[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

OK, LOTR FReeper fans - LET 'ER RIP!!

[Chris Tucker]

Ms. Miller would be better off criticising Mona Lisa Smile starring the vapid and GOP bashing Julia "Big Mouth" (literally) Roberts.

[ServesURight]

Whoo-boy, another 1,000+ thread.

[LanPB01]

I'll be the first Freeper to go out on a limb and admit I don't like the LOTR movies. Perhaps I'd enjoy the books, but to me, the movies are a great example of over dramatic nonsense.

[ChadGore]

Gollum is Carville!

"Trixey . . they took the election, my precious"

[Psycho_Bunny]

There is even a theology for Middle Earth; it seems to be basically Zoroastrian in nature

*Pseudo-Intellectual Who's Heard A New Word But Doesn't Know What It Means Alert*

First of all, the proper word for the faith is "Zarathustra".  "Zoroaster" is a Greek corruption.  Secondly, Zarathustrianism is a dualistic theology.  Tolkien's theological myth structure is monotheistic - very Catholic, in fact.

[ecurbh]

Ring Ping!!

There and Back Again: The Journeys of Flat Frodo

Anyone wishing to be added to or removed from the Ring-Ping list, please don't hesitate to let me know.

[HairOfTheDog]

OK, LOTR FReeper fans - LET 'ER RIP!!

I would, if I knew what he ~said~!

[Restorer]

Tolkien's high elves are above human nature

Presumably the author means elves are incapable of evil. If so, she really ought to reread the Silmarillion. Lots of elves do evil things in it.

[BradyLS]

It seems like she almost answered her own question. Then didn't.

Much of the appeal of LOTR is as the author states: Tolkien's backdrop is so rich in detail and told so beautifully, that its almost as much fun to read as the story itself. In fact, the story grows richer in the telling when you finally mesh the bits and details that Tolkien offers when the trilogy is re-read.

Imagine, for example, a modern story where the principals must travel through Rome to perform a duty. Though the Colesium and other ruins are not in themselves a part of the story being told, the antecedents of the people that built them are now playing out their story among them. And the things that those people who built Rome did in the past DO have an impact on the decisions that our principals must make in the present.

I marvel that all the wonderful tales that Tolkien wanted to share in his own Silmarillion still make their way into becoming a part of the fabric that make Lord of the Rings so captivating.