Middle-earth Journeys

Je m'empresserai de relire pour la énième fois ce beau gros livre( comme un annuaire disait Viggo!) en rentrant de vacances pour trouver un passage ''moins aimé'', et continuer le fil, Merry.

Perhaps some would say that this is a sign that I have read it too many times, Michka! But all the beauties make the occasional 'miss' worth it.

April 8: The Field of Cormallen! One of my favorite scenes.

Oh, yes Merry! "Praise them with great praise!" The Praise of the Ringbearers at Cormallen and Aragorn's coronation are the two happy events in LOTR that I could almost feel right from the page. How wonderful it would be to stand with those great armies to shout and sing out our gratitude to Frodo and Sam -- Endurance Beyond Hope (Bronwe athan Harthad) and Hope Unquenchable (Harthad Uluithiad).

Yes! What a nag I am, really, but why wasn't this scene in the movie?

Riv Res wrote:Today is a great day in Middle-earth history

August 22, TA 3019

They come to Isengard; they take leave of the King of the West at sunset.

With that they parted, and it was the time of sunset; and when after a while they turned and looked back, they saw the King of the West sitting upon his horse with his knights about him; and the falling Sun shone upon them and made all their harness to gleam like red gold, and the white mantle of Aragorn was turned to flame. Then Aragorn took the green stone and held it up, and there came a green fire from his hand.

© J.R.R.Tolkien


Aragorn's Farewell to the Fellowship.
Image Riv Res.
© Rabbit Ridge Art™.

Since I'm on a mission to post here at MeJ, I'd like to point out that this passage made me stop reading ROTK back in 1985, I just couldn't part with my King. I guess I read the next chapters, but I'm not completely sure , because when I heard the English audiobook about 15 years later, it felt very fresh and new to me. Probably not just because it's in English and I did listen to the Swedish radio adaptation long before that, which I think included the Scouring of the Shire. So, anyway, beautiful passage, but the book died for me when King Elessar was left behind.

I have lots of favourites, many mentioned here earlier, but since today is the Ides of March (Idus Martiae, because in Sweden we don't have a Swedish word for it, just the Latin that we learnt in history class about Julius Caesar), I really must mention the Battle of Pelennor. I read the top of this page and visited the Great Years Calendar for March 15th, which was pivotal during the War of the Ring, the moment the tide is turning, the wind is changing, a ray of light shines through darkness, whatever metaphor you want to use. And some are used in the book, there's basically a weather report in those chapters, skies, wind, temperature too, probably.
Now I'm wondering if anyone knows if Tolkien chose this date at random, if it is chance and a convenient ten days before March 25th, when the destruction of the ring and the fall of Sauron takes place, or if he really thought of the date as the fateful Ides of March. He was familiar with Shakespeare and drew on the Scottish play for the death of the Witchking and the march of the ents, so why not a bit of Julius Caesar (btw, I saw the movie when I was about nine and was mesmerized by Marlon Brando, have sadly not seen it since )?
Yes and my fave part of the battle is the one scene I really wanted to see in the movie, very cinematic, but never got. I have told this story many times, but must explain that I grew up reading the Old Norse sagas, the Edda and lots of similar stuff, loved Sigurd Fafnirsbane among other heroes, thought Strider was him, was miffed when Tolkien fooled me, but read on to see if the man with the broken sword would become king (a clue lies in the title of the third volume , so I didn't have to check later chapters for security as some others here ), then I came across the Rohirrim, who are very familiar to me, basically Vikings on horseback, so I identified a lot with Éowyn and Éomer. Hey, I wanted to be a shieldmaiden when I was nine, die on my sword, not much had changed when I was fourteen and read LOTR. So the scene with Éomer on the battlefield made a great impression on me the first time I read it, but also subsequently.
Éomer is desperate, has broken through the enemy lines, but is outnumbered, so ready to form a shield wall and fight to the death. Then he sees the pirate fleet sail up the river, becomes even more desperate, but then sees Arwen's standard flying and throws his sword in the air, singing. That's a Viking for me, it's just sublime, when it comes to warrior mentality. Must go and fetch book to quote...

Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising
I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.
To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking:
Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!

These staves he spoke, yet he laughed as he said them. For once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a fell people. And lo! even as he laughed at despair he looked out again on the black ships, and he lifted up his sword to defy them.
And then wonder took him, and a great joy; and he cast his sword up in the sunlight and sang as he caught it. And all eyes followed his gaze, and behold! upon the foremost ship a great standard broke, and the wind displayed it as she turned towards the Harlond. There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor; but seven stars were about it, and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years beyond count. And the stars flamed in the sunlight, for they were wrought of gems by Arwen daughter of Elrond; and the crown was bright in the morning, for it was wrought of mithril and gold.
Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur's heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor; and the mirth of the Rohirrim was a torrent of laughter and a flashing of swords, and the joy and wonder of the City was a music of trumpets and a ringing of bells. But the hosts of Mordor were seized with bewilderment, and a great wizardry it seemed to them their own ships should be filled with their foes; and a black dread fell on them, knowing that the tides of fate had turned against them and their doom was at hand.

Doesn't this make you seriously happy? What's it called, joy isn't enough, but there are words like exaltation, elation, bliss, rapture, euphoria... and none of them comes close. I'm trying to remember a word used by either Kocher or Shippey or both, the opposite of despair, a moment of complete bliss, possibly religious word of Greek origin, sth Tolkien used a lot in his writings.

"In the high tongue of old I am Elessar, the Elfstone, and Envinyatar, the Renewer"

Sigh ... that one is the one that gets me, Estel.

Riv Res wrote:"In the high tongue of old I am Elessar, the Elfstone, and Envinyatar, the Renewer"

Sigh ... that one is the one that gets me, Estel.

Gets me too, the problem is that whenever I read that and see King Elessar in all his glory before me, he rides away into the sunset, literally, a few pages later, after a great description of his royal demeanour. He's lost to the reader and there's just bloody hobbits left. Ok, not entirely, I'm exaggerating, but you know how I feel about hobbits, boring and annoying most of the time, unless played by fine actors like Martin Freeman in The Hobbit. Improvement on the books.

What about this, Galadriel's farewell to Aragorn right before the scene described in that church window (like it, btw ).

Elfstone, through darkness you have come to your hope, and have now all you desire. Use well the days!

Elessar and Estel in the same sentence, witty lady.

Interesting question about the ides of March, Estel. I know that Shippey thinks that the fact that the Ring was destroyed on March 25--the Feast of the Annunciation, nine months before the birth of Christ, and thus the beginning of Redemption--is significant. I checked to see if March 15 was a significant saint's feast day, but if it is, I can't figure out why! So the ides of March is as good an explanation as any.

Anyway, yes, big day in Middle-earth and the turning of the tide!

Oh, yes, and Tolkien's term for the unexpected joy was 'eucatastrophe'--he had to coin the right word.

Well done, Estel ... but I do like this reunion a lot ...

On the throne sat a mail-clad man, a great sword was laid across his knees, but he wore no helm. As they drew near he rose. And then they knew him, changed as he was, so high and glad of face, kingly, lord of Men, dark-haired with eyes of grey.

Frodo ran to meet him, and Sam followed close behind. 'Well, if that isn't the crown of all!' he said. 'Strider, or I'm still asleep!'

'Yes, Sam, Strider,' said Aragorn. 'It is a long way, is it not, from Bree, where you did not like the look of me? A long way for us all but yours has been the darkest road.'

pour Estel: je voudrais dire qu'il existe un terme français pour exprimer une très grande joie de tout un peuple, c'est : LIESSE, qui signifie grand bonheur partagé par tous. Merci pour toutes ces remises en mémoire des plus beaux textes jamais écrits

Merry wrote:Interesting question about the ides of March, Estel. I know that Shippey thinks that the fact that the Ring was destroyed on March 25--the Feast of the Annunciation, nine months before the birth of Christ, and thus the beginning of Redemption--is significant. I checked to see if March 15 was a significant saint's feast day, but if it is, I can't figure out why! So the ides of March is as good an explanation as any.

Anyway, yes, big day in Middle-earth and the turning of the tide!

Oh, yes, and Tolkien's term for the unexpected joy was 'eucatastrophe'--he had to coin the right word.

Exactly, I knew it started with euc and then couldn't remember, especially not at 2 am and too tired to get a book and look for it, tried googling, but difficult, when you don't know more than euc...
25th of March was also a New Year's Day in England long ago, according to Shippey, if I remember correctly, so very fitting to start a new age. The Romans used March 1st, which just happens to be Aragorn's birthday.
Dec 25th, when the fellowship sets out from Rivendell, is also a New Year's Day from the Middle Ages, used in Sweden too for many centuries and still by me, who is a bit old-fashioned, but nobody cares that I think Christmas morning begins the new year, lovely to start anew when coming out of church 8 am after hearing an uplifting message. It's still dark when you walk in, only candles within, a message of hope and renewal and then you step out in daylight and it's a new day and a new year. And then I'm not even a person of faith, I go to church out of tradition.

