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So you think you have what it takes...? You think you can be called a 'fan' of Tolkien? What does it mean to be a fan?....

does it mean spending all your cash on DVDs and BOOKs...?

Learning elvish, quenya, dwarvish, sindarin, and the black speech?

now is YOUR chance to tell what makes you (or anyone) a fan...why do you call yourself one?...please, do explain. I will await patiently for your replys...

i'm sure some call themselves fans 'cause they "absolutely LOVE Orli...*screams!!!*!!!!...omg did you know ORLANDO likes cheese??!!? and ...I like cheese too!!!!!!! omg!! this is great i'm gona die...orlando!!!!!!cheese...cheese!!!!"

others because they can tell you exactly every detail of the books and films, as well as every tiny complexity of plotlines, character developments and know every family tree of the 31st king of gondor's sister's cousin's uncle's daddy's auntie....

still others just drift in and out of the hype...becoming a fan when their friends go to the cinema...or when its cool...knowing just enough to be liked by the cool people who have some appreciation for the films...but not so much that people will call them nerdy...or geeky...

I believe (if i may be so bold) that i am a fan... of tolkien...of middle earth and the lord of the rings. So my question to you is:

"what does it mean to be a fan?"
what makes you a fan, what makes you NOT a fan?..

+ -
^

shadowy hi r u still here i just wanted to say a special thanks for all the cool pics sry 4 interrupting ur convo

It's OK. No prob.

Whow, interesting essay, Shadowy


In my opinion you might call yourself a fan (fanatic... a very discussable title...) as soon as you respect others' opinions on "fan-dom" if they differ from yours... and are interested in them, and when you try to find out more about anything by yourself... curiousity, I think thats what makes a "fan".

You maybe only buy loads of merchandise or books if you _are_ a fan... but buying them doesnt _make you_ a fan. Learning by heart the whole Silmarillion also wont make you more a fan... being a fan just means loving and respecting something. imo.

^^

too bad i cant access my regular comp, so i cant write as much as i want to


but oh well, i think i'm a fan... not reallly such a true fan as many of you here, cuz i dont really keep tabs on everything on LotR, and i don't know that much about Tolkien, but i still i love the books, and while i know alot of ppl who despise LotR and think it's all devilry, and nonsense, even sometimes my own family, it's still all priceless to me, because i love to write, and i value classic writing, like Tolkien's, and i couldn't care less what anyone else said...

I'm a fan because that is just me. I love Tolkien and all his works, & yes I love all the popularity that the movies have given the Trilogy. I have my "but's" & "if's" & my "OH-GOD-WHAT-HAS-HE-DONE's" But I still love the movies. I love & understand the Lord of the Rings, & I got in trouble for neglecting my school work to read The Silmarilion (I love that book!) & I've read the Trilogy countless times. But none of that is nescesary to be "A Fan", so long as the book &/or movie means more to you than just a story or a film I would consider you a fan. You don't need to know Tolkiens full life story (like me ) or be able to recite the book & movie of by heart (like me ) Or be totally obbsessed (like me ) ETC ETC ETC. You just have to enjoy Tolkiens work

Oh, I found this on the net ages ago, I thought it was pretty cool

Here's the rest of my last reply....

How You Know You're Addicted To The Lord of the Rings

-You refer to parts of your town as parts of Middle-Earth. My school has become The Mines of Moria, my headmistress the Balrog! The woods next to my schoo are now Lothlorien.

-You have given all you're school teachers Middle-Earth names.

-You wear Hobbitish clothing as part of your normal wardrobe.

-You sometimes let your hair go curly after a wash, and run around the house in bare feet yelling "I'm a Hobbit!"

-You hate it when Elves are only thought of as 'Santa's little helpers' and have tried to explain the difference between Santa-Elves & Syrian Elves to your 5-year old cousins.

-You speak in Quenya just to annoy your friends

-You refer to regular elephants as Oliphaunts

-You go shopping in bare feet because you believe yourself to be a Hobbit.

-Another way you know you're an addict: While butter a piece of bread, you suddenly think of Bilbo (remeber when he was talking to Gandalf about feeling tired) saying that he felt "like butter spread over too much bread."

-You renamed your car the Wraith-Mobile.

-You have a replica of The One Ring

-Your poor parents are really regretting that they brought you the Lord of the Rings box set when you were a little Hobbit sized being.

