Middle-earth Journeys

That's wonderful CA. I think it's another reason why marbretherese, Jonick and I need to make another trip to Oxford . When we last went the Bodleian, Exter College and Pembroke College were all closed, even though the last two were advertised as open .

Sounds like time for another Excellent Adventure!

Arwenclb wrote: Hi Cheyenne, who is clocking at the door !!!!!!

Ah Tolkien ! He would be proud to see websites, movies, AD, etc dedied to "lord of the rings" and to him !!!

Bravo to Michael, his son, who continue to make his father live

Welcome Arwenclb . Nice to see you here .

thank you very much, Philippa and Iolanthe to your words of welcome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

welcome and thank you Arwenclb

Philipa and Iolanthe : thank you to, and oh yes I can very good imagine it's will be a big aventure, so like say Philipa .. Haeven!
for me : a dream ..

Iolanthe wrote:That's wonderful CA. I think it's another reason why marbretherese, Jonick and I need to make another trip to Oxford . . . . Sounds like time for another Excellent Adventure!

I'm up for that!! What a fabulous exhibition it will be - thanks for the info, CA!!

marbretherese wrote:There is an excellent TV series on BBC4 Thursday nights called Worlds of Fantasy - this week's programme featured Tolkien. You can access it here:

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b00936hj.shtml

Although there wasn't a great deal in it which Tolkien enthusiasts didn't already know, there was some footage of Tolkien and some photos which I hadn't seen before. Tom Shippey was interviewed, too!

I've finally got around to watching this after recording it and I really enjoyed it. It's great to actually watch Tolkien himself recounting the 'In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit' moment and the cheeky bit of humour when he recounts his delight at finding the blank page in the exam paper for which he 'almost gave an extra mark... in fact I almost gave five...'.

There was also a close up of him writing in elvish and making a mistake as he goes along .

Unfortunately, this little bbc clip can only be viewed in the UK.

Iolanthe, now that you have described the Tolkien bits from the BBC program, I'm positive this is the same program that ran on Ovation TV here in the States during the last week of February. I'll try to find out if they will be running it again anytime soon for the benefit of US enthusiasts.

Definitely worth watching if it is. The programme is about Tolkien and also Mervyn Peak's Gormengast (another favourite of mine) and is quite insightful about the differences between them and the worlds they created.

I finally got around to reading the last issue of Amon Hen and have discovered from an article about Christopher Fettes (an avid Tolkien collector of long standing) that Tolkien's favourite composer was Sibelius. That's not surprising given Tolkien's Finnish interests - but he just happens to be my all time favourite composer too.

I'm thrilled .

It looks like you and JRRT have developed the same aesthetic, Iolanthe!

Just a reminder to everyone that March 25 is Tolkien Reading Day. What will you read?

I think I'll pull out my Adventures of Tom Bombadil and read a few poems out loud .

I'm re-reading ROTK (every night in bed) - just got to the bit where Éowyn disguises herself as Dernhelm and takes Merry off to battle . . .

Here is a little poem I found that made me think of Tolkien:

Here lies, extinguished in his prime,
a victim of modernity:
but yesterday he hadn't time---
and now he has eternity.

--Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996)

I don't know who Piet Hein was or what he meant by modernity, but it reminds me of Tolkien's dislike of modernity. I think he would have approved of the thought behind this poem. It occurs to me, though, that we haven't talked much about what it is about modernity that Tolkien disliked. Much has been made about his environmental consciousness, ahead of its time, but in making that the only thing about modernity that Tolkien disliked is to see him through our own modern glasses, I'm thinking. What else about the modern world did Tolkien find himself at odds with?

Merry, more than Tolkien evoked an environmental consciousness for me when I read his works, he seems, in essence, far more anti machine...anti industry than he does true tree hugger.

I also think that in his way, Tolkien spoke strongly to the modern world and its preoccupation with evil and warfare in general. Most, if not all of the dark and evil places in Middle-earth were originally constructed by men (the Numenoreans) and then corrupted by evil...Orthanc, Cirith Ungol, Minas Morgul, etc. I find that fascinating.

What is the Scouring of the Shire if not an anti industry dissertation?

Tolkien insisted that his stories were not allegorical. That is what I have always had trouble with. I think they most certainly are that. There's just too much everywhere in his writings. And don't get me wrong...I love his writings.