Follow me on TikTok and Instagram and you'll see that me and the Tolkien thing has been going on a while. So earlier this year, in a fit of just needing a boost, my partner suggested we watch all of the extended Lord of the Rings films over the week. Just to cheer ourselves up. Now I still can't quite tell you if it's just the Shire that gives me the feelings I still have but I felt such a comfort from these films. Even despite the moments of absolute dread, I haven't felt so entrenched in a world in so long that it soothed me!
So naturally I decided a return to the books was needed, so what have I learned from my return to Middle Earth as I am heading into my thirties?
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.
In ancient times, the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages, it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.
In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose...
My relationship with Tolkien is a strange one. My first memory is the time my teacher in Primary School tried (unsuccessfully) to get my class to read The Hobbit via an audio book. Back then just a 'book on tape'. And jesus was it boring. Fast forward to my mid college years, in the depths of illness and stress I returned to The Hobbit willingly and then moving to The Fellowship of the Ring. Jump to now, I'm 29 and have reread it for the first time in nearly 8 years. So what has changed?
Well not the immersion let me tell you. The absolutely breathtaking world of the films is only there because the books are there to fall back on. The world Tolkien created was his life's work afterall. But there really is no moment where it didn't feel like I was living and breathing the Shire. Not the pub in Killarney, though that is nice to visit. As if completing a full circle I chose the new audio version of this too and I would highly recommend any audio copy of the book to new readers. Because the beauty in this book is the spoken word and the ones sang as well.
Characters, hard not to love too. I am first and foremost a Hobbit girl. How could I not be? In this part of my life where I'm learning to appreciate the simpler moments, the quieter ones alongside ones with my friends and family, it's hard not to see the appeal of a place like the Shire. The friendship between Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry is hard not to want for yourself. The love of a relative or parent like Bilbo is honestly a gift in itself and I am forever grateful to having parents who Bilbo reminds me of. This is a very strange aside as well but in a time spent indoors, a time where I was forced to understand my bodily shape, changes and needs due to surgery or radical lifestyle changes I felt the Hobbits were the encouragement I need. Their love of their food, their comforts and living as far as they can but not putting themselves through times (outside of ring bearing times of course) of discomfort for the sake of others? Iconic.
Granted I felt this way more with the books than the movies but the lack of women in the Shire so far is something I was always going to talk about. I search out women characters that resonate with me. From Shaes to Bloody Annes to my Susans, I look for women and girls in books that help me see myself. There is a lack in these books and many other nuanced discussions to be hand about Tolkien and race, gender and class. Not a deal breaker quite yet but still one I had to mention.
But something I still can't identify, why is this world so much more wonderful to me in my older part of my 20's where it didn't in my early ones? Is it the films? or the writing? Is it Arwen on a horse, or is it friendship among a bunch of wayward halflings? I still aim to find out. So do pop back in for my first ever read of Two Towers coming to the blog. Tell me of your connection to the Fellowship, are you a fan? Were you bored like 11 year old Hedwig? Do tell! Thanks for checking in guys, happy reading!
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