You are beginning to resemble a panda due to the fact that you've stayed up untill 2am for the last year reading & re-reading the great books.

-You actually managed to read the Silmarillion without beiong tempted to give up on this whole Middle-Earth malarkey

-You now have a life-time fear of black horses!

And of course, the most blatant way to tell if you are addicted to the Lord of the Rings:
You spend time trying to think of reasons why you're a Lord of the Rings addict.

what does imo mean?

I would go as far to say I am a fan, I must admit I am one of those people who seen the film (FOTR) first and decided to pick up one of the books.....

I found it extradoardinary how the middle earth rules so much in the books compared ot the films. The film did set the scene but there are many other things they are missing out

I do go out of my way and ditch "hanging with friends" time to be in my own world of lord of the rings....I no where near classed as a geek and no one particularly takes the piss of me for being a fan.

I do enjoy argueing the the foolish minds who simply say "lord of the rings is shit and totally fake".....that statement was made to me by a guy (i totally hate) after legolas jumps onto the horse after shooting the arrows at the Wargs.

Discos - whoa......being serious is quite fun

In my opinion.




BTW, yes. I'm a fan.

oh lol and "imo" i am a great fan too


btw hi lol

i know i am a fan because i have read the books, i have seen the movies, and not just because they are extremely popular, because they interest me... i am contstantly relating everything to lotr and middle earth, i am trying very hard to read the silmarillion... i think true fans will love lotr no matter what, one of my friends claims to be a huge lotr fan, so i started talking to her about a chapter in rotk that wasn't i the movie, she had no clue what i was talking about, she's not a true fan... another fan wears the evenstar necklace, she's never read the books either, or even tried to, i'm like 'what's the point?' to be a true fan you have to know both levels, book and movie, or at least attempt to as shadowy said, you have to care

It depends what TYPE of fan you are referring to.

A film fan: appreciates the films, recognises the time and effort put into it, recognises the fantastic cinematography and doesn't just go, "AAAAHHH!!! ORLANDO!!!" Of course, liking the actors/actresses is just an added bonus.

A book fan: this is trickier. I consider myself to be a fan but I have not read The Silmarillion or know Sindarin or Quenya or know all the 'alternative' names for certain areas. However, I have read the books, more than once, and appreciate the work within. I recognise the messages that Tolkien was trying to bring across and I am aware that his world, his characters and his story is simply fantastic.

There are others that make such an effort to prove their 'knowledge' of the books, whether it be by buying all the volumes of the History of Middle Earth or by making countless thread discussing things that many fans, I for one, would not understand.

Basically: I am a fan. A fan of the books AND the films. I appreciate the stories told and recognise Tolkien for the purely talented writer he was/is. I disapprove of people that make too much of an effort to show how much they know compared to other fans. To be a fan, I think you should read the books, appreciate them and recognise the love, effort and hard work that has gone into the writings.

Okay...here is my two cents

Sure...there are different levels of being a fanatic. I mean, that is what we are discussing here...isn't it ?

I have read the Hobbit, FOTR, TTT, and ROTK, but that was many moons ago, and when I saw the movies...there were a lot of things that I had forgotten about. Things that triggered my memory about how much I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the world it was based on.

Who is to say that just because someone has not read the books is not a fan...or if you haven't seen the movies, you are not a fan. Does being a fan mean you can't recite a chapter in one of the books, or go into detail about the genealogy of Arwen ?

I think that Peter Jackson created the movies in such a way that you didn't have to read the books to enjoy it. For our younger generation...like my 5 year old Son, who would never be able to read any of Tolkien's books...can he not be a fan of LOTR ??? He sits and watches the movies with me...recites the lines, and can follow the story and tell me who each and every person is. I think he is a fan no matter what.

To each of us, LOTR has touched us in a different way. No matter if you have read the books, seen the movie, learn Elvish, or buy everything that you can lay your hands on...I think that everyone here, in this Forum, is a LOTR fan...

