Thread: Your first time?

How old were you when you first encountered the works of Mr. Tolkien?

I read the Hobbit when I was six, and preeetty much developed an unhealthy fixation with it until a year later, when I received a boxed set of the Trilogy. I remember being...nine, yeah, nine is about right, when the movies came out. I got into a big argument with my parents when they wouldn't take me to see The Fellowship, my reasoning being that hey, I already knew the story frontwards, backwards and side to side, haha.

Anyways, just thought it'd be nice to hear other people's experiences!

Oh yeah, I'll be 18 in a month, planning on majoring in Film, wish me luck, haha! Incredibly influenced by the movies

I was about 10 when I had to write a book report on The Hobbit ever since then I fell in love with Middle-Earth and read everything relatated to it

My initial exposure to Tolkien was when the Ralph Bakshi version was released. I believe I was in 10th Grade. I started reading the books probably about a year or two later. Unlike most recommendations made here, I went very linear starting with the Sil. I wouldn't suggest that for most people, I got through it due to stubbornness and inisisting that I wasn't going to read the end without reading the beginning first

I was 13.
In a foster home. The man was an English professor. I was scanning a bookshelf and came across the trilogy (paperback edition) and just opened one of the books to a random page and was intrigued. I remember figuring out that there were 3 books that made up the set and was trying to figure out which one was first when I was interrupted. The professor asked to see what I was looking at and I showed him. He told me I was probably too young for that. I put the books back and left the room. Moved from there about a month later and never saw the work again until I was 20 and on my own. I bought The Hobbit, read that and then LOTR. It was 1973. It took another 6 years before I finally read The Silmarilion.
By 1980 I was playing T&T (like D&D-lite) and created a Hobbit burg named Bungo. I remember a tremendous uproar when Bungo refused to kill sleeping rats (he was lawful-good, and what did the rats ever do to him?).
Grin....fun times.

I was in fifth grade when I first picked up The Hobbit. Then in sixth when my little brother (3rd grade at the time) read the trilogy. I then ended up collecting way too much stuff- I collected anything and everything having to do with Lord of the Rings. However, being overprotected, I wasn't allowed to see the movies until I was thirteen. Eventually I saw them (many times) with my brother (who was ten, boy was I bitter about that) and enjoyed them immensely. During 7th and 8th grade, I read the Silmarillion, the history books and lost tales, anything I could get my hands on.

Of course, I love the original books and enjoy reading and rereading them about once a year.

I was twelve years old; my Father bought me a boxed paperback set containing the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings for my birthday. That was in 1973. Since then, I've read the Lord of the Rings every two years or so (I just had my 50th birthday) and never tired of it. I still have those well worn paperbacks from 38 years ago, and treasure them, not because they are especially valuable, but because of their memory associations for me.

The Professor passed in September 1973. I believe it was shortly thereafter that my mother brought home paperback editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I believe she had been inspired to do that by several co-workers who had also purchased the novels. I had always liked myth and fairy tale, and when my mother read some of it to my brothers and me I developed a very keen interest and read them for myself. I was 11 years old.

English is not my first language, so I read my first Tolkien book in an English course when I was 15. We were doing prose passages from books for an exam and my friend's book was 'Farmer Giles of Ham'. I should have said that I usually read everything I come across, so I read it and liked it. Later when I saw my teacher reading 'The Hobbit' I borrowed it and liked it as well.
Then the movies came out and after watching them I borrowed the triology from the library. So I have the movies to thank for that. (Hmm as an afterthought I'm not sure whether I watched the movies first, or it was the books. I have really bad memory )

I believe that I was six or seven when I was first exposed to the works of Professor Tolkien. My mother read "The Hobbit" to my sister and I as our bedtime story, one chapter per night. She was quite a fan of his works, re-read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy many times.

My first encounter with Tolkein was the pj movies so that was. 8th or 9 th grade. Since then I have read all his books. and cant wait for the hobbit movies! The movies still hold a special place in my heart as what got me in to the fantasy genre

I can't remember exactly how old I was (probably towards the end of elementary school) I received the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings box set as a christmas gift from "Santa". At the time I wasn't as much of a fan of reading as I am now, so I gave them to my brother to read because he said he would (he never did lol). A couple years later when I was in middle school, I was spending some time with my aunt and uncle, they had been fans of them for years, and my uncle put the FotR into the DVD player and we watched it. I became obsessed with the series after that. When I went home I brought the RotK with me because we didn't get a chance to watch it and I told my brother to give me back my books!!! lol

I read the Hobbit and LotR soon after and enjoyed them even more than the movies. In my sophomore or junior year of high school I started the Silmarillion, got about half way through and stopped because the difficulty was high and I wasn't absorbing everything. About a year later I tried again from the beginning and successfully finished it. Since then I have read everything Tolkien I could afford to buy/get for gifts, including Children of Hurin, Tolkien's letters and half of the History of Middle-earth series, among others.

