I first read The Lord of The Rings in the summer of 1979, when I had just turned 10 years old. I was already an avid reader, and a classmate had been reading the books during class the previous fall and recommended them. I had made an attempt back then, but did not get very far, due to the long introduction. In the summer we were going down to Blekinge, located in southern Sweden, where my dad was born and most of his family lived. It was (back then) about 8 hours by car from where we lived, so I thought it would be a good time to make another attempt.
I picked up the books at the school library right before summer break, and I brought the first book with me in the car. I made a big mistake in bringing only the first book. As we got down to my aunt and uncle I was almost done, and the next day I went to the local library (I had already arranged a library card during a previous visit) and picked up the other books. In about 3 days I had finished the trilogy, and I loved the books.
During the following few years I read the book several times a year, and in 1985 or so I purchased my first set of the books, a soft-cover edition in Swedish. I also read the books in English and (at age 14 or 15) in German.
In December 1979, the 1978 animated movie was released in Swedish movie theaters, and I watched it with my best friends, I was of course very disappointed that it all ended half-way though the story...
I now read the books about once a year, and together with my best friends I was playing role-playing games (RPG), mainly the Swedish Drakar och Demoner. Our adventures were often inspired by the books. In the late 80's, we even had a RPG club in school, where we occasionally played MERP.

During a visit to London in 1991, I purchased Journeys of Frodo, an atlas of the events in the trilogy. A couple if years later I purchased The Atlas of Middle-earth as well. I had also purchased The Complete Guide to Middle-earth (the 1978 edition, in the 1986 reprint).

When it was announced that Peter Jackson would make three live-action movies based on the book, I was (as probably all fans of the books) very excited. When the movies were released, I was (despite changes to the story, omissions of certain events and some changes in the characters) very happy with the result. I got the Extended Edition on DVD when it was released in a special Collectors Edition, and I watched the movies multiple times in a short period of time, including all the different commentary tracks and all the extras and documentaries...

I had always said I would not get a blu-ray player until the movies were released on that media, so when the Extended editions were released, my then-girlfriend got me a blu-ray player as well as preordered the movies.

My collection also includes the BBC radio theater version of the trilogy (considered the best version made). Interesting enough, Ian Holm (who plays Bilbo in the movies) is the voice of Bilbo in this excellent 1981 production. I also have a US radio theater version.


My book collection contains both the original Swedish translation from 1959-61 by Åke Ohlmarks, as well as the 2005 translation by Erik Andersson. I also have one of the British editions. The first Swedish translation have been the subject of some controversy, as the translator (Ohlmarks) made some changes to the language of the book, from a more simple or laconic language to a much more poetic or "flowery" language. Some of the names have also been translated in a way that J.R.R. Tolkien did not intended. However, the 2005 translation, even if the names have been translated following the guidelines setup by Tolkien himself in the 1960's, have some names that sound very odd in translation... I am so used to the first translation after 30 years of reading that version, that I prefer those names.

In 2012, LEGO released seven sets of LEGO Lord of The Rings, and I got them all as soon as I was able to. There are more sets coming planned for late 2012, based on the new movies by Peter Jackson, based on the prequel, The Hobbit. There is also a LEGO Lord of the Rings video game to be released in October 2012, and it is on the list of items to purchase...