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{{user infobox
!align=center |Eldorion
| image=[[File:Ted_Nasmith_-_White_Ships_from_Valinor.jpg|275px]]
| name=Eldorion
| othernames=Jacob Keener, Eldorion Nolondil
| language=[[wikipedia:English language|English]]
| location=[[wikipedia:Maryland|Maryland]], [[wikipedia:United States|United States]]
| birth=8 August 1994
| gender=Male
| hair=Dirty blonde
| eyes=Blue
| email={{nospam|keener.jacob|gmail.com}}
| userboxes={{user lore-4}}
      {{user balrogwings2}}
      {{user entwives2}}
      {{user ref}}
      {{user USA}}
      {{user en-N}}
      {{user 5y}}
      {{user chrome}}
}}


|-
My name is Jacob, but most people in online Tolkien fandom call me Eldo. I've been an avid Tolkien fan for most of my life and I'm a former forum admin and webmaster as well as an independent Tolkien scholar. I use the well-cited articles on TG as a reference and sporadically make edits here when I feel I have something to contribute.
|{{User lore-3}}
|-
|{{user balrogwings2}}
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|{{User entwives2}}


|}</center>
==Names==
 
My real first name is an exceedingly common Biblical one. My surname, Keener, is a [[wikipedia:Pennsylvania Dutch|Pennsylvania Dutch]] name Anglicized from the German ''Kühner''. As for my online ''nom de plume'', I indulge in the long fan tradition of picking an Elvish name and go by Eldorion Nolondil, though on most sites I primarily use one name or the other. The first part is not a misspelling of [[Aragorn]] and [[Arwen]]'s son, but was originally the name of a character I briefly played on the [http://www.lotrplaza.com LOTR Plaza]. It means "son of the star-land" ([[Númenor]]) but due to the ambiguity of the element ''el-'' can also be interpreted as "son of the elf-land". The second part is a genuine Tolkienian name: [[Nolondil]], youngest son of [[Vardamir|Vardamir Nólimon]] and ancestor of [[Hallatan|Hallatan of Hyarastorni]].
My name is Jacob Keener, but I have gone by the name Eldorion in online Tolkien fandom since early 2009, which is around the time I first became seriously active. Most of my fannish activities are centered around forums, but I frequently use TG as a reference and sporadically make edits here.
 
==Name==
My username is not a misspelling of [[Eldarion]] ([[Aragorn]] and [[Arwen]]'s son), but was originally the name of a character I briefly played on the [http://www.lotrplaza.com LOTR Fanatics Plaza]. It means either "son of the star-land" ([[Numenor]]) or "son of the elf-land", as the element ''el-'' can mean either. My experience with role-playing ended up being very brief, but the name stuck around as a nickname for myself, and I have since used it on many other sites.


==Background==
==Background==
I first read  [[The Hobbit]] and [[The Lord of the Rings]] in early 2004, when I was nine years old. Because of my age, my parents did not allow me to see the movies when they first came out, though I saw FOTR and ROTK several months after I read the books. I read [[The Silmarillion]] and [[Unfinished Tales]] in the following several years. In 2008, I got more serious about studying Tolkien after having been shown up at a party, and I first read [[The History of Middle-earth]] and [[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]] around that time. My early participation in Tolkien forums was dominated by Lore debates and was a valuable educational experience for learning more about both Tolkien and rhetoric. Since the conclusion of The Hobbit film trilogy I'm semi-retired from more serious fannish activities, but I still dip my toes into Lore from time to time.
I first read  [[The Hobbit]] and [[The Lord of the Rings]] in early 2004, when I was nine years old, and adored them. I already had an interest in fantasy but Tolkien fired my imagination like nothing else (not even Harry Potter) and his works have been a part of my life ever since. I read [[The Silmarillion]] and [[Unfinished Tales]] in the following several years. I did not watch the entire film trilogy until I was 12. Around 2008 I got more serious about studying Tolkien and began to work my way through [[The History of Middle-earth]] and [[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]. I ventured onto Tolkien forums starting at the end of that year because I was looking to discuss those works and test myself. My early participation in Tolkien fandom was dominated by Lore debates which proved a valuable educational experience in both Tolkien and rhetoric.  


