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January 03, 2005

It's JRR Tolkein's Eleventy-Third Birthday

Was there anything cooler than getting that four-volume boxed set of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that Christmas way back in nineteen-eighty-mumblemumble? I don't think so. Ripped through all four books in a week and a half.

True enough, I had to skip all the poetry and skim massive amounts of the book -- certain parts of The Two Towers and Return of the King remain a mystery to me; if I hadn't seen the movies, I don't think I'd know what "Osgiliath" or "Cirith Ungol" were -- but I did get the basics of it, i.e., they win the war and Gollum falls into the fire.

And also, that Tom Bombadil was very proud of his bright yellow boots.

My comprehension of the last two books of the trilogy was much like Woody Allen's comprehension of War and Peace, which he read via the speed-reading technique. His summary: "It's about Russia."

And for me, the last two books were about the Elf and the Dwarf comparing bodycounts, Sam kissing Frodo's brow (and cheek, and...), and Frodo complaining every three minutes how heavy the ring weighed upon his neck, which, frankly, I think he just said to get in some more kissing-time with Sam.

Via The Corner.

Correction: It's his eleventy-third birthday, apparently, as Bruce informs me.

Geek Smackdown: Correction to the Correction! Bithead will have none of that, as he apparently is consulting an Elvish calendar:

Not really, Bruce.
The Hobbit cal had30 days for every month. Over the 100 years, that makes a third of a year difference.

Girls buy shoes. This, on the other hand, is what guys do, whether it's sports or Star Trek.

posted by Ace at 02:46 PM

Comments

that Tom Bombadil was very proud of his bright yellow boots.

If you had bright yellow boots, wouldn't you be very proud of them as well?

Posted by: Xoxotl on January 3, 2005 02:59 PM

Sorry, but if he was born in 1892 his eleventy-second birthday was LAST year. (It's OK. We all get a bit mixed up about which year it is for the first week or so.)

Posted by: Bruce on January 3, 2005 03:17 PM

Not really, Bruce.

The Hobbit cal had30 days for every month. Over the 100 years, that makes a third of a year difference.

(Snicker)

Posted by: Bithead on January 3, 2005 03:36 PM

Yeah, but would we use the Hobbit Calendar, since he actually predated the Hobbits?

Posted by: Jimmie on January 3, 2005 03:49 PM

Wow, Ace, I think you just hit upon the Ultimate Geek Check.

(But who am I to complain? I've worn a "Precious" next to my wedding ring -- engraved on the inside with "One Ring to Rule Them All..." -- for close to 20 years.)

Later,
bbeck

Posted by: bbeck on January 3, 2005 04:07 PM

You call yourself a geek. Stand aside. Did you read the entire Appendix paying special attention to the language parts? Did you teach yourself the Elvish alphabets so you could write in runes all over your the inside of your junior high textbook jacket covers? Did you buy fantasy-themed bookplates and carefully glue them to the insides of all your cheap Sword & Sorcery Bantam releases? To this day I have crumbling paperbacks with bookplates on the inside cover, my name carefully written in Quenya with a Schaeffer calligraphy fountain pen, in green ink. And on my only trip to Europe I bypassed all the normal souvenirs to buy an authentic British set of The Lord of the Rings, even though I already had one at home. But this was different -- printed in England!!!

Admit it, my geek kung fu is better.

Posted by: Andrea Harris on January 3, 2005 06:42 PM

Andrea,

I stand in awe

/doing 'I am not worthy' bowing/

Posted by: BrewFan on January 3, 2005 08:07 PM

Wow, Beck, that was way TMI. Your wife must be quite the geekette.

Posted by: CraigC on January 3, 2005 08:19 PM

Actually, watching the movies still doesn't tell you what Osgiliath was.

You have to read the Appendices for that.

Posted by: someone on January 3, 2005 10:13 PM

CraigC, ummm, I'm a chick, and yeah, my husband is very much the geek. Right now he's behind me on his computer downloading Joe Lindsner pictures to make virtual tapestries for one of his customized Morrowind buildings. How's THAT for TMI? :)

Andrea, you're obviously much more the studious sort. I'm a craftsperson and, out of mercy, will not go into detail concerning my creations. But I DO brew a very good mead.

Later,
bbeck

Posted by: bbeck on January 3, 2005 11:19 PM

Sports, Star Trek, or gun geekdom. Ballistics, history, you name it. Cars for some. Military history. Crap like that. Guys just obsess on things. UNIX programming, that's another good one.

Now as for geekdom, I just read very fast, so I did each book in a day in second grade. I still reread about once every six months or so, just to get lost in that antiquated and oh so very deep English.

Posted by: SGT Dan on January 4, 2005 12:58 AM