A Hobbit's Tale

Yesterday, I finally went to see the last Hobbit film. I thought it was really good, in my opinion the best one. And at the end of the film, when the credits started to roll, I cried. For real. I don't think I've ever cried in a movie theatre before. And -even though it was a good movie- I didn't cry because of the happy/sad (no spoilers) ending. I cried because it was over. I felt like my entire childhood flashed before my eyes. I suddenly remembered everything.

My first experience with The Lord of the Rings, was when my parents took me and my sister to see The Fellowship of the Ring. We saw it in a tiny movie theatre at the Belgian coast, where one old man sold the tickets, the popcorn and ran the movie by hand. I was enchanted. That week, we printed out the script, learned it by heart and acted it out. My dad still has an old video cassette lying around, on which you can see my mom as Aragorn (holding a ladle for a sword), my sister as the brave Frodo and Legolas, and me as Gimli (with a pillow under my shirt and an axe made out of paper and a broomstick). My dad taught me and my sister how to draw Lord of the Rings characters, and we would draw armies and fight each other. My cousin Sarah and I learned some Elvish and wrote entire stories which we then acted out. My grandmother got me The Ring.

The Lord of the Rings was a huge part of my childhood. And seeing those credits roll, hearing the music play, and realising this was it, made me feel quite emotional. Damn Billy Boyd for his singing voice! 

I will cherish these memories forever, and maybe one day, when I have children of my own, I will watch these movies with them. But which should they see first? The Hobbit films? The Lord of the Rings? Aargh! Much time to think about this. Much time... I'm sharing these memories here, because I think there are many people who feel the same way about the ending of it all. But never forget, these memories are mine. My own. My preciousss....

Jade (a.k.a. Leanor, badass warrior elf who, aside from being really cool, had a teenage crush on Haldir and Faramir)