==The Movies==
==The Movies==
I have been very critical of a number of changes made to the story of ''The Lord of the Rings'' by [[Peter Jackson]], [[Fran Walsh]], and [[Philippa Boyens]]. I feel that they missed the point of the story in several places and disliked their claims to Tolkien scholarship when that was not borne out by the films or by their comments in interviews. However, I have always distinguished between my opinion of the films as adaptations and my opinion of them purely as cinema. In the latter category, I have loved them since I first saw the entire trilogy at age 12, though as I've learned more about film I can see many of the flaws in them. Nonetheless, ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' remains one of my favorite movies.
I have always enjoyed the [[Peter Jackson]] film adaptation of ''The Lord of the Rings'', but I have also always been critical of a number of changes made to the story during the adaptational process. Movie discussions quickly became the second area of the fandom that I explored. I have never objected to the mere existence of changes from the source material, but feel that many of the changes (and the motivations for some of them) displayed a lack of interest in fully engaging with the text. However, I have always distinguished between my opinion of the films as adaptations and my opinion of them purely as cinema. I have become more aware of certain flaws in the trilogy as I've learned more about cinema, but ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' in particular remains one of my favorite movies.
 
I used to strongly identify as a [[Wikipedia:Purist|Purist]], and wrote a number of [http://eldorion.com/tolkienpurism/ essays] on the matter, but my opinion on some of these issues has changed with time. Furthermore, the wave of newly-minted purists who felt betrayed by The Hobbit trilogy, previously having believed Jackson to be a faithful adapter of Tolkien, was somewhat alienating to me, as I found myself disagreeing with many of them about the LOTR films, and also unhappy about the level of vitriol directed at Jackson personally from people who felt personally affronted at having the image of Jackson the Tolkien superfan punctured.


==Forum staff==
==Forum governance==
I was the moderator of the Movies forum at the LOTR Plaza for roughly a year, from October 2010 until August 2011, during the period when it was the most active English language Tolkien forum on the web. I was also the founder and owner/administrator of [http://www.hobbitmovieforum.com Forumshire: The Hobbit Movie Forum] from February 2011 to January 2016, after having started the site for members of the The-Hobbit-Movie.com's forum, which had just been shut down (the whole site is now offline). Forumshire grew to be the second-largest English language Tolkien forum, after TheOneRing.net, by 2013, and remained so for the remainder of my tenure as an administrator.
I came into the fandom about a year after ''The Hobbit'' films had been officially announced, though still several years before any of them were actually released, and it was thanks to ''The Hobbit'' that I got my turn at running a forum. I was the moderator of the Movies forum at the LOTR Plaza for roughly a year, from October 2010 until August 2011, during the period when it was the most active English language Tolkien forum on the web. I was also the founder and owner/administrator of [http://www.hobbitmovieforum.com Forumshire: The Hobbit Movie Forum] from February 2011 to January 2016, after having started the site for members of the The-Hobbit-Movie.com's forum, which had just been shut down (the whole site is now offline). Forumshire grew to be the second-largest English language Tolkien forum, after TheOneRing.net, by 2013, and remained so for the remainder of my tenure as an administrator.


==Website==
==Tolkien scholarship==
In addition to the aforementioned Purism essays, I have written about a number of other topics at my generally-neglected personal site, [http://eldorion.com/ Eldorion.com]. The main reason I continue to pay for it is the surprising amount of Google traffic it received for my essay on [http://eldorion.com/lore/eagles/ why the Fellowship did not use the Eagles].
I was fortunate in that my formative fannish experiences came largely in discussions with both self-taught Loremasters and published Tolkien scholars, primarily on the LOTR Plaza and [http://newboards.theonering.net TheOneRing.net's forums]. I was able to make something of a name for myself and after stepping down from running forums I returned more to this early passion. I have a sporadically-updated tumblr blog called [http://nolondil.tumblr.com/essays Nolondil] where I've posted both new essays and some attempts at reworking old ideas that I'd previously posted on various forums.

