How many of you were fans....

How many of you were fans even before the films came out?

As for me, I read The Hobbit and the The Lord of the Rings in 5th grade, and have probably read them at least 15 times in the years since. I read The Silmarillion first in 6th grade, but needed a few more readings to really "get it" and appreciate it. Needless to say, I've been a fan of Tolkien for a long time...since well before the movies.

I recall being a bit disappointed with Bakshi's version though. It was terrific to get dialogue straight out of the books but I just couldn't get over how doofy they made Sam and then couldn't accept that Boromir wore a skirt and sported a Viking helm.

When I heard the rumor of this guy named Peter Jackson shopping the idea of making LOTR into a film, I thought no way, he will destroy it. The guy makes horror films.

Then I fell in with my friends and when I got to see first hand that this WINGNUT FILMS and WETA WORKSHOP were taking this thing very seriously, they made a believer out me real quick.

When I saw the trailer for PJ's live action version in the summer of 2001, I just about died. When the Fellowship crested the hill, all I could think of was, "That's it, they ARE the Fellowship!"

I own the theatrical and extended versions of FOTR and TTT and have every intention of doing the same with ROTK.


Then I found this board and the rest is LOTR history...

How about you guys!?

I read the Hobbit the 5th Grade and loved it so I started reading the Trilogy but didn't get it done til 7th grade, and then I read the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales.

well, i wuz small and stupid. i din even kno lotr existed since tt came out. i read all 4 bks this year

i meant last year

i read the books in this order:

the silmarillion
unfinshed tales
the hobbit
Lord Of The Rings: (FOTR,TTT,ROTK)

i like the perspective it gave me in the progress of things, but unfinsihed tales had some confusing moments as a result (but got cleared up in the end).

i've read the lord of the rings when i was 16, and as i wanted more and more tolkien, i found the silmarillion, which i read when i was 17........ i'm turning 24 on february :$.....

i should say that the movies make me interest in the story again, but i was and still am desappointed in several things, from legolas hair to denethor's death....... i know it's difficult to make such a script and they would have needed like 6 movies to do the whole 3 books........ but wtf! i really miss some things (tom bombadil, eowyn and faramir, etc) and i think some are just wrong (arwen rescuing hurt frodo from the ringwraiths??? frodo and sam being taken to osgiliaht?? etc).....

anyway i liked the movies, but the book is the book

I tried reading the books when I was 10 but I couldn't get into it because I was starting at the wrong spot lol ( I started at consering hobbits and not the beggining) so when the movies came out I was 2 years older so a bit smarter

Sadly didn't read the books before I saw the movies. I never saw FotR in theaters because I wanted to read the book first, but then I didn't and my friends (luckily) made me watch it and I was inspired to read the books, which I've now read several times each and love a lot more than the movies, even though they're amazing as well.

After "The Silmarillion", I read "Unfinished Tales" and "The Book of Lost Tales I and II". I want to read as much books as I could but I have to organize my brain first, LOL..It's all messed up and confused.

/I first read da the hobbit and lord of the rings wen i was about 9/10. Didnt quite understand em, and it took a while, each book bein about 1000 pages. But afta da films came out, i bought the silmarillion and hobbit. i now intend to buylord of the rings, unfinished tales and any otha middle earth books i can get my hands on!!

Thats interesting
Silmarillion before LoTR? How did you start to read that, I mean, why?


I read LoTR before the film came out and loved them at once, I also liked the FoTR-film but it took me some time to really realize how good the film actually are. I was also very disappointed by Bakshis version... Gimli bigger than Legolas and the whole film totally lost the sense it had in the books, I think.

After LoTR, I read the Silmarillion, then about the same time the Unfinished Tales and the Lost Tales I+II. After those I was finally totally convinced about the genius of Tolkien's works and started all the stuff like the Letters, the Pictures and am now working on the History... no still havent finished them...

I had read the hobbit for a school assignment, and LOVED it!! After that I had read the FOTR but I never got to TTT or ROTK. After the first movie I fell inlove again and now have read all of LOTR and am working on the Sill.... in small doses.

Hi guys!! Ib read the Hobbit when I was 7... the Lord of the Rings I started when I was 8, and finished just before I was 9, when I tried to read the Silmarillion, but gave up. I finally read that one when I was 11, just after reading the Narn-i-hin-Hurin in Unfinished tales... being English and old, I don't get this 5th Grade stuff... what's that in age??

I am ashamed to say this, but I didn't even know what LOTR was until FOTR came out in theaters. But I saw it and I fell in love and went out and bought The Hobbit and all three LOTR books. I read The Hobbit and LOTR within a few months and I'm still working on the Silmarillion I'm not uhhh comprehending it right now haha. Plus, I'm reading bunches of books for school right now. When I finish those, I'll start the Sil again.

HI! My mum read The Hobbit to me when I was about 4, then I read the Hobbit when I was about 7 then lord of the rings when I was about 9 and I've read it about 5 or 6 times. I also don't get the 5th grade stuff how old is that 'cos I'm from New Zealand.

5th grade...it's more or less 10-11 years of age..

My age was 14 when I first read the Hobbit and ever since then it grew in me. I remenber watching Cartoon Network everytime they would air the 1977 cartoon version of the Hobbit. I grew fond of Bilbo and he was my favorite. When I got to High School I had the chance to read the Trilogy but I decided to skip it (damn all those school books that kept me busy!!!!) and never read them. When I heard that PJ was planning to make the LOTR I became more interested in reading the trilogy and now I'm half wait through the Hobbit again (I decided to read again since I want to refresh my memory) and soon will start the Fellowship of the Ring. I enjoy the work that PJ has done and because of his Masterpiece I want to read those books now more than ever.

wow, you guys are all really smart, i tried reading the hobbit when i was ten, it didn't work for me, i didn't really go into it, then the movies came out, i saw fotr and i decided i was going to read the books, so that started when i was fourteen, it took me for EVER to get into fellowship because i knew what happened, i finally finished it and was going to wait for ttt and rotk to read the other books, then a friend told me that legolas died, and i had to know, by then i was fifteen, so 14/15 for lotr and 15 for the hobbit

o btw, aurora, love the sig! that's so great