BBC Radio Dramatization of the Lord of the Rings [1981]

I will be seeding this indefinitely, from next monday on. Uploaded on 09-01-2009 --- This is a direct CD rip of the 1981 BBC Radio Dramatization of the Lord of the Rings. Everything was done on a Plextor PX-W4012A and encoded at 96-160 VBR using the latest LAME version. For more info, see http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-BBC-Dramatization/dp/0553456539/ref=sr_1_1/103-4204271-3439843?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184080048&sr=8-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1981_radio_series) Be advised that this is not the 2002 edition, which had some new narrations, music, and the remastered soundtrack by Stephen Oliver. This is taken from the cd box set released in 1999. Still, you won't miss much. ---- About the dramatization: In my opinion, this is vastly superior to the movie, which had a horrid script making a mockery of Tolkiens story and language. Apart from the many omitted elements (which I can understand were necessary in the interest of providing a good arrative), there were some ridiculous twists which changed Tolkiens story completely. Jackson obviously did not care much for keeping Tolkiens story intact and whole. Though of course the eyecandy was incredible. About the file quality: Whether I've made the right encoding choice is of course a matter of debate, but the package can now be burned to a CD-R and transferred rather quickly (as opposed to FLAC for instance, which would've yielded a whopping 6 or 7 GB's to download). The quality is sufficient to play it on a portable mp3 player. Since it's mostly speech, you could even consider burning it to a cd (though listening on a hi-fi audio set would reveal many imperfections and artefacts of course). --Curunir

udp://tracker.openbittorrent.com:80
udp://open.demonii.com:1337
udp://tracker.coppersurfer.tk:6969
udp://exodus.desync.com:6969

jawaligt (2009-02-24)

Hey, thanks for the replies. I really appreciate the fact there are some serious Tolkien fans out there expressing their thanks and starting discussion :). This has become quite a big reply though..
Upon reading my comment again I have to admit it's a bit high-horse-ish. I did enjoy the movies very much of course. But story-wise, they could certainly have been better.
Now I understand Jackson had to cater to a big audience (it's a hollywood production after all), hence the long and overdone fighting scenes. This BBC radio play does that very elegantly by having a minstrel tell the story of the Battle of Pelennor Fields, with dialogue and narrative in between for the truly dramatic moments. I like that more. But I really have two major objections to the way Jackson carried out the adaptation.
Firstly, Tolkiens work is primarily language-driven. His world is not (as many fantasy authors have done) simply imagined and later on filled with nonsensical words and dialects, no -- the language is primary, and the world springs from that (in the Silmarillian: from song. But language is essentially song, since all beautiful/poetic language takes into account form, metrum, rhythm etcetera, and language probably followed song in the history of human development). In a way his 'word became flesh' as it says in the bible (though I wish to say explicitly I'm no christian).
This is something Jackson failed to recognize I think, since Tolkiens superior and well-crafted style of writing (reminescent of both medieval and shakespearean language, the bible and of course nordic languages). Tolkien was always very precise (for instance, he was furious when in a copy of his book the word 'elvish' had been replaced everywhere by elfish' - the ugly but correct way to spell the word - due to some dimwitted corrector). What follows from this is if you change Tolkiens language, you take away the soul of his work, the very essence. Almost no dialogue or phrases from the book can be found in Jacksons movies. And then you're left with only the barebones: a storyline and what is essentially an array of beautiful pictures. But the real magic of the work, what makes it so special.. is largely lost.
Secondly, I think there is a distinction between adapting a book while remaining faithful to the purpose and ideas of the author, and rewriting it. Changing chunks of the story, because you yourself fail to see the logic and coherence. Take Tom Bombadil for instance: he may be an anomaly, but in my view he is quintessential to the books, because he shows Tolkiens world is essentially one of powers. A spheric, topical world if you will where the different rings symbolize a field of influence, as is evident in Rivendell and Lorien being places where the decay of the world is halted for some time, and the memory of the ancient days of Middle-Earth can still be felt. He is, in a way, the hinge which maintains and explicits the balance between good and evil.
By showing us the gentle but all-encompassing power Bombadil wields when he is within his own domain (evident because he is unaffected by the rings power, and has power to hold Old man willow and the Barrow Wights), Tolkien emphasizes this. He also makes us see there is a difference between the way Sauron, Saruman and Denethor (and Boromor) wield power (and to some extent, also Galadriel once tempted), and the way in which Theoden, Faramir and Gandalf do this. As it says in the Silmarillion
Wisest of the Maiar was Olórin. He too dwelt in Lórien, but his ways took him often to the house of Nienna, and of her he learned pity and patience (...) though he loved the Elves, he walked among them unseen, or in form as one of them, and they did not know whence came the fair visions or the promptings of wisdom that he put into their hearts. In later days he was the friend of all the Children of Ilúvatar, and took pity on their sorrows; and those who listened to him awoke from despair and put away the imaginations of darkness.
So though Gandalf is essentially associated with the element of fire, it is in

stokie05 (2009-07-14)

Sorry to ask a stupid question, but is this the full trillogey exactly as they are witten? and is this better than listening to an audio book? thanks

jawaligt (2009-09-28)

This is a radio adaptation. The story is condensed and the characters are portrayed by actors. There is still plenty of narrration though, which is quite faithful to the book.
Still, if you just want a direct narration of the book you should look elsewhere.

Ellesarath (2012-01-20)

Just wanted to say thanks for seeding this, I am a non-native english speaker and thus never had teh chance to listen to this when I was younger. HOwever we did (here in Sweden) have our very own Swedish version of a "radio theatre" as we call them sometime during the 90's I believe. That one is still at the very heart of all my audio books and I listen to it often.
Anyway, thanks again!

Ammo8 (2012-08-20)

@jawligt "hence the long and overdone fighting scenes." Um, HELLO, the books are even better at describing the INTENSE fighting, which could definitely have made the films R rated! I have read the books b4, and am planning on reading the Silmarilion soon, and i think Jackson did the best book to movie adaption i have every seen. I must admit, there are a LOT of things i would have liked to see in the movie, but it was still very enjoyable to watch. A lot better than most of the crappy movies made nowadays!