2021 Tolkien Blog Party Tag

Happy Hobbit Day!  Today is Bilbo and Frodo's birthdays, so it felt like the perfect time to fill out my Tolkien Blog Party tag myself.

Can you believe this is the ninth year in a row that we've come together to celebrate all things Tolkien for a whole week?  Wow.  If you want to check out the party, go here.  If you want to enter the giveaway, go here.  If you just want to read my answers to the tag questions, well, here they are!

1. Aragorn: Favorite Tolkien hero/heroine 

Pretty sure anyone who has talked to me for more than about 2 minutes about all things Tolkien will be able to tell you the answers to this one.  And yes, I have two answers.

From the first time I saw The Fellowship of the Ring in the theater back in 2001, Boromir has been my favorite LOTR character.  I read the book after seeing the movie, which confirmed my opinion.  Boromir is wonderful.  Book-Boromir is even more lovely than Movie-Boromir, filled with courage, compassion, and a willingness to serve others.  And, yes, he is prideful and can be overconfident and even over-stubborn.  But he is my favorite.

However.

Thirteen years later, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies came out in 2014, and I fell deeply and desperately in love with Bard the Bowman.  Book-Bard is just kind of okay, but Movie-Bard... Movie-Bard rose so swiftly up the ranks of my fictional heroes that it was kind of dizzying.  He's honorable, kind, decisive, and a loving and caring father.  Nothing to see here, just a guy who's practically perfect for me in every way.

So, I love both Book-Boromir and Movie-Bard, and don't even think of trying to make me choose between them.

2. Boromir: Favorite Tolkien character arc

Annnnnnnnd I'm going to have to answer Boromir here again.  Here we have a guy who has spent his life praised and lauded for his strength, prowess, power, valiance.  He's grown up knowing that, when his father Denethor dies, he will become the next Steward of Gondor.  He's spend his adult years defending Gondor's people, putting his life on the line to keep them safe.  And not only his own people!  He's also spent time in Rohan helping them fight off the encroaching dark hordes.  He's committed to holding the line against Mordor because he knows that all those to the west of Gondor are depending on him and the armies he leads to keep evil away from them.

What human could spend their life that way and not be filled with pride in their own strength, confidence in their own abilities?  

But what happens to Boromir?  He trusts his own strength.  He relies on his own power.  His pride tells him that he has the power to wield the One Ring.  For good, of course!  To aid him in his continual fight to save others!  

And, because he trusts in himself, he falls.  He tries to take the ring from Frodo.

But his story doesn't end there.  It could have -- he could have made excuses to himself and to others.  "I didn't know what I was doing."  "The ring was lying to me."  "I was seduced by the Ring."  Nope.  He confesses everything at the first opportunity, telling Aragorn that he tried to take the Ring, and he scared Frodo away.  He sees clearly, at last, that his own power is nothing, his own strength is worthless.  He confesses, repents... and dies absolved and forgiven.  Dies because he once again put his own body into harm's way to protect others, and even though he failed to keep Merry and Pippin from getting captured, Aragorn tells him he has triumphed.  Not over the Uruk-hai, though he slew many, but triumphed at last over his own worst enemies: his own pride and self-confidence.  

Pardon me while I go blow my nose.  Must be allergies or something.

3. Frodo: Favorite song or poem by Tolkien 

I love the "Road goes ever on and on" song that Bilbo and Frodo sing snatches of here and there.  I have the verses all marked in my copy for easy finding.

4. Gandalf: Favorite wise Tolkien quotation 

"Go where you must go, and hope!"  My favorite line in The Lord of the Rings. In all of Tolkien, really.  So comforting.  And encouraging.  

My friend Vanessa Rasanen put it on a series of mugs for me, which you can buy yourself from her shop if you want one.  OR you could enter my Tolkien giveaway, because one of the prizes is one of her mugs with that line on it!

5. Gimli: A Middle-earth location you'd like to visit 

Rivendell!!!  I long to visit Rivendell.  

What's not to love, I ask you.  Books, food, scenery, fresh air, mountains, waterfalls, elves, peace and quiet... I want it all!

6. Legolas: Favorite Middle-earth Weapon 

I love Glamdring.  Now you know.

7. Merry: Favorite way to celebrate Tolkien's stories 

Besides reading his books over and over, and watching the movie versions over and over?  Well, honestly, this Tolkien Blog Party is my favorite!  Getting to share my love for this imaginary world and these imaginary people with all of you real people in the real world... it's just awesome.

I also enjoy making recipes from An Unexpected Cookbook by Chris-Rachael Oseland.  Food is such an integral part of Tolkien's stories!

8. Pippin: Favorite funny Tolkien quotation 

Basically the whole chapter "The Houses of Healing" in Return of the King makes me laugh and laugh, especially when Aragorn gets all sassy.  This is long, but I love it:

"Master Meriadoc," said Aragorn, "if you think that I have passed through the mountains and the realm of Gondor with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who throws away his gear, you are mistaken. If your pack has not been found, then you must send for the herb-master of this House. And he will tell you that he did not know that the herb you desire had any virtues, but that it is called westmansweed by the vulgar, and galenas by the noble, and other names in other tongues more learned, and after adding a few half-forgotten rhymes that he does not understand, he will regretfully inform you that there is none in the House, and he will leave you to reflect on the history of tongues."

Ahhhhhh, it cracks me up so much!

9. Samwise: A Middle-earth food you'd like to try

I would love to try Ent-draught.  Or real lembas.  Or Beorn's honey cakes.  Or Mrs. Maggot's mushrooms...

Happy Hobbit Day to you!  I hope you've had a chance to celebrate somehow, or have one planned for later today :-)  And if you're not a Tolkien fan, but read this whole post anyway, well, I hope it has encouraged you to give his writings (or the movies based on them) a try!