Middle-earth Journeys

George Lucas ressort ''Stars wars'' en 3D sans avoir rien ajouter aux films, juste converti par la technique les précédents ;est-il possible et nécessaire de faire la même chose avec LSDA? C'est une option très facultative mais ,je crois très lucrative,en tous cas pour la production.

I always enjoy following The Lord of the Rings calendar, especially during the next month or so when so much is happening. So I'm going to post the calendar events above for the next month, if that's okay with everyone. Of course, you can go the 'The Great Years Calendar' to read more complete and insightful accounts of these events!

You MUST visit TOR.n today: Viggo is singing, and teaching the audience to sing, Aragorn's coronation oath!

Merci ,Merry pour les évènements principaux du calendrier qui me font retourner aux extraits plus complets:j'adore revenir en ''Terre du Milieu''; et je dois dire aussi qu'il faut voir Viggo faire chanter le public avec lui en elfique:super! quelle bonne ambiance dans ce théâtre, comme c'est toujours très sympathique de se trouver en présence de cet homme magnifique, fabuleux, talentueux,simple, bref :fantastique!

As I was typing today's 'Great Years Calendar' headline, I was thinking of Tolkien's answer when, much later in his life, someone asked him if any of the passages in LOTR moved him anymore. He answered that Gollum's near repentence was that passage. You may recall that Gollum almost touched Frodo and that Sam, misunderstanding the gesture, rebuked Gollum, told him not to paw the Master, and Gollum reverted to his former self.

The possibility of repentence, even for someone like Gollum, is a powerful idea, isn't it? Last week, I was teaching the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas, a set of ideas that Tolkien would have known well and tried to live, and they include the idea that nothing is wholly evil. We also see here that nothing is wholly good. Sam's inability to see the gentleness of that moment set into action a series of events that might have been avoided. I wonder how many times I've done that.

Merry, I am right there with The Professor. That scene is hands-down my favorite -- so compelling and moving and pitiful and lovely. The language Tolkien uses to describe Smeagol -- and he is fully Smeagol in this moment -- is so full of pain and pathos and weariness. The devotion and near-love present in the gentle touch Smeagol gives to Frodo is so palpable, and Sam's lack of understanding and what that does to Smeagol is completely heart-breaking.

This scene is so full of "what might have beens." What if Sam had recognized that moment for what it really was? What if he had accepted and praised Smeagol's gesture and offered a moment of fellowship rather than condemnation? Would Smeagol have triumphed over Gollum completely and abandoned the plan to offer the hobbits up to Shelob, thereby sparing Frodo the lasting effects of the spider bite? Or would it simply have postponed Gollum's inevitable betrayal of the hobbits in order to regain the Ring?

Like you Merry, I have wondered how many times in my life I have been the "Sam" in this situation, uttering the well-meaning, but unjust, accusation . . .

Un grand sujet à méditer!!il faut revoir et penser, merci de le mettre sur ''le tapis'', je vais beaucoup y réfléchir....mais ,comme je dis souvent :mais alors il n'y aurait pas l'histoire, ce ne serait plus l'imagination de l'écrivain, plutôt le point de vue du lecteur en jeu,/ à étudier très sérieusement/

Je crois que chacun a la possibilité de comprendre et pardonner, de croire au repentir et l'accepter, le seul danger est que le naturel d'une personne revient souvent à la surface et laisse l'instinct premier réagir; que ce soit Sam ou Sméagol-Gollum, le changement d'attitude demande des efforts et ce n'est pas facile

No, it's not easy. Sam was right, in a way, to be deeply suspicious of Gollum, who had done murder before. But he was not right that every action from Gollum was hateful.

But suppose that Sam hadn't reacted so badly to Gollum at that point. Suppose that Gollum had indeed repented, hadn't sold Frodo out to Shelob, etc. What we're left with is Frodo standing at the fires of Mount Doom, unable to throw the Ring in, and finally claiming it for his own.

Heureusement que non! Enfin je suppose que Sam aurait pu encore agir pour éviter la catastrophe de voir Frodon transformé comme Gollum ( ce qui est suggéré dans les bonus du film)mais vraiment l'anneau représente bien la ''TENTATION'' que tout le monde peut subir un jour

Happy belated Middle-earth New Year!

Yesterday, March 25, was the anniversary of the day the Great Enemy's Ring went into the fires of Mount Doom.

Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor,
for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever,
and the Dark Tower is thrown down.

Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard,
for your watch hath not been in vain,
and the Black Gate is broken,
and your King hath passed through,
and he is victorious.

Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West,
for your King shall come again,
and he shall dwell among you
all the days of your life.

And the Tree that was withered shall be renewed,
and he shall plant it in the high places,
and the City shall be blessed.

Sing all ye people!

-- From LOTR, The Return of the King, "The Steward and the King," by J.R.R. Tolkien

Thanks, Lindariel. This is almost a religious feast day in my household!

Le joli chant de louanges, Lindariel, merci pour rappeler cette belle journée!

Merry wrote:Thanks, Lindariel. This is almost a religious feast day in my household!

You're welcome, Merry! I would have posted this on Sunday, but I spent most of the day in the car driving back home from a week in North Carolina taking care of my elderly parents -- no computer access. However, I DID play my Tolkien CDs in the car in honor of Middle-earth New Year, Frodo's sacrifice, and our victorious King!

Scholars have commented on the religious tone of the eagle's announcement, another sign of the Professor's skill with language. I've been thinking, though: do eagles always talk this way, or is this just a function of the solemnity of the occasion? I don't remember the eagles talking at all in LOTR, except for this, but I think they do talk in The Hobbit. I'll need to do some studying.