A Tolkien Blog Party: The Tag

*Enter Samantha, trying to suppress squeaks of excitement*. Sorry guys, but I've been excited for this tag since I started blogging, and wow, I am still excited for this tag! I love Tolkien week! Without further ado: to the tag!

1. What Tolkien character do you think you're the most like?
I want to say Sam, since he's the character I'm nicknamed after with my close friends/family, and the one my blog name comes from. And I mean, I am like Sam: 

I'm very loyal to my friends and very protective of them
I love working in the garden/in Shire-like areas
I'm good at carrying heavy things and walking for long distances
I can be brave in a pinch 
I'm sometimes mistrustful of people until they earn my trust (helloooooo Gollum)
Familiarity is my favorite, but I would love to see an elf
I like to cook, and having to toss away a cast iron pan would make me 😭
I have very little patience for people who don't know the meanings of words. (PO-TAY-TOES)

But I'm a little torn, because he has so many, many admirable qualities that I don't, humility, to name just one. :)
So I mean, I have a ways to go, but I can't really think of a LOTR character I'm MORE like off the top of my head, so we'll go with Sam. 

2. What Tolkien character do you wish you were more like?
Sam. XD 
I do actually have a list of his traits I want to emulate, along with quotes, up on my bulletin board. The responsibility of bearing his name as a nickname is not to be taken lightly, guys. 

3. What would your dream home in Middle-earth be like?
A little cottage in the Shire, with a garden and lots of goats. Or possibly a house in Gondor, again, with a garden and lots of goats.

4. You get to make a movie of the story of Beren and Luthien!  Who do you cast as the leads?
*Freaks out* I love Beren and Luthien SO MUCH! But I'm horrible at casting. Um...*thinks for several minutes, trying to avoid the inevitable* Grr...I really don't want to imagine any actors as Beren and Luthien, people! I'm going to break the rules and skip this one, because I literally don't know any actors who I would accept as Beren and Luthien. XD 
Although...*whispers* Maybe if Orlando Bloom dyed his hair brown? And Kiera Knightly actually read the book? 

5. Have you ever marathoned the LOTR or Hobbit movies?

No, but I would like to marathon LOTR someday! Maybe I'll do it with "my" Pippin when he gets comes home for winter break.

6. Do you have a favorite song or track from the movie soundtracks by Howard Shore?

Probably Pippin's song, "The Edge of Night", although Bilbo's walking song is definitely a close second. 

7. Which of Tolkien's characters would you like to be best friends with?

I mean, obviously Sam, but him aside, Eowyn. She's just awesome! And her impulsiveness would be a good match for my non-impulsiveness, and we would have a great time talking weapons. (Plus, maybe I'd get to meet Faramir! *continues to squeak with excitement*) This is funny, because she's not my favorite character overall? But she's the one I'd most like to hang out with. Although I'm realizing that I'm assuming that if I'm in Middle-earth to be friends with Eowyn, I would be friends with everyone else, too. So there's that.

8. Who of the people in your real life would you want in your company if you had to take the ring to Mordor?

Do I need to think of nine? (I'm going to say yes, because I 100% want to). This may be slightly confusing, since I refer to some of my friends/family as LOTR characters on the blog, so I shall preface them with "My".

Me (obviously, since I'm taking the ring to Mordor. Wait, how did I get into this, again?)

"My" Frodo

"My" Eowyn

"My" Pippin

"My" Merry

"My" Aragorn, aka Dad 

"My" Legolas

Fr. J, a priest friend of ours 

Fr. DD, our pastor

(Because we definitely would need some priests along, if I can pick anyone.) 

This would literally be so fun, and now I'm actually kind of excited to take the ring to Mordor. :)

9. Have you read any of Tolkien's non-Middle-earth works?

Yes! I've read Roverandom, Farmer Giles of Ham, and Smith of Wooton Major, along with his Letters, which I highly recommend. 

10. Is there a book by Tolkien you haven't read yet, but want to?

I've read all his finished books for adults (I think?), but I've only read a few of Christopher Tolkien's compilations of his unfinished materials on Lord of the Rings, which I would love to read more of. I also haven't read Mr. Bliss or the Father Christmas Letters--although I've read his other children's stories--and I would love to read those. I also haven't read his essay "On Fairy Stories", which is shameful, and must be remedied sometime soon. I'd also like to read Leaf By Niggle. 

Are you, like me, bad at casting imaginary movies? Is your favorite character in LOTR also the one you'd most like to hang out with, or not? Have you read any of Christopher Tolkien's compilations of J. R. R. Tolkien's materials on LOTR?