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This is the most magnificent audio version ever recorded of The Hobbit - by Nicol Williamson in the early 1970's. Zip file with mp3 in it: https://drive.googl

This is the most magnificent audio version ever recorded of The Hobbit - by Nicol Williamson in the early 1970's. Zip file with mp3 in it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b2aPKgVVguOKMOOqWskaliOviYr5anlL/view?usp=drive_link0 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b2aPKgVVguOKMOOqWskaliOviYr... Best enjoyed on a rainy afternoon in an armchair with a cup of tea.

wigster 10mo ago
nice - gandalf meets merlin. do love Nicol Williamson
nihakue 10mo ago
Excellent, but my favourite has to be the Rob Inglis recordings (of both The Hobbit and LOTR). The songs are top notch, and his voice is perfect, esp. for the tone of the Hobbit. https://archive.org/details/TheHobbitAudiobook/The+Hobbit/Chapter+01+-+An+Unexpected+Party.mp3 https://archive.org/details/TheHobbitAudiobook/The+Hobbit/Ch...
- mwcz 10mo ago
  Martin Shaw's recording of the Silmarillion is similarly wonderful.
  - iammiles 10mo ago
    While we’re at it, Christopher Lee’s narration of Children of Húrin deserves a mention.
- grumbelbart2 10mo ago
  > but my favourite has to be the Rob Inglis recordings Impressive, very nice. Let's see Paul Allen's recording.
- subpixel 10mo ago
  These really blew me away. I have a theory that he recorded the narration and dialogue of each character individually and then it was all edited together - it seems impossible to switch back and forth between such incredible character deliveries on the fly. Or perhaps this is just how that kind of work is done. Regardless, an amazing job.
- twoodfin 9mo ago
  Loving this thread. My Tolkien audio of choice will always be the BBC production of LOTR: https://archive.org/details/lord-of-the-rings-10_202401 https://archive.org/details/lord-of-the-rings-10_202401 Fantastic cast, including Ian Holm—Bilbo in the Jackson films—as Frodo.
dtgriscom 10mo ago
Goodness gracious; I remember having a copy of that in my teens. Wonderful.
loloquwowndueo 10mo ago
If you’re sitting on an armchair not really doing anything else, why not just read the book? Reserve audio versions for when you genuinely can’t look at the book because you’re doing something else.
- fsiefken 10mo ago
  hi loloquwowndueo, i was thinking the same thing, but then I thought why you would prefer reading a book while sitting instead of listening - is it about efficiency and that if you CAN read one should (you use the imperative) read? I also have this view, but when I was young and an avid reader I also enjoyed radio stories immensely as my imagination was also activated. As in the past we were an species with a predominantly oral cultural transmission, arguably more 'embodied', there could be something to say for attending a theatre version in preference of a book. On the other hand, reading often is faster, but it's indirect, you translate the symbols into your imagination yourself, on the upside you perhaps train your mind more. So both have their advantages, one is not necessarily better. I notice I am often looking through a lense of efficiency and then make choices where I loose a certain experience - sitting in the dark listening to someone telling a story instead of reading can be equally wonderful.
  - bombcar 10mo ago
    Reading is faster - a reason not to do it! There’s a reason that rituals across time and space have had readings from time immemorial- and not just because of the cost of printing. Especially with a work like LotR it can be very tempting to skim parts; the audiobook will just continue on, which can help you encounter passages you’d normally have skipped over.
    - thombat 10mo ago
      Absolutely! I'd read LotR many times before I first read it aloud as a bedtime story season and was abashed to find how much I'd been skipping over, mostly parenthetical details of geography and world-building, while hastening in pursuit of the plot, like the holder of a big box of bonbons gorging target than savouring.
senderista 10mo ago
Andy Serkis's audiobook of The Hobbit is pretty amazing.
- eunoia 9mo ago
  His full Lord of the Rings audiobook is likewise incredible.
CGMthrowaway 10mo ago
In case people dont want to download a 250MB zip just to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy91aWaC9ag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy91aWaC9ag

wigster 10mo ago

nice - gandalf meets merlin. do love Nicol Williamson

nihakue 10mo ago

Excellent, but my favourite has to be the Rob Inglis recordings (of both The Hobbit and LOTR). The songs are top notch, and his voice is perfect, esp. for the tone of the Hobbit. https://archive.org/details/TheHobbitAudiobook/The+Hobbit/Chapter+01+-+An+Unexpected+Party.mp3 https://archive.org/details/TheHobbitAudiobook/The+Hobbit/Ch...

mwcz 10mo ago
Martin Shaw's recording of the Silmarillion is similarly wonderful.
- iammiles 10mo ago
  While we’re at it, Christopher Lee’s narration of Children of Húrin deserves a mention.
grumbelbart2 10mo ago
> but my favourite has to be the Rob Inglis recordings Impressive, very nice. Let's see Paul Allen's recording.
subpixel 10mo ago
These really blew me away. I have a theory that he recorded the narration and dialogue of each character individually and then it was all edited together - it seems impossible to switch back and forth between such incredible character deliveries on the fly. Or perhaps this is just how that kind of work is done. Regardless, an amazing job.
twoodfin 9mo ago
Loving this thread. My Tolkien audio of choice will always be the BBC production of LOTR: https://archive.org/details/lord-of-the-rings-10_202401 https://archive.org/details/lord-of-the-rings-10_202401 Fantastic cast, including Ian Holm—Bilbo in the Jackson films—as Frodo.

dtgriscom 10mo ago

Goodness gracious; I remember having a copy of that in my teens. Wonderful.

loloquwowndueo 10mo ago

If you’re sitting on an armchair not really doing anything else, why not just read the book? Reserve audio versions for when you genuinely can’t look at the book because you’re doing something else.

fsiefken 10mo ago
hi loloquwowndueo, i was thinking the same thing, but then I thought why you would prefer reading a book while sitting instead of listening - is it about efficiency and that if you CAN read one should (you use the imperative) read? I also have this view, but when I was young and an avid reader I also enjoyed radio stories immensely as my imagination was also activated. As in the past we were an species with a predominantly oral cultural transmission, arguably more 'embodied', there could be something to say for attending a theatre version in preference of a book. On the other hand, reading often is faster, but it's indirect, you translate the symbols into your imagination yourself, on the upside you perhaps train your mind more. So both have their advantages, one is not necessarily better. I notice I am often looking through a lense of efficiency and then make choices where I loose a certain experience - sitting in the dark listening to someone telling a story instead of reading can be equally wonderful.
- bombcar 10mo ago
  Reading is faster - a reason not to do it! There’s a reason that rituals across time and space have had readings from time immemorial- and not just because of the cost of printing. Especially with a work like LotR it can be very tempting to skim parts; the audiobook will just continue on, which can help you encounter passages you’d normally have skipped over.
  - thombat 10mo ago
    Absolutely! I'd read LotR many times before I first read it aloud as a bedtime story season and was abashed to find how much I'd been skipping over, mostly parenthetical details of geography and world-building, while hastening in pursuit of the plot, like the holder of a big box of bonbons gorging target than savouring.

senderista 10mo ago

Andy Serkis's audiobook of The Hobbit is pretty amazing.

eunoia 9mo ago
His full Lord of the Rings audiobook is likewise incredible.

CGMthrowaway 10mo ago

In case people dont want to download a 250MB zip just to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy91aWaC9ag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy91aWaC9ag