There are only so many books on pipe smoking. While the vast majority are fantastic, many tend to cover the same topics: material types, break-in strategies, packing methods. You know, the necessities. I am incredibly grateful for those that have taken so much time to help illuminate such issues, but it’s not always what I’m looking for when I want to read about pipes.

That’s why I could not resist when I saw Mark Irwin’s book about pipes in the Lord of the Rings (and only ten bucks!).

According to the back of the book, you should “Pack your pipe with your favorite blend, sit back and enjoy the first thorough exploration of Middle Earth’s pipes, tobaccos, and pipe smokers. Pipe Smoking in Middle Earth recounts the way Tolkien literally frames his Saga in smoke rings, then devotes subsequent chapters concerning what can be known and what can reasonably be inferred about pipeweed or leaf (tobacco), the pipes of Middle Earth, smoker’s equipage (or accessories), the fellowship of the smoke ring (the pipe smokers of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) and the art of blowing smoke rings. It concludes with a complete concordance to every reference to pipes, tobaccos, and pipe smokers in Middle Earth.”

This tiny book, a mere 112 pages, is absolutely jammed with information about the pipes enjoyed by the hobbits, dwarves, men, and others who populate Middle Earth. Mr. Irwin clearly did a great deal of research, including citations for every single instances that he mentions. He even went to far as to analyze the recent movies (though I would hazard to say that he wasn’t the biggest fan).

Pipe Smoking in Middle Earth covers many topics, from the smoking habits of individual characters — a group Mr. Irwin affectionately calls the Fellowship of the Smoke Ring — to the preferences of different race, Tolkien’s own pipe, and even a page or two helping people learn how to blow smoke rings, an absolute necessity if you’re going to survive in Middle Earth.

Mark Irwin does not pull punches in his critique of Peter Jackson’s depiction of the books, particularly on the issue of pipe smoking. His main qualms seem to be about the amount of pipe smoking shown (not nearly enough) and the types of pipes shown (not accurate). Irwin cautions, however, that many others exaggerate the amount of pipe smoking in Lord of the Rings and that it is important to find balance.

The second half of the book is primarily references, where Irwin pulls out of the books (including The Hobbit) the most important mentions of pipe smoking and quotes them directly. This is very helpful for someone like me who has a Lord of the Rings related pipe-project going with Stephen Downie. One of my favorite parts of the last half of the book was a correspondence between Tolkien and a pipe-smoking fan, where the fan asks for more information about the pipes and tobaccos in the books, only to receive a classic Tolkien response.

The short book does repeat itself from time to time, giving the impression that the chapters were written independently, without regard for the content of the previous ones, thus leading to needless repetition. The book itself felt a little rushed, lacking some of the proper editing that will come with further editions.

On the whole, this little gem does a wonderful job wading through the sometimes never-ending writing of Tolkien to find the information concerning pipes and tobacco. If you’re a fan of Lord of the Rings or just want to learn more about pipes in popular culture, you should not pass this book up. After all, it will probably only take an hour or two to read!

I’m still exhausted. Last week, Lauren and I and three of our friends went to see the midnight showing of The Hobbit. The movie was a great time, even though waking up at 6:30 the next day was not.

Tolkien seems to be extremely popular among pipe smokers. Perhaps it is simply pipester-to-pipester loyalty; perhaps it is his drawn out language that lends itself to length musings and relaxation in an armchair. Then again, maybe it’s just because he wrote incredible stories.

When we arrived at the movie theater about an hour before show time, Lauren and I met up with our friend, Aaron. Aaron is one of the most incredible costume designers that I have ever met. Not only does he create outfits for characters like Jack Sparrow, the Mad Hatter, Batman, and so many more, he also acts the characters out at renaissance faires and parties. His a phenomenal actor, a brilliant guy, and a great friend. It should have been no surprise that he came to the movie with an elaborate set of Elven bracer that he created, start to finish – including staining, stitching, cutting, and molding – just a couple of hours before.

He also brought a pipe. Until eight hours before the movie, I didn’t know that Aaron even owned a pipe. When we were hammering out plans for the night, however, he sent me a text message reading, “We need to smoke a pipe. I have the perfect one.”

Well, well, Aaron! You are full of surprises! Believe it or not, Aaron, I just happen to have the perfect pipe and tobacco for this movie, too.

Many months ago, I spoke with the great pipe-artist, Stephen Downie, about a large project. I don’t know what inspired this project, but we started something that has since become known as the Fellowship of the Pipe: nine pipes for nine of the major Lord of the Rings characters. Here’s the catch: they aren’t imitations of the pipes smoked by those characters in the movies or books, but rather they are the pipes that those characters would commission from Stephen if they were able.

As a result of this goal, each pipe has required a great deal of thinking, including what type of tobacco the character would smoke (for chamber type), level of activity (for stem length), personality (for appearance), passions (details), and geographical origin (materials). These are just some of the factors that have gone into every pipe so far of these has been created.

So far, three of these pipes have been created and will be revealed in a later post. However, I knew that one of these pipes was perfect for this movie, but I couldn’t decide which.

At the impasse, I changed my approach and decided on the tobacco first. I knew for a fact that I wanted to smoke “Shortcut to Mushrooms”, by Just for Him. The delicious, buttery blend is one of the most highly rated blends out there and is a fantastic example of an English Aromatic. Even better, it is part of a Lord of the Rings pipe tobacco series, along with Old Toby, Treebeard, and more.

With this, I settled on the second the pipes Stephen has made in the series, Legolas. This pipe contains Elvish script, is modeled after one of the leaves in the story, and features light, fanciful features as would befit an elf. It seemed more fitting for a slight aromatic than the other options.

I was so giddy to smoke that pipe before the movie that I almost forgot about the movie. When we got to the theater, however, I was so overwhelmed with anticipation and excitement at being with so many friends that I left the pipe idle in the car, completely untouched.

Despite this hiccup in my best-laid plan, we had a wonderful time. Aaron provided Mystery Science Theater 3000 style commentary throughout the previews and Lauren, having never seen or read The Hobbit, let me experience the whole thing through new eyes. Though I regret not getting to christen the pipe on such a perfect occasion, pipes are all about enjoyment. Had I tried to rush the experience, it would not have been worth it.

For those of you who have not yet seen the movie, I really enjoyed it. It has an entirely different feel from the first three Lord of the Rings movies. It is not nearly as dark and has a great deal more humor. A perfect example is the trolls. In the first movies, the trolls didn’t speak: they screamed and roared and howled. In The Hobbit, however, the trolls spoke perfectly, sometimes with British accents.

If you’re skeptical about the fact that it has been split into three movies, don’t be. The movie moves along smoothly and includes a lot more of the Middle Earth canon than does the original book, as it draws upon many different writings.

At three thirty in the morning, I left the movie theater with four people that had a wonderful time and were smiling and laughing, despite the hour. It really was a night to remember, as Biblo said.

Then I had to wake up three hours later…