# Lord of the Rings Questions!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-questions/228252>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 9, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-questions/228252 "2004-02-09T08:50:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 39

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**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-questions/228252/39 "2004-02-11T04:27:05Z")

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> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#):
>
> What all of you are **obviously** failing to take into account is the fact that Salmar-Lirillo not only was the twin-brother of Ómar-Amillo, but was also known as **Golthadriel**!! And that **Gwerlum** was was Ungoliant’s original name!  
> (Cite: HOMES I, aka BOLT1)
> 
> This shows implicitly that language structure was the driving force behind the entire narrative, and that JRRT would have been served better if he had stuck by his original plan to make Valinorean the default tongue of the Vanyar in the blessed…
> 
> OK, maybe I’m delving a bit too deep into the lore. I’ll stop.

Dude, you are in Geek Central, no question, and I don’t doubt watching grown men and women drone on about such minutia as if we were debating the finer points of Biblical literature could justifiably illicit a fair amount of ridicule. I’m fully aware, and I’m OK with it. Tolkien’s works have some pretty significant flaws, no question, and I never expect that Tolkien will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Melville, Joyce, Shakespeare, or any of the other greatest-of-greats. I myself find the title “Author of the Century” to be completely over the top, unless you’re focusing on sales.

But I love these books. I love them in a way that makes no sense even to myself. There is something simply magnificent about it all, and I’ve given up trying to justify it. If it makes me a hopeless geek, it’s the price I must pay.

So, by all means, start a thread bashing people such as myself and have a ball. But in the confines of this discussion, can we just be left to have our fun without the train of thought being hijacked with derision? I’m not offended personally, and I do have a sense of humor about these things. I’d even be happy to join in on some self-deprecating mirthfulness. But there is, as they say, a time and a place, perhaps?

Thanks!

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