Peredhil Posted January 3, 2008 Report Posted January 3, 2008 On this date, January 3rd, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa. To the original Beren One-Hand and one of the most influential fantasy writers of the mid 1900s, huzzah!
Nyarlathotep Posted January 4, 2008 Report Posted January 4, 2008 Bah. Tolkien's a hack. Dry, monotonous storytelling and uninteresting prose. I'll be much more excited for a certain birthday on October 8th.
Wyvern Posted January 4, 2008 Report Posted January 4, 2008 Wyvern scoots one of his rickety merch booths into the Cabaret Room and clunks it between Peredhil and Nyarlathotep. The overgrown lizard pulls a small gray bag from his tunic and empties its contents onto the splintering wood, spilling what appear to be plastic egyption ring prizes from old boxes of Nanotoknonnen-Os over the counter. Wyvern lets out a gleeful snicker and seats himself behind the merch stand, swinging his tail back and forth as he lifts his claws to his snout and shouts: "A buncha ringsssss to rule'em all a thousssand geld to buy one. A wealthy fool to purchase all and to the dork supply'em!" With that, Wyvern kicks back his feet and awaits the floods of hungry fans, saving his hobbit hair wigs for the second round of Tolkien aficionados... OOC: Tolkien remains quite an inspirational figure in the world of fantasy, and I've always dug his stuff. I remember having a Tolkien phase one year when all I wanted for my birthday was things related to Middle Earth... much respect due!
Da_Yog Posted January 4, 2008 Report Posted January 4, 2008 Definitely one of my favorite authors and hugely inspirational to the genre of fantasy. His profession as linguist shines through in the language of the characters. Rarely have I seen such nobility of language repeated in any genre. The shift in diction of Aragorn from "The Fellowship of the Ring" to "The Return of the King" was amazingly well thought out and executed. His initial presentation of Aragorn as a rustic and rural ranger destined for greatness if he but adheres to his duty shifts slowly and inexoribly to the good and noble ruler of the reunited kingoms of Arnor and Gondor. Yeah, I love the trilogy. :-)
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