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.
Sorry - only fiberglass ones.
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. 
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.
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.
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.
You mean Ainulindalë, don’t you? Akallabêth is pretty late in the book.
(I’m an auditor. I get paid to be anal-retentive.)
I should have known that.
(and this place being full of nitpickers is part of why I hang out here)
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.
Yes.
(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…
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.
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.)