How To Tell If You Are In A J.R.R. Tolkien Book -The Toast

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Home: The Toast

You went to the beach once and now you can’t stop thinking about the Sea.

A dragon has ruined your life.

You long to go on an adventure, but only so long as the adventure is not in any way uncomfortable or inconvenient.

You find the sun disappointing and the moon insipid. When you were young, the world was lit only by the stars.

The people of your house are dead and you are living a desperate existence as an outlaw. The good news is soon you will find refuge in an Elven stronghold and earn the love of a beautiful elf-maiden. The bad news is the Elven stronghold will be destroyed by Orcs, and it will be mostly your fault.

You lost a hand while escaping from the realm of the Enemy.

A wizard has roped you into a quest because one of your ancestors invented golf.

You remember the first raindrop and the first acorn, but not where you left your boots.

You strike a bargain with an impossibly malevolent spider demon. This ends poorly for you.

Woe betide anyone who tries to fuck with your ponies.

You are so adventurous you once walked twelve miles to visit your cousins in a different village, then promptly returned home because the people there were strange and foreign.

You are easily distracted by a workplace crush and are terrible at your job. Unfortunately for everyone, your job is The Moon.

You were exceedingly clever once, but unfortunately none of your friends noticed as they were too busy being attacked by an octopus.

The owner of your local tavern knows you by name and also knows not to roll his eyes when you tell him stories about the tree people.

A foreign king takes you into his service, but does not take you seriously. You feel you must prove your worth by stabbing something terrifying.

You have been hired by a group of adventurers to work as a thief, even though your only professional experience is gentle meandering.

You have angered a tree. This ends poorly for you.

You have always wanted to meet elves, and when you finally do, they are intolerably silly.

A Dark Lord fancies your jewelry.

A mountain is out to get you.

You had to learn the hard way not to follow the lights in the marsh.

Your exhaustive knowledge of whimsical riddles has saved your life on multiple occasions.

The leading cause of death in your country is dragons. The second leading cause of death is ennui.

Your best friend is your gardener.

Your best friend was your cousin, until you murdered him over an old ring he found in the river. Now the old ring is your best friend. You hate it.

God’s grace descended upon you once, in the form of an gigantic, murderous war eagle.

You’ve come into possession of a magical object of world-imperiling demonic power, which you use primarily to avoid awkward small talk with your neighbors.

Orcs are chasing you, but this does not bother you nearly as much as the inadequate breakfast you had earlier today.

Your father is only capable of showing his love for you through fiery murder-suicide attempts.

You have earned the personal ire of a Witch-king. This ends poorly for you, and everyone in your country.

You once fulfilled an ancient prophecy and overturned gender expectations at the same time.

After careful consideration, you have decided not to become a Dark Lord.

You are a member of a wonderful fellowship of diverse people united by love and loyalty, but soon it must come to an end. And when the world you know begins to fade away, at long last you will go to the shore and board a ship, and take to the Sea.

InATolkienNovel_End

Austin Gilkeson writes middle-grade witch fiction and lives with his wife and son in Chicago.

J. Longo is a freelance Illustrator & Storyboard Artist in Brooklyn, NY. His work can be seen at JLongoArt.com as well as on Instagram.

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Noooooooooo
I think I've hit "crying at my desk at work because toast is over" stage.
2 replies · active 456 weeks ago
"God’s grace descended upon you once, in the form of an gigantic, murderous war eagle."

This'll be on the back of half the vehicles in Alabama by next week.
3 replies · active 456 weeks ago
Oh god damn.

Are all the remaining humor pieces on The Toast going to feature abrupt sucker punches right in the feels at the end?

Cuz this was very funny and I've enjoyed all your work on The Toast and now I am fighting back nerdtears at work again and it's ALL YOUR FAULT.
5 replies · active 456 weeks ago
Oh man. That got SO REAL at the end, you guys.

SHUT UP I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING.
2 replies · active 456 weeks ago
Oh god is the Toast the fellowship? Is Aman the end of the toast? Am I an elf?

I wish my skills at gentle meandering were of more use in this economy, too, to be honest.
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
"You’ve come into possession of a magical object of world-imperiling demonic power, which you use primarily to avoid awkward small talk with your neighbors."

I mean, yeah. Who wouldn't?
7 replies · active 455 weeks ago
6 replies · active 456 weeks ago
You walked through the woods once, and now feel the need to go on for 15 pages about how old it is. 5 pages later you walk through a different forest, and go on for two chapters about how it is different from the first one. No one tells you to shut up already.
SHIT SHIT SHIT

You are a member of a wonderful fellowship of diverse people united by love and loyalty, but soon it must come to an end. And when the world you know begins to fade away, at long last you will go to the shore and board a ship, and take to the Sea.

YOU JERK
3 replies · active 456 weeks ago
You once fulfilled an ancient prophecy and overturned gender expectations



ALSO FUCK YOU AUSTIN HDU ADD IN THAT LAST BIT YOU BEAUTIFUL ASSHOLE
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
You can confirm the likely veracity of political rumors by referring to prophecies described in popular poems.
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
I suppose I must be in a Tolkien book, then. Because I'm glad that you're all here with me, here at the end of all things.
13 replies · active 456 weeks ago
Your mother is either dead or too sick of Middle Earth's bullshit to appear in your story.
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
Time for a hobbit toast:

1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
I will diminish, and go into the West.
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
missed the boat's avatar

missed the boat · 456 weeks ago

hahahahahaGOD DAMMIT
OH COME ON Y'ALL IT IS WEDNESDAY CAN I LIVE
At first I thought this was me:

"You long to go on an adventure, but only so long as the adventure is not in any way uncomfortable or inconvenient."

