ABOUT THE NAME
Goldenrod Gardener is reminiscent of Sam Gamgee's daughter Goldilocks Gardener. All of Sam and Rosie's descendants were officially known as Gardeners. I thought about Elanor Gardener, as his first daughter and keeper of The Red Book after his departure. But I am not really the keeper of the red book, that is Tolkien's job. Christopher and JRR Tolkien, that is. So I am just Goldenrod (I don't really like the name Goldilocks).
ABOUT ME
I am a bubbly person, like Rosie, and I love all of Tolkien's work and Tolkien himself. I love to read and to write, and I love finding fellow Tolkienites. I am worried that an increasing number of people in this world (most of the current teens) have never read The Lord of the Rings, but have only seen the movies. I love the movies and think they are superb and worth watching, but better that they had never been made than that they are used as a SUBSTITUTE for the book.
TOLKIENITES
A Tolkienite, in my opinion, is not merely a lover of the books, but someone who has a love for the author as well.
When I say 'love', I don't mean some strange wishy-washy love like you find in modern teen fiction and romance novels. I mean, more like the love the love you have for a father, or a very close grandfather. As a reader, Tolkien is my hero. As a writer, Tolkien is my leader. As a person, Tolkien is very dear to me. A human being with whom I have much in common, whom I respect, whom I love.
To those well acquainted with Tolkien, welcome. You should feel right at home.
To those unacquainted with Tolkien, or only just beginning to discover his genius, welcome. I hope this blog will inspire a Tolkien obsession which will eventually dominate most of your life and render you useless a great deal of the time. Well, maybe not quite that, but I do hope you will leave here with a desire to know more.
