This was a cool picture (http://theringbearer.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=356&st=0&#entry8517) that I found at "The Ring Bearer Forums." I thought fans might like this photo.

Oops... This Wesmorrisbabe. I forgot to log out of Wesmorris' 'account.

Indeed, a very cool pic. That was from a recent photo session with Premiere magazine I believe. I saw some special on it, I don't know when.

Very cute hobbitses.

Those guys play their parts so well. It's a shame that I haven't read the books yet. I probably will after I see ROTK.

You haven't read the books? Do so immediately!

Originally posted by airavata
You haven't read the books? Do so immediately!

Nope. But my new Years Resolution is to read one book a week (every 7 days). I will be reading LOTR and The Hobbit when I get the chance. I already have them on my amazon.com wish list.

Actually, wait until you've seen the last movie before reading the books, it's probably better that way...

Had you have read Silmarillion before you would know so much more of what is going on. Peter Jackson is going into these movies having read all of the books, and don't believe for once second that he didn't put nerdy little factoids in there for the fortunate few who have read all of them.

Anyone see the Primetime Exclusive thingy on LOTR last night? Sweet...

I've been, actually, wondering what "The Silmarillion" is about. Is it a collection of information that Tolkien had written, sort of like notes by which he wrote his stories, or is it a collection of stories too?

Not all of the way through it, but it's a collection of stories.

The Silmarillion is quite possibly the most boring piece of writing that I have ever read.

The Silmarillion is basically the epic sotry of the creation of the world, of humans, elves, and then tehir corruption by the dark lord, who was boss of SAuron. Its written in an old fashioned epic style, hence can be nmistaken for being boring, but if you use yor imagination its brilliant. Dragons get created in it, the world gets a mooon and a morning star, there all sorts of epic love stories and battles and betrayals. The LOTR is kind of what you woudl egt if you expanded a 2 year episode from the SIlmarillion, except that the Silmarillion is more epic and grander in scale. teh men who fought on teh side of good were the ancestors of the men of gondor. If you have a copy of lTR with the proper time line in the back, look at it carefully, the Silmarillion describes the time before most of those time lines. As a work of fiction it has very few peers, being in a category of its own.
I read the hobbit, then much later, LOTR, then i think i read the silmarillion when iw as 17, but found it hard going. then i reread it when i was more like 20 or 21, and found it very good.

You can also get "the book of lost tales" i think thats the title, which is a few different versions of stories in the silmarillion, and a lot more stories he didnt put in that book. And Christopher Tolkein has put out his dads notes and sketchs and ideas etc in various books. Tolkein wrote many different versions of the various stories, many attempts at getting them right, over the 30 or more years he was writing the histories of middle earth.

It is difficult reading, but Tolkien is just so brilliant... Once you've fallen in love with Middle Earth, I highly suggest reading of its origins and struggles.

Since they started releasing the Lays of Beleriand and all that stuff there's quite a lot to read... might be hard to get through before ROTK comes out.:)