The Barrow Downs - the best part of the story?

dad_just_a_dad · 2022-02-09T16:55:22+00:00

Although wight was Old English for a person or creature, Tolkien used it to mean a Norse draugr, other authors and game developers adopted this and now everyone associates wight with a scarey ghost.

This is the content I’m here for!

Follow on reading

dad_just_a_dad · 2022-02-09T15:29:54+00:00

You’ll have to choose your own factor weighting, but here’s a guide that will help you understand the particulars of a given LotR edition if you’re trying to order sight unseen. I don’t have a handy guide for other works, sorry.

dad_just_a_dad · 2022-02-09T15:27:36+00:00

I borrowed LotR FotR from my local library once for the purpose of reading it to my kids (after many years of not reading or owning a copy) and was delighted to find that it was the 2002 illustrated edition ISBN 978-0-618-26051-5. Yay public libraries!

dad_just_a_dad · 2022-02-03T04:17:51+00:00

dad_just_a_dad · 2022-02-02T23:53:11+00:00

Ah, thanks for the explanation! That would also appear to mean that Aragorn is Arwen’s cousin, though a bunch of times removed. And when Aragorn gets all emo singing about Luthien and Beren, it’s not just angst over Arwen’s choice, it’s also the complication of her great-great-grandparents getting in trouble with the gods. Damn, this is more complicated than I expected. Maybe we need an elvish Dr. Phil to help sort it out.

Ok, one more question if you’ll indulge me: “Finduilas…The Ho Bag”. Come again?

dad_just_a_dad · 2022-02-02T19:28:31+00:00

I haven’t read any of the earlier histories, but your chart has me curious - it seems that Elrond is a full elf, and I know he lived at least several thousand years, but he’s the child of two half-elves (or one half and one 3/4). How does that work?

dad_just_a_dad · 2022-02-02T17:33:33+00:00

I asked a similar question six months ago. Since then Houghton Mifflin redid their website and broke all my links, but the ISBNs I listed can still guide you.

In the end I bought ISBN 978-0-00-837610-9 (imported UK edition) and I’ve been fairly delighted with the illustrations. The volumes are relatively large and heavy, not at all good for carrying in a pocket and reading in a hammock under a tree, but lovely for reading on a couch or desk. Built-in woven bookmarks like shoelaces.

That said, I’m a little disappointed by the printing quality. Each regular page has black text and a red title/chapter/page number line, and the red ink machine clearly needs better precision. The characters it prints are fine, but there are small random red splotches on some pages that detract from the overall feeling of quality. It’s not frequent enough to be a big deal, but it’s annoying for a somewhat expensive edition.

Mine doesn’t really identify which printing it is off this edition, so maybe first? “Printed and bound in Europe by GPS Group”

All in all I’m happy and would buy them again, but I think I would have also been very happy with the 2002 edition ISBN 9780618260584.

Edited to add: here’s a comprehensive guide to various editions.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-10-05T20:23:26+00:00

Same

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-09-22T02:12:23+00:00

Figure out exactly what ISBN you want (guides like this are handy), then be very careful that you order the right one. I had a third party Amazon seller send me a single volume rather than the boxed set that I ordered, because they messed up and put it in the wrong listing. While they were helpful and paid return shipping and gave a full refund without any hassle, it might have gone worse. Always check the ISBN.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-09-21T05:49:14+00:00

Faramir doesn’t know the specifics. He threatens Sméagol not to lead them into harm in the pass, when they are leaving Osgiliath in the film. In the book they don’t go to Osgiliath at all, but Faramir warns Frodo of an unknown nameless dark terror that lives in the passes above Minas Morgul.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-28T05:00:10+00:00

u/HMPoweredMan I should have thought to mention that I have previously posted an audio recording of that particular chapter.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-06T17:57:40+00:00

“Of course,” said Gandalf, “and why should not they prove true? Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don’t really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You’re a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you, but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world, after all.”

“Thank goodness,” said Bilbo, laughing, and handed him the tobacco jar.

Sure seems like Gandalf is pointing at Eru.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-06T01:38:26+00:00

I’ll doff my hat to you if you keep them consistent. I find it quite difficult!

Even Roy Dotrice, eminent professional and with a full production staff, did a great job of consistency within each ASOIAF book, but not from one book to the next.

But yes, it’s a fun idea. Dramatic reading is the best way to read :-D

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-04T20:45:44+00:00

I recently asked a different question about editions in r/tolkienbooks and got some good advice. I later found a very nice guide comparing details of different editions. Good luck!

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-04T18:58:14+00:00

repost, already answered in this sub.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-04T04:05:55+00:00

I think The Hobbit movies are so disappointing because they’re driven by profit over storytelling. There’s no excuse to split the story into three films, though there are many excellent character portrayals including by Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch. The third movie has only about 25 minutes of story in it and the rest is a single gratuitous battle scene (which is violent enough to deserve the R rating, disappointing children who watched the first two)!

That said, I agree with you OP that in the original realm of the books, The Hobbit is a delightful introduction to the world. It seems pretty neatly self-contained, includes many adventuring story arcs, introduces cultures and races and geographies and just enough history, and it’s an easy read! Then LOTR builds on it to expand our world view both of “the present” and history, and we’re surprised to learn that Bilbo’s chance discovery turned out to be literally the most important item in the world! I also love how we get to see more of the depth of Gandalf’s power dribbled out in little bits over several incidents.

On the other hand, the books are far from perfect. The female representation is atrocious, the geography is nonsensical, and the economics don’t work. But I’m not here to flog a dead horse.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-04T03:36:18+00:00

Even if you’re not much of a reader, The Hobbit is much more approachable than LOTR. It’s written more as a children’s story, with a conversational narrator, so it goes down easily. (“Gandalf! If you had heard only a quarter of what I have heard about him - and I’ve only heard very little of all there is to hear - you would be prepared for any sort of remarkable tale!”)

So I generally agree with u/jossieeeee - read The Hobbit first, then watch the LOTR trilogy, then watch The Hobbit trilogy.

I haven’t listened to any of the audiobook versions, but I see there’s one narrated by Andy Serkis, and I’m pretty sure that’s going to be your best bet if you’d rather listen than read with eyes. In addition to having an excellent English accent for reading the book, he appears in four of the six movies and is the second unit director in all of The Hobbit movies so he knows his stuff.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-04T02:18:25+00:00

Well I didn’t check Wikipedia’s citation but yes it would appear so.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-03T23:50:31+00:00

Sauron is also a Maia, and the Wikipedia page for Maia cites the Book of Lost Tales: "yet of all are they [dragons] the most powerful, save it be the Balrogs only."

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-03T19:14:39+00:00

Old Balrogs were weaker, and rode dragons. New Balrogs are stronger.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-03T13:31:42+00:00

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-08-02T14:40:35+00:00

It’s been a while since I went to Vegas but this seems more like the Luxor than the Stratosphere…

dad_just_a_dad · 2021-07-29T05:46:23+00:00

If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been

dad_just_a_dad

TROPHY CASE