Lord of the Rings

Does sitting down with your favorite sci-fi novel, fantasy movie, or comic book sound better than dropping a boatload of cash on a Valentine's Day dinner date? You're not alone. These 10 geeky date ideas are two things — awesomely cheap and easy to pull off for your kindred sci-fi and/or fantasy nerd. Cheers to you!

1. Throw a Star Wars party for two.
2. Make some Lembas bread together and watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
3. Whip up a batch of Cloud 9 mojitos (complete with mason jar glasses) and have a Battlestar Galactica marathon.
4. Bake some geeky sweets using Star Wars-themed cookie cutters.
5. Gift a geeky cookbook and try out a recipe together.
6. Create your own cocktail and top it off with nerdy ice cubes.
7. Take in a killer sci-fi classic at your local drive-in.
8. Make a pink Captain Picard cake to celebrate Valentine's Day and your mutual love for the captain who is number two in your heart.
9. Make some Earl Grey tea and watch a Star Trek marathon.
10. Rewatch the first season of Game of Thrones or start a book club for two and reread the series together.

Love may be a universal language, but we're not sure that phrase includes the sci-fi alien races and fantastical creatures that rule the far depths of the galaxy, who express love in words beyond our human comprehension. When you're thinking of a unique way to woo your valentine this year, plan a tutorial to learn together one of these 14 geeky languages. While several of these Trekkie, Tolkien, or computer gaming-inspired languages have enough depth to warrant a university level class, many are not fully realized, so have fun discovering select words and phrases to bring to future geeky date outings.

• Wookie — Made up of three dialects, the main Wookie language is Shyriiwook. As you'd expect it consists of lots of barks and grunts, but don't you dare say that to Chewbacca. The Star Wars Christmas Special has detailed examples of this mystifying tongue.
• Klingon — The language of Klingons, the sometimes ally of the Federation, is arguably the best known of the imagined star languages. Described by its Hollywood creators as gutteral in tone, dedicated Trekkies maintain the Klingon Language Institue, preserving the galaxy's "fastest growing language."
• Vulcan — Known as the language of Spock, one version of Vulcan looks like musical notes. Much of the language is available online today as Gene Roddenberry was insistent when making Star Trek: The Motion Picture that the Vulcans receive their own linguistic treatment.
• Romulan — As biological cousins of the Vulcans, the Romulan language is difficult to differentiate from Vulcan to the untrained ear. The Central Institute of the Romulan Language ensures you get the right training to one day know the difference.
• Cardassian — Residents of the Alpha Quadrant, Cardassians are a fearsome foe of the Federation. Little is known of their language, maybe because of its rectangular-shaped letters and script.
• Andorian — The blue-skinned moon species from Andora appeared throughout the Star Trek series and would of course show up in the directory of a PADD.
• Elvish — With a background in linguistics study from Oxford, Tolkien did not take the creation of the Lord of the Rings languages lightly. Based on Welsh and English, you can study Liv Tyler's Arwen in the film trilogy for pronunciation and read the many online Elvish resources, including an English to Elvish dictionary.
• Dwarvish — Also called Khuzdul, Tolkien is said to have drawn inspiration for the secret language of the Dwarves from Hebrew, reflecting many of the same sounds and structure. As many Lord of the Rings languages, it's been almost fully realized and you can study up with the Dwarvish dictionary.

Check out even more languages to geek out over after the jump.

J.R.R. Tolkien created a vast and complex world when he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The setting for these stories, a land called Middle-earth is rich with its own languages, myths, races, and cultures. With the guidance of The Origin's of Tolkien's Middle-Earth For Dummies ($16), we've noted five facts about this fictional world that came straight from one man's imagination.

For more about your favorite fantasy realm follow the break.

Photos of the dwarf brothers Dori, Nori, and Ori from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey were released today on the film's Facebook page. Due to hit theaters in 2012, the film describes the brothers:

Dori, Nori and Ori are intensely loyal to each other — and whilst they are perfectly happy fighting amongst themselves, woe-betide anyone who means harm to one of these brothers.

They're part of the 13 dwarf companions who accompany hobbit Bilbo Baggins on his quest to battle the dragon Smaug. Color us excited! In celebration of The Hobbit goodies (have you read the book yet?), we thought we'd take you on a special journey of our own just for fun. Follow the break for a blast from the past — Leonard Nimoy's 1967 music video tribute to Bilbo, complete with mod dance moves!

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