I love this intense gaze. I confess, Aragorn is not my main fandom interest, not even by far - hopefully that doesn't lead to abrupt unfriending! *ggg* - but I really like the bookverse character as well as the movie character and Mortensen's interpretation. Your daily images often give me a smile for the day.
hopefully that doesn't lead to abrupt unfriending! *ggg*
*reaches for the unfriend button*
*g* Just kidding, of course! I'm glad you enjoy the daily pics despite not being the biggest Aragorn fan. I have friends of all views here--some adore him, others are indifferent to disliking him completely (I'm just glad they stick around here despite my own obsession!).
And truly, I love all aspects of Tolkien; it's just that I have a particular interest in Aragorn and the Dúnedain and pretty much all things North, from Bree to Rivendell to the Shire. And as much as I adore Viggo's interpretation, I'm actually bigger "book" Aragorn fan than film Aragorn, simply because of the "running from his destiny" arc of the film's version. Viggo nailed Aragorn as well as he could, given the script's changes in the character, and for that, I'll always be grateful, because that character was the hook that reeled me into finally reading the books again after an abortive attempt when I was a teen. Now I appreciate all things Tolkien. :)
So your comment does beg the question: what's your main fandom interest?
*phew* Lucky me, then! :o))) And I fully understand all kind of obsessions, I have them myself often enough. ;o) One of them is sometimes getting hooked on a certain actor and then trying to watch as many movies as possible... which meant, in the last half year, countless movies watched featuring Hugo Weaving, Craig Parker, Marton Csokas, Orlando Bloom... which perhpas already might point into a certain direction. ;o) I join you in loving all aspects of Tolkien's creation, but also some interest and fascinate me more than others. I read the Hobbit at age ten and LotR at age 12, and have been deeply in love with Tolkien's universe since then. I have re-read both books several times, but not much more; the most intensive part began when I met my husband eighteen years before, who was then a much more well-read Tolkien lover. He already had many of the other books, and others I gave him over time, and we often discussed and discuss anything Tolkien. This became more intensive with the movies - we both were rather wary at first, fearing a filming which didn't do the books justice. We both were very positively surprised, and re-watch the movies extended edition once a year since. But only with watching the Hobbit I became interested in the online fandom, reading fanfic (though I knew some fanarts before, particularly Jenny Dolfen's work) and meeting people. :o)
I have two main fandom interests, you could say: one is the unbelievable universe Tolkien created - geography, geology, history, culture, language, script, species... the Atlas of Middle-earth (is that the title in English?) lives beside my bed and is regularly perused with relentless enthusasm. Particularly the idea behind it, to create a nonexisting mythology, fascinates me immensely. My main interest, though, are elves. It began with a hopeless crush on Elrond when I first met him in the Hobbit, and hasn't lessened since. Elrond in particular and elves in general have never stopped to fascinate me immensely, just the aspect I'm interested in has varied. Large parts are the fascination about what does immortality mean for a culture, and how does one live with that, and their special history, but also the way this influences their lives, and their history influences their daily lives. Close to nature, with and among trees, to put it in a few words. As I hadn't red any other of Tolkien's books in their entirety before this year, just parts and passages, my knowledge of most of the pre-LotR history was sketchy at best. I've just finished the Silmarillion, making a huge difference in my lore knowledge and understanding of elven history, and have also just read the part about Galadriel and Celeborn in the Unfinished tales. I have also discovered the existence of the HoME - as it wasn't ever translated except for the first two volumes, I didn't even know it existed; Tolkien is one of the few authors I haven't read in the original so far. As a consequence, I'm even more fascinated with the elven people, but my interest now spread also the happenings of the first and second age. It makes me most happy that I can do all this in a scientific manner and enjoying a level of fannish interest and exchange that is as intense and deep as my uni studies were (which I miss sorely), but also enjoy all of this on a much lighter and easier level - the whole range. One linguistical thing draw me in right from the start: in German, the elves are translated with "Elben"; there was an own word created especially for them, with the professor's blessing - or if I remember correctly, even following his wish. It's different from the German word for elves, which would be "Elfen", but also means fairies in German and has a more children's book and fairy tale connotation. So it was clear right from the start that these "elves" were something quite different, and, for me, reading this in 1979, also the first time I really met a fantastic, invented species in literature. I really love the movie elves, though they don't necessarily meet my head canon elves or the elves as I imagine them from the books.
