A Writer in Training: The Professor: Celebrating J. R. R. Tolkien

It's January 3rd, a very special day. Any guesses why?

Drum roll, please...

It is the birthday of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, creator of the stunningly detailed and fascinating world of Middle-earth. A world I entered at the age of seven or eight and continue to wander through happily. And of course, "not all those who wander are lost."

Traditionally, Tolkien fans celebrate this day with a toast to "the Professor" at 9 pm. Join me. won't you? I and my siblings intend to propose this toast, although we may not be toasting with anything more interesting than water. But Tolkien clearly didn't look down on water, as readers of Return of the King may remember, so it won't matter in the slightest.

Now, back to J. R. R. Tolkien's books. He's best known for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. (Find my book/movie reviews here for Hobbit and here for Lord of the Rings.) The stories and the characters are wonderful, and the books are easier to read than say, The Silmarillion. The aforementioned Silmarillion is amazing, though, and absolutely essential for any hardcore Tolkien fan. Detailed history of Middle-earth, including its creation, new characters to love, stunning stories (literally... Hurin's family had it tough), maps, Elvish languages notes...

I also love the other History of Middle Earth books. Unfinished Tales, the Books of Lost Tales, the Children of Hurin, and still more.

I really like my boxed Tolkien sets.

Also other books by Tolkien such as The Tolkien Reader and his translations from old English literature (it was so much fun studying Sir Gawain and the Green Knight knowing that J. R. R. Tolkien translated it).

And not only are these books fantastic, but they also make great bookends.

But why exactly do I love Tolkien's works so much?

Perhaps it's something to do with growing up with them. Once I'd finished The Hobbit, it was only natural to pick up Lord of the Rings (although, I ended up putting it down again, because I couldn't keep track of all the characters at age nine). Then I moved on to the Silmarillion a little later and dove into Middle-earth history (and trivia... I can recite the names of several Valar at the drop of a hat ;)). Besides, several other members of my family love Tolkien books too, so we can discuss the books and the movies and the characters together. (Finding all the problems with the movies was a popular conversation topic. Still is.)

After reading and watching the movies, I started my career as a Tolkien artist. Well, not really. Not at all, actually. But I did suddenly realize that it would be interesting to draw Tolkien characters, and I've loved drawing since I was very young. So I started at around thirteen, and I now have quite an accumulation of drawings with varying levels of accuracy and quality. Here's a few.