How did you find CoE?
I had joined the official Fan Club ( lotrfanclub.com) but after a few months was frustrated with many aspects of their site. I started searching the internet for better Tolkien and Lord of The Rings related sites and after a few months I stumbled into CoE. I joined right away and haven’t looked back.
What are your duties here at CoE?
I have a few different duties that I have currently taken on. First and foremost, I moderate the forums in the ‘Roleplaying’ and ‘Discuss the Books Forum’. I am also currently one of the Leaders in the Realm of Estë . The most challenging duty I have taken on right now, but one that I really enjoy, is that of finding the ’Quote of the Week’ for the Book Club forum.
What are your favourite areas of the site?
In no special order, my favorites are (judging by the amount of time I spend in them) the ‘Discuss the Books’, ‘Book Club” and ‘Roleplaying’ forums, along with the Realm of Estë. I also enjoy Elrond’s Library and take special pride in the fact that every entry, in what is rapidly becoming one of the best online references, was written up by our own membership. I also visit the Members Gallery every week and enjoy being able to see the faces behind of our peculiar user names. I do try to visit all parts of the site on a regular basis but those are the areas I devote the most time to.
How often do you visit CoE?
Every day. For just plain personal enjoyment and mental stimulation, I have volunteered for enough responsibilities, that I almost need to visit everyday just keep on top of them. I wouldn’t do it though if it wasn’t so much fun. Between the Staff and Membership we have a great group of people here and it is a pleasure working for, and with, them.
How many times have you read the books?
That’s hard to say; I first read LOTR back in 1972 and I’ve read it at least once each year ever since. I read ‘The Hobbit’ shortly after I first read LOTR and have probably reread it a good ten or twelve times. I bought “The Silmarillion” when it was first released but have always had trouble with the earliest chapters. As a result I’ve only read that book a few times so far, although I am currently reading it again along with The Book Club and I must say that our chapter discussions so far have gone a long way towards changing my opinion of the early chapters.
I’ve only read ‘The Unfinished Tales’ a few times so far, although I thoroughly enjoy all the background information that can be found there.
As to ‘The History Of Middle-earth’ volumes 1 to 13, I must confess that I only purchased that set of books shortly after I became a mod and although I often use them as a reference and have by now read pretty well every chapter, I’ve never actually read any book in the “HOME’ series from cover to cover.
Who is your favourite LOTR character?
I’ve always had a fondness for the Ents and my favorite is probably Quickbeam.
Do you have a favourite scene from the trilogy?
In both The Book and The Movies, my favorite scene is the Battle of Helm’s Deep. To me that battle is pivotal as before then Sauron had almost everything going his way.
What character left out of the films do you miss most?
Although he was probably the easiest character for PJ to omit from the films, I was saddened that Bombadil didn’t make the films at all. I felt that not having the Hobbits be given their weapons by Bombadil from the barrow-wights stash weakened the stabbing of the Lord of The Nazgul as it was unclear why that sword was able to penetrate his flesh.
Do you know any Sindarin or Quenya?
I am not very good at languages and am sad to say that I can only recognize a few phrases in either language.
What are you looking forward most to in ROTK EE?
With close to an hour of extra scenes, I’m hard pressed to say which of them I look forward to the most. I guess I am most curious about seeing the way that PJ handled Saruman meeting his end.
