May 22, 2003

Response to Lilly
Paths_of_the_dead

In response to Lilly's question: my indulgence in the Lord of the Rings differs and is somewhat like to others that I have read so far. It started when I was four or five. My dad would frighten my little brother and I with campfire stories of a creature named Gollum that lured children into the dark with his glowing eyes (fireflies, in reality). His goal was to retrieve his lost ring. Curious, I later asked my dad where he came up with that. Enter "The Hobbit." He read that story to me, one chapter every night before bed. I became thrilled with it, and then, upon learning that there were more books of the same sort, became ecstatic. I received the triolgy for Christmas and finished it within a month. That was when I was six. I'm now 14 and have re-read the trilogy seven times, along with "The Silmarillion." That's my story, but one tree in the Mirkwood of those belonging to Tolkien fans such as myself.