tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post7267303789938844554..comments2024-03-22T08:47:33.246-04:00Comments on Alas, not me: Glad Would He Have Been To Know Its Fate (RK 5.vi.844)Thomas Hillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645380693097266173noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-70560952373420284472018-10-31T11:54:21.702-04:002018-10-31T11:54:21.702-04:00Love this so much, Tom.Love this so much, Tom.Jeremiahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02622893684488275484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-6103896524781718512016-03-03T08:49:10.841-05:002016-03-03T08:49:10.841-05:00No need for apologies, Troels. I enjoy the perspec...No need for apologies, Troels. I enjoy the perspective and information you offer. I was aware of the Trotter/Strider transition and the way details were left in that had no explanation given in the text.Tom Hillmanhttp://alasnotme.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-15523009260725583922016-03-03T03:38:35.617-05:002016-03-03T03:38:35.617-05:00Ah, that, now, is an entirely different discussion...Ah, that, now, is an entirely different discussion :-) I am afraid that you trigger one of my pet topics, so I'll apologise in advance (and please feel free to exact your Inklingsian revenge if I bore you :) )<br /><br />Brad Eden has a very interesting comment in his recent article in JTR about Michael Tolkien, where Eden explains that Michael was very meticulous, unlike Christopher and their father. <br /><br />My own impression is that there is actually quite a bit in Tolkien's writings that are there by accident (though not necessarily much by the standards of other authors). <br /><br />Traces of previous versions, for instance, that are left dangling because they work well in context, though the backstory that they refer to no longer exist (the most prominent example of this is probably the many references to the experiences of Trotter, the Hobbit ranger, that are still in the portrait of Aragorn, though the specific events they refer to are not part of Aragorn's history – he was, for instance, never tortured by Black Riders in Moria ...). <br /><br />Tolkien was a self-admitted niggler and would niggle away at the details in one corner, only to discover that it no longer fitted the larger context (examples of this are numerous throughout the <i>History of Middle-earth</i>). Going back over <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> and creating consistency in the time-line (including moon phases) was a huge job, and though he did manage it in the end (to a much larger degree than one would expect for such a huge story), this does not extend to every other aspect of the story (the nature of Orcs and the round world / flat world cosmogenesis are examples of questions where <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> is inconsistent). <br /><br />Sorry ... I do have a tendency to go on about this ...TroelsForchhammernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-49353259864108285362016-03-02T23:44:34.427-05:002016-03-02T23:44:34.427-05:00Troels, thank you so much for reminding me of the ...Troels, thank you so much for reminding me of the passage about the Lady of the Shield-arm. I can't believe I forgot that one. <br /><br />I know exactly what you mean about the way he slips the most amazingly obscure little details in. And they lie there like the Ring at the bottom of the Anduin, waiting, just waiting. <br /><br />The longer I study Tolkien, the harder I find it to believe that anything in his works is there by chance (if chance you call it)Tom Hillmanhttp://alasnotme.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-52558506225527846352016-03-02T16:55:48.942-05:002016-03-02T16:55:48.942-05:00This is indeed very clever, and a fine way to coun...This is indeed very clever, and a fine way to counter the arrogance of the Witch-king :-) <br /><br />One minor point is that the concept of ‘living’ is introduced only by the Witch-king himself. Glorfindel, according to all accounts of this, does not mention this, and only states that “Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall.” <br /><br />The Rohirrim appear to have given shared credit for the fall of the Witch-king to Éowyn and Meriadoc – the footnote to Éowyn's by-name (the Lady of the Shield-arm), states, <br />“For her shield-arm was broken by the mace of teh Witch-king; but he was brought to nothing, and thus the words of Glorfindel long before to King Eärnur were fulfilled, that the Witch-king would not fall by the hand of man. For it is said in the songs of the Mark that in this deed Éowyn had the aid of Théoden's esquire, and that he also was not a Man but a Halfling out of a far country, though Éomer gave him honour in the Mark and the name of Holdwine. [This Holdwine was none other than Meriadoc the Magnificent who was Master of Buckland.]” <br /><br />... I love how Tolkien manages to sneak these small details into such notes :-) (also that there is actually information hidden in the <i>index</i> of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> that cannot be found anywhere else)TroelsForchhammernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-25268947038560830232016-02-15T18:04:14.976-05:002016-02-15T18:04:14.976-05:00in keeping with the vision of the King Returned th...in keeping with the vision of the King Returned that Bombadil shows them after giving them the swords on the Downs.Tom Hillmanhttp://alasnotme.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-21061277091464188132016-02-15T13:51:38.852-05:002016-02-15T13:51:38.852-05:00Or better, and to quote that chapter, a "ligh...Or better, and to quote that chapter, a "light out of the past".Simon Cookhttp://yemachine.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-72886129113414705322016-02-13T13:51:45.231-05:002016-02-13T13:51:45.231-05:00The Shadow of the Past, inverted, eh?The Shadow of the Past, inverted, eh?Simon Cookhttp://yemachine.com/noreply@blogger.com