Haha, same here! It’s funny. Admittedly, I have never read any of the books, and have really been a fan of Middle-Earth just through the movies. Since checking out M4’s Hobbit edit, though, I have been reading more about the lore and have had a growing interest in seeing more purists edits of LOTR as well. It is just an interesting idea to me. Are purist edits faithful or fruitless efforts? I didn’t realize how many things are different in the films compared to the books! Plated armor, which you see throughout the films, isn’t even described in the books. But I do think exploring that question of, “Could this adaptation be more faithful, but still hold up coherently as in this different medium?” makes for a fun experiment.
Since I haven’t read the books, I am not personally zealous when it comes to purism, but I think it would be fun to see if people will attempt to edit this series in a way that tries to stick as close as possible to what Tolkien wrote. I imagine it would be difficult considering the source material is rather sparse in comparison to LOTR or the Hobbit, but you could end up with an interesting narrative that is quite different than how it is laid out currently.
I’ve had similar thoughts about House of the Dragon as well. The source material is written as an in-universe history of the events of the story. In the book, the why and how of certain key events are ambiguous, and different sources have their own interpretations. I find that aspect really fascinating. In the show, though, the show decides to show these events, and in doing so, take away from that mystery. Of course I don’t think that is a bad thing at all. I think it is also great to see those events “unveiled” in a sense, even if it is different or contradictory to what is said in the books. Despite that, I can picture an edit of the series that chooses to keep those key events mysterious, and let the audience speculate on the truth. Seems like it would be a fun way to experience the show!
I’ve had similar thought regarding Star Wars edits, lore and headcanons, but I’ll save that for the Star Wars threads. I’m looking forward to talking about the finale with you guys!