Lord of the Rings 30 Day Challenge - Day 13

Day 13 - Favorite Weapon

So by this time you really shouldn't be surprised when I say my favorite is a toss up between two weapons.  First would be Legolas's bow and knives.  No, not because I have a 10+ year crush on the guy, but because I like the idea of the versatility they would provide not to mention the fact that they're absolutely beautiful.  The Galadhrim made the best bows, they could shoot much farther than any other bows and if memory serves the only weapon in Middle-Earth that could fire a missile farther was a trebuchet.  As for the knives, they were short enough that they could easily fit into the sheaths attached to his quiver and could no doubt be used for other tasks other than just fighting, but they were also long enough that with his skill he could fight off enemies with swords and longer weapons.  With both the bow and the knives, Legolas was just as deadly in close combat as he was from afar.

Tied for favorite would be Anduril, Flame of the West, Aragorn's sword.  Again this is a beautiful weapon but what I love about it is the history.  Anduril was forged from the shards of Narsil, the sword that Isildur used to cut the ring off Sauron's hand.  Aragorn is Isildur's heir so it's fitting that he would wield the reforged Narsil.  Besides the history though, what the sword does with Aragorn as its wielder is just cool.  For example, the scene where Aragorn very briefly fights with the king of the dead at Dunharrow is amazing.  Because the army abandoned Isildur in his time of need, Isildur cursed them so they couldn't die until they had fulfilled their oath.  Being Isildur's heir, Aragorn is the only one who can control them or fight them because other's weapons simply fly right through the dead.  Besides that, the sword is also very effective at separating orc heads from their bodies and severing other body parts of the enemy.

Lord of the Rings 30 Day Challenge - Days 11 & 12

My apologies for missing yesterday.  I'm sure you were all desperately waiting at your computers for my next post, but I simply did not have time to get online. ;)

Day 11 - BROTP

Again, the whole OTP/BROTP fad is really not my thing.  For those of you who don't know, BROTP refers to a set of best friends who are destined to be best friends forever.  I find it to be kind of cheesy and lame, but, hey, I'll go with it.  That being said my favorite BROTP is Legolas and  Gimli, closely followed by Merry and Pippin.  Legolas and Gimli win on this one because their friendship is so unusual and unique.  It's obvious during Fellowship that dwarves and elves do not mix well together.  If you read more into their history, there's some seriously bad blood there.  So what I love is seeing their friendship develop and move past all the grudges and feuds that have made their people enemies for so long.  I always find it so amusing when they're in battle and yelling out how many orcs or Uruk-hai they've each killed.  They truly have a friendship to last the ages.  Going back to the books which delve more into their friendship, after Aragorn's been crowned and peace has been restored for the most part, the two of them go travelling across Middle-Earth together exploring different places.  The culmination of their friendship is when they sail to the Grey Havens together, an honor that that had never been and never again was extended to a dwarf which truly tells you what an incredibly friendship they had.

Day 12 - Favorite Location

The Shire.  As much as I love and admire places like Rivendell and Lothlorien, the Shire has always been the place I would most want to visit and live in.  I've gotten weird looks when I've told people this at times, because, you know, the Shire just isn't that exciting or glamorous.  And it's not glamorous, which is part of why I love it.  Don't get me wrong, Rivendell and Lothlorien are gorgeous and I would have no qualms about visiting those places or staying there for a while, but I feel like I would be totally out of place there, a fish out of water.  That's why I love the Shire so much.  I'm a country girl, I like a simpler life so I identify with hobbits more than any other race in Middle-Earth.  I feel like the Shire is one place where I could actually fit in and be happy.  I like open spaces, I like simple but elegant styles and designs, I enjoy gardening and cooking, I like animals, I like running around in the grass, I love going around barefoot, basically I feel like I'm a hobbit stuck on earth in a city when I belong in Middle-Earth in the Shire.  So, naturally, the Shire must be my favorite place.

Lord of the Rings 30 Day Challenge - Day 10

Day 10 - OTP

I really don't get into this as much as some people do.  For those of you who don't know, OTP stands for one true pairing.  But if I had to say, it would be a toss up between Sam and Rosie and Faramir and Eowyn.  I like Sam and Rosie together simply because despite the fact that they weren't in any kind of relationship when Sam left, he remained true and faithful to her throughout all his adventures and she in turn did the same for him.  Besides that, I've always really liked that Rosie fell in love with Sam, not because of his looks in my opinion, but because of his heart.

Faramir and Eowyn are the other couple I like because they're just so perfect for each other.  I feel that Faramir not so much tames Eowyn as he tempers her with his calmer personality and I feel that she would ease his pain and also just bring that spark of energy and life that would lighten his spirits.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  Hope you've had a very blessed day!!!

Lord of the Rings 30 Day Challenge - Day 9

Day 9 - Favorite Hobbit

As I've already said in my first post, Sam is my favorite hobbit and character in general and since I've already given a fairly detailed reason of why he's my favorite, I decided that I'd go with my

second favorite hobbit, Pippin.  Pippin is just adorable which is probably why I first started to really like him, but aside from that he's just funny, compassionate, kind and he has this carefree innocence that I love.  I also feel though that he's one of the characters that really develops and grows up throughout the movies.  He starts out as this very carefree, mischievous fellow, always following Merry around and inevitably getting in trouble.  And then he's suddenly thrust into this adventure.  There's a part of me that's always sad to see him changing and maturing because I think part of what I love about the hobbits is just how carefree and unconcerned they are.  But in his case, Pippin had to outgrow that.

He and Merry had no idea what they were getting into when they joined Frodo and Sam or when they joined the fellowship.  All of a sudden, the world got a whole lot bigger and whole lot darker,

they didn't really know what hit them.  So throughout the first movie and most of the second one, Pippin starts growing up some, though he still does and says a lot of stupid albeit usually funny stuff, but there's still that kind of innocence which I really notice after Treebeard says the Ents will not help in the war.  When he tells Merry that maybe they should just go home, I feel that that is him thinking that they'll be safe at home, that they could just go back to their carefree lives and not have to deal with all the death and destruction that has surrounded them almost from the moment they left the Shire.

And its here that I think he really starts to mature and think for himself when Merry tells him they

won't be safe in the Shire, that if they don't do something to stop Sauron and Saruman, the Shire will burn along with everything else.  Not long after, Pippin's the one who tells Treebeard to head south and in so doing shows Treebeard the remnants of the trees that Saruman had destroyed.  Pippin, who always followed along and never really seemed to think or have any ideas for himself, is changing.  And once he and

Merry are separated, all of a sudden, Pippin starts getting things done and thinking for himself.  He

lit the beacon of Minas Tirith, he saved Gandalf from an orc, saved Faramir from being burned alive, and at the end he charges straight into battle with what remains of the fellowship.  I really love the the scene between him and Faramir where he tells Faramir that he is strong like Boromir, but his strength is of a different kind.  Wow, Pippin's gained some wisdom and insight too along his journey.  And at the end, again, its obvious that Pippin has changed, but he's in essence still himself.  He's seen a lot, experienced a lot, he's not quite so carefree, the blind innocence has gone, but he's still Pippin; kind, compassionate, loyal, and funny, and that's why I love him.

Lord of the Rings 30 Day Challenge - Day 8

Day 8 - Gondor or Rohan

While I think both kingdoms are absolutely fantastic and amazing, Rohan definitely wins this one.  As someone who has been in love with all things horses since she was really, really young, the horse lords simply have to win.  But more than just the horses, I like the simplicity of the way the Rohirrim live.  For me, Gondor is more like the city life which I hate, though don't get me wrong, I would not hesitate to live there if I was given the choice.  Rohan is more like the country life which I love and miss terribly.  Besides that, the country is just so beautiful!  I mean all the plains and mountains and forests and rivers and lakes, that is totally my kind of place.

Lord of the Ring 30 Day Challenge - Days 1-7

So I realize I have been really bad about keeping up with this blog.  Honestly, I simply have not had the inclination to blog about anything for a while or to write anything period.  But, I think blogging is actually good for me because it makes me express myself and get out of my shell more than I normally would so I figured I should really get back into it.  Once I decided that, well, of course my mind went blank when I began to think about what I wanted to blog about.  I had some ideas but when I started trying to write, I found that I was not expressing myself or describing things the way I wanted to.  Naturally, I turned to Facebook and Google+ for inspiration, because, you know, that always works. ;)  In this case, it actually did, because as I was randomly scrolling through Google+, I found the 30 Day Challenge above.

Now, as you probably already know, I am a huge, huge Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fan.  I saw the Lord of the Rings movies when they first came out back in 2001 and I have been in love with them ever since.  Same with the Hobbit movies.  I've been to the midnight premiere of the past two, once in costume, and I'm planning on going to the midnight premiere of the final movie in costume as well.  The Lord of the Rings movies are my favorite movies of all time, nothing comes even close to trumping them.  So with the final Hobbit movie getting ready to come out and all, I thought this would be a fun way to get back into blogging because it would be something I would really enjoy writing and sharing.

The final Hobbit movie comes out on December 17th, so I decided that I would make it so I finish this challenge on the 17th.  So today is going to be a combination of days 1-7 so I can finish by the 17th and then I'll do one a day starting tomorrow.  With all that being said, here we go!