Tolkien Reloaded

I finished the so-bad-it’s-good Area 51 last night, and found myself at a loss as to what to read next. A conundrum I face every couple of weeks. The thing is, now, we’re flying out to Paris on the 21st, and I intend to start Hugo’s Hunchback on the plane. So … what do I read for the next five days?

Don’t get me wrong. I can put away a book (or even two) in a five-day period. But these next five days will be different. Wall-to-wall busyness – packing and planning, doing last-minute this and that, getting the house in shape, blah blah blah. My spidey sense is telling me not to start something that will require attention over the next few days, as whatever I read I will not be able to properly devote myself to. (Wow – there was some mangled syntax in that sentence!)

I briefly debated reading a short story or two. I have a paperback of Lloyd Biggle’s short s stories I’ve been eyeing for a while now (he’s an old-time sci fi guy). Plus some stuff by Harlan Ellison, both original stories as well as stories edited by him. But neither really jumped out at me. Despairing, my eyes scanned the shelves of my bookcase, when suddenly they lighted on –

The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, by Robert Foster! Dog-eared, musty, yellowed, spine a-crumbling, my copy of Foster’s paperback Tolkien dictionary! I memorized the darn thing in 8th grade, during and after my first voyage with Frodo et al. I found it in a used book store a decade ago, and read it sporadically, mostly during my second reading of the Lord of the Rings. And last night it literally jumped off the shelf into my arms!

It’s the type of encyclopedia where one entry leads to another, and another, and another, and before I know it, an hour has flown by. I read a bit last night until sleep overcame me; I read for 20 more minutes after wolfing down my sandwich (… ‘warging’ down my sandwich, perhaps? …). I’ll probably read some more of it in bed tonight after the kiddies go down a little after 8. And I will love every minute of it. In fact, I’m already contemplating on reading the LotR a third time, which translates to: soon.

I re-read all my Tolkienna posts on this blog earlier, and I must say, I’m kinda proud of them. One thing I didn’t write about, though, is the Tolkien encyclopedia. The Foster book was a mainstay at my friend Karl’s house, the buddy I pal’d around with back in middle school. However, my uncle, another strong proponent of Tolkien in my circle those days, advocated The Complete Tolkien Companion, by J. E. A. Tyler. This book, too, I spent many, many hours analyzing and exploring, and it opened up the world of Middle-earth just as much as the other. Back in those days, I considered it a mere coin toss as to which was a better source of reference material.

Until I re-read the LotR two years ago. I made the discovery that Tyler had transformed his modest encyclopedia into a tome of gargantuan size and scope – The Complete Tolkien Companion: Totally Revised and Updated. The copy I borrowed from the library had the heft of a no-nonsense Oxford dictionary. Hardcover bound, 8 ½ by 11, nearing 750 pages, tipping the scales at ten pounds. This is a work I could get lost in! If Foster and the original Tyler were books written by aficionados in the spare time during the wee hours of the night, the Totally Revised and Updated has an aura of legions of grad students and literary professors commandeering dark-oak libraries, working day and night, week after week, exploring every vale and mountaintop of Middle-earth, writing down their visions and glories for future generations to read. Hello, Santa …

Still, though, I have my small paperback Guide for now, and I am happy.