I don’t have much decor in my room, but the decor that I do have is that of a normal teenage girl in the US: pictures with my friends, a few books, FunkoPops...a giant sword. The sword hangs idly on the light purple walls of my room. It’s a 4.3 foot tall testament to my love of The Lord the Rings. I was eight years old when I saw the greatest trilogy in cinematic history.  Over the span of six weeks, I watched all 685 minutes of the eleven Oscar-winning work of art. Unfortunately, the school year wasn’t the most ideal time to watch 12 hours of film back to back. So, splitting every movie into two hour sections over a month and a half for the first watch was logical, but painful. 

Each week left me shocked and filled with desire to continue. One moment I will never forget happened during my first viewing of The Two Towers. Rain poured down on Elves, Men, a Dwarf, and the Uruk-Hai as the battle of Helm's Deep raged on. The stakes were high. The recently evacuated people of Rohan were all kept safe in the Deep, but if the Uruk-Hai broke down the walls of Helm's Deep, the people of Rohan would be lost, and the heroes that were needed to save Middle Earth would also be lost. I was on the edge of my seat as an Uruk-Hai pulled out a grenade. Saruman's words about Helm’s Deep’s one weakness rang throughout my head, and I scooted even closer to the screen. “Legolas!”, Aragorn cried. “Strike him down!” I was close to falling off my seat as I watched arrows fly towards the Uruk-Hai. I was seconds away from finding out the fate of Helm’s Deep when suddenly the TV paused. “That’s it for this week,” my dad said sheepishly before sprinting out to get the buttered popcorn off his hands. 

The Lord of The Rings quickly became my favorite series, and it remains so almost ten years after my first watch. “Didn’t you finish this yesterday?” my mom said as she peeked through the doors of our movie room. “Yes! I’m watching it again,” I replied. “Is everyone awake? Is it time for breakfast?” After my initial viewing I developed a habit of waking up far before the rest of my family and heading down to the basement to watch and rewatch the series. I didn’t have a phone and there wasn’t much of anything else to do at 6:00am. I never got bored of watching, each rewatch provided me with new information and the excitement of the series never left.  At one point I started only viewing the last film in the trilogy, The Return of the King, in the mornings. I’ve probably seen it twelve times alone and it became, and still is, my favorite movie.  I was, simply put, obsessed.

 I’d never gotten sucked into a fantasy world so fast. I watched and rewatched, and then eventually found myself starting to read the books, buying t-shirts, Middle Earth maps, and sword replicas. The Lord of the Rings was truly my first fandom. I developed my first celebrity crush, (how could I possibly not swoon after seeing Legolas slide down stairs on a shield during the battle of Helm's Deep, or take down an Oliphant all by himself). When I was nine, I dressed up as Legolas for Halloween. I walked around my neighborhood with a real bow and arrow that I’d “borrowed” from my brother, a pillow case for candy, and my favorite stuffed animal, Senor Snuffles. The bow and arrow quickly became too heavy for my little nine-year-old self, but I managed.  I centered school projects and crafts all around my newfound obsession. There was often a combination of crafts and school projects. In the 8th grade I read The Fellowship of the Ring and made a replica of the council of Elrond for a book report, and in the 10th grade I made a replica of Isengard and used it to show the different parts of a circle for my math final. 

The Lord of the Rings opened the fantasy floodgates for me. After learning that I loved the series I was more receptive to fantasy. I absorbed Star Wars, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Marvel, DC, and many more with newfound vigor. Watching The Lord of the Rings many times allowed me to discover new easter eggs. This concept of nitpicking movies for details transferred to movies like Star Wars and Harry Potter that I had seen pre- The Lord of the Rings. My obsession with The Lord of the Rings opened my eyes to fantasy worlds and how wonderful they could be, and just how exciting they were. I began wondering if all fantasy worlds were this intense and creative. I started reading and watching pretty much anything with the fantasy label on it. Now today, almost ten years after my first watch, I know I have The Lord of the Rings to thank for many of my obsessions and for my love of the fantasy genre.