Why I Love the Lord of the Rings

     Hello, everyone! It's September. Do you know what that means?? Yes, school is going on, and my sister's birthday is happening, and I'm starting marine biology - but that's not what I'm thinking of. Way more important than any of those things is this fact: Hobbit Day is on September 22nd, which means it's Lord of the Rings month!

      Yes, I know... Glorious tidings! (As if you weren't already aware of this fact.) Last year, September was the first month that I actually planned out. I think I mentioned that I planned out this whole calendar year (2017). If I didn't - that's what I did. Kinda insane. Anyway, that's a tangent. September was the first month I planned out - and of course, because I love The Lord of the RingsI had to do a LotR themed month. Which I did! (See this post, this post, this post, this post, and this post.)

     However, I am not doing a complete Lord of the Rings month this year. Partly because I covered a lot of the stuff about it in last year's series, and also because I don't want to bore those of you who may not be as interested in it as I am. :)

      So, instead of that, I'm going to do just one post about Lord of the Rings (as you may have gathered by this point). Since Hobbit Day is on September 22nd, I'm going to list twenty-two reasons why I love the Lord of the Rings. Ready? Buckle in!

1. The plot - it's amazing. It's so detailed and yet flows really well.
2. Samwise Gamgee - I'm going to have a few of my favorite characters in this list. Sam is so loyal to Frodo, even when Frodo could care less about him. He just tugs on my heartstrings.
3. The history behind writing the book - did you know, Tolkien started writing what would become The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit a hundred years ago - in 1917 in the trenches during World War I?
4. The depth of the worldbuilding - worldbuilding is basically what it sounds like: building a world. Tolkien did an amazing job with building Middle Earth. Its history, culture, and land are so well developed, it's mindboggling.
5. The Quenta Silmarillion - I mentioned this here last year. It basically is a history book of Middle Earth, focusing mainly on the elves (specifically the Noldor and the Silmarils) and it's amazing. The depth and thought is staggering. It almost reads like a history book of this world, it's so detailed.
6. Aragorn, son of Arathorn - Aragorn is one of my favorite characters. Viggo Mortensen plays him very well in the movies, and he's so heroic and yet still flawed, and has such an interesting, sad story that still ends well.
7. The different languages - there are at least four different languages in Middle Earth. The Common Tongue - which is represented by English - is basically what everyone speaks in. It's like the "trading language." Then there's Elvish, Dwarvish, and Hobbit, each with their own alphabet. The Elvish languages are the most developed (Quenya, Silmarilion, and the Black Tongue of Mordor) but the others are still quite well developed.
8. The backdrops in the movies - the places they chose to film all the scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies are beautiful and fit Tolkien's descriptions as closely as I think is humanly possible. Plus, the CGI in the movies is amazing - anything CGIed pretty much looks real.
9. How accurate the movies are - not the Hobbit movies, but the Lord of the Rings movies. They are so accurate! Some things are a little different, but it's either minor, fairly unimportant things, or there was just no way (time wise) the things would fit in the movie.
10. The battles - can I say that battles truly speak to me? I love basically any movie or book where there's a large battle scene. Lord of the Rings has not one, but two large battles, plus a lot of other fighting in closer situations. It's amazing.
11. Elrond of Rivendell - Elrond isn't super high on my list of characters, but his plot arc is. After reading the Silmarillion, I learned that Elrond and his brother, Elros, were given the choice as a young men to either become completely human or completely Elvish (their linage is quite mixed up). Elros chose to be human, and thus eventually died, while Elrod chose to be Elvish - obviously. Later, after Elrond had married and had three children (Arwen being one of them) his wife was killed by orcs. Then when Aragorn wants Arwen to stay with him and become mortal, Arwen does. Can you imagine how much Elrond must have been hurting? His brother, his wife, and then his daughter all dying? It's so sad.
12. Character development - the characters are so well fleshed out. You can sympathize with almost all of them on some level, and even though there are quite a few, they all have amazing development arcs and personalities.
13. Tolkien and his wife as Beren and Luithan - there's a story in the Silmarillion of a mortal man (Beren) who does the impossible (take a Silmaril from Morgoth) in order to win the hand of an Elvish maiden (Luithan). It's very sweet. Well, on Tolkien's tombstone is "Beren" and on his wife's tombstone is "Luithan." *collective awww
14. Pippin and Merry - two of my favorite characters. Pippin especially - he's such a trouble maker, but at the same time learns a lot through the books. Billy Boyd did an amazing job playing him. Merry is a lot more sensible in the books, which reminds me of myself. That's probably the main reason I like him. And in the movies, they have some of the funniest banter.
15. Tolkien himself - if you read my post about Tolkien's life from last year, you'll see that he was a very interesting, creative person with an amazing aptitude for language. Plus, personally knew C.S. Lewis and was part of the Inklings. So cool!
16. The books - this may be obvious, but I love the books way more than the movies, and just wanted to articulate that clearly. The background and backstories in the books are so much more deep than the ones in the movies.
17. The movie soundtrack - despite reason sixteen, I really, really love the movie's soundtrack. Books obviously can't have soundtracks, which makes me sad, because I love music. The themes and the musical background to the scenes is amazing in the movies. A+, Howard Shore!
18. The Hobbit - The Hobbit as in the book, not the movies (I dislike the movies). I love that this is what "kicked off" the publishing of the Lord of the Rings. Even though it's a little more childish, it is still a great story, and very fun to read.
19. Boromir - though Boromir is often seen as a bit of a minor villain character, he is one of my favorites. His character is so complex, and he couldn't really help coming under the Ring's spell. It wasn't his fault, okay?!? Then when he dies to save Merry and Pippin and to help Frodo and Sam escape... *cries
20. Fun facts about the movies/books/Tolkien - there are so many of these priceless gems that make you appreciate everything about the books, movies, and Tolkien himself. They breath even more color into the already colorful painting that is Lord of the Rings. (Nice metaphor, no?)
21. The emotions - I'm not very emotional in real life. I like to hide my emotions, and I'm pretty good at it when I want to be. :) But I love to feel emotion when reading a book or watching a movie. Lord of the Rings is amazing at giving me emotion. The movies are actually the only movies I've actually cried for (as in - tears running down my face, not just tearing up). Specifically at the end of Return of the King - anyone else get me?
22. It appeals to my own writings, imaginings, and feelings as a person - last but not least. I think I really love these books, these movies and this world because of how amazing it is as a book - my writer side obsesses over that; how imaginative everything is - look at what Tolkien made up, for crying out loud; and the way it draws me in and makes me feel - crying/feeling emotions? Check! And I think that's the foundation for all the other reasons why I love the Lord of the Rings. 

     Thanks for reading! That'll be it for today. Hope you enjoyed, have a great week, and I'll "see" y'all later!