My 2020 Blogging from A to Z Challenge revisits my best posts from the 2014 to 2019 Challenges.
L for LOTRO (2018)
How could I not mention the Professor? The Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite books, although I discovered Tolkien the Anglo-Saxon scholar first – via his essay “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics“. After reading the trilogy in about 1969 aged 16 – I still have those reread hardbacks – Peter Jackson’s reimagining was my Middle Earth. Then I discovered and played this wonderful game.
On the other hand, exploring the literature and folklore behind this game was one of the reasons I began my investigation into the creative Origins of various On-line Games. I’d been drawn to find Middle Earth for decades – and then I met Frodo.
I will post about other games that were relevant in 2018 and still are meaningful.
Links to my other A to Z posts can be found here: https://rolandclarke.com/blogging-from-a-to-z/blogging-from-a-to-z-challenge-2020/
To visit other participants see The OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YphbP47JyH_FuGPIIrFuJfAQiBBzacEkM7iBnq6DGDA/
Writing Wings 
This is going to sound funny, but in some ways I prefer the way Middle-Earth looks in LOTRO compared to the movies!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m somewhere between the two, Deniz as some of the game-world felt more ‘Middle Earth’ than the movies. But my first reaction watching Jackson’s Fellowship was “this is how I imagined The Shire”.
LikeLike
I think that the Hobbit was the very first book that I read, finished, and turned over and started again immediately.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Strangely, EC, I never read The Hobbit until after LOTR – and after some of his short stories. I’ve read LOTR a fair few times now – not back-to-back, even if my first time was over a long, long weekend.
LikeLike
Over the years I have read (and reread) a lot of Tolkein. I haven’t yet seen the movies. I suspect they would clash with the images in my head and my heart.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The movies echoed my mental images, EC, sending those warm tingles up my back. Same with part of the game – like going to Rivendell and meeting Elrond.
LikeLike
I have a few beefs with the movies :p
I’ve only seen each one once, though (in the theatres). Whereas I reread LOTR every year! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lord of the rings has been one of those series that has been on my reading list for so long!
L is for Liar,Liar
https://thedreamgirlwrites.wordpress.com/2020/04/14/liar-liar/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Worth making time in your reading life for, TDG – if you enjoy high fantasy. Yes, it can get purple in places but it’s poetic and echoes epic poems.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do enjoy fantasy!!
Those are one of my favourite kind of books!
I shall just have to make time..
LikeLike
I haven’t heard of the game, but I have read and reread the novel, and I loved the films.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOTRO was released low-key and not in its current form, Sue. Even Tolkien-fans like me missed it.
LikeLike