Revision as of 20:01, 21 July 2016

Ted Nasmith - White Ships from Valinor.jpg
Eldorion
Gatekeeper
Biographical Information
Other namesJacob Keener, Eldorion Nolondil
LanguageEnglish
LocationMaryland, United States
Birth8 August 1994
Edit Count143
Physical Description
GenderMale
Hair colourDirty blonde
Eye colourBlue
Contact Information
Talk pageEldorion
E-mailkeener.jacob12px-nospam.svg.pnggmail.com
Infoboxes
lore-4 This user has an encyclopedic understanding of J.R.R. Tolkien's works.
Balrog.png This user believes Balrogs do not have wings.
Ents.png This user believes the Entwives are lost forever.
<ref> This user recognises the importance of citing sources.
USA.png This user is from the United States.
en-N This person is a native user of English.
     Template:User 5y
ChromeLogo.png This user contributes using Google Chrome.

My name is Jacob, but most people in online Tolkien fandom call me Eldo. I've been an avid Tolkien fan for most of my life and I'm a former forum admin and webmaster as well as an independent Tolkien scholar. I use the well-cited articles on TG as a reference and sporadically make edits here when I feel I have something to contribute.

Names

My real first name is an exceedingly common Biblical one. My surname, Keener, is a Pennsylvania Dutch name Anglicized from the German Kühner. As for my online nom de plume, I indulge in the long fan tradition of picking an Elvish name and go by Eldorion Nolondil, though on most sites I primarily use one name or the other. The first part is not a misspelling of Aragorn and Arwen's son, but was originally the name of a character I briefly played on the LOTR Plaza. It means "son of the star-land" (Númenor) but due to the ambiguity of the element el- can also be interpreted as "son of the elf-land". The second part is a genuine Tolkienian name: Nolondil, youngest son of Vardamir Nólimon and ancestor of Hallatan of Hyarastorni.

Background

I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in early 2004, when I was nine years old, and adored them. I already had an interest in fantasy but Tolkien fired my imagination like nothing else (not even Harry Potter) and his works have been a part of my life ever since. I read The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales in the following several years. I did not watch the entire film trilogy until I was 12. Around 2008 I got more serious about studying Tolkien and began to work my way through The History of Middle-earth and The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. I ventured onto Tolkien forums starting at the end of that year because I was looking to discuss those works and test myself. My early participation in Tolkien fandom was dominated by Lore debates which proved a valuable educational experience in both Tolkien and rhetoric.

The Movies

I have always enjoyed the Peter Jackson film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, but I have also always been critical of a number of changes made to the story during the adaptational process. Movie discussions quickly became the second area of the fandom that I explored. I have never objected to the mere existence of changes from the source material, but feel that many of the changes (and the motivations for some of them) displayed a lack of interest in fully engaging with the text. However, I have always distinguished between my opinion of the films as adaptations and my opinion of them purely as cinema. I have become more aware of certain flaws in the trilogy as I've learned more about cinema, but The Fellowship of the Ring in particular remains one of my favorite movies.

Forum governance

I came into the fandom about a year after The Hobbit films had been officially announced, though still several years before any of them were actually released, and it was thanks to The Hobbit that I got my turn at running a forum. I was the moderator of the Movies forum at the LOTR Plaza for roughly a year, from October 2010 until August 2011, during the period when it was the most active English language Tolkien forum on the web. I was also the founder and owner/administrator of Forumshire: The Hobbit Movie Forum from February 2011 to January 2016, after having started the site for members of the The-Hobbit-Movie.com's forum, which had just been shut down (the whole site is now offline). Forumshire grew to be the second-largest English language Tolkien forum, after TheOneRing.net, by 2013, and remained so for the remainder of my tenure as an administrator.

Tolkien scholarship

I was fortunate in that my formative fannish experiences came largely in discussions with both self-taught Loremasters and published Tolkien scholars, primarily on the LOTR Plaza and TheOneRing.net's forums. I was able to make something of a name for myself and after stepping down from running forums I returned more to this early passion. I have a sporadically-updated tumblr blog called Nolondil where I've posted both new essays and some attempts at reworking old ideas that I'd previously posted on various forums.