When did you first get your hands on Tolkien?

[Galadedrid Damodred]

I started reading The Lord of the RIngs for the first time when I was six... then I plunged into The Silmarillion... people kept giving me strange looks... crying  

[Rudhe]

eek My goodness, six! I never heard about Lord of the Rings until the movies first came out, which was when I was 13 I think. From there I read the tril....and the other books...and Tolkien's bio, he had such an interesting life and personality.  

[Twilit Requiem]

It was so long ago, I can't even remember xD I've known the story of The Hobbit for as far back as I can remember. When I was five, or perhaps even six, my Dad read me the (highly edited) Lord of the Rings. When I was eleven/twelve I read them for myself.
Lesee... The edition of The Two Towers that I have right here was printed in 1993, and seeing as I can remember when all the books fitted into the same special box, I'm guessing that's around when I first was introduced to Tolkien's works-when I was perhaps one or two xD  

[Tears of the Siren]

Let me think...when I was really young, like maybe five, I saw the animated version of the Hobbit, then around third just after I finished the Narnia series I tried to read the Fellowship but didn't get very far. It wasn't until the first movie was being hyped that I actually read the whole trilogy though, and I was almost up to the Falls of Rauros when I saw the movie. After I finished the trilogy I read the Hobbit, but it wasn't until two years ago that I read the Silmarillion.  

[mystifyingbliss]

Well, I finished reading the trilogy right after my seventh birthday and it took me about two months. Right after I started the Silmarillion and ever since I've read anything Tolkien I can get my hands on: Unfinished Tales, Letters, The Hobbit, Children of Hurin, HoME...

My favourite tale is without doubt Ainulindale. Recently I've started studying Quenya, and I'm planning on moving onto Sindarin once I've gotten the hang of it. I wish Telerin was broad enough to study fully.

What can I say, I'm a die-hard fanatic.

-xx- Nika  

[Khorkalba]

I first read the Hobbit when I was quite young,
but I consider myself among the "afterborn"
so to speak, as it wasn't really until after the films
that I fell in love with the works of Tolkien.  

[MissusDolly]

It was 3rd grade when I found out about the books. I think I started to read them when I was in 5th though, but I can't really remember because I've read the books each about 3 times now. I saw the Hobbit movie because my 3rd grade teacher was a big time Tolkien fan. So I got into it. I ended up seeing the movies in theaters after reading the books of course and I thought they were pretty close to the books. I have the Silmarillion, but have been busy reading many other series of books that I just haven't had time to read it.

I read a short bio on Tolkien's life and he had a very interesting life. I wish he was still around. I always wanted to know about the land where the elves went after they left MiddleEarth.  

[sizerz]

see, and now i feel like a bad person. i got my books when i was ten, 4th grade. i hadn't ever read them until i was 14. i read the Hobbit. i'm 15 now, and i'm just starting to read the Fellowship... i'm late, yes, but my obssessions run deep... you'll see. haha  

[SYFFER]

"The Hobbit" was my favorite book as a child of about 10 years old. At 12, I started the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and at 15, I read "The Silmarillion" followed by "Unfinished Tales". "The History of Middle-Earth" collection I read in grade 10 so I must have been about 16. I re-read the trilogy at 17 and then "The Silmarillion" again four months ago. I ordered "The Children of Hurin" so I will read it as soon as it arrives.  

[Akira Galactica]

A few years ago when my grandmother gave me a copy of hers... she has tons of sets  

[frozennight]

I first read Lord of the Rings when I was 13. I had been wanting to for a while but my mom considered them to be evil. But after we watched the movies at my friend's house that convinced her otherwise. And after that I was so hooked on them anyways that I probably would have read them and just hoped she never found out, even if she did still think they were evil.  

[-Luthien123-]

Well, I was about 8 or 9 when I read The Hobbit, and 9 or 10 when my dad FINALLY gave me LotR. I am 13 now and luckily have gown up with the series and a dad who loves it just as much as me. I have almost unlimited access to anything Tolkien. I mean ALL of the books Tolkien has written and his son too, as well as TONNES of books ON Tolkien just sitting on my 'Loungeroom Shelves'. Geeze, I am so lucky. Not many 13 year olds know more about Tolkien than me.  

[Ririnri]

My first taste of Tolkien arrived in about eight grade, when I started reading the Book of Lost Tales (part one), though I didn't receive the Lord of the Rings until about tenth grade. Ahh, memories. Man, that was almost ten years ago! I feel old.  

[Menegil]

Are you ready to be shocked?

I have only heard of Lord of the Rings when the movies came out.

I only began reading the books shortly before the Two Towers movie came out.

I was 13. I was easily influenced by eye-candy!

NO LONGER =_,=  

[Rudhe]

Old habits die hard.

All good movies should have eye candy.