The Tales That Really Mattered (inspiration and source material)

[Rex]

Or someone/thing that has existed just as long. I have always viewed him as representing nature itself.

[Starbeard]

Tom would be a great host for an anthology series of elder tales.

Or better yet, if they plan to start filming new stories, it would be fun to have a series about Buckland and the Old Forest, with Farmer Maggot as the central patron character.

[Starbeard]

I've watched through all of the Tolkien adaptations again over the past 18 months or so.

The Bakshi cartoon will always be a guilty pleasures and a favorite, not much will ever change there.

The BBC radio dramas were also still very enjoyable the second time around, too. These are probably my favorite adaptations, but they are obviously a big time investment.

I was surprised to find how much more I enjoyed Fellowship than I did 10-15 years ago. I adored Fellowship when it came out, struggling with Two Towers after the first couple of viewings, and sat mostly bored through Return of the King. Then came a decade of annoyance at the whole trilogy: all that dizzying camera swirling and teen drama show acting got to me, it was just too much hamfisted emotion without any pauses to breathe. But now that I've taken some years away from them, I'm finding that Fellowship has become genuinely enjoyable again. I can take or leave the other two, but I'm happy to put Fellowship next to my other favorite adaptations.

The biggest surprise came from the Ranking/Bass cartoons. I found myself not enjoying The Hobbit as much as I used to, and enjoying Return of the King a lot more than I used to. No idea why.

[Inferno]

I have fond childhood memories of the Rankin-Bass Hobbit cartoon. I'd better not go back and watch it and risk losing those memories. Ignorance is bliss.

Of Jackson's LOTR trilogy, I like Fellowship a lot but Two Towers is my favorite. Elrond, Wormtongue and Theoden are all wonderful, with lots of great Shakespearean lines. And Helm's Deep is the climax of the whole trilogy to me. It doesn't get better than Gandalf and the Rohirrim charging down that 110 degree slope shouting, "To the King!"

Return of the King is all anticlimax, especially its four ending scenes. Extended Cut almost saves it, with the Mouth of Sauron and the Voice of Saruman.

[rredmond]

Theoden is my favorite character throughout the movies and books in all honesty. His speeches catch the spirit of D&D for me too, just all "hey we're likely to die today, but let us die like the heroes we are!" He's also the one who came from so low, with such tragedy, to so high and inspired the Rohirrim and Éomer like none other. Plus their mix of folksy and civilized, it's just good stuff.

[Inferno]

Agree! Plus he gets the added benefit of a heroic death.

[Starbeard]

If you like Theoden and the Rohirrim, then the Battle of Maldon might be up your alley. Tolkien was an avid expert on that poem, and even wrote a sequel:

http://www.battleofmaldon.org.uk/jrrtolkien.html

That page also has some contextual information on the original poem, plus a translation of the text itself. Lots of good old Anglo-Saxon heroic tragedy to be had.

[Inferno]

Thanks for the reco, Starbeard. Will check it out!