Originally we planned an open-air meeting for the yearly Tolkien-reading, but the weather was terribly rainy, so in the last minute we reorganised the event to the entrance hall of the university where we held our conference last summer. The weather also kept off some of the people interested, so as far as I know, thirteen of us showed up in total, but two of them only for listening.
I always try to promote the children stories of Tolkien, Farmer Giles being one of my childhood friends, and despite my dislike of descriptions, I wanted to follow the international instruction about reading of landscapes, so I choose Roverandom (actually I forgot to bring the book with me in the morning, so it wasn't even my own copy): the white side of the moon, where insects are large and fierce, but worst of all are the shadowbats – and after we heard the serious description about the unavailability of the Far West, I had to add the part where Roverandom saw far off in the last West the Mountains of Elvenhome.
The others read the first lines of The Hobbit, and some more about the entrance to the path through Mirkwood, and being none to the right before the description of cram. From The Silmarillion we heard about the first look by the Ainur upon Arda, the Straight Way, and the description of Aman. Night fell in Hithlum, Túrin's company set out to Mîm's house. Most of the quotes was from The Lord of the Rings: Tom Bombadil calling for the lost ponies and Frodo lost in wonder at Cerin Amroth, Legolas seeing the Rohirrim far away and later the golden hall of Meduseld in the bright and clear morning, Merry's description of Ghân-buri-Ghân, the dishevelled dryad loveliness of Ithilien, the arrival of the hobbits to Henneth Annûn, the sunset at the Cross-roads, Sam watching towers fell and mountains slid, and the meeting of Thorin and Gandalf from the appendices.
