Re: Largest Tolkien Forums of 2015 (end of an era)

[azriel]

the things you can do in the dark Manhandling wood at an early hour ? But then you do need to use your hands to smooth & find bumpy bits, Only the firm, soft touch of your finger tips can do this

[Norc]

I'd think you'd know your way around your erection well enough by now to not need a flashlight.

sometimes one needs a machete though....

[Norc]

Of the missing ones, Ally disappeared abruptly in late 2013 and no one has heard from her since; several of us fear the worst.

this is actually very worrysome.. i hope she just .. idk.. got tired of tolkien/peter jackson

Gandalf's Beard is still active elsewhere online and spends much of his time these days writing erotic Harry Potter fanfiction.

this is amusing ..

[Forest Shepherd]

I'd think you'd know your way around your erection well enough by now to not need a flashlight.

sometimes one needs a machete though...

That is too bad to hear about Ally having disappeared. That's before my time, but even so it makes one wonder whether one's family would say goodbye for one online if one were to suddenly depart for good.

[Orwell]

I do miss Ally, still....

[Amarië]

Me too.

[Eldorion]

I also miss and worry about Ally when I'm reminded of her. She used to mention having accounts on other Tolkien forums but I don't think she used the same username elsewhere; at any rate I've never recognized her despite being on some of the same sites. I briefly interacted with her on Facebook on Dark Planet Day but her profile there is completely blanked out. :/

[Orwell]

When you say ‘interacted’, do you mean you had actual contact recently?

[Eldorion]

I had actual contact with her on Dark Planet Day -- the original one, almost seven years ago, which is how I told her about the new (this) forum. Sorry if I was unclear.

[Orwell]

No probs. Thought it might have been the case. Just needed clarity... mind, if you had have contacted Ally this Dark Planet Day, it would have been good news, indeed: or, at least, ‘news’.

[Eldy]

I haven't really been continuing this project this year, but I've made a couple quick glances at the top tier of forums in recent weeks. I can't guarantee that no other forums would've displaced any of the top eight (with the exception of the Plaza, which has been offline since late March), but the chances of that are fairly low, and the odds of it impacting the top four even less. The way things are shaping it up, it looks like we'll end with (1) TORn, (2) Hall of Fire, (3) Arwen-Undomiel.com, and (4) Forumshire, which is the same top four as last year, but with the top three having all changed position.

There's a real possibility that TORn will be the only forum to finish with over 10K posts for the year. Thus, the Tolkien Society Facebook group will probably be the most active online English language Tolkien community of 2018, as was likely the case in 2017 as well. They used to publish (and probably still do) estimates of how many posts and comments the group received, but I'm not a member of the Society anymore so I don't receive issues of the newsletter (Amon Hen). In 2016 they were pretty regularly getting 1000-2000 combined posts/comments a month, though I would think they've slowed down over the past couple years along with everyone else. There are a few other Tolkien FB groups that might also surpass most of the remaining active message boards, but I think the TS has the most members, at least.

Of course, there's a lot of ways in which Facebook groups and message boards defy easy comparison, but this ties back into my comments last December regarding the shift in center of gravity from forums to social media. There are a few sizable Tolkien subreddits but I'm not gonna try to make an estimate of how many posts they get. /r/tolkienfans would probably rank in this project if I had an easy way to do so and decided to expand the scope, though--maybe /r/lotr too.

[azriel]

So we are still ticking along. We may not be picking the bones out of LOTRs or The Gobshite anymore but, are the other Forums still knee deep in Orcs ? Has anyone rubbed an Ent lately ? I think I can go to bed tonight secure in the knowledge that we are defiantly still plodding on

[azriel]

P.S, I do like the way you keep us up to date on this

[Eldy]

Thanks az, that's always encouraging to hear.

[halfwise]

Meanwhile I thought Chris had posted a video with an interesting theory about prescience in the Tolkien Humor thread (of all places). Nobody has commented on it but me but it seemed like an interesting bit of Tolkien lore worth discussion. Which hasn't happened in ages.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{{{{ Problem there Halfy was you said it all in your own reply, nice idea, but doesn't quite work, I felt there was not much to be added.

But if anyone is up for a lore discussion there was Eldy's fine piece on the Numenoreans. That has far greater meat ton the bone to feast on!

I have always been fascinated by that story- its a heady brew of myths and religious ideals mashed together, Atlantis, Eden, the serpent in the garden and fall of man, the flood and Noah, direct divine intervention and a reshaping of an entire world from flat to round!
So many fascinating aspects before you even get into characters or setting or individual tales.

So if anyone is up for a Numenorean based chat I'm all for that.

Here's Eldy's finest Lore from the Tower of Lore be the starting point for discussion-

https://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jkeener/tolkien/numenorean.html

Anyone fancy a good old fashioned Tolkien lore debate then? }}}

[David H]

{{{{{Anyone fancy a good old fashioned Tolkien lore debate then? }}}

possibly involving livestock?

[halfwise]

So if anyone is up for a Numenorean based chat I'm all for that.

Here's Eldy's finest Lore from the Tower of Lore be the starting point for discussion-

https://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jkeener/tolkien/numenorean.html

Anyone fancy a good old fashioned Tolkien lore debate then?

I remember first encountering that essay more than a year ago and being blown away. Eldy had clearly entered the ranks of the Wise and the Great, and the problem is that I'm not sure any of the rest of us are really up to the level to "debate" much that's in there.

It's a fascinating topic to be sure, and to me one of the more interesting things about it is that Tolkien's "chosen people" by his own admission can be arrogant asshats at times. This is referenced in TTT when even Aragorn refers to the Dunlendings language as sounding no more than the bleats of farm animals to his ears, while Gamling notes it is an ancient language and clearly has some regard for them. As noted in the essay they would have equal claim of lineage as the Rohirrim, but looks and politics were against them.

Eldy's distinction between history from secondary world sources and history from the outside narrator is relevant here: much of what I might perceive as Tolkien's white man's racism can stem from being from the Numenorian perspective, while his own characters often contradict this chauvinistic viewpoint, such as Sam wondering about the life of the slain Haradrim.

[Pettytyrant101]

possibly involving livestock?- Dave

{{Well Numenor had everything the Numeroreans needed upon rising up out the sea or wherever it came from- I dont know if Tolkien mentions them taking livestock to the islands or if it already had its own. It is a divinely created island after all, in a nice star motif.
And then there is the matter of horses, grey or otherwise, they definitely had them on the island as folk round about on it- but were they there when they arrived or did they bring them? And if they were there were they Divine horse, like Shadowfax, is that how that line ended up in Rohan? (Offhand cant remember where Tolkien says the Mearas came from, but I think he does somewhere!- Lore Master required!!)  }}

[halfwise]

I just saw a message on the bottom of the home page that said the largest number of users ever online was 36 users on Dec 29, 2019.

What did I miss?

[Amarië]

Oh it was just the best party ever, like the bestest picnic in history. And it's no wonder you don't remember, silly man, you were sooo drunk! Forgot your name and everything, then Orwell was acting out scenes from wholesome tales - as a cationary tale of course - and you started weeping and saying you wanted to go home and that your name was...

Um...

The buckie barrel race and... Oh dear.


Well, never mind that. How was your new year eve? Did your brother surv- ARRIVE I mean. Think it was supposed to be a surprise.

[halfwise]

I suppose that explains why I woke up in the tub wearing a curtain for a diaper with my address pinned to it. Thanks to whoever took care of sending me home.

[azriel]

[halfwise]

Going back to Petty's question from a year ago, the LotR fandom Wiki digs up two mentions of the Mearas origin, one saying Orome brought them from the West, another saying they were brought from Westernesse. https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Mearas

Since they are mainly associated with the kings of Rohan, I'm inclined to doubt the Westernesse origin.

[halfwise]

I just noticed the following statistic at the bottom of the page:

Most users ever online was 37 on Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:41 am

Wha....?!