM[/video]

I am not always a fan of Tolkien's reading style, but at least the pronunciations are official! And I love the way he says the names and the Elvish.

This is the point in the story where I always really, really wish Boromir was more of a good guy. I have a soft place in my heart for Boromir...I am usually more sad when he dies than when Gandalf dies.
 

Desdichado

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2014
8,768
837
113
#50
Anybody else feel too American to pronounce Tolkein's words?
 

EarnestQ

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2016
2,588
311
83
#51
Me! I care! I'm always up for talking about Tolkien :eek:. They have several recordings of Tolkien himself reading; they have a recording of him reading "Durin's Song." So we actually DO know how Moria is officially said. I can't turn the sound on right now to see if this is actually what it says it is, but check it out:

[video=youtube;N6UabeJ9ksM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6UabeJ9ksM[/video]

I am not always a fan of Tolkien's reading style, but at least the pronunciations are official! And I love the way he says the names and the Elvish.

This is the point in the story where I always really, really wish Boromir was more of a good guy. I have a soft place in my heart for Boromir...I am usually more sad when he dies than when Gandalf dies.

Thanks for the reference. I'll try to check it out son.
 
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Tinuviel

Guest
#52
Anybody else feel too American to pronounce Tolkein's words?
Yes. Especially the Elvish. I actually end up reading a lot of British books with a softened pronunciation so it doesn't sound so strange if I have to switch into a more British accent for some words. Or maybe it sounds strange anyway, but it makes me feel better :p
 

Desdichado

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2014
8,768
837
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#53
The only English accent I can imitate passably is cockney. The American accent fits better with most of those texts.

Yes. Especially the Elvish. I actually end up reading a lot of British books with a softened pronunciation so it doesn't sound so strange if I have to switch into a more British accent for some words. Or maybe it sounds strange anyway, but it makes me feel better :p
 
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Tinuviel

Guest
#54
The only English accent I can imitate passably is cockney. The American accent fits better with most of those texts.
When I was younger I was especially interested in accents and got a book on how to imitate them. I was able to do eight or so, but I've lost the touch over time and now I doubt I could do even one or two very well. I am trying to imagine something like "The Song of Galadriel" with a cockney accent! XD.
 

Desdichado

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2014
8,768
837
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#55
I hope somebody somewhere recorded that.

When I was younger I was especially interested in accents and got a book on how to imitate them. I was able to do eight or so, but I've lost the touch over time and now I doubt I could do even one or two very well. I am trying to imagine something like "The Song of Galadriel" with a cockney accent! XD.
 
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Tinuviel

Guest
#56
You knew Boromir was worm food. He's cool though because he's just sort of this tragic pre-Christian, Anglo-Saxon hero caught up in a very Christian narrative. But he transcends it and finds himself redeemed. It's almost like Tolkien was giving Beowulf the ending he deserved.
Interesting take. I'd never thought of it that way, but it does almost have that flavor. Many other places in LotR were highly influenced by Beowulf. I'm trying to remember what book I was reading that was comparing a scene in LotR to one in Beowulf. I want to say it was by Thomas Shippey, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, it was very good and interesting.

The Tolkien Nerds are all either incredibly shy or holding out on us. I refuse to believe so few people are into this kind of good literature.
 

Desdichado

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2014
8,768
837
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#57
Yeah the Boromir-Anglo-Saxon warrior comparison is a Ryan Reeves observation. He's very reliable. And, generally speaking, when we discuss the archetypical Anglo-Saxon warrior, it's Beowulf we're referring to.

I also heard Tolkien hid elements of the Song of Roland in Boromir's story arc, but that was from a girl I was dating at the time.





Interesting take. I'd never thought of it that way, but it does almost have that flavor. Many other places in LotR were highly influenced by Beowulf. I'm trying to remember what book I was reading that was comparing a scene in LotR to one in Beowulf. I want to say it was by Thomas Shippey, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, it was very good and interesting.

The Tolkien Nerds are all either incredibly shy or holding out on us. I refuse to believe so few people are into this kind of good literature.
 

Desdichado

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2014
8,768
837
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#58
I encourage people to make it to the "over-nerd" stage of life where you're interested in so many things (nerdy and non-nerdy), you feel totally comfortable discussing this stuff.
 
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Tinuviel

Guest
#59
I was exceedingly pleased to hear about Christopher Tolkien's surprise publication of The Fall of Gondolin. Anyone else excited to read that one?
 

EarnestQ

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2016
2,588
311
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#60
Well, the team has made it through the mines of Moria, but this time Gandalf bested the Bal Rog and he is still with the company in Lothlorien. ... Not really.

The company is gathering to leave Lothlorien and head on down the river.