I bought a book to help me learn to speak Elvish, but I'm terrible at learning new languages, and have only succeeded in putting some names together lol.

I believe it was 1975/76, although, I have to admit it is a bit fuzzy going that far back. If that were true, I would have been about 12 or 13. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. I was in the school library waiting for my ride home and I pulled the Fellowship off the shelf and starting reading....

The rest is history.

First or second grade ('94/'95), there was a passage from the Hobbit in our reader. I really liked it but I wasn't in the age to actually go and look for the rest of the book. The next encounter was years later when I saw the Fellowship and convinced my parents to buy me the book

It was '87 or '88. I was 9 or 10 when I started playing AD&D with some of my friends, one of my pal's big brother being the Dungeon Master. I think it was he who recommended LotR to my friend and I read few passages here and there every time when visiting him. Next Christmas I got LotR as a present, even though my parents were sure I would never read a book that had over 1000 pages.

Well, I did read it (and after losing my virginity have repeated the act 13 or 14 times). Right after that, in the same winter, I went to library and got my hands on The Hobbit, Unfinished Tales and Silmarillion. Then I bought Middle Earth Role Playing Game and many additional rule books that also gave lots of information about the world and its myths and legends. I even made my own RPG when I was 11-12. It was a mixture of D&D, AD&D and MERP, including somewhat 200 pages of rules, tables and lore So yeah, Tolkien, You got me.

I was around 7 or 8, so 1976ish. A friend's dad was an English teacher at the time and read the Hobbit to us. Later, for Christmas in 1981, my brother ,also a teacher, gave me the paperpack boxed set of the trilogy and the Hobbit. It was pretty cool looking with one of the great eagles, Gandlaf, Bilbo and a couple of dwarves on the front. I think I read those 4 books 4 or 5 times a year for the next 5 years...LOL!

I was ten when I first read the Hobbit and would get so wrapped up, I'd miss my bus stop. In one instance, I looked up from the book and realized I was in a parked bus at a depot!

I didn't read LoTR until highschool and the Silmarillion until after college. I've enjoyed them all again and again since that time.

Oh my gosh, what a story! I think I was in High School when I first picked up The Fellowship of the Ring. I had already read The Hobbit and wanted to read more about Gandalf the Grey because he was my favorite character. I remember reading the chapter The Bridge of Khazad-dûm and the last trick of the Balrog, the whip snaking around Gandalf and dragging him down into the abyss. I remember the sickening feeling of my hero not being a part of the story anymore. Gandalf dead! I was depressed. What was worse, the fellowship of the Nine Walkers was broken. It was all for naught. I couldn't read anymore. I didn't pick up reading it again until college. lol.

I started reading the Hobbit when I was about 7-8 I think. I know that I started with LOTR 8july 1985(got the book on my 10th birthday)

I think I was about 9 when Dad bought me and my little brother the comic books, they are quite nice and true to the original (Glorfindel greets the early fellowship near the fords etc) - though I find the movies the same in this respect. (Just compare to fans of Philip K. Dick swearing in holy rage at the film Blade Runner.) When I was 10 I read LotR and afterwards The Hobbit and I might have been about 15 when I got around to Silmarillion, which I find to pack the highest concentration of awesome of all the works, noldor elf-lords are just hard to beat in epicness. There's just something to it when you've first read the LotR where the fellowship is pretty bad-### people because they can fight a bunch of orcs and come on top - and then you are presented with elf-lords which fight balrogs on a daily basis and fight werevolves with their bare hands and teeth! The power levels make sense and feel realistic. Only Luthien strikes one as being a tad OP in Silmarillion, though Tolkien has the excuse of some
Great Doom hanging on Beren and Luthien. We were probably 8th grade when we started playing MERP, but I let go of any deep interest in fantasy and just return to the subject every now and then, mostly to Middle-Earth

Currently I'm about to finish reading Silmarillion for maybe the 4th time now, have started playing in a pen&paper campaign and just started with LotRO as well. Digging a bit deeper into the lore and thinking I should actually read the material on elven languages as well

This reminds me adults discussion lol

Originally Posted by oldbadgerbrock

The Professor passed in September 1973. I believe it was shortly thereafter that my mother brought home paperback editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I believe she had been inspired to do that by several co-workers who had also purchased the novels. I had always liked myth and fairy tale, and when my mother read some of it to my brothers and me I developed a very keen interest and read them for myself. I was 11 years old.

When I visited TheOneRing.net this afternoon I saw an image that struck home. These were the covers of the paperbacks that my mother purchased back in the early 1970s. The cover art was by none other than the Professor himself!



