Wednesday, January 28, 2015

“Not All Those Who Wander are Lost” {Lord of the Rings/Hobbit Tag}


“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.
You step onto the road,
and if you don't keep your feet,
there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

My sweet blogging friend Arwen (whose blog is private, so no links I fear) has put together an absolutely brilliant Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit tag and passed it my way. I may have squeed with excitement a teeny bit. Naturally. Thank you so much, Arwen!

Off we go then, to roads unknown and adventures grand! Erm. . .I mean to the tag. Yes.

Lord of the Rings Poster

~Rules~

-Link back to the blogger who nominated you
-Answer questions
-Tag some of your own fellow Tolkienknights!

Easy peasy!

~Questions~

1. How were you first introduced to LotR/TH and was it love at first sight/read?
One day I found my mom and brother settled into my brother’s room about to watch a movie. I asked if I could watch it with them and they said it’d probably be all right as long as I closed my eyes during some parts (I was 10 at the time). The movie turned out to be the newly released Fellowship of the Ring. Love at first sight? HA. I was so enthralled it literally changed my life. It introduced me to fantasy, to Tolkien, to everything I know and love today. I immediately read The Hobbit book and picked up Lord of the Rings right after. And I’ve never looked back to a non-Tolkien life since.

I left my heart in Middle Earth

2. If you could meet the actors who portray the characters in the movies, would you?
YEAH I WOULD. Well. . .I’m not big on actors. Actors are weird. . . I’m a “love the character not the actor” sort of person. But I’m exceedingly fond of a lot of those actors. Namely Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Martin Freeman (Bilbo), Richard Armitage (Thorin), and Benedict Cumberbatch (who voices Smaug and happens to be one of my most favorite actors period). So yeah, if given the chance, I’d jump on it.

I mean, come on.

Skipping Hobbit GIF

Majestic Thorin GIF

BC Smaug

Aragorn in The Hobbit

3. What is your favorite credit song from LotR/TH?
Billy Boyd sang one, peoples! There really is no choice here. Billy Boyd’s The Last Goodbye at the end of Battle of the Five Armies. Just. . .yes.

4. The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit - which is your favorite?  *evil laugh*  (And no, you don't actually have to decide.  I'm merciful like that. *magnanimous smile*)
>.>
<.<
>.>
<.<

Really, Arwen? Really? You had to go there? *siiiigh* FINE. You asked for it.

LotR Feelings

Let’s focus on the books first.

As obsessed as I am with the Lord of the Rings stories, they are a bit of a heavy read sometimes. I love the simplicity of The Hobbit. It’s easy to get through and the fun little tale just never gets old. I also read it first and it introduced me to Tolkien’s writing, so I’m probably most fond of it. I’ve also read it many more times than I have Lord of the Rings. But on the other hand, I like complicated stories. The bigger the better, in my opinion. I love humungo epic tales, and you just can’t get more epic than Lord of the Rings. But honestly, I don’t believe you can have one without the other. Choosing between one or the other feels wrong.

Now for the movies, I definitely prefer the Lord of the Rings movies over The Hobbit ones. Don’t get me wrong, I did immensely enjoy The Hobbit movies, the first and last especially, but they didn’t feel right to me. They didn’t capture the charm of The Hobbit book. While the Lord of the Rings movies had just that right element that made the books come to life on the screen. I think they were trying to keep that feel for The Hobbit movies, but that wasn’t right. The Hobbit is a much more lighthearted story than Lord of the Rings. I felt like the movie makers were focusing too much on copying the Lord of the Rings movies than the actual book. I don’t know. This might not even make sense, but there was something about The Hobbit movies that felt off to me. And while the Lord of the Rings movies definitely had parts that probably make our dear Tolkien roll over in his grave, they’re still my favorite movies of all time.

Well, you asked, Arwen. XD

5. Who is your favorite all-around character?
*writhes on floor groaning* These questions, Arwen! Really!

When I was little I adored Frodo, and I still adore him. Mainly the book version. Elijah Wood did a beautiful job portraying our brave little hobbit, but the script made him a bit. . .erm. . .whiny? And a jerk sometimes. Which was so not okay. Frodo, the real Frodo, is brave and noble and kind and. . .okay. I won’t get into that. Ahem.

Anyways, as I got older Aragorn grew on me more and more, until one day I realized he had pushed himself right into first place in my heart. Very rude of him, I know. But really, Aragorn is AMAZING. He’s brave and has such a willingness to do anything to help his friends, and I mean anything, and just all around NICE and yeah. Aragorn is great.

Aragorn GIF

For FrodoProbably my favorite part of all the movies put together.

