Before and After Tolkien

Rating: 10/10 (3 September 2016)

I feel "macho" enough to write about Tolkien and his LOTR trilogy. Doing this is for personal complacency, call it "hobby" if you wish. I am not member of any "Lord of the Rings" fan club or other kind of association. It's just a whimzy now and could as well have been another topic such as Martial Arts Film or Bruce Lee Story. So I will try to express myself in shortest possible way such as not to annoy anyone and probably if I repeat someone just have my excuses. Most important, I haven't read the baseline book which in it's academic edition comprises 1300 pages with 134 pages of appendices - including maps, lists of kings, genealogical carts, calendars, alphabets, linguistic notes and historical outline of imaginary Second and Third Ages of Middle Earth covering 6463 years.
So didn't Ian McKellen (Gandalf), who read everything about Tolkien and Middle Earth after he received the principal role. Gandalf is chief advocate and champion of good forces fighting the evil one. He is wizard coming from Far West /i.e., Island of Valinor/ and is messenger sent to contest the power of Evil One (Sauron). The antagonist here is played by actor Christopher Lee, who is long time Master of Macabre, and has been personally acquainted to Sir J. R. R. Tolkien. He has read the book repeatedly for many years before getting the role. Things like that.
I checked in my library for the Bulgarian edition of LOTR. It was first translated in abridged three volumes /1990-1991/ and then by 1999 appeared the full academic edition with appendices. Translation was done by Lyubomir Nikolov. You can check for more in Wikipedia. See, I am Medical Doctor by profession and has never translated a book in my life. I was rather lazy student in the 1980s and used to eavesdrop at foreign embassies, particularly the American Embassy. On the Bulgarian side there was a Sci-fi Association at those times which issued a bi-monthly newspaper called "ABV" /transcribed in Cyrillic/. There was also a colorful library "Galactica" that issued in consecutive numbers most popular sci-fi and fantasy books by local and foreign authors. But the level of debate was low and no popular trend for Sci-fi and Fantasy was established in this country.
It may take a long time reviewing the international literature on Tolkien and his legacy. Christopher Tolkien /b. 1924/ edited and re-edited the numerous manuscripts left unpublished by his father. On the other hand, I have in my personal library more than dozen good references on LOTR. Trying to read them all is impossible in short time period. Maybe the beginner on Tolkien should read Lin Carter's "Tolkien: A Look Behind Lord of the Rings" for good introduction to Epic Fantasy Literature. Good Luck ...