[Quiet Man Cometh]

I think I've asked this before, but who's Beorn?

I'm looking forward to it because I did enjoy The Lord of the Rings. Makes me think though, should I bother reading The Hobbit first or not? Might be more interesting to try and work through The Silmarillion first. My dad mentioned to me once that the reason behind Gandalf's getting the events with Bilbo and Thorin going was to get rid of Smaug before the war with Sauron came.

If the movie is anything like the cartoon, I think I'll be happy. I'm curious if he's going to put any of the songs in, and if he's going to make if a younger movie or keep within the age range of the LOTR trilogy.