6. What is your opinion on Boromir?
Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a little girl who didn’t know much about the world and people. She took everything as it was and didn’t think deeply about anything. This girl, in her naiveté, witnessed a man named Boromir make a few mistakes and thought that meant he was a bad person. Sadly, she had no regrets upon his death.

But this girl grew up, and through the years she learned many things about people. About good characters and flaws and what makes a person human. Slowly but surely, understanding, regret even, seeped into her heart, and she realized that the man named Boromir was not a bad man at all. He made mistakes, yes, but all mankind has. In reality, Boromir was good. He was loyal, so deeply loyal to his people he took foolish actions in hopes of helping them. He was loyal to his brother, his father, his home. Maybe his actions hurt others, but that was never his intent. He thought he was doing what was right. He was a man to be pitied.

Boromir taught the girl much about people. And for that she is grateful.

The End

Boromir

7. How many times have you watched the movies/read the books?
HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaHAHAHaHA. . .ha. . .ha. . . *chokes*

Ahem.

I’ve watched the Lord of the Rings movies over and over and over again since they came into existence. I’m not sure I know how to count that high. But I have only seen the first two Hobbit movies twice and the last one once.

Watch LotR Chart

As for The Hobbit book, I’ve reread it more than any other book I own. I think I’ve read it around 12 times, but I sort of lost count around 10. Yeeeah, I have problems. I’ve read the Lord of the Rings trilogy 3 or 4 times, but I shamefully can’t remember exactly. I think only 3 though.

8. What book is your favorite?
I’m pretty sure I answered this in question #4. XD But if I had to choose only one, probably The Hobbit. Ugh. Maybe. Choosing is HARD. Out of the three Lord of the Rings ones though Return of the King is my favorite. The story just gets more and more epic as it goes on.

9. Who is your favorite female character (other than your answer to question #5)?
Éowyn, without a doubt. She sacrificed so much for her family, even in the midst of her own losses. Her courage and selflessness is unmatched. And while she knows how to fight and desires to do so, she doesn’t try to be “one of the boys” like so, so many female characters do. She kept her femininity even while fighting for her loved ones. She’s an inspiration.

Eowyn

Smiling Eowyn GIF

And don’t even get me started on her and Faramir or I’ll be fangirling and gushing all day.

Faramir and Eowyn GIF

10. Who is your favorite male character (other than your answer to question #5)?
*more groaning noises*

All right, all right. After warring a battle as gruesome as that at Helm’s Deep inside my mind, I think I’ve come to a conclusion.

Bilbo Baggins. I know, you probably thought I was going to say Frodo. Those who knew me in my young days would be shocked. My Frodo obsession was strong, I’ll be honest. But I guess it’s okay for one’s taste to change in the span of 12 years.

I feel as though Bilbo was the first person I ever went on a real adventure with. He was the first to be read about, to spend countless hours at night with a flashlight turning page after page with far too much anticipation to bother about going to bed. Who I woke up with in the morning and immediately picked up his book to pour over before I had to drag myself away for lunch. You just don’t forget your first adventuring companion.

But nostalgia aside, Bilbo is just an amazing character in general. He stuck by Thorin and co. time and time again despite his desire to return to his chair and books in the Shire. He got them out of countless jams, and did exactly what he thought he needed to do to save them from their own selfishness. He didn’t have to stick with these dwarves and their suicidal quest. But he did anyway. All the way to the very end.

Bilbo GIF3

Bilbo GIF

And let’s not forget his dry wit. I’ll love anybody with a good sense of dry humor.

Bilbo Birthday Quote

I also could probably do an entire post on how perfect Martin Freeman’s portrayal of Bilbo was, but I’ll spare you.

Martin Freeman Bilbo GIF

11. Which of the movies, in your opinion, has the best ending?
That’s a tough question, because I think they all ended well (even if The Desolation of Smaug was awfully cruel). But, really, the way I see it there’s only one ending and that’s Return of the King. Even at the end of Battle of the Five Armies we know there’s much, much more to come. But Return of the King pulls it all together and gives us a satisfying, if not tear inducing (okay, more like a sobbing fest) finale. It’s all wrapped up beautifully, with a touch of bittersweetness yet full of hope. What more could you ask for in an ending?

Your story will go on

This was an absolute blast letting my Tolkienknight self geek out for a while. I probably could have spent an hour on each question, but I tried to behave. Thank you again, Arwen!

So let’s pass this thing on to more Tolkienknights.