...for it has touched us all.

others because they can tell you exactly every detail of the books and films, as well as every tiny complexity of plotlines, character developments and know every family tree of the 31st king of gondor's sister's cousin's uncle's daddy's auntie....





i would call myself a fan

but not because i own all the DVDs or alot of the books, that doesnt mean a thing
just because you spend alot of money on something doesnt mean you are a fan of it

hell i spent about 50 pound on all the bruce lee films and i just realised they arent like i remember them...and i dont like them anymore

lotr fan is....well it cant be defined it is simply sombody who liked lotr...has attempted to or has read the books....and has a passion to know more

The most #1 impressive symptoms of being a fan - being able to make fun of your obsession but still love it.

i agree with almost everything up there so i'm not going to repeat it i just know i'm a fan because on day i woke up and wanted to know more about Lotr the history and life and all that it got its own track in my mind that repeats daily "these are great books these are great books" there complete wonderful every bit of them and i love it cuz Lotr opened my eyes to great literature i love these books because there great storys (history and all)

yeah thats why i think i'm a fan

I agree with all of you guys. Every single thing you guys said is brilliant Wonderous essay, s_b. I think you're pretty much known for your long responses haha. That's not a bad thing, though!

I can say I'm a fan, though not as much of a fan as some of you here. Actually, I'd rather have someone else say whether I'm a fan or not.....I wouldn't trust my opinion.....

Anyways, I am, like Discos, included in that group of people who saw FOTR and then read the books. I actually never even heard of LOTR before I saw FOTR, but I loved it the first time. I went out and bought the book, read it, and love it. Yesh, I admit, I've only read it once. I'm gonna start reading it every summer, though. I don't have time during school. I tried reading The Silmarillion, but, I'm being honest here, I just can't understand it. I've always been ahead of everyone in the reading category (no, I'm not trying to brag or anything....I'm just a faster reader and I just have a bigger vocabulary or...whatever haha) and I could usually read something similar to The Silmarillion, but for that book, I'm just gonna wait a year or possibly two before I try to read it again. It's better to read and understand a book than to just read a book.

I haven't bought tons of expensive merchandise (just my Ring, the posters/pics on my wall, the movies, and a Gollum shirt hehe...but nothing TOO expensive) or read the books thousands of times or known Arwen's great-great-great-great-grandfather's uncle's sister's nephew-in-law's cat's brother's mom's hairdresser's cousin or anything like that. I know a few of the character's history a few generations back, but nothing too big. The things you haven't done, though, don't matter.....

What DOES matter is what you HAVE done. I HAVE read the books. I HAVE watched the movies (many times, I might add), I HAVE recited lines from the books or movies to my family/friends/self constantly, I HAVE bought a few merchandise, I HAVE never liked LOTR just for an actor (I became obsessed with Billy after ROTK....I've always loved Pippin...Cause he's him and he's funny, not cause he's cute *coughLegolasfangirlscough*), I HAVE suggested reading the books/watching the movies to many people, I HAVE stood up for LOTR when someone said something like "LOTR is stupid," I HAVE also stood up for Peter Jackson/the actors/actresses when someone says something like "______ is stupid," I HAVE an extremely strong love for all of the characters in LOTR, and I HAVE to go now haha. (yesh, I'm done being serious....wow, I've been serious for, what, three sentences! *gasp* hehe)

Wow, I think that's almost as long as s_b's!...Only half a page ess than her's haha...Cool!

Sorry if I repeated anything anyone has already said. You tend to forget if someone's said it already when you get all caught up in writing stuff like this

Lol..thank you. I love what you said too.

Thanks

people of tolkien.....hear me:

either you are a fan or you are not....
FANS Hear me! It is true, what many of you have heard. The fans have gathered an army, and as I speak that army is drawing nearer to our home.
Crowd:
Believe me when I say we have a difficult time ahead of us. But if we are to be prepared for it, we must first shed our fear of it! I stand here before you now, truthfully unafraid. Why? Because I believe something you do not? No! I stand here without fear because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me, but because of the path that lies behind me! I remember that for 100 years we have fought these so called fans. I remember that for 100 years they have sent their armies to destroy us. And after a century of war, I remember that which matters most. We are still here!

Tonight let us send a message to that army. Tonight let us shake this cave! Tonight let us tremble these halls of earth, steel, and stone! Let us be heard from red core to black sky. Tonight, let us make them remember. This is Tolkien! And we are not afraid!



ok i didn't write that....but i added my own touchups to wachowski's own work...
I remember. I remember you used to dance. I remember you were pretty good. There are some things in this world, captain Niobe, that will never change. Some things do change.

Nice.

smorpheus??

LOL...

if it were up to me i would take every man woman and child, stick a gun in their hands and march them straight into that forum!

briliant