And you don't think scholarly pings as geeky? I think we must know different scholars.

I think "history geek" pings differently than "Star Trek geek" does, and Tolkien geekdom pings closer to the former.

Oh yes. WHat Jess said. I'm not saying Tolkien geeks don't ping as geeks, just that they sound much more erudite while doing it.

What Jess said. As an occasional war-gamer, I can tell you that while history buffs don't always have a lot of use for sci-fi/fantasy, Tolkien is a big ol' exception.

And scholarly geeks give less of an impression of "still living in my parents' basement".

So, before Thranduil was King of Mirkwood was he one of Thingol's people?

I don't know -- I don't think it's laid out that clearly, or if it is, it's in one of the posthumous books which are full of additional details I can't remember very well. But Thingol's people weren't the only elves in all of Middle-earth after the Noldor left, so it's just as plausible that Thranduil came from Thingol's realm, or that he wandered along from someplace else.

I don't know about other Tolkien geeks; until the movies started being the topics of general discussion, Tolkien pretty much never came up in conversation. Except in the home, where quizzing each other over the appendices was a beloved pastime.

Has anyone seen the side-by-side comparison of actors in the Trilogy? It's interesting, and also proves that Legolas is still the prettiest.

I don't know about other Tolkien geeks; until the movies started being the topics of general discussion, Tolkien pretty much never came up in conversation. Except in the home, where quizzing each other over the appendices was a beloved pastime.

I don't in *any* way rise to high level of geekdom of the Tolkien geeks in this thread - but this rings very true for me.

My father and I and my one LotR-semi-geek buddy were the only people I knew who had read the books and could talk about them. And my dad and I especially were always trying to outdo each other with little details. Now I find myself having discussions about the Dunedain at the coffee shop with my barista. I love that everyone else loves it - but I miss it being an exclusive thing I had with my dad, too.

Also - TORN is saying that Sean Astin and Elijah Wood are going to be on Charlie Rose tomorrow night. Yay. The mixture of Rose and Astin pontificating might be a little much - but there will be Elijah to mix it up with disgusting anecdotes about his toe nails and testicles.

I don't in *any* way rise to high level of geekdom of the Tolkien geeks in this thread - but this rings very true for me.

I should probably make it clear that I meant this as a compliment to the folks who can share their knowledge about the books with such clarity. I always assume in buffista world that geek=compliment. But maybe not everyone does.

eta: grr. complement/compliment issues.

Except that EW doesn't hold Sean back -- too bad Dom and Billy weren't part of the group.