But I realize that this is me instead:
"You are a member of a wonderful fellowship of diverse people united by love and loyalty, but soon it must come to an end. And when the world you know begins to fade away, at long last you will go to the shore and board a ship, and take to the Sea."
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
"You long to go on an adventure, but only so long as the adventure is not in any way uncomfortable or inconvenient."
Sums up all those vacations where I spend my days curled on the couch with a book or a show and endless snacks, just in a different city and in a hotel.
Dammit, Austin.
"You long to go on an adventure, but only so long as the adventure is not in any way uncomfortable or inconvenient."
If only I were not too tall to reasonably pass as a Hobbit.

"Orcs are chasing you, but this does not bother you nearly as much as the inadequate breakfast you had earlier today."

It is really hard to put in a productive day of Orc-fleeing when you haven't had a good breakfast, okay?

"You are a member of a wonderful fellowship of diverse people united by love and loyalty, but soon it must come to an end. And when the world you know begins to fade away, at long last you will go to the shore and board a ship, and take to the Sea."

<3
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
The number of scenarios crucial to Tolkien's plots that could have been cleared up by reading an employment advice column are...alarming.

Dear Businesslady,
I am always distracted by a workplace crush and terrible at my job. This wouldn't be such a big deal except that my job is The Moon. Please advise.

Dear Businesslady,
My boss, a foreign king, does not take me seriously, and increasingly I find myself compelled to seek out and stab something terrifying in order to prove my worth. How do I go about ensuring his recognition for my daring feats, and if I fail will it reflect poorly on my future employment?

Dear Businesslady,
I have been hired by a group of adventurers to work as a thief, even though my only professional experience is gentle meandering. So far I have not been asked to burgle anything, but I have distinguished myself by getting my employers out of several scrapes - a task not listed in my job description. Should I come clean, or is there a way I can fake it 'til I make it?
I was like "yes! this is me."
And that last one... of course I'm at work, I'm not supposed to be experiencing these feelings in an open office environment!
I for one was okay until I saw Jason's ship illustration, and now I also want that on a tote.
5 replies · active 456 weeks ago
Ow my heart
Hi, I'm dealing with my grief by posting LOTR pics, so here's another one

1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
"Orcs are chasing you, but this does not bother you nearly as much as the inadequate breakfast you had earlier today."

IT ME
3 replies · active 456 weeks ago
Swordsandspindles's avatar

Swordsandspindles · 456 weeks ago

:-)
:-D
"IT ME"
:-|
:'(
YOU GUYS. (laugh crying at work, THANKS A LOT no really thank you for this, this is the one I was waiting for)
"After careful consideration, you have decided not to become a Dark Lord."

"You once fulfilled an ancient prophecy and overturned gender expectations at the same time."

For me, these two are related.
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
Lay down
your sweet and weary head.
Night is falling,
you have come to journey's end...
3 replies · active 456 weeks ago
I was all about this piece until the last one. Did NOT see that coming. How did I not see that coming? Lolsob and hiccuping at my desk.
You are a member of a wonderful fellowship of diverse [as long as you ignore gender] people.
8 replies · active 456 weeks ago
I am thrilled beyond belief to see one more Tolkien post before the end.

You have always wanted to meet elves, and when you finally do, they are intolerably silly.
The difference in behaviour between elves in The Hobbit and elves in The Lord of the Rings is striking and bizarre. Did things in Middle-Earth get that much worse in the 60 or so years in between?
5 replies · active 456 weeks ago
*weeps softly* austin no
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
You are a member of a wonderful fellowship of diverse people united by love and loyalty, but soon it must come to an end. And when the world you know begins to fade away, at long last you will go to the shore and board a ship, and take to the Sea.

... but the good news is that, when we arrive in the Undying Lands (known these days mostly as Twitter, Slack, Reddit, etc.) we will look around and discover that we're living my childhood fanfic where Merry and Pippin and all our friends have somehow managed to follow us into the West, right? RIGHT?
8 replies · active 456 weeks ago
Austin, you tried valiantly, even got me all misty, but it was truly the Toast Commentariat who tipped me over into actual crying. Which is probably what is right and fair, here at the end.

(Tag yourself, I'm You were exceedingly clever once, but unfortunately none of your friends noticed as they were too busy being attacked by an octopus.)
6 replies · active 456 weeks ago
I don't know what this says about me, but this is the first goodbye post that made me cry real tears.
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST I AM NOT CRYING TODAY I AM NOT!

Also, if I did happen to come into possession of a magical object of world-imperiling demonic power, I would ABSOLUTELY use it to avoid small talk.
1 reply · active 456 weeks ago
osutein, this is marvelous. I will miss you!
Why this? Why now? Why do I have to be out so I can't excuse myself to sob like a hobbit. Not all tears are an evil, but that doesn't mean I can bawl while at Taco Bell with my grandma.
Needs more songs.
I was loving this until the SUCKER PUNCH TO THE GUT at the end.

What will I do without my daily tea and toast?
The Toast was the Fellowship. Mallory and Nicole and all the writers were the members, and we lost some and gained some, but now they must separate and go on their disparate quests and some will meet again one day and take to the sea.

The Fellowship is at an End. Godspeed to all.
Home is behind the world ahead
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead
We'll wander back and home to bed
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
kkarlton's avatar

kkarlton · 456 weeks ago

You are not a dark lord, but A QUEEEEEEEEEEN
The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass.
2 replies · active 456 weeks ago
A MOUNTAIN IS OUT TO GET YOU. AUSTIN, YOU GORGEOUS BASTARD.
Welp, fuck you very much with that last one, now I'm crying at my desk. I love you all.
Oh, oh no, my heart just keeps on breaking into smaller and smaller pieces.

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