Middle-earth Journeys

Moi, aussi, Michka! I will read the Lothlorien chapters tonight, I think. What a mystical place.

I started the Sil last night. But I could have reread anything Tolkien has written and enjoyed myself.

Je suis dedans aussi, pas facile à démêler tous ces personnages, esprits, créateurs, démons, ou anges, et les noms on s'y perd parfois...Il y a un lexique bien utile en dernières pages. Je dois dire que jusque là j'avais surtout retenu l'histoire extraordinaire et romantique de Beren et Luthien, et retourner au début demande un effort mais et je persiste je serai bien aise d'avoir vos explications par moments, merci

Just ask specific questions in the Silmarrilion chapter or General threads Michka.

I have to tell you all about my experience yesterday. I was in our local used book store yesterday and there was a family in line in front of me, a father and two boys, about ten and seven years old. They were buying their first set of LOTR! I asked the boys if this was their first reading and they said it was. They were very excited! The younger one was actually jumping up and down! They got the four-volume set of The Hobbit and LOTR for $6.99--lots of return on that investment!

I spent Tolkien Reading Day with Tolkien ART! I took out all of my Tolkien-related art books and just glutted myself on images. For some reason, I was particularly drawn to anything depicting ships. Perhaps thinking of Frodo and the other Ringbearers sailing off to the Undying Lands.

Happy Coronation Day to King Elessar!

I'm always impressed by the role of Faramir in the coronation ritual. I'm away from my books, but doesn't he hand over the scepter and say something like, 'The last steward of Gondor begs leave to surrender his office'? To me, this is the symbol of his reaction when he is cured of the Black Breath by Aragorn, wakes up, somehow mysteriously recognizes him as the true king, and utters the famous line, 'Who would lie idle when the King has returned?' Lovely lines that express an even more lovely attitude toward power.

Merry wrote:I'm always impressed by the role of Faramir in the coronation ritual. I'm away from my books, but doesn't he hand over the scepter and say something like, 'The last steward of Gondor begs leave to surrender his office'? To me, this is the symbol of his reaction when he is cured of the Black Breath by Aragorn, wakes up, somehow mysteriously recognizes him as the true king, and utters the famous line, 'Who would lie idle when the King has returned?' Lovely lines that express an even more lovely attitude toward power.

Yes I agree Merry, Faramir is so humbled by Aragorn but knows his duty of steward (which he held for what... a few months?) is over. I love Faramir. I wish the coronation scene had be at least more accurate in PJ's movie.

Je vais voter, reconnectée à nouveau

You must be referring to our Pick Your Favorite Valar poll. Great!

Hi, all! Hope you're having a great summer. It's been kind of quiet around here and I think we've dropped the ball on our Silmarillion discussion, me included! I'll do some reading and make some contributions soon, promise!

On Monday, I gave a little talk about Tolkien to a group of about thirty people. It was interactive and pretty fun! After it was over, a college student came up to talk. He said he had read LOTR and The Hobbit, and tried to get through the Sil but had put it aside. He wanted to know if there was anything else he could read by Tolkien. I told him there were some other things, but that the reality is that there is nothing anywhere as good as LOTR and he should just get used to being disappointed about that. As I was driving home and thinking about the evening, I was saddened all over again that there is no more Tolkien to read!

There were also a few very knowledgeable Tolkien fans there who were fun to talk with and had some great insights. One told his small group that he had read LOTR around twenty times; they were astounded and asked him why he did that, and he answered that it was because it was THAT GOOD! Gotta love those Tolkien fans!

I just wanted to report that I ordered Beowulf and received it today. I'm not sure when I'm going to get to it--school has started!--but it is one of the most beautiful books I've seen in a while, with Tolkien's elegant dragon drawing on the front. I know people have problems with Christopher and the Tolkien Estate on occasion, but this publication is really well done!

J'ai lu le poème épique , puis vu le film extraordinaire tiré par Robert Zemeckis, scénario de Neil Gaiman et Roger Avary, un livre fort intéressant en est sorti, plus facile à lire: ''La légende de Beowulf. On sent bien l'influence qu'en a subie Tolkien pour son grand récit Le seigneur des anneaux, et sa façon d'interpréter des épopées , évènements avec son style, sa théorie particulière sur les héros, sa sagesse et sa mesure sur l'Héroïsme juste et humble mais courageux et pur, invincible, et triomphant!

Yes, great description of the qualities of the story, Michka! I haven't read it since high school, many years ago, and I loved it then for being like Tolkien, not understanding how much Tolkien was influenced by it. I also remember the feeling of horror engendered by the monster.