I wasn't into Tolkien at school really. But the story is timeless, the themes that it touches on are contained in cultures all around the world. The innocent on a quest, the pretender, an inanimate object that holds evil - it's really strange that these themes are there in so many different countries' folklore.

I think all art is subjective - that whoever's watching it or listening to it will decide whether it's good or bad.

Hobbits are a lot like Scots. It’s all about nature and enjoying their land, which is a very Scottish thing.

I'd like to win a Booker Prize for writing. A Nobel Peace Prize for my work in peace... and I think that'll probably do.

After I've been in America for a while, I get homesick for Scotland.

I loved going surfing down on Venice Beach. Id go out with a board under my arm and think, I cant do that in Cranhill.

Strangely enough, the first time I tried to read [The Lord of the Rings] I was on holiday in Florida. I dropped it in the pool my first day there. If that's not a Pippin thing to do, I don't know what is.