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[warrioreowynofrohan]

Posted a new chapter of my Maedhros-in-the-Halls fic. In this one he gets yelled at a lot.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

I really wish someone would let me write a Mansfield Park mini-series because we need one that understands that this is a coming-of-age story which has a romance in service of it, not a romantic drama like they want it to be (the romance is inherently a part of it but within the framework of coming of age); and that this is not just Fanny’s coming of age but Edmund’s too, this is their figurative teen years and they are both growing up and having their morals and ideals and principles questioned, tested, and tried and it’s the triumph of their moral characters as they figure out where they stand in the world apart from other people and even each other as individuals and Fanny triumphs because she was right and she knew it and in standing on that gains the moral courage, strength, and self-assurance she was lacking in the beginning as a result of her upbringing, and Edmund is so used to being always right that he’s got to learn to recognize when he’s wrong and what to do about it when he is, so that being Adults in mind, body, and judgement, they can finally be together. Emphasize that Edmund’s infatuation with Mary is just that—an infatuation. It’s the lure of the world enticing him away from his resolutions and principles and common sense. And Henry’s fling at Fanny, is also just that. He fails in the end because he can’t grow up, he fails to achieve moral resolution and character, instead always being controlled by whims, and that’s why he doesn’t get Fanny—she grows and triumphs and he won’t. 

And Fanny???TIMID, UNCERTAIN, MEEK FANNY??? WITH PREVIOUSLY LITTLE TO NO SELF ESTEEM, CONSTANTLY SECOND GUESSING HERSELF AND DEFERRING TO OTHERS??? STANDING UP AGAINST HER FAMILY?? THE WORLD?? THE PERSON SHE MOST LOVES WHO PREVIOUSLY SHE RELIED ON TO MAKE ALL HER MORAL JUDGEMENTS FOR HER??? TERRIFIED OUT OF HER WITS BUT STILL RESOLVED, KNOWING SHE’S GOT TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT??STICKING TO HER GUNS WHEN SHE’S PUNISHED FOR IT AND HER LIFE IS FALLING APART AND BEGINNING TO LOOK ETERNALLY MISERABLE BECAUSE OF HER CHOICE???AND STILL MUSTERING THE COURAGE TO SAY NO. THIS WILL BE MY CHOICE AND I AM STICKING TO IT AND NO ONE WILL CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE??

MY GOSHAWKS WHAT A POWER TRIP. 

In conclusion please give a Mansfield Park adaptation to someone who knows what it is and what to do with it. Also with really good actors and pacing and dialogue and writing and stuff. Give it to Greta Gerwig. Thank you.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Cosmere Characters Do Their Taxes

It was just Tax Day in the US! Let's say that Cosmere characters had to pay taxes. How would that go for them?

Sigzil: Knows the tax code inside and out. Saves his receipts. Is basically the IRS's dream guy.

Hoid: Does not pay taxes. This is canon.

Kelsier: Does not pay taxes. This feels canon.

Marasi: Always pays her taxes.

Vivenna: Always pays her taxes.

Denth: Sure talks a lot about how complicated mercenary taxes are but if you listen carefully, he never actually says he did them...

Nale: Rigorously follows the tax code of whatever country he is in.

Wyndle: Claims Lift as a dependent. Reports all illegally acquired income at fair market value, as the tax code requires.

Lightsong: Does not pay taxes because he's, like, a god. But it's always bothered him, somewhere in the back of his mind, for some reason...

Adolin: Cheerfully hires someone else to do his taxes, at least so long as he's single.

Shallan: Does her own taxes, Sebarial's taxes, and Adolin's taxes post-marriage.

Steris & Wax: Do their taxes together. Romantically.

Wayne: Gives so much money to charity that he never owes any taxes. Orders his accountants to find a way for him to pay taxes anyway.

Straff: Does not pay taxes in the way rich people don't pay taxes--through, like, legal loopholes and off-shore accounts and shit

Elend: Rewrites the tax code to pay more taxes.

Lirin: Committed tax fraud. But only once.

Taravangian: Is not allowed to file his taxes when he is too stupid--because he cries about how confusing it is--or when he's too smart--because he's too good at finding all of the super obvious tax loopholes and anyway he's obviously way better than the government at knowing how to spend his own money!

Painter: Got in trouble once for not filing taxes because he knew he didn't make enough to owe any taxes. Seemed kinda stupid to him.

Moash: Makes an ethical argument against taxes, since the tax laws are written to benefit the rich and screw over the poor and he has no control over what the government uses his taxes for.

Kaladin: Is torn between paying his taxes like Dalinar ordered or not paying his taxes since he promised Moash he wouldn't until he finally files his taxes at, like, midnight on tax day

It's a whole thing.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Carlo Chiostri Valjean Teaches Cosette to Read

[warrioreowynofrohan]

(Okay I tried to post this as a reblog in reply to a reblog and tumblr tangled fascinatingly and it was a long post anyway so I gave up. This is re: @hirilelfwraith’s reply (above) to this post)

Runes! So this was funny, because I read this and thought "ok cool but when I worked in a bookshop I used to read the runes on the title pages of The Hobbit, and they were near-perfectly historical." And then in hubris I picked up my copy of Two Towers and looked at the runes on the title page and WHAT is going on why are some of these backwards wh-- So! I looked up a photo of the Hobbit title page, and THAT is written in historical runes, transliterated from modern English. Because runic Bs in Norse or Old English look p much like pointy modern Bs you can even pick out "Hobbit" with ease. Meanwhile, I could partially transliterate whatever's going on in my copy of Two Towers, sure, but what the hell word starts with "Ltux-". I cede the field. I leave this one to Tolkien scholars and Appendix E.

Seas!

Okay so, I should probably hold off on going too wild over the bending of the seas until I hit that actual bit of… the Silmarillion?? But I had heard a whisper of the bending of the seas, and how the elves can still live on a flat world, so I’ve been waiting to find out how much of that was cool fan meta and how much was explicitly intended; so far ppl seem to be assuring me it’s clearly stated canon? Wild, untamed, all-night fun from jrr i guess!! I love it here.

In my opinion, for what it's worth, this IS a great interpretation of early medieval stuff, actually. Tho I should really quickly caveat that with: medieval people did not think the earth was flat. The flat earth was invented in the 20th century and by Canadians, which sounds bonkers and is, but is additionally true. How Tolkien interpreted what he was reading is another matter! And I'm not as familiar with Norse sources. But even his Old English sources never ever state that the earth was flat-- they just do uh. Incredibly weird shit to the ocean. I can see why he deadass BENT IT, frankly.

For example, in the poem "Order of the World" the sun circles (the word used here usually describes something round) under the earth (under foldan fæþm) and that would be chill and all, normal sun activity, except in “Order of the World” and several other poems, the earth (shape undescribed) is like, floating in an ocean of undetermined size? So when the sun sets it goes into the ocean and “in the evening passes the ocean’s floor” (On æfenne ut garsecges grundas pæþeð), still under the actual earth itself. I dunno if Tolkien did anything with that, on purpose or intuitively, but I respect his dedication to Incredibly Weird Ocean Stuff. I am extremely not over finding out that this is canon and not an incredible and complex fan theory. What the fuck.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Rereading Emma, I’m noticing the degree to which it includes an inversion of Sense and Sensibility: in both of them, a young man is in a secret engagement with a poor woman of whom his family would strongly disapprove, but he appears to have fallen in love with another young lady whom he met after the start of the engagement. In both of them, the woman he is engaged to notices this other attachment.

The contrast is in the utterly different personalities of Jane Fairfax and Emma relative to Lