^
yeah, it's so sad that his books weren't that popular when they were first published and also that so few of his works were published while he was still alive.
But there are way more HP fans than LotR fans around me as well..

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i just found out that i could get a chance to visit Tolkiens grave!! OMG - i can't wait!

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Smile till u laugh, laugh till u cry

Really? Wow--that's awesome.

I wonder just how many more people visit Tolkien's grave than the grave of other famous Englishmen.

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yep, not many probably even though England and America have the best of them!

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Smile till u laugh, laugh till u cry

Well, they have the most well-known, though not necessarily the best.

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Most definitley!

Tolkien's life had a major impact upon his writing, and in particular his experiences in the war. I believe The Lord of the Rings is so brilliant because Tolkien poured into it his very heart and soul - bringing the world of Middle Earth, and each and every character to life.

C.S. Lewis and Tolkien were exceptionally talented with writing and they agreed after the War that they should both write stories of their own worlds, and what a perfect world would be to them. I believe that The Shire was Tolkiens perfect world and this is where The Hobbit derrived from of course.

Although many people feel strongly about Hobbits, and their attitudes to life, I believe Tolkien reflected his ideas of perfect people within the Hobbits, and in order to make them so much more realistic, they did of course have to possess flaws - without which, the realism would not be so great!

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<center><font size="0">'Before you came along we bagginses were <i>very</i> well thought of...never had any adventures or did anything unexpected!''</font></br><a href="http://www.frodoforever.com/"><img src="http://www.hufflepuffpride.com/frodo/claim2.gif" border="0" width="200" height="120"></a>

Well, I know of one incident when he was almost bitten by a spider during his early life in South Africa. He always hated spiders and this sparked the idea of Shelob in RotK. He also had weird dreams of tidal waves that would drown entire cities (which he thought were hereditary), so this gave him the idea of Numenor drowning.

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I hope I can get to visit Tolkien's grave when my family and me go to ENgland over the summer holidays.. but I fear my family won't let me, they'll tell me that they've got "better" things to do.

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Wow I would sooo love to visit Tolkien's grave! I hope I get a chance one day...

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