[Jessica Jade]

Definitely the bittersweetness, as people have mentioned here already. The way he can tear your heart to peices and make it soar with joy at the same time. Everytime i read the last few pages of Return of the King, I can't help but want to cry for Frodo's sacrifice and how everything had changed so much; but at the same time, I'm rejoicing because he is going to a place full of bliss and healing, where he can be with the people he loves. There's just this underlying melancholy in Lord of the Rings,the nostaligia,the endless stories untold and the inevitable fading of beautiful things and unspoilt nature that really touches me. I also love Tolkien because of his stories are just so completely new...as in, when i read them, they were like nothing i had ever experienced before. The incredible, inescapable, seduction of evil (the Ring), the steadfast loyalty and friendship (Sam), the sacrifice (Frodo) and the power of love and compassion (Frodo's attitude towards Gollum). Let's not forget the songs and poetry too! A favorite of mine is The Road goes ever on and on...it's just so touching because it's so true-nothing ever really ends, no one knows what's going to happen, and everyone is so small and insignificant in the great scheme of things. THe themes presented in LOTR are so universal and diverse, and can apply in so many different situations.

Another reason I Tolkien so much is because he created such a vast, harmonious, intricate world that may or may not have existed. It makes you think... what if...what if the world we live in was once the Arda that Tolkien described? How do you know that Hobbits, the hidden, unknown West, the blissful Valinor, the mysterious Lothlorien, the dark Moria,and beautiful Rivendell... don't really exist? Sure, if you look at it realistically, Tolkien's world was all his creative imagination, but he does link his world to ours, (ie-the Fourth Age, the age of Men) so you don't ever really know whether or not Middle Earth was real. And it's a delightful prospect to entertain, to think that maybe your ancestors were of the house of Fingolfin, Thingol, Barahir, or Beor and dwelt in the hidden paradise of Gondolin or Doriath. Tolkien believed in his world, and he makes YOU believe in his world. You don't know if it ever really existed, but you hope and dream with all your heart that it had. And sometimes you muse that you'd rather live in Middle Earth than our world today...you'd love to escape into the beautiful harmonious world he's instilled in your imagination. Few writers can have that kind of effect.

It's often hard for me to find the words to express why i love Tolkien. I feel overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions...all I can be sure of is that i LOVE Tolkien's works...they're so profound and they've changed the way I look at many aspects of life. You may close the book when you've finished, but the characters and adventures stay close to you always.

[ May 29, 2002: Message edited by: Jessica Jade ]