"The Wanderer" - An Influence on JRR Tolkien and His Masterpiece, "The Lord of the Rings"

I'm not sure how many of you were linked to a post made on Haldir's Lover by "elisian fields", but it's well worth sharing for my fellow lovers of Tolkien. I loved so many parts of this, and every little bit carried more of the "Why" in "Why do I love Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" so much?". Maybe you'll also have resonance with it. I recommend it and here's the link. 

"The Wanderer" is an old Anglo-Saxon 
poem that Tolkien researched extensively. 
You'll find echoes of it in The Two 
Towers when Aragorn is in Rohan. 

I've been a Tolkien lover since the paperback books of "The Lord of the Rings" were published by Ballantine Books in 1965-1973. These had the covers many of you automatically recognize as "original" paperbacks, and this is when I purchased my first set (the first of many). Of course, there was a small, unauthorized publication of "The Lord of the Rings" in three books in 1965 by Ace, but there was a court battle and Ballantine won the rights for the official and authorized publication. 

Did you own an original paperback of 
"The Lord of the Rings"? If your cover 
of "The Return of the King" looked like 
this, you had the Ace publication which 
was an unauthorized edition. The 
Ballantine Edition was much better 
known, and was authorized, so they 
won the bidding wars. 

Reading The Trilogy opened a deep hole in front of me that I jumped into and that I have never wanted to climb out of. Tolkien Fan-girl? Guilty as charged without apology. I have years when I delve into it deeply, and others when I skim the surface, but there's not a year that passes when I don't have my nose in Tolkien in one way or another. 

I had a poster of the three covers blended 
together into a single montage in my room 
during my High School years. The paperbacks 
were originally published and available 
in my area in the middle-later 1960's and 
I purchased each volume as they became 
available. I read them to death - my original 
volumes are creased and torn. Well loved. 

There have been numerous editions since those first two, and I, ever curious, found this website where they are all pictured. Want to know when your edition was published? Check it out and see what your cover art tells you. I still have at least one full set of the original 1965 Ballantine books, and one where I'm missing one volume (I know who took it, but have no chance for recovery). I also have several sets of hardcover sets and a lot of the supplementary books including the entire "History of Middle Earth". Although I don't have the Trilogy next to my computer, I do have my well-worn copy of "The Silmarillion" and my "The History of Middle-Earth Index" within easy reach. Marks of addiction, I suppose. LOL

I have a full set of "The History of Middle Earth". I read 
through them too. (Sometimes it was a bit dry, but it 
was interesting as a whole.) These were never destined to 
be best-sellers, but I'm happy I have a set. 

Have an excellent day. We're cold for a few days, but then will finally (maybe) have a nice weekend for a change. A girl can hope - LOL. Be kind, stay safe and please wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow.