Tolkien’s “Holy Grail”

– The never-ending quest …

In some of the early Arthurian Literature, knights would often find themselves embarking on heroic quests in order to attain a much revered object in the Christian world – the Holy Grail.

Fast forward to approximately 900 years later and a parallel can be created with many Tolkienists – vying their way to find a very obscure artifact from a long lost period in history.

The Greatest or Most Decisive?: The Battle of Five Armies vs The Battle of the Pelennor Fields

Following in the trails of my recent article on The Battle of Five Armies (here) and the ongoing online discussion on whether ‘There And Back Again’ should portray the battle as either greater or smaller than the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, I have decided to give my two cents on the matter …

The deep breath before the plunge …

– Trying not to make up excuses …

Hopefully you’re finishing off your celebrations as we approach the end of Tolkien week and I hope you’ve all enjoyed yourselves to the full! 🙂

Celebrate Hobbit Day!

Just a quick word to remind you folks that today is Hobbit Day!

With yesterday marking publication of ‘The Hobbit’ (way back in 1937), today we celebrate the two titular characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s most famous works.

Tolkien Week is here!

– Let the festivities commence!

Whether you’re a fanatic of the films, an unflinching Tolkien purist or simply a mixture of both, this should be the best week in an otherwise dull month … (end of summer, rain, strong winds – unless you’re living in the Southern Hemisphere, that is.)

Caring for your collection

– Apply a good dose of caution

The following applies to any collection or book for that matter. Some things are quite obvious and require nothing more than common sense, but for the sake of being clear and thorough, here it goes …

My Tolkien Collection: Paperbacks

(Above: notice the bookmark in ‘Unfinished Tales’ … currently in my second read – notice also, the horrendous lighting setup in all these pictures. Apologies.)

– Your first introduction

If your intention is to read and re-read as much of Tolkien as you can (whether you are a serious collector or not), paperbacks are an indispensable element in your reading experience. Light, easy to handle and containing pretty much the exact same text as any other version, paperbacks will always be there with you. Sure, after a couple of years you’ll start noticing ugly creases along the spine of your books, or brown marks littering the edges of the pages, but the words and the emotion contained inside will still be there.

My Tolkien Collection: Hardbacks

– The “Intermediaries”

I affectionately refer to hardbacks as “intermediaries” and certainly not in a negative way – far from it. I consider hardbacks to be one step ahead in the evolutionary process of a book. From being a paperback, it has taken a giant leap towards achieving Deluxe status and beyond!

My Tolkien Collection: Deluxe Editions

– Turning good stories into classics … physically, at least

There’s something intrinsically beautiful and magical about a Deluxe edition book being slowly extracted from its matching slipcase – none the least when that book has Tolkien’s motif embossed in gold at the back and the appropriate design on the front.

My Tolkien Collection: Rare books

– The finest of the finest … of which I own only one item Unfortunately, I can’t boast much of owning anything exclusively ‘rare’ and preciousss … The reason being that most of the stuff available (be it books, letters by Tolkien or other artefacts) are sold at ridiculously high prices.