rivendellrose | ...the crownless again shall be king

It was a bit over three years ago when I first saw Fellowship of the Ring... despite having adored the books when I was younger, I took a while to see the movie, not going til January or February. In an instant, I was entranced. I remembered the wonder the books had brought me, and was transported more fully than ever into the world they had created.

I've never been so deeply hooked.

I was so eager to reread the books that I actually downloaded them off the internet, in PDF form, and read the whole trilogy over probably three or four days over a weekend. Don't worry, though - it wasn't long before I had rushed out to buy my own copies.

For the last three years, we've had the privilege of watching what I consider a cinematic masterpiece unfold - another trilogy of this quality will probably not be seen in a long time. I, personally, will probably always hold it highest in esteem... but I know I'm a bit biased. I've explained it many times, while arguing for the necessity of some tiny detail that was either included or left out, but it bears repeating - these books are mythology to me, as Professor Tolkien had intended them to be for England.

I first read the Hobbit when I was in 2nd grade, and the Lord of the Rings in 3rd. Which is not, of course, to say that I understood them, but I truly believe that words have an ability to absorb into one's mind, especially when read or heard at a young age, and stay there forever. The words of these books are engrained on my heart. I can look impassively and discuss flaws in Tolkien's writing style and diction - I may not like the way he writes some things, or the way he deals with some of his characters or situations, but that can never change the adoration I feel for the books as a whole. When I first reread the Hobbit two summers ago, I felt the resurgance in my heart of a magic I hadn't felt since I was probably twelve.

I felt the same when I saw these movies.

Peter Jackson has created something magical - something which I would almost call better, in it's way, than the original books. Both have their good points, and their bad points, but both are, to my mind, myth and magic given form.

To Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens, Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor, Grant Major, Howard Shore, the cast, the crew, the orchestra, and every person who had a hand in making that movie all that it was, I give my heart-felt thanks, purely for having been witness to all of this. True art is a thing that enlivens the spirit, gives vent and extension to our emotions, and reminds us of what life, love, and humanity truly are - for me, this trilogy has been the quintessential expression of all that.