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Today on Fable and the Verbivore, we’re kicking off a summer of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (LOTR) series with a conversation unpacking what these stories mean to us.

This year, we’ve been leaning in to the things that bring us joy and LOTR was a pivotal story for both of us at different points in our lives. So, we start out by sharing our very different experiences of how this story found us when we needed it.

The Verbivore talks about her sister Lisa taking her to see the Fellowship of the Ring film - with very little understanding of what she was walking into - and how much the film grabbed her - leading to some marathon reading sessions of the books. Fable shares about how - when she was between the ages of 7 and 10 - her father read through all the stories to her and her siblings starting with The Hobbit and doing different voices for all the characters and making them come alive.

As we talk about our experiences, we also touch on different aspects of the story:

• The quote “all that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost” and looking closely at things to understand them - rather than just seeing the surface

• How the story is a great one when life is significantly changing and you’re struggling to figure yourself out

• Many of the characters know what they need to do, but experience great fear and how relatable that can be

• The prologue “Concerning Hobbits” leads us to believe that this story could be viewed as our history

• The fascinating omniscient POV and pulled out lens which shifts perspectives often - even stepping into a Shire fox at one point

• The tendency for the book’s narrator to reveal something known about the future and how that helped add to tension at some points, but also release tension in certain places

Towards the end of this episode, we talk about Tolkien’s amazing depth of worldbuilding, lore, history, and language (both spoken and written) present in the story and how it plays so well to create a rich and incredibly well-developed world for us to step into.

Next week, we’ll be sharing more about LOTR by talking about the differences between the book and film adaptations and how they affect the story.

We hope you enjoy this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

The Verbivore referenced when Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring film came out in reference to her life experience, but the actual release date was Dec. 19th, 2001.

Books and Movies Mentioned:

• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

• The Lord of the Rings Book Set by J. R. R. Tolkien

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Directed by Peter Jackson

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Directed by Peter Jackson

• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Directed by Peter Jackson

• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)