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As a geek there have been few people who have influenced my interests and hobbies as much as one J.R.R. Tolkien. He has influenced me directly through his works and indirectly through other authors and designers by influencing them. In honor of his birthday (1/3/1892) I thought I would share some of the ways that he has affected my geek career.
Both of my parents were huge geeks, small wonder I turned out to be one as well. When I was in third grade they decided that as a family activity it would be fun to read together. Our first story we read as a family was The Hobbit. My parents mostly read that one to me, but when we progressed to the Lord of the Rings they had me take over a large portion of the reading myself. Through elementary school I took it upon myself to read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings once a year. This sparked my love of science fiction and fantasy novels which is my biggest addiction. Even though Tolkien was the catalyst of my personal journey into this realm, his works are also the basis for pretty much all modern fantasy.
Another one of my geek passions is roleplaying games. The most popular RPG is also one of the first, Dungeons and Dragons. If you are any bit familiar with this game you see Tolkien’s fingerprints all over it. One of the iconic monsters to fight in D&D is the lowly orc which figures prominently as a foe throughout the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. When I first started playing D&D each time I got a magic sword I pictured holding Sting or Glamdring aloft, glowing with its magical might as did Frodo and Gandalf. Anytime I found a magic ring I pictured myself becoming a bearer of one of the great rings (preferably an elven one, as the rest were corrupted).
2001 saw the release of the theatrical version of The Fellowship of the ring. For the first time I got to see a large part of my childhood brought to life on the silver screen. The Two Towers (my favorite of the three Lord of the Rings novels) was released in 2002, and it was memorable. The final movie, The Return of the King, was finally released in 2003, and I am not afraid to admit I cried a little when Eowyn cried out “I am no man!” when she struck down the witch king. That moment was my favorite out of the entire series and seeing that in the theater felt like the culmination of my entire elementary school experience distilled down to 10 seconds.
As a modern geek and/or nerd it is impossible to say that your life has not been influenced heavily by Tolkien as mine has been. I have tried to re-read the series but it does not hold quite the magic for me it used to, but my memories of it are fond and I treasure them. I welcome you all to share how Tolkien has affected your lives the most in the comments below. Happy Birthday J.R.R. Tolkien, and thanks for everything!
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