I acknowledge that my story is terribly uninteresting, especially compared to the stories already posted, which were all pleasant reads.

I found your story very interesting

I am working towards a decent Tolkien library. The only special/rare/collectible books I have so far are the modern special/deluxe editions. Possibly my favourite Tolkien books I own are three paperbacks of the LOTR ‘trilogy’, which I purchased at the age of nine. I took them everywhere so they are a little well used; creased and slight foxing. The feature I like about them is that they are the paperbacks with the Geoff Taylor cover artwork, which I find almost as captivating as the story itself.* Also the fact that they were my first Tolkien books.

*I am hunting another set of these paperbacks, in mint condition. I also once saw a set that were hardcover’s, in a foreign language I would be interested in having. If anyone can help me with these it would be much appreciated.

I assume you mean this set (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/html/lotr-sc-hc_8.htm). It is nice to still be able to get to some of the pages on Deagol's site.


They are very common on eBay, here are a few current auctions but there are a lot more if you look.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/The-Lord-of-the ... oks_2?hash=item3a59327110

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOLKIEN-J-R-THE ... ks_EH?hash=item439e337738

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tolkien-LORD-OF ... ks_UK?hash=item3359cdbdd9

The same picture is also used on the cover of the later copies of the Journeys of Frodo - An Atlas of J R R Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS By Barbara Strachey

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Journey-of-Frod ... on_GL?hash=item23061323ca

You can also buy the original paintings and signed prints from Geoff's website

http://www.geofftaylor-artist.com/gal ... r-art/art/fellowship-ring
http://www.geofftaylor-artist.com/gal ... /cover-art/art/two-towers
http://www.geofftaylor-artist.com/gal ... cover-art/art/return-king

Yep, those are the ones. Cheers for the links, one of those looks promising.

I have previously e-mailed Geoff and plan to get some prints soon. The originals however are at this time a little out of my range. I am glad he is selling them as a set.

Don't keep me in suspenders! Did you hold the drawering? If so, (drum roll please) the winners are . . . ?

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parm

Thanks for all the stories, people! I have enough to give all of the story posters here some tea - laurel, Parmastahir, Onónion, loonka and of course Mr Burns! I will drop each of you an email to get shipping information. If you happen to try the tea (and it's ok if you don't want to crack open the box...) please drop us a line about how you liked or didn't like it.

I have some extra too - I heard from some of the regulars that they didn't want to "brag" (my word) and so did not write in. If any of you want some tea, just drop me an email! The next drawing will not be so arduous, I promise.

Wow! I'm a bit embarrassed, really. Thanks to everyone for the votes of confidence, but I was just as impressed with all the stories I read from everyone else. I'm really pleased that we all get to give the tea a try!

I, for one, will be merrily sipping the tea, and I'll be sure to let you all know what the Mrs and I think!

Thanks very much to Jeremy, too, for the opportunity and awesome prizes!

Contrary to an earlier post, I have replied to Urulókë's email (I still need some tutoring on the derivation of the new name!) and will accept the tea. As I noted to him, I don't remember the last time I won anything (except for $2 on a scratch off lottery ticket.) However, I have enough unopened calendars to satisfy that obsession. (OK, I'll never have enough but that's my problem!) So I will open the boxes of tea and share them with my coworkers (who are a great bunch of people), talk about this gift, capture their comments, and report back when I have done so. If I can find where to hide the boxes, I will stash them away though. I guess we all share that compulsion or we would not be posting here!

Beaming from The Green Hill Country,

Parm

I still need some tutoring on the derivation of the new name!

According to the Index in the back of The Silmarillon, Urulóki is a Quenya word meaning fire-serpent or dragon, very apt for Jeremy's avatar. I assume that Urulókë is the plural of dragons.

Close!

Urulókë is singular ("fire-serpent" or "dragon") and Urulóki is plural ("dragons"). At least according to the manuscripts in The War of the Jewels - it does appear that in putting together The Silmarillion Christopher went with the wrong form - at least from my limited understanding of Quenya plurals.

The things we can learn from this forum!

- wellinghall

I have some extra too - I heard from some of the regulars that they didn't want to "brag" (my word) and so did not write in.

Well, eh, Jeremy, I actually like to talk about my life as a Tolkien-geek (eh ... appreciator), but I often don’t find the time, and that’s the only reason I haven’t posted in this topic ... I also like tea.