MICHKA wrote:pour Estel: je voudrais dire qu'il existe un terme français pour exprimer une très grande joie de tout un peuple, c'est : LIESSE, qui signifie grand bonheur partagé par tous. Merci pour toutes ces remises en mémoire des plus beaux textes jamais écrits

Parts of LOTR and other Tolkien writings are among the most beautiful words ever written, that's what drew me, when I was young and that's what has made me read Tolkien over and over for the last 30 years. I usually tell people that I like to read Tolkien and fantasy, then people say but isn't Tolkien fantasy? And I say no, Middle-Earth is real, LOTR is sublime and Tolkien stands above and beyond all other writers in this genre, so I wouldn't call Tolkien fantasy.
The fantasy writers I like otherwise are mostly British and usually combine this more or less modern world with other worlds or times or well-known myths, I can't really accept other books than Tolkien's set completely in another world, except perhaps Ursula LeGuin. Most fantasy writers copy Tolkien somehow but not very well, it's not easy to walk in his footsteps. One reason is of course his mastery of language, both archaic English and his own inventions.
And MICHKA, I'm sorry that I never was allowed to study French as well in school, wanted to but had to stop at English and German combined with the science program, so I only understand a little French, but I use Google translate , so no worries. You're lucky I don't post in Swedish, then almost everyone would have to use online translators, if they'd even bother to look at my long and rambling posts. Swedish is much more beautiful and expressive than English, even if there are much fewer synonyms, the words look and sound better, are more precise and poetic, often onomatopoetic and Swedish is of course one of the most melodic languages on earth and lovely to sing. Just saying. It's so difficult to express oneself in English, which is completely different.

Sorry, it's me again. I found eucatastrophe on Wikipedia, the English article didn't say so much so I read the German one, which quotes a letter by Tolkien, No.89:

„I coined the word 'eucatastrophe': the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears (which I argued it is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce). And I was there led to the view that it produces its peculiar effect because it is a sudden glimpse of Truth, your whole nature chained in material cause and effect, the chain of death, feels a sudden relief as if a major limb out of joint had suddenly snapped back. It perceives – if the story has literary 'truth' on the second plane (....) – that this is indeed how things really do work in the Great World for which our nature is made. And I concluded by saying that the Resurrection was the greatest 'eucatastrophe' possible in the greatest Fairy Story – and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love.“

Wikipedia then says

Zum Unterschied von der realen Welt setzen "zweitgeschöpfte" Sekundärwelten nach Ansicht Tolkiens Maßstäbe. Ist die Geschichte über eine Sekundärwelt schlecht, so wird irgendwann der Unglauben wieder aufkommen (Katastrophe) und der Leser in die "Primärwelt" zurückkehren. Ist die Geschichte jedoch gut und spendet Trost und Hoffnung (Eukatastrophe), wird der sich darauf Einlassende in der "Sekundärwelt" verweilen. Zu schöpfen, etwas zu erschaffen, hält Tolkien für eine zutiefst menschliche Eigenschaft und für ein Bedürfnis, das gestillt werden muss.

If you can't read German I'll provide you with a translation:

In contrast to the real world "subcreated" secondary worlds set standards, according to Tolkien. Is the story about a secondary world bad, then unbelief will eventually arise (catastrophe) and the reader will return to the "primary world". However, if the story is good and gives hope and comfort (eucatastrophe), the one who lets himself in will want to linger in the secondary world. To shape, to create something, Tolkien believes is a deeply human characteristic and a need that must be satisfied.

Nice to see that someone put into words the foremost reason to read Tolkien over and over and something to hit people on the head with (not literally) when they just don't get Tolkien or dismiss him as just fantasy.

I too have a favorite quote from the Field of Cormallen. It comes from Sam, but it's different from Riv's choice:

And when the glad shout had swelled up and died away again, to Sam's final and complete satisfaction and pure joy, a minstrel of Gondor stood forth, and knelt, and begged leave to sing. And behold! he said: "Lo! lords and knights and men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Dunedain of the North, and Elf and Dwarf, and great-hearts of the Shire, and all free folk of the West, now listen to my lay. For I will sing to you of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom."

And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for sheer delight, and he stood up and cried: "O great glory and splendour! And all my wishes have come true!"

And then he wept.

The quote is just wonderful, vintage Sam, but what makes it all the more extraordinary is the phrase that follows: And then he wept.