There & Back Again

I was 11 when I first experienced the adventures on paper written by J.R.R. Tolkien. I hope this is a household name for you, though it was locked away under the premise of nerd culture for most of its life. But now, being a nerd is cool, as mediums such as Stranger Things has brought it to the forefront. It is amazing to me how your average Starbucks addict now has Dungeons & Dragons in their vocabulary.

Tolkien’s writing style changed the neural pathways of my brain. For most of my life, I have been a fiction writer. I’ve written a few halves of fantasy books as the years half passed—though ever locked away on forgotten folders in hard drives. Tolkien’s writing style is not for everyone, but it has influenced all modern fiction and story telling to the nth degree. Without Tolkien, there is no George R.R. Martin, and therefore no Game of Thrones. Tolkien uses passive voice in some regards, and uses weird Old English terminology such as “eleventy-one,” to describe 111. But the world building, the depth, the heart cast into his works has given birth to many inspired franchises and IPs.

I was opted in to reading The Hobbit for a class in school. We all read it aloud and experienced it for the first time together. I truly fell in love with literature and fantasy in those moments in those hard-bottom chairs—an experience never forgotten.

Fast forward to high school years, I had a circle of friends who were intensely anticipating the release of The Hobbit trilogy, so the Middle-Earth obsession began anew. My replica of Sting lies on my wall as a relic of Tolkien’s influence on my life. Found in Gatlinburg, TN. It even has the Elvish engraved on the blade—something not even the licensed replicas have.

Tolkien’s word-smithing pushed me into a life-long love of the color emerald green, the feeling of entering a forest, the emotion brought forth by a green, open field, the appearance of aged, brown leather, a love for The Legend of Zelda, and also a love for the deeper themes found in well written paragraphs, quotes and a speech or two. Words move me and drive me to action more than anything. The beloved notion that small things with courage can defeat things of great malice and evil has resonated with me forever. In my darkest moments, Lord of the Rings aided me in overcoming and enduring.

This is on my mind as I begin to read The Hobbit to my 3.5 year old daughter and hope to fill her head with a love for green, dragons, talking dragons, wizards, courage and well-written literature.

Thanks for your time.