Three cheers on your 40 post "anniversary" Durin .

I see we have missed welcoming one of the younger new members of the forum . My apologies to Tuor. If you're somewhere lurking in the Cyber-Ether: welcome, and please come back and visit from time to time .

GB

Thanks for the welcome Ye all and Thou all,

Hey! As soon as I saw 'Oz' mentioned, I thought of Gandalf.

Question:
What would we call Gandalf if he left Valinor and moved Downunder?
(HINT: He wouldn't be the Wizard of Middle Earth no more).

I'm now thinking how nice it would be if he might be released from his current duties (I presume they're light!) in Valinor, so he could come and stay awhile at my house? I'd love to hear all about what Bilbo and Frodo omitted from History. Imagine this: "The Lord of the Rings: Unabridged." (Come on"! We all know the book was too short!)

Superb idea, I reckon, Gandalf coming down here! And quite safe too, since the world has apparently 'rounded' since the Fourth Age, so it'll be quite safe - he won't fall off.

Gotta go. I have basketball coaching to do... Maybe catch up later, hey?

Thanks again One and All,
Pleased to meet you,
Etcetera and etcetera,
Odo

(Hobbits aren't built for basketball - but surely they can coach?!?!

G'day all.

Mr Durin,
You quoted Confucius in your post. Made me wonder where China is in relation to Middle Earth. If so - I wonder where exactly. Beyond Khand somewhere maybe? Or Near Harad? It may have been known (if known) by a different name back in the Fourth Age one thinks.

Mr Tuor,
It's interesting your spelling of Tolkien's Númenor. C.S Lewis I think used 'Numinor' or something like that in his Space Trilogy (I think it was Perelandra, Voyage to Venus and That Hideous Strength from memory). You use 'Numenore'. Same place, of course, and isn't this is a perfect example of how language evolves! (Just gagging!)

Mr Beard,
We have a bit of a problem with red foxes down here in Oz. I only hope we don't dispatch any descendants of that talking fox that spied Frodo, Sam and Pippin in the Shire that time! (C.S. Lewis would be aghast, I know, if that was the case!)

Mr Eldorion,
I can't see how I can fail to have fun talking over Middle-Earth stuff with other folk who appreciate T's great History. I certainly plan to!

Mr Moderator,
Would the following be a decent question for discussion:
"Is it best to read the Hobbit before LOTR, or doesn't it matter?" (I'm new to this 'posting' caper - has a similar topic already been discussed heaps of times?)

You see, I always feel a little sad for those who read LOTR first. I read The Hobbit about five (ten?) times before I even knew LOTR even existed. This was because I didn't read the blurb inside the front cover of my Hobbit where LOTR was mentioned. It was the version with T's drawing of Smaug over Laketown and there was no blurb on the back cover. So I didn't know LOTR even existed for about two more years. I spent those two years pining for another Hobbit tale! When a friend told me he had a copy of a 'new' Hobbit tale, well it was like - "What did you say? Another Hobbit book? What? It's more than a thousand pages long! All about Hobbits? Preposterous!" Talk about being surprised by joy (with apologies to C.S.)

Anyway, I've met a few folk who came to T's History by reading the Hobbit 'after' LOTR, and it sometimes seems they don't appreciate it with quite the same level of joy that folk like I did. The Hobbit, I confess, is still my favorite book - with LOTR a close second! I wonder, out of folk who prefer The Hobbit (ever so slightly) over LOTR, how many of you read The Hobbit first?

Regards,
Odo

Mr Banks - I am certainly not a moderator, but as far as I know about "netiquette" you're perfectly entitled to start a discussion if you like. Additionally, I don't believe this issue has been discussed here yet.

I agree with you entirely about reading The Hobbit first, even though LOTR is my favorite of all Tolkien's works. I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings back to back when I was quite young and I really enjoyed both, though I certainly did appreciate all the details of LOTR at that age. I've since gone back through both and gained a much deeper appreciation. I think that reading The Hobbit first is good because it gives an introduction to hobbits and introduces several elements that reappear in LOTR.

It is also not quite as "epic" as LOTR, so I think people who read TH second might be disappointed by it if they were expecting something different.

Mr Eldorion,

Thank you for the reply.

I've just realized that there is a second box at the top of the page entitled "NEW TOPIC." Henceforth, if I think of something (possibly) interesting to say, I will click that particular box (is it known as an 'ícon', pray tell?), and in this way avoid clogging up the NEW MEMBER post with unrelated pearls of wisdom (or other)!

Thanks again!

Regards,
Odo. (AKA "Mr Banks.")

My pleasure, Odo. I think that the New Topic box is more properly called a button, but the pictures beneath people's names would be icons (or avatars) ... I think.

Thanks Eldorion.

Your wisdom and courteous manner has, yet again, shone through.

Regards,
Odo

You flatter me, Odo. I'm glad I could help, and glad to see you posting all over the forum!

Yes Eldorion I've been jumping around like a cat on a hot tin roof. So many places to go. So many places to see.

Odo

Hi, I'm Seb, I'm new here.
I just started university and I felt there was a huge lack of Tolkien in my life, so here I am.