You may have seen the previous post like this by Lilly, but I though I could add a few things. I too am a huge Tolkien fan, and despite not having read all his books (or doing research on them), I have a lot of random stuff that I’ve collected, and am in the process of reading the Silmarillion. I hope to read through all the books soon enough an own the full collection, but for now this is pretty much all I have; the largest collection of a single thing I own!
First I suppose it should start with these two books, The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings. I got these two really lovely editions a few years ago for Christmas, and proceeded to finish the Hobbit in about two days. They are both full of great illustrations by Alan Lee.
Next here are some other random books I own. I recently bought and started reading The Silmarillion. Also here is the Tolkien dictionary which is great for basic information on pretty much everything. The languages book is a very interesting intro into how the major languages that Tolkien invented work and how they were made. The other two deal with some of the background of Middle Earth in how it was made, and the inspirations and ideas it was built upon.
Next up are these three books. Tolkien’s World has nice big prints of a lot of illustrations, mostly by Alan Lee and John Howe. What you can see there as The Hobbit is actually a comic adaptation of the Hobbit with really nice art that Lilly got me a couple years ago. And at the forefront is The Atlas of Middle-Earth. There are a lot of different Atlases and maps for Middle-Earth, but none are quite like this one by Karen Wynn Fonstad. It’s a complete atlas of absolutely everything in Middle-Earth, Beleriand, Valinor and Númenor, including details of major cities, and movements during wars and battles from the First Age to the end of the Third Age.
Another three books here are part of a set, one that I haven’t got in completion, but these are the ones I want. They are The Hobbit Chronicles books. Despite most of the Hobbit films being fairly disappointing, I still absolutely love the design that went into all of the characters and places, just as with the LotR films. These books basically just show off a ton of concept art and designs from behind the scenes by Weta Workshop, and they’re fascinating.
A quick mention has to be made for The One Ring RPG. I’ve already given it it’s own post here, and I’m writing a story based on it’s campaign books starting here. Clearly one of the main reasons I love this RPG is that it’s based in Middle-Earth, but really the best thing about it is that it isn’t simply a D&D clone with a different setting, but it is actually built from scratch to give the players adventures with specific mechanics that make them feel like they are in one of Tolkien’s stories.
Speaking of games, I can’t possible skip mentioning some videogames here. Some of my favourite games from when I was younger where the LotR PS2 games, especially the Return of The King one in the middle here. I also Loved the Battle for Middle-Earth real time strategy game, and wish they’d make another one someday.
Also a quick mention to a couple of little toys 😀 The plushie Bilbo is another present from Lilly from a while ago, and the Lego Gandalf I bought because Gandalf and Lego are awesome, obviously.
And finally, like with my last geek obsession post, I finish with tshirts. I own a few more but here are some of my favourites: a whole series of Middle-Earth beer labels designed by Cory Freeman Design and sold on Qwertee. I already have another one being shipped to me right now to add to the collection, this time for ‘Prancing Pony Porter’, It comes in pints! 😀
ManaBurnt 