The paintings are of Hobbiton, Taur-nu-Fuin, and Barad-dûr, respectively. I am uncertain why the publishers would put Taur-nu-Fuin on the cover of The Two Towers, but I suppose it could pass for Fangorn Forest.

I was ten years old in the 70's when this really weird movie came on TV with a song I never forgot.



I read the Hobbit in the late 70's and tried to read LOTR after that but it was too complex. I tried again in 1983 and was totally captivated. I'll never forget how devastated I was when I found out that my favorite dwarf, Balin was dead.

I've read the books once a year since then.

JRR Tolkien and Gary Gygax totally changed my life.

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

I was ten years old in the 70's when this really weird movie came on TV with a song I never forgot.

Where there's a whip, there's a way.
Where there's a whip, there's a way.
Where there's a whip...[continues in second voice]

We don't wanna go to war today
But the Lord of the Lash says: "nay, nay, nay!"
We're gonna march all day, all day, all day!
Where there's a whip there's a way!

Where there's a whip, there's a way!
Left, right, left, right
The crack on the back says we're gonna fight
We're gonna march all day and night and more
For we are the slaves of the Dark Lord's war.

Where there's a whip, there's a way!
We don't wanna go to war today!


We don't wanna go to war today
But the Lord of the Lash says: "nay, nay, nay!"
We're gonna march all day, all day, all day!
Where there's a whip there's a way!
Left, right, left right!

I believe my step dad read The Hobbit to me at some point in elementary school, but I don't remember how old I was. He was very into old literature and read me Watership Down as well.

My dad was a big Tolkien fan and as a result The Hobbit was the first "grown up" book I ever read at about age 4. I clearly remember reading before bed every night and him having to come upstairs every 5 minutes to explain some of the longer words to me

Can't actually remember when I first read The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion must've been when I was around 12 or 13 though as I remember him buying a posh boxed set with it in.

My first time? Oh, wait, Tolkien, yes, of course.

I believe I was starting middle school, sometime around 1999~. My niece bought the trilogy of Lord of the Rings, and I borrowed it.

I was a RPG player, so I pretty much had already been exposed to many Tolkien-related things directly and indirectly, so I knew what to expect from the books. It took me a long time to finish them, but it was rather enjoyable.

As soon as a I finished LOTR, I picked up The Hobbit, which I remember reading pretty much all at once. I find The Hobbit to be the pinnacle of Tolkien's writing, it's a very pleasant book.

In the following months, I've read the Simarilion and tried to read The Unfinished Tales (which I left unfinished to this day).

Ever since then, I had basically zero direct contact with Tolkien material. I didn't even watched the movies. So this game has been a nice trip down my memory.

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

I was ten years old in the 70's when this really weird movie came on TV with a song I never forgot.

That would have been the 1980 Rankin-Bass animated adaptation of The Return of the King. It was made, apparently, to complete the story left unfinished by Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. Bakshi was supposed to create two films, but the first was so bad and production was so fraught with difficulties that the second film was never made. Oddly enough, RB's King did not pick up where Bakshi left off.

'Where there's a whip there's a way' is a classic. Another great scene from that made for TV movie is 'Samwise the Strong':

Originally Posted by Shellra

My dad was a big Tolkien fan and as a result The Hobbit was the first "grown up" book I ever read at about age 4.

I'm not sure what "grown up" meant to you when you were four, but The Hobbit is a children's book. The Lord of the Rings, however, is definitely written for an older reader. What a blessing it must be to have a father who is a fan of Tolkien!

Originally Posted by oldbadgerbrock

I'm not sure what "grown up" meant to you when you were four, but The Hobbit is a children's book. The Lord of the Rings, however, is definitely written for an older reader. What a blessing it must be to have a father who is a fan of Tolkien!

It's grown up compared to the usual dross you're given to read at age 4

Originally Posted by oldbadgerbrock

The paintings are of Hobbiton, Taur-nu-Fuin, and Barad-dûr, respectively. I am uncertain why the publishers would put Taur-nu-Fuin on the cover of The Two Towers, but I suppose it could pass for Fangorn Forest.

That is essentially what happened. In the book "Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien" it says this picture was originally illustrating Beleg finding Gwindor in Taur-nu-fuin from the tale of Turin. It appeared in a 1974 Tolkien calendar titled "Fangorn Forest", written in JRRT's own hand. Christopher suggests that Tolkien did this because he did not expect the Silmarilion to ever be published and the picture could reasonably be portrayed as Fangorn. Tolkien died in the latter half of '73 so it's not unreasonable to suppose he had some part in the picture selection earlier in '73, before it went to press. Sounds like the paperbacks you had came out about the same time and utilized some of the same pictures. If you ever see the full size painting at a good size you will see two characters in the pictures - not Merry and Pippin. One is an Elf carrying a sword, the other is sleeping under a tree.

