Fine. I’m cheating a little. Obviously, there are words here. But, they’re really just a preamble to something so awesomesauce that you will absolutely look the other way at my flagrant disregard for wordlessness. And, Wednesdays.
When sj first started talking to me about the Silmarillion (which I’ve never read), I had a very hard time keeping everybody straight. Tolkien characters have names that rhyme, for one. For two, they often have multiple names. So, I actually started trying to chart it all out. Then, David started talking about a lot of LotR back-history, and I had to futz around with the charts more. Then, I was literally cutting and pasting paper together?
But, guess what? GUESS WHAT!?
Somebody already made a kick-ass genealogy chart! And, you can see it here at the Lord of the Rings Project website. It has multiple views. You can look at everyone, or just dwarves, or just hobbits or men. I cannot even begin to imagine how long this took.
So, how cool is that, huh? No, really. I need you to quantify the coolness, so I don’t feel bad that this isn’t billable.
Geez, this is so awesomesauce I want to proclaim it thus in Elvish. Alas, my geek credentials won’t take me that far.
Wooth! (I think that’s what we agreed on, but can’t remember if it was Elvish?)
Aha! That sounds familiar.
Wow… I’ve checked out some of the other parts of his site, and the timeline of Middle-earth is a fantastic visual resource.
Right?! So glad you like it!
Thanks so much for linking to that. I have been torn about getting any more Tolkien reference books (I have David Day’s Encyclopedia, but was disappointed by one that purported to be an atlas / collection of maps) — but this is just beautiful, and informative. And the creator wants feedback to keep it accurate! Lovely.
Wow, I don’t feel worthy enough to read that!
Oh, my good heavens. That is exactly what I thought I needed, but ten seconds of looking at it gave me a brain cramp. Good to know it is there, though!
It’s a mixed bag, right? On the one hand, it’s such a good visual tool. On the other, it is kind of overwhelming. I only look at it to find a specific character line. I tried just absorbing it, and I had the same brain cramping experience – no fun.
I have to respect the effort that went into it!