~Tagging~

Deborah/Celti @ The Road of a Writer

Mirriam @ Wishful Thinking

Sarah @ Sarah Plain and Average

Jack @ However Improbable

Melody @ The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls

“Anyways, you need people of intelligence on this sort of. . .mission. . .quest. . .thing.”

27 comments:

  1. OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH GAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWSSSHHHHH I'M TOTALLY STEALING THIS TAG SORRY NOT SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 Also, I know a little (she might be 5 or 6 now?) girl who's NAME IS EOWYN AND YES HER PARENTS NAMED HER AFTER THE LOTR CHARACTER AND THEY CALL HER WINNIE AND IT'S AWESOME!!!

    As you may have noticed, I'm a bit of a smallish fan of LOTR and The Hobbit. XD

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Bwahahaha! TAKE IT. PLEASE. I totally would have tagged you if I had realized. So consider yourself officially tagged now! Everyone should be allowed to geek out about LotR. BECAUSE LOTR.

      ARE YOU SERIOUS? Now THAT'S fine parenting right there!

      LORD OF THE RINGS AND THE HOBBIT FOR THE WIN. Always, always happy to find a fellow Tolkien lover! :D

      Delete
    2. *whispers* ok i did. http://rachelssecretscribblings.blogspot.ca/2015/01/lord-of-ringsthe-hobbit-tag.html

      I KNOWWW I want a cool LOTR name for MY kid when I have one. XD

      Mmmmmm LOTR and The Hobbit! *purrs with delight*

      Delete
    3. I just read your post and am still smiling over it! It was perfect. I'm so glad you did it. ^_^

      SERIOUSLY THOUGH. Then again, I'm not suuure I'd want to name my kid Frodo or Aragorn or something. XD

      Yessss, precioussss.

      Delete
  2. I can't stop laughing. Why you ask? I never liked LotR. I watched it when I was around thirteen as it was on TV. Three fridays in a row, all three movies. I feel asleep during every single one. A few years later I tried again, spend so much time doing things on my laptop instead of watching the movie, felt borred and turned TV off.

    Now recently I have been spammed by some friends (fellow swiss NaNo'ers and some English NaNoers(I always feel like I have to add, it's Alice from PE writing this comment btw)) about those books, movies, the hobbit, and Tolkien. Also I read a book called "Captivating. Unveiling the Mistery of a Woman. Soul (Chritsian book dedicated to women) that had about ten references of LotR in it, that I decided on monday to give it another go. I will not say I loved it, but to my utter suprise I can admit that I liked it. It was good, I watched the extended version (only one around) and well, I don't know what is happening to me. I might have to watch the other two soon, and then the hobbit. If I feel like it, possibly also start reading. This is very very weird for me, trust me.

    And I just have to say, as usually your GIF's and pictures are ON POINT Lauri. Send them to the Tolkien addicts I mentioned above, they approve heavily.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I LOVE hearing from you, Alice! *huggles* I so miss all meh PE buddies.

      Lol! That's all right. It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea. My own mom doesn't like it. There's nothing wrong with that. I find it amusing it's trying to worm its way into your heart though. Who knows, maybe one day you'll be a big fan. ;D LotR definitely has a way of doing that to people.

      Awww, thanks! LotR fan or not, I'm glad you enjoyed it. ^_^

      Delete
  3. What a great tag! I totally agree with you on #5 and #6. Aragorn is, perhaps, the best character, though Frodo and Sam are definitely in the running--oh, and Legolas. The book one, though (not that I don't like Orlando--the movie Legolas is just different from the book Legolas). And poor Boromir is so misunderstood.

    I may also have to, erm, "borrow" this tag if I actually re-read the LotR as I hope to next month, since it appears you don't mind us tagging ourselves. ;)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. It was a lot of fun! Gah, yes! I love Aragorn so much. And SAM. I felt awful not even mentioning him in this whole post. What would those stories be without dear Sam? I agree on the Legolas thing. He was okay in the movies, but I've never been a fan of Orlando myself and I just didn't feel like he portrayed Legolas's character quite right.

      Please do! The more LotR loving that gets around the better! I totally would have tagged every single LotR fan I knew if I had time. I'd love for you to do it!

      Delete
  4. EEP! This is fantastic!!! Many, many thanks for tagging me, Lauri! I shall hop to it (disregarding the old drafts of lesser-valuable posts).

    Hahaha, hehehe, ha! *repeat* I LOVE reading your posts. Have I said this before? I'm sure I have, but again: I LOVE YOUR POSTS! Your answers are spot on, lassie. And I may have to use some of your answers when writing up my own. . . xD Haha, but I won't spoil anything here. . . ;D

    Oh, and your GIFs and pictures are perfect! GIFs make the world a funnier place. Great visuals, they are.

