linaewen | Fandom Snowflake Challenge Day 6

Day Six

In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul.

Tolkien's work changed my life! I can say it no better than C.S. Lewis when he wrote about the Lord of the Rings trilogy: " ...here are beauties which pierce like swords, or burn like cold iron; here is a book that will break your heart."

I first read The Hobbit and LotR in 8th grade -- over 40 years ago -- and my heart was broken, though in the best way imaginable. I fell in love that day, and have been an avid fan of all things Tolkien ever since. I have done my best to read everything by him and about him I could get my hands on. The tale of Middle-earth in all its ages is a tale I can read over and over again -- and I do so at least once a year. It never ceases to amaze me how I can always find something new in the story. I never get tired of it! One thing I enjoy is the tale's rich detail; it is more like reading a history of the world than a story. That history is about beings like me who struggle with moral choices and learn to live with their decisions. They have real-life temptations and failings, yet they work through them with honor, faith and joy. It is a tale of friendship and loyalty, of treachery and despair, of sacrifice and redemption. It was the characters in LotR who first inspired me to start writing and reading fanfiction after having my love for Middle-earth augmented even further by the films that have been produced over the course of the last 13 years or so. There's something about having 30 years worth of personal imagining suddenly visualized on the big screen -- one just has to write about it!

There have been other books, films, shows and fandoms that have gripped me, and still do, but nothing can compare to the intensity or the duration of my love for Tolkien's masterpiece!