Middle-earth Journeys

Welcome serinde . I can see we'll have a lot to talk about!

Hello serinde

You make some great comments, I like you read the books in my teens and regularly since and do make natural comparisons to the movies (some good, some bad) but i feel keeping them separate works for me because then i can enjoy each for their own merits.

Having said that you could say the books will always be my favourites ( I carry a copy of the LOTR in the car and listen whilst at work driving about to the talking book versions of all from the Sil to ROTK)

so welcome and enjoy

Greetings friends,

Using my true name, despite being Swedish and after Estel's warning...

If I were to use an alias it would probably be Gwaihir. I always like the Eagles, and Gwaihir is a very nice name. My name means Peter (Per) King (Håkan) Eagle/Forest (Arvid) Son of (sson), so there is an eagle in there too. Per is Christian of course, while Håkan and Arvid have old Norse roots. They do not have any meaning in modern-day Swedish.

I started with reading Bilbo in Swedish when I was very young. One Christmas, I was given the complete works in Swedish. It took me quite a long time to get through them all. I had probably re-read LotR about three times before I managed to get through UT.

During my first semester at university in Sweden, I studied Geoscience in the day-time and English at night, while working at a restaurant and partying like there was no tomorrow. I then bought Bilbo and LotR in English. I loved them both even more. The Swedish translations are really quite poor, although there may be better ones by now...

Later, I picked up everything else that Tolkien had written, including HoME. I read it all for fun. Then I started to read what other people had written about Tolkien, so when I had to write a longer paper (BA level in English Lit.) the choice of something about Tolkien was a given. The result "The Ring" can be downloaded from this forum.

Next, it was time for the MA thesis, which of course had to be about Tolkien as well. I tried to get my hands on everything ever written about Tolkien, and then decided that a great MA thesis must be hidden in the manuscripts to LotR. Reading the manuscripts, I re-discovered Aragorn, and since very little had been said about him in other scholarly writings, I just had to write about him. I am making this text available to you here as well, in increments...

My MA thesis has been failed twice, which is one of the reasons I am here. I arrive here a Tolkien scholar, but still with a lot to learn. I find it is very easy to get lost in Tolkien's writings, and right now I am lost at sea. I hope that you will help me find the shore.

Hold on tightly,
Gwaihir

It's wonderful to know more about you, Gwaihir--great name!

I also live in the academic world, and I find that my colleagues in English literature, in general, do not take Tolkien very seriously. Their loss, in my mind! Do you think you might be the victim of a similar prejudice?

Thanks for the info Gwaiher. I too love the name and sentiment it invokes. What is it about Tolkien that makes us wade through things like HoME "just for fun"? There's a lot of good thesis material there.

Again...welcome, and...

Gotta LOVE that Tolkien!

It has been major probem also here... I heard a similar thing. A person wanted to write his doctorate on Tolkien and was said not to do so because he would fail. Luckely I here also very possitive notes these days, with no less then three persons these days writing a doctorate on Tolkien (subjects). And I hear they all are 'very' good, so am now waiting to get my hands on the papers when they finish. My good friend, Johan Vanhecke (author of many Tolkien articles and even a book about Tolkien), is proof reading and guiding at least one of them. So if he is into it, it will be great!

By the way... lovely name and lovely person! Welcome... I'm feeling very new here still, but am glad to welcome you here. This is the first board where there is no spamming and all is very professional and talks are merry and always interesting. I'm sure you will feel quit at home here!

Per Håkan Arvidsson wrote:Greetings friends,

Using my true name, despite being Swedish and after Estel's warning...

If I were to use an alias it would probably be Gwaihir. I always like the Eagles, and Gwaihir is a very nice name. My name means Peter (Per) King (Håkan) Eagle/Forest (Arvid) Son of (sson), so there is an eagle in there too. Per is Christian of course, while Håkan and Arvid have old Norse roots. They do not have any meaning in modern-day Swedish.

Hej Per
Sorry for not being active at MeJ for a very long time, very limited computer time, I'm afraid. Per contacted me, seeing that we are countrymen, so it seems I will have to go through his posts and the thesis to comment on them. I will try to find time. I find it absolutely fascinating that you are able to do academic studies of Tolkien in Sweden, considering that nobody really takes him seriously. It has changed for the better in England and the US, but Sweden, oh no. No wonder you've had problems. Your ideas seem very interesting, but I certainly won't agree with everything. I never do. Nice to be back here. Welcome Per, I hope you can fill in for me, making some comments from a Swedish point of view.
I can see why you go by your real name in the forum, considering that you post papers with your name on, but I do get a little worried . Well, if you get stalked rest assured that Estel, the fierce little ranger will come to your rescue with a really sharp sword.
Now for a little name geek comment: You have a very impressive name , my friend. Per (Peter the rock) Håkan (kingly, noble) Arvidsson. Arvid actually means eagle-tree and is a poetic word for warrior , I know because this name is one of many Old Norse names in my family as well. I once entertained myself translating some old cool names to "Elvish", your last name Arvidsson would be Soronaldarion in Quenya and Thorongaladhrion in Sindarin, I believe , -ion meaning descendant, because I think Arvid probably is your ancestor, not your father.

Arvid is actually the name of my grand-father. There was some upswing for the old custom of giving last names after the father's first name when my father was born.

My grand-father's family name is Håkansson, which doesn't make him a son of mine, hehe.

I do use several non-Tolkien related aliases on the internet, but here I feel safe enough to use my real name.

Feel free to call me Gwaihir though.

It may interest you, Estel, that a friend of mine has also attempted to study Tolkien at university in Sweden as I have done. I believe her MA thesis was passed. I may be able to get her to join us here. She is rather fond of the internet. You will certainly love her name, if she dare stell you all what it is...

It's lovely to learn more about you Per "Gwaihir" - very fitting choice!

I'm sure we'll have some fantastic debates here and don't lose heart over your thesis.

This is the first board where there is no spamming and all is very professional and talks are merry and always interesting. I'm sure you will feel quit at home here

Beren - very kind comments . This is what we all hoped to achieve!

haha... but i truly believe my words are true...

I bought a boxed set of 'The Hobbit' and LoTR from school a few years ago but it wasn't until I started going out with Marbretherese and watched the films with her and Iolanthe (a mutual friend) that I really 'got into' Tolkien (sorry !). I read (and thoroughly enjoyed) 'The Hobbit' and am now about half-way through 'The Fellowship', which is just a wonderful tale, full of suspense and engaging characters. I'm particularly interested in finding out more about the impact of the World Wars on Tolkien's writing, and the influence of his Catholicism. Very pleased to be joining MEJ and looking forward to many happy and thought-provoking hours !

Welcome to Middle-earth Journeys jonick! It's good to know that there is yet one more Tolkien fan out there. I hope we hear from you often.

Hello jonick . Nice to see you here . Still only in Fellowship eh? I expect you to have read the whole thing before we hit the Tolkien trail in Oxford tomorrow .

Oxford tomorrow? We expect a detailed report, of course!

Welcome, jonick! We envy you--such a wonderful new experience ahead of you!

Hello and welcome jonick

Enjoy the Fellowship.......I kinda envy you reading it for the first time not knowing what Tolkien has in store next