    Thanks again, Lauri!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so welcome! But just get to it whenever you feel like it. There's certainly no rush!

      You are too sweet, girl! I love your posts, too!!! Hahaha. We are so brain twins, aren't we? I cannot wait to see your answers!

      Teehee. I may have spent farrr too much time looking for pics and gifs... But it was just so FUN. Thank goodness for pinterest!

      And thank you for the sweet comment! ^_^

      Delete
  5. eeeeep you did it!!!:D Thank you! Though I actually just made my blog public about a month ago!:) so yay;)

    Aaaack yes everything you said was just yes.

    And oh my word WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT GIF OF FARAMIR AND EOWYN BECAUSE IT MADE ME SO HAPPY.

    I agree on the TROTK ending *sniffle* And heehee yes I knew some of those questions would be torture for people *evil laugh*

    And you like Boromir! Good, good. *nods head approvingly*

    Again, sooo thrilled you enjoyed the tag!!:D

    <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, and I've nominated you for the blogger recognition award on my blog:D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES I DID. AND I HAD A BLAST. Thank you again. It was soooo much fun!

      Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't realize. I don't know how I missed it was public now... Your posts haven't been popping up on my dashboard so I miss them sometimes. I need to figure out how to fix that because I want to read ALL the Arwen posts!

      PINTEREST. I got every one of those pics from Pinterest I think. XD It's my source for basically all my picture doing. I'm so addicted. BUT YES. FARAMIR AND EOWYN. I keep watching it just making happy sighing noises because LOOK AT THEM.

      Yesssh, you evil person you. :P (Okay, I loved all the questions even if they did make me flail around trying to come up with proper answers.)

      Boromir is awesome, totally! It just took me a bit of growing to realize that...

      And I'M so thrilled you tagged me!

      More tags, so fun! Thank you!!! That's so sweet of you. ^_^

      Delete
  7. If I responded to everything we'd be here a while, so let me just say I LOVED this post! Haha, it was fantastic! And Bilbo, yes--Martin Freeman plays that role /perfectly./ ^_^

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hahaha! You're the best. XD I'm so glad you liked it. I had a blast making it myself.

      Oh my goodness yes. He's such the perfect Bilbo. I can't even get over it.

      Delete
    2. LOL, I can tell! XD

      So much perfection. Just...just...ah, everything! His mannerisms are so awkward and yet prim and proper. I'm amused by just about everything he does in those movies.

      Delete
  8. MARTIN FREEMAN IS PERFECT FOR BILBO BAGGINS! When I first watched 'The Unexpected Journey,' I was grinning in the theater with how perfect he fit the role. I was so nervous that they were going to mess him up.
    And Smaug was pretty amazing in the movies. But overall, though I enjoyed The Hobbit movies, I liked Lord of the Rings a lot better. They actually stuck pretty close to the book, and Legolas wasn't /completely/ unrealistic. That bugged me a lot in The Hobbit films.
    Wait, Aragorn turned down a role in The Hobbit? 0.0 Oh my goodness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES YES YES. I don't think they could have found a better person. He was MADE for that role!

      Ack, Smaug. My goodness, yes. They got that right too. I wanted to see even MORE of Smaug because I couldn't get over how cool he was. (And I may be a tiny bit over obsessed with dragons, but that's beside the point...)

      I feel the exact same way. The LotR movies really felt like the book while with The Hobbit...not so much. It just didn't feel right and it made me sad. I agree about the Legolas thing! Legolas was never my most favorite character but I do like him. But in The Hobbit...ugh. I didn't like him at all. It was just ridiculous. I guess they thought since everyone loved his shield surfing in the Battle at Helm's Deep they'd just go overboard with moves like that. I don't even know, but it was kind of silly.

      As far as I know. Isn't that crazy awesome?! At least SOMEONE respects the book.

      Delete
  9. I love this!!!! :D *huggles beautiful post*

    You find the best pics 'n' gifs! XD

    Aragorn is amaziiiiiiiiiing. <3

    That's an interesting story about Boromir! o.o

    And that you like The Hobbit book best! :)

    EOWYN AND FARAMIIIIIIR!!!!! <3<3<3<3<3 *gushes all day with you* THEY ARE THE BEST EVER. I love that gif so much I'm just going to sit here and stare at it and melt all day. o.o Meeeeep. *flaiiiiiiil*

    Bilbo is awesome! :D ...Confession time. I like Bilbo more in the Hobbit movie than in the Hobbit book. I KNOW I KNOW! I'm horrible. I like Bilbo in the book a lot. But Martin Freeman just brought him to life so well! <3

    "Tolkienknights"??? :O I LOVE THIS.

