Why is it so real?

[FrodoFriend]

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who's experienced the following . . . sitting on my bed in the dark, listening to the LotR soundtrack . . . feeling as if Middle Earth were really only a foot away from me, if I could only reach out and somehow tear away the reality, or unreality, separating me from it . . . or that perhaps this life is just a dream and Middle Earth is the real world . . . my point is, why? What makes Middle Earth so real? The myriad species and their interaction? Other fantasy books have equally or even more complicated societies. The characters? Tolkien was a fantastic writer of believable character, but he wasn't the only one. So what is it? Why does ME seem more profound and deep to me (and presumably most of the Tolkienites here) than any other fictional story - even more real at times that stuff I see on the news or read about in the newspaper?

I think the thing that has brought ME to life the most for me is the fact that the main characters (as in the Hobbits), have no special powers, and are simply trying to find their way through a world too dark and menacing for them. Reminds me of our world.

Any insight into the magic of LotR?

[Coney]

For me it's a combination of the beautiful (emotion filled) story and the familiarity of the characters.

We all know someone who is a little like either Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Butterbur, Bill Ferny, Lobelia and the old nurse in the houses of healing et al

Tolkien, thankfully, put just as much of his heart and soul into the "little people" as he did to the "Great people" and to encompass so many different real characters in such a HUGE tale is what makes the story stand out from so many other high-fantasy tales

He tells such a complicated story from so many different angles (characters pov)......brilliant

[Blackboar]

I just feel really empty, there is always a book in my bag, or I'm listening to the soundtrack, or on entmoot, or listening to the movie, if I'm not I feel empty, hollow, uncomplete.
I wish I lived on ME litterally, not just in my dreams.

[barrelrider110]

Perhaps it's the world Tolkien created. There is detail, and detail beyond detail. You get the feeling that in Middle Earth there are thousands upon thousands of stories all of them fascinating. The characters are equally as captivating. There are elves, trolls, dwarves, and wizards—the stuff of our childhood bedtime stories. And when we heard those stories, weren’t they real?

It's perhaps that we identify so closely with the hobbits. They are an unremarkable people yet they remind us of the phrase "still waters run deep." They are appealing, good natured, honest, hard working, convivial, and we come to know a few, as Coney said, and they are all different and all likeable. I could easily be a hobbit, work in the garden, and go to the Green Dragon and talk for hours over a pint (or 2) with any of them.

Then there's the beauty of the place. Tolkien describes the places as if he was there, and perhaps he was.

It's a simple, uncomplicated world. Good is fair, and evil is foul. It's someplace we would all like to go and live, or at least to visit. In our world, what seems good we find out is simply not so. Our world is a treacherous world.

Sorry for rambling a bit, but it's all so hard to put into words. I guess it’s all of the above, and more.

[Sister Golden Hair]

I wish I had a holodec, I would be in there everday.

[cassiopeia]

I think it seems so real because it's written like it is history. Like in the FOTR when Strider talks a little about Beren and Luthien. You get the feeling it's a long and beautiful myth. Then you read the Silmarillion and you get a bigger glimpse in the story of Beren and Luthien. Even though the books are filled with magic and mythical creatures it feels real. Tolkien went to such great lengths to describe the history and the landscapes, some part of you questions whether perhaps it is real.
I want a holodec too, SHG. I would love to walk down Bagshot Row and say good morning to Samwise and Mr. Frodo.

[Wayfarer]

Subcreation.

[Lelondul]

The Depth. Absolutely. You figure the full narration of The Lord of the Rings encapsulates the the events that took place over the course of a mere 20 years (from Bilbo's Party, to the ring's destruction). This was the only the very end of one age where a full three ages, apporximately 3000 years-long each, existed previously. To think that the same sort of rich detail, entertaining dialogue, and heroic deeds lie behind every story in the Silmarillion is pretty overwhelming.

Additionally, these events in the preceeding ages were of a scale so grand, that they endure in the most cherished songs and legends of all the difference races of Middle-earth as it was known in the Lord of the Rings.

The diversity and detail of the various races is what truly sets the works apart. Tolkien spent his life studying (in the perhaps the most world reknown University) the history required to create such believeable detail.

Now what other fantasy writing/writer has accomplished that? *crickets chirp in the silence*

Thought so.

[cassiopeia]

Originally posted by Lelondul
The Depth. Absolutely. You figure the full narration of The Lord of the Rings encapsulates the the events that took place over the course of a mere 20 years (from Bilbo's Party, to the ring's destruction). This was the only the very end of one age where a full three ages, apporximately 3000 years-long each, existed previously. To think that the same sort of rich detail, entertaining dialogue, and heroic deeds lie behind every story in the Silmarillion is pretty overwhelming.

And to think that in the Silmarillion, there is only one paragraph of Frodo's adventure:

For Frodo the Halfling, it is said, at the bidding of Mithrandir took on himself the burden, and alone with his servant he passed through peril and darkness and came at last in Sauron's despite even to Mount Doom; and there into the Fire where it was wrought he cast the Great Ring of Power, and so at last it was unmade and its evil consumed.

[Arathorn]

The detail the author took time to put into describing the scenery as well as the characters makes the world seem like a character in itself.

This not-so-young soul of mine wasn't seeing his bedroom for about a week after reading the Lord of the Rings oppus for the first time 10 yrs ago. All around him were mountains, ents, mallorn trees and glittering caves. Good thing I just graduated from college as I wasn't in this world then.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Arathorn
The detail the author took time to put into describing the scenery as well as the characters makes the world seem like a character in itself.

Absolutely. The depth people are all on the money. Most fantasy writing is like creating a movie set where only what you can see seems real and its just scafolding and wooden planks behind it. Tolkien created a world. And a massive rich history. He created half a dozen WHOLE languages! He created a premis and a reason for everything that existed. And he added detail on everything down to the smallest stitch in the fabric of his world. Theres never been anything like that. Not even close. If these books were never read this world would still exist like a self functioning cell on its own because its complete and there is no white washed backside to it like you have in pretty much all other fantasy/science fiction writing. This is also probably why Tolkien appeals to people who may otherwise not get into fantasy writing at all.

[FrodoFriend]

I wonder how he did it . . .

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by FrodoFriend
I wonder how he did it . . .

maybe it was from personal experience.... *creepy twilight zone music starts to play*

[Wayfarer]

He started when he was a child, and he worked on it continuously until the day he died.

[Rían]

Originally posted by cassiopeia
And to think that in the Silmarillion, there is only one paragraph of Frodo's adventure:

Great point, Cass! I'd never thought of it that way before.

[Elvedans]

SHHHHH!!!! You're all spoiling it for me! Isn't it real? I mean Father Christmas is real so Middle Earth must be too!

[Elf.Freak]

sometimes i listen to the soundtrack before i go to bed because it gets me rested!

[FrodoFriend]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
maybe it was from personal experience.... *creepy twilight zone music starts to play*

I sure hope so!