Woohoo, finished Book I of The Fellowship of the Ring! I have to confess that I'm somewhat hooked at this point, so I guess I might as well continue to Book II.
And okay, so I was wrong about Strider. He's obviously a good guy, not in league with the Riders.
re: stone trolls. There is reference to the fact that the trolls were turned to stone by Gandalf during Bilbo's adventure...was this something that happened during The Hobbit? Somewhat disappointing -- I was sort of looking forward to seeing what Tolkien trolls were going to be like.
Cool, not only does Sam like poetry, but he IS a poet! I'm a sucker for poets. Sam seems to be a much more interesting character than Frodo so far. If anything bad happens to him in LOTR, I'm going to be upset. I asked Jeff about this, but he refused to tell me. Of course, I would have been ticked off at him if he did give me spoilers (just because I asked for them doesn't mean he should give them to me).
When Glorfindel entered the picture, I thought his name sounded vaguely familiar, maybe mentioned in a poem or song earlier on in the book. Frustrated (I didn't want to go searching), the thought went through my mind, "Geez, wouldn't it be great if someone developed an index of some sort for these books."
And then I thought DUH, maybe someone already did.
Replies: 11 comments
I wouldn't read the Appendices right now. They are full of nifty history and timelines and character family trees, etc. that are full of spoilers for the end of LOTR (telling what happens to various characters after the action in the book). Appendices E and F do have a lot of interesting stuff about Tolkien language and spelling, but I haven't read them recently enough to remember if there are spoilers there or not.
Posted by Allison @ 2001 May 08 08:52 PM EST
I agree with Allison. If you're hooked, the appendices can have spoilers by deduction and implication.
Very glad you're enjoying it. VBG.
Posted by David Barker @ 2001 May 09 11:31 AM EST
The trolls are in The Hobbit, yup.
Posted by Daniel Malament @ 2001 May 10 12:16 AM EST
The only one of the appendices I would recommend reading at this point is part one of Appendix E-- the guide to pronunciation of Elvish words. It's spoiler-free, and it's really a pain to get to the end and find that you've been mentally mispronouncing everything.
Posted by Aelfscyne @ 2001 May 16 03:24 PM EST
If you can find "A Tolkien Bestiary" by David Day, enjoy. There are also other older books that catalogue the people, places, and things. "A Guide to Middle Earth," and "The Tolkien Compendium." I don't know what the current availability on those is.
Posted by J'nae Rae Campbell @ 2001 May 16 11:05 PM EST
I think Jeff has "A Guide to Middle Earth" and "The Tolkient Compendium". I'll have to take a look once I'm finished; I'd be afraid of coming across spoilers before then.
Posted by Debbie @ 2001 May 24 09:43 AM EST
Just found this site; very neat!
Nothing's a spoiler here, so don't worry. Glorfindel is not mentioned earlier in LOTR, though he has played his share of roles in Middle-Earth. He is also one of the more controversial, as there is some question as to his identity. (Fans of the Silmarillion can attest to this.) As you've already seen, he is an Elven lord of some power, and *may* have been around as long (or longer) than Elrond. At any rate, even Tolkien's personal notes on the character are confusing; one supposes Tolkien himself didn't know everything about Glorfindel.
One of my favorite parts of the whole trilogy is what is left unsaid. The unseen is more frightening, and the fact that you never know everything makes the world so much more real.
Hope you're still enjoying the story!
Posted by Christopher @ 2001 May 31 11:46 PM EST
Sam represents that unspoilt idealism that is the Shire. He is intelligent without being educated. More goes on behind his eyes than you think and in my opinion he is the ultimate hero of the book.
Posted by Dave @ 2001 Jun 01 11:55 AM EST
Debbie:
Just a nitpicky note: The Lord of the Rings is not a trilogy. It was originally conceived (and written) as a single book. But the original publisher split it into 3 volumes for financial reasons and so Tolkien had to come up with names for each of the volumes.
Posted by Don @ 2001 Jun 01 02:11 PM EST
You can use the index in the back of the Silm, it have a lot of those names Glorfindel and such, and not much spoilers.
Posted by Turin @ 2001 Jun 12 10:18 AM EST
Flight to the Ford is one of my favorite scenes of the trilogy. It's preceded by incredible suspense, as Frodo slips further and further under the influence of the shard in his arm. The reader feels his weariness and the nightmarish quality of things looking misty and distant for him (this is a brilliant foreshadowing and echoes the comments re: Bilbo seeming "faded") The white horses Frodo thinks he sees in the water, a glimpse of elvish magic--the descriptions are just incredible. When Frodo blacks out, it's almost a relief. Oh, good, I've finished book 1, oh good, Frodo can rest now...
Posted by constance @ 2001 Jul 03 09:52 AM EST