    This is going to be soooo much fun to do -- thanks for tagging me! ^__^

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thank yooou!!! I had so much fun writing it!

      Hehehehe. It's all Pinterest. I don't know how I ever blogged, or did anything really, without Pinterest!

      ARAGORRRRN. <33333

      Lol. Yep! Boromir helped me do a lot of growing. I'm ashamed to say I didn't like him when I was little, but I learned to appreciate the man, not the flaws.

      Well, being as how The Hobbit is my most reread book, I'd say I like it quite a lot. ;D

      YESSSSH. ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHIPS THAT EVER SHIPPED. I'm the same waaaaay. When I found it I just stared and stared and stared and I STILL keep coming back just to look at it. One of my favoritest gifs EVER. <3

      There's nothing wrong with that! I mean, Martin Freeman is PERFECTION for that role. For me, I kind of see them as the exact same person. I always had this image of Bilbo and Martin Freeman brought that image alive so perfectly it's almost scary. He just...yeah, wow. He's the perfect Bilbo. No, he IS Bilbo!

      Tolkienknights, yesssh. Isn't that an awesome term??

      You are so welcome! OF COURSE I was going to pass a TOLKIEN tag to mah Celti!

      Delete
  10. I've been reading your blog after seeing it linked on "Meanwhile, in Rivendell". I love reading your LotR opinions, Middle Earth is a personal obsession of mine, so... :D

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Awww, you are so sweet. This comment just made my day. Thank you!

      It's always the best meeting a fellow Tolkien lover! :D Middle Earth is home to me. Now I probably sound crazy. XD But it FEELS like home. I love it so much!

      Delete
    2. And that picture of the long book captioned "Allow me to explain my feelings for LotR and The Hobbit...", That totally is me. :) BTW, I agree on Bilbo. He's definitely my favorite screen character ever, which is good, because otherwise I'm not sure how much I'd like the Hobbit movie trilogy... (:

      Delete
    3. I know! That picture is so perfect. XD

      BILBO. YESH. Martin Freeman is amaziiiing! And yeeeah, my feelings are a mixed bag with the Hobbit films. My sister and I just rewatched the first two and I was both squeeing in excitement and loudly complaining the whole time. I'm probably not very fun watching those movies with. Eheh. I have to stop and whine about EVERYTHING they did wrong and explain what REALLY happened. I'm a little too passionate about these stories, what can I say? XD

      Delete
    4. Yeah, I wasn't opposed to Legolas being in the movie, because I thought it would be interesting to show the contrast of his father being practically presented as a villain, while Legolas is a hero in LotR...but somehow it didn't quite turn out like I was imagining. I could've used a few less stunts(like the part where he jumped on the barrel-floating dwarves heads, or climbed up a crumbling bridge like a staircase, which kinda defies the laws of gravity...). xD But, I was excited, like counting-down-the-days, watching-every-trailer-multiple-times, excited for the Battle of Armies simply since it was the last in my favorite series of movies(if you count LotR as part of that series). But still, the movie could've been better.
      And, oh yes, I'm really quite passionate for anything LotR-related, too(as you may be able to tell from my long comment).

      Delete
    5. Legolas I was fine with. He IS the prince of Mirkwood, so it kind of makes sense that he was there. But I WASN'T fine with the fact that he kept, ya know, BEING there. Like following them to Laketown and stuff? These things did not happen, people! And I wasn't too happy how he was portrayed either. He was kind of...a jerk. Like big time. I have to remind myself he is younger in these and he doesn't have his bestie Gimli to soften him up yet. ;) But still, I am not a big Legolas fan in The Hobbit movies. And I kind of enjoyed all the crazy stunts, but I also kind of didn't because, like you were saying, they defy the laws of gravity and just got a little ridiculous after a while.

      And let's not even talk about Tauriel. That's a scary conversation to have with me. >.>

      I love finding people as passionate about it as me, so that's great! :D

      Delete
    6. Yes, same here! To me, it seemed the only reason he went to Laketown was for Tauriel, and the only reason she was there was for Kili, and that's just silly. I don't think an elf would fall in love with a dwarf(or vice-versa) so quickly. And I agree, I wanted to like Legolas' stunts(I do enjoy the stair-surfing), but they just got a little carried away. :) I also wanted to like Tauriel, but it's difficult to get into a character who lives only on the screen(NOT in the book!), and acted like Marvel's Black Widow with elvish elements thrown in. :) Thanks for letting me discuss Middle Earth with you! :D

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