One of them is sometimes getting hooked on a certain actor and then trying to watch as many movies as possible...
*nods* I can't count how many actor obsessions I've gone through! Viggo tends to always top the list and have the best staying power, though.
It makes me most happy that I can do all this in a scientific manner and enjoying a level of fannish interest and exchange that is as intense and deep as my uni studies were (which I miss sorely), but also enjoy all of this on a much lighter and easier level - the whole range.
Same here. I've never had much chance at going to any Tolkien classes, but I've found many friends online who probably know more about Tolkien than the so-called experts. LOL
As for me, yes, Aragorn will always be my greatest love, but I've discovered I'm moving more and more toward trying to take a holistic view of Tolkien's world, and not focusing quite so much just on the race of Men--for one thing, to truly understand the Dunedain, I *have* to understand the Elves. :) Something I find a little frustrating with fandom is that people tend to like Elves or Men, but they either don't understand fully or simply dismiss the connection between the two. Neither race exists in a vacuum and for me, to look at Men without taking into account the Firstborn, and looking at the Firstborn without appreciating also the Secondborn, leads to a pretty narrow interpretation of Tolkien, and especially misses the aspect of both races coming together at last in Aragorn and Arwen and their son Eldarion (and in particular, that union being key to a strain of the Firstborn remaining in the world after the Age of Elves ends). I'm playing catch-up on the Elvish aspect now, but I'm working at it. I want a deeper understanding especially of the characters that "straddle" the worlds--ie, Aragorn (who has Elvish and Maian blood, after all) and of course Elrond. Elrond in particular I really enjoy because he manages to avoid the disdain a lot of Elves have toward Men (understandably, as he's half Secondborn!), and that fascinates me. I didn't like Elrond in the movies, because to me, Elrond has always seemed the epitome of grace and hospitality. I felt that the LOTR movies completely missed the boat on that part of his character. I can't picture book Elrond dismissing all Men as "weak" like movie Elrond did.
So it was clear right from the start that these "elves" were something quite different
Yes, yes, yes! Before I read Tolkien, I though all elves in fantasy were the Tinkerbell types, which sort of fantasy I have absolutely NO interest in. I thought all fantasy was glittery fairy dust and garden gnomes and... well, you get the idea. And you can probably imagine my delight when I first discovered they were great warriors in the films! (I first came to Tolkien via the films, not the books.) The opening prologue in FOTR pretty much blew my mind. *g*
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-07-16 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-17 01:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-16 09:40 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2013-07-16 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-17 01:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-16 10:00 pm (UTC)I confess, Aragorn is not my main fandom interest, not even by far - hopefully that doesn't lead to abrupt unfriending! *ggg* - but I really like the bookverse character as well as the movie character and Mortensen's interpretation. Your daily images often give me a smile for the day.
no subject
Date: 2013-07-17 01:19 pm (UTC)*reaches for the unfriend button*
*g* Just kidding, of course! I'm glad you enjoy the daily pics despite not being the biggest Aragorn fan. I have friends of all views here--some adore him, others are indifferent to disliking him completely (I'm just glad they stick around here despite my own obsession!).
And truly, I love all aspects of Tolkien; it's just that I have a particular interest in Aragorn and the Dúnedain and pretty much all things North, from Bree to Rivendell to the Shire. And as much as I adore Viggo's interpretation, I'm actually bigger "book" Aragorn fan than film Aragorn, simply because of the "running from his destiny" arc of the film's version. Viggo nailed Aragorn as well as he could, given the script's changes in the character, and for that, I'll always be grateful, because that character was the hook that reeled me into finally reading the books again after an abortive attempt when I was a teen. Now I appreciate all things Tolkien. :)
So your comment does beg the question: what's your main fandom interest?
no subject
Date: 2013-07-22 03:04 pm (UTC)I join you in loving all aspects of Tolkien's creation, but also some interest and fascinate me more than others. I read the Hobbit at age ten and LotR at age 12, and have been deeply in love with Tolkien's universe since then. I have re-read both books several times, but not much more; the most intensive part began when I met my husband eighteen years before, who was then a much more well-read Tolkien lover. He already had many of the other books, and others I gave him over time, and we often discussed and discuss anything Tolkien. This became more intensive with the movies - we both were rather wary at first, fearing a filming which didn't do the books justice. We both were very positively surprised, and re-watch the movies extended edition once a year since. But only with watching the Hobbit I became interested in the online fandom, reading fanfic (though I knew some fanarts before, particularly Jenny Dolfen's work) and meeting people. :o)
I have two main fandom interests, you could say: one is the unbelievable universe Tolkien created - geography, geology, history, culture, language, script, species... the Atlas of Middle-earth (is that the title in English?) lives beside my bed and is regularly perused with relentless enthusasm. Particularly the idea behind it, to create a nonexisting mythology, fascinates me immensely.
My main interest, though, are elves. It began with a hopeless crush on Elrond when I first met him in the Hobbit, and hasn't lessened since. Elrond in particular and elves in general have never stopped to fascinate me immensely, just the aspect I'm interested in has varied. Large parts are the fascination about what does immortality mean for a culture, and how does one live with that, and their special history, but also the way this influences their lives, and their history influences their daily lives. Close to nature, with and among trees, to put it in a few words.
As I hadn't red any other of Tolkien's books in their entirety before this year, just parts and passages, my knowledge of most of the pre-LotR history was sketchy at best. I've just finished the Silmarillion, making a huge difference in my lore knowledge and understanding of elven history, and have also just read the part about Galadriel and Celeborn in the Unfinished tales. I have also discovered the existence of the HoME - as it wasn't ever translated except for the first two volumes, I didn't even know it existed; Tolkien is one of the few authors I haven't read in the original so far.
As a consequence, I'm even more fascinated with the elven people, but my interest now spread also the happenings of the first and second age. It makes me most happy that I can do all this in a scientific manner and enjoying a level of fannish interest and exchange that is as intense and deep as my uni studies were (which I miss sorely), but also enjoy all of this on a much lighter and easier level - the whole range.
One linguistical thing draw me in right from the start: in German, the elves are translated with "Elben"; there was an own word created especially for them, with the professor's blessing - or if I remember correctly, even following his wish. It's different from the German word for elves, which would be "Elfen", but also means fairies in German and has a more children's book and fairy tale connotation. So it was clear right from the start that these "elves" were something quite different, and, for me, reading this in 1979, also the first time I really met a fantastic, invented species in literature.
I really love the movie elves, though they don't necessarily meet my head canon elves or the elves as I imagine them from the books.
no subject
Date: 2013-07-22 05:43 pm (UTC)*nods* I can't count how many actor obsessions I've gone through! Viggo tends to always top the list and have the best staying power, though.
Same here. I've never had much chance at going to any Tolkien classes, but I've found many friends online who probably know more about Tolkien than the so-called experts. LOL
As for me, yes, Aragorn will always be my greatest love, but I've discovered I'm moving more and more toward trying to take a holistic view of Tolkien's world, and not focusing quite so much just on the race of Men--for one thing, to truly understand the Dunedain, I *have* to understand the Elves. :) Something I find a little frustrating with fandom is that people tend to like Elves or Men, but they either don't understand fully or simply dismiss the connection between the two. Neither race exists in a vacuum and for me, to look at Men without taking into account the Firstborn, and looking at the Firstborn without appreciating also the Secondborn, leads to a pretty narrow interpretation of Tolkien, and especially misses the aspect of both races coming together at last in Aragorn and Arwen and their son Eldarion (and in particular, that union being key to a strain of the Firstborn remaining in the world after the Age of Elves ends). I'm playing catch-up on the Elvish aspect now, but I'm working at it. I want a deeper understanding especially of the characters that "straddle" the worlds--ie, Aragorn (who has Elvish and Maian blood, after all) and of course Elrond. Elrond in particular I really enjoy because he manages to avoid the disdain a lot of Elves have toward Men (understandably, as he's half Secondborn!), and that fascinates me. I didn't like Elrond in the movies, because to me, Elrond has always seemed the epitome of grace and hospitality. I felt that the LOTR movies completely missed the boat on that part of his character. I can't picture book Elrond dismissing all Men as "weak" like movie Elrond did.
Yes, yes, yes! Before I read Tolkien, I though all elves in fantasy were the Tinkerbell types, which sort of fantasy I have absolutely NO interest in. I thought all fantasy was glittery fairy dust and garden gnomes and... well, you get the idea. And you can probably imagine my delight when I first discovered they were great warriors in the films! (I first came to Tolkien via the films, not the books.) The opening prologue in FOTR pretty much blew my mind. *g*