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They all grow up so quickly!

August 16, 2001 at 11:43:54

A father reflects upon his 4-year-old daughter's brief passion for The Lord of the Rings and realizes...

Gloria of the Rings
Reprinted on Zinos from Anvil #62"Can we play Return of the King, Daddy?"
by Michael Sheinbaum

I expected this question by now, for it was made every day for a month soon after I came home from work. My four-year old daughter, blonde, bright-eyed, and full of halfling wonder, made this part of our evening ritual. Sometimes, too often in hindsight, I would tell her no. I had too much to do, too little patience, or was simply too tired to make the journey into Mordor once again. But this was a rough, lousy day, and I could not think of a better companion to escape with than Gloria.

Return of the King, for those who do not know, is the third volume of J.R.R. Tolkein's brilliant Lord of the Rings trilogy. I watched an animated version of it sometimes when I worked out on my treadmill. Gloria came downstairs one day to see it with me. Even in this PG-rated animated form, the movie is violent, saturated with death and evil. And still I thought it would be ok to share this beautiful, music-laden fantasy with my daughter. It captivated her, especially the lead characters Frodo and Samwise. As hobbits, they were roughly her size. She easily identified with and soon cherished them. Return of the King was soon her favorite video. And before long, she made a game out of it..

"Can we play just for a little bit?"

I smiled with resignation and said, "Sure, let's go play."

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Zinos features articles from various ezines.