Incidentally, Tolkien did a black and white picture, based on this same painting, for the Hobbit. Here he called it Mirkwood but removed the characters. Same forest - three different names

I was 10 when I first read the Hobbit, LotR, and the Silmarillion. I'd seen the Hobbit lying around in a library and I was quite bored as it was the summer, so I read it. Then I pesterd my parents to get the Sil (we had LotR at home). At that point, I'm sure I didn't understand a lot of the latter two.

Last year, in October, I fell sick and saw the RotK on tv while in hospital. I suddenly remembered reading it back when I was 10 and decided to reread. Was quite surprised how much I remembered from over eight years ago.

I don't know how it happened, but I did not read any of Tolkien's works until I was almost 18! (And I was the kind of kid who read EVERYTHING I could find.)

I saw all three films as they were released in theaters, and was completely blown away by the third, so I bought The Silmarillion that weekend, read it through super fast, and suddenly understood a lot that the films had not explained. Then I bought a boxed set with The Hobbit and the trilogy, and read it all lickety-split. I've been a fan ever since, and I still enjoy the movies despite their butchering of my favorite characters (Faramir and Merry).

=)

I was six when I first read The Hobbit. Found it in the back corner of my school's library at the time. The librarian and my teacher then both thought it was too much for me. Imagine my teacher's surprise when I used that for the basis of my book report a week later. She asked how the heck I could understand it. I just told her "I dream."

34 years later, and I'm still dreaming.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx

Originally Posted by tuor66

If you ever see the full size painting at a good size you will see two characters in the pictures - not Merry and Pippin.

The full image and description is in J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator, which I own a copy of. I had not noticed, or did nor remember, that Tolkien had written 'Fangorn Forest' beneath it. The original painting was made in 1928, well before The Lord of the Rings was even conceived.

i few years ago so that owuld mean....some time under or at 10 i think. i started with the movies and by movies i mean the fellowship of the ring since thats all we had and then one day my uncle got my dad a boxed set of hobbit and lotr after i began reading them they unofficialy became mine and have been addicted to them since. i am now trying to get every other middle earth book he has written so far i have gotten the silmarilion and the second volume of the history of middle earth (i started reading it but found that i needed to get the first one first) and i am now on the hunt for the children of hurin

My dad bought the Vcr-version of Fellowship, and we saw it together, the family.
I was eight, and I was immediately awed. I didn't read the trilogy till I was 11, because everyone said it would be to hard for me. At the age of eleven, we went to some friend of my dad's, who had the trilogy.
I saw it on their bookshelf, took it, and didn't stop reading it till three days later, by which time I had read the full story.
Oh, and I'm almost 18 now.

Originally Posted by ancalima

Oh my gosh, what a story! I think I was in High School when I first picked up The Fellowship of the Ring. I had already read The Hobbit and wanted to read more about Gandalf the Grey because he was my favorite character. I remember reading the chapter The Bridge of Khazad-dûm and the last trick of the Balrog, the whip snaking around Gandalf and dragging him down into the abyss. I remember the sickening feeling of my hero not being a part of the story anymore. Gandalf dead! I was depressed. What was worse, the fellowship of the Nine Walkers was broken. It was all for naught. I couldn't read anymore. I didn't pick up reading it again until college. lol.

I actually Got the Movies/book a bit mixed up order wise. My first impression was from watching this old Cartoony version of the Hobbit and Reading the Hobbit(not sure which order though as it was a while ago) Then I was left without until the Fellowship came out sometime around 6th grade and I then proceeded to read all three of the books(not sure if I finished Return of the King before The Two Towers came out, but I think so).

I quoted the above because I had a similar reaction watching the movie. I nearly cried when Gandalf fell and I actually agreed with Boromir(how odd, I normally don't like him in the movie) when he complained that Aragorn was having no pity on them for their loss. To this day Gandalf is my favorite character from the books, with Faramir Coming in a close second(was devastated with him in the movie until his character got back on track at the end of the osgiliath scene).

I was 11 when the fellowship movie came out. It blew my mind, i never knew about lotr nor jrr tolkien. It also blew my mind because i had watched and loved the hobbit cartoon from 77. As an 11year old kid, the fact that i vaguely knew the hobbit before seeing the fellowship was extremely beneficial.

Hear i am now, 22, and still sitting and reading those phenomenal books, only now i can smoke my pipe weed along side the gang!

Think it was somewhere around 1978, I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade, and checked out the Hobbit from the school library. Followed very quickly by reading the trilogy.

Originally Posted by Kahlius

I was six when I first read The Hobbit. Found it in the back corner of my school's library at the time. The librarian and my teacher then both thought it was too much for me. Imagine my teacher's surprise when I used that for the basis of my book report a week later. She asked how the heck I could understand it. I just told her "I dream."

34 years later, and I'm still dreaming.

They had you doing book reports in the first or second grade!? UGH!