Monday, September 22, 2014

Happy Hobbit Day 2014

Today is Hobbit Day.  It is the day chosen by the fan community to celebrate the works of Professor Tolkien's Middle-earth cycle.  In the books, September 22nd* (of The Shire Reckoning) is the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.  It is also the date Bilbo "disappeared" from his 111th birthday party to leave The Shire forever and the date that Frodo left Bag End seventeen years later to begin his quest to destroy the One Ring of Sauron.

My original from 1984.  The cover is almost detached.  This may be the last year I read this copy.

September 22nd also happens to mark the day on which I begin my yearly rereading of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Every year since I first read the books back in 1984 (I was 13 at the time) I have opened The Fellowship of the Ring and accompanied Frodo and his companions on their long journey through Middle-earth.  I don't always complete all three books and I'm sure I have missed a year here and there.  But there can be no doubt that I have read the books at least 25 times over the years...and counting.  I'm so very thankful that I discovered Tolkien's works so very long ago.  For it was Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli, and the others that directly lead to my love of roleplaying, wargaming, and miniatures.

So happy Hobbit Day to you all.  Now it's time for me to open my well-read copy of The Fellowship of the Ring and start my journey anew.

* Note: I am well aware of the differences between our calendar and that of The Shire.  September 22nd has been chosen by consensus as the date to celebrate Bilbo and Frodo's birthday rather than the converted date.  I'd rather not debate the merits of September 13th-ish vs. September 22nd.  To me, it's just not that important.  So have a pint, raise your mug, and drink one with me!

Thanks for reading!

5 comments:

  1. Cheers on The Hobbit day! With hopes of hairy feet and a full glass of dry-hopped!

    Jag skålar dig för i hela helvete och lite till! (I have heard that Tolkien had some affinity to the Nordic languages, so I regularly take me the freedom to post in Scandinavian, not for rudeness, but in honour for mr T)!

    As a little sidenote, I actually discovered the MERP-system before the books which was rather interesting. Wonderful books - I've read them "only" four or five times and am holding off a while so I don't learn them to the letter and get bored!

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  2. Ahh... I love MERP. It's definitely my second favorite roleplaying system. I still have some of my original rule books and modules from back in the old days.

    Northern languages are cool with me. I just wish I knew how to translate it (naturally w/o a computer of course).

    Thanks for your comments!

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  3. I remembered Hobbit Day but missed your post! I haven't read the trilogy for the past couple of years in favor of re-reading The Hobbit in preparation for the current movies. Not sure how many times I've read them but It's got to be a lot since I was introduced back in '76/'77 (yikes!). I wish I had more MERP stuff, too.

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  4. Sorry to come late to this post, which I enjoyed. I concur, this book and the hobbit itself, starting me off on a long appreciation of fantasy worlds... and like you are often re-read... happy belated Hobbit day!

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  5. Hello mr Blackwarden, I do hope you are alright and start to post again. We miss you!

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