# Post-LOTR depression: All will love them and despair **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** middle-earth\ **Created:** [August 5, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403 "2004-08-05T03:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/61 "2026-10-13T14:56:30Z")
I’ve sung shanties while at a bar next to the ocean. I was drunk off my ass on rum, which I always assumed made it authentic enough. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/62 "2026-10-13T14:59:01Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So has anyone else sung Sea Shanties on wooden sail boat? > Or even while skippering a wooden sailboat? Sorry - only fiberglass ones. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/63 "2026-10-13T19:59:19Z")
Good luck! I’m a rather voracious reader. I’ve tried it twice and still haven’t made it all the way through. It isn’t even that long … I feel so ashamed. 😑 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/64 "2026-10-13T20:33:29Z")
It can be a little difficult, but I loved reading books of legends & mythology so it was right in my wheelhouse. Some of the stories are really, really good. I especially love Fingolfin’s. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/65 "2026-10-13T20:37:38Z")
I’ve always love myths and legends. I read lots of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology. The last time I tried was during a particularly difficult time in my life. I do plan to try again, because I feel like I haven’t completed the I dunno journey? Anyway, I will try again. No little kids, less financial drama to distract me. I just have to be in the mood. I hope I can find it online. I can’t read the text in books anymore. It’s too small. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/66 "2026-10-13T21:03:54Z")
Yeah, the start of The Silmarillion is beautiful in its way, but it’s also a slog. If the “Akallabeth” and “Valaquenta” don’t grab you, then feel free to skip past them to the actual Tales. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/67 "2026-10-13T22:35:28Z")
You mean _Ainulindalë_, don’t you? _Akallabêth_ is pretty late in the book. (I’m an auditor. I get paid to be anal-retentive.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/68 "2026-10-14T00:07:06Z")
I should have known that. (and this place being full of nitpickers is part of why I hang out here) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/69 "2026-10-14T04:22:56Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I liked the first **Hobbit** , I disliked the second, I hated the third. Oh boy was that awful. > > **The LotR movies** are close to perfect. Yeah, The First Hobbit film and especially Bilbo and the Shire, with the Dwarves in Bilbo’s house?? Great, fantastic. The other two have some great moments with the While Council vs the :Necromancer". Galadriel in her power was great. But the padding, stupid over the top action sequences, and the silly-ass lover story- BAD. Still, worth watching, but I use the Fast Forward. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > But it was the scenes that were faithful to the book that you mostly liked about it, right? Like “An Unexpected Party” and “Riddles in the Dark” ? Yes. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > So has anyone else sung Sea Shanties on wooden sail boat? (nerd alert, warning) I had a Bard who had the Sailor background who did Sea Shanties, and was a Cook also. In the SCA someone built a small scale viking ship and we sang various sea songs- until it started leaking… ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/70 "2026-10-14T07:12:39Z")
We are going to a **LoTR** and **The Hobbit** trivia on Saturday…we suspect mostly movie based. Partner is an absolute master of **LoTR** and has read and watched everything including The Silmarilion 😵‍💫 We are just finishing the movies. A suggestion for those in mourning. **The Expanse** …both the series and the books is IMNSHO a worthy contender for your enjoyment. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403/71 "2026-10-14T07:15:13Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I liked the first **Hobbit** , I disliked the second, I hated the third. Oh boy was that awful. My favorite part of watching _The Battle of Five Armies_ in the theater was when Legolas slow-motion ran up the falling pieces of a collapsing bridge and then hit a hurricanrana on an orc, and **the entire sold-out Seattle Cinerama** burst out laughing. (I mean, running up the falling pieces of a collapsing bridge is probably something a Tolkien elf could actually do, but the execution was just terrible, and the hurricanrana was the icing on the cake.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-lotr-depression-all-will-love-them-and-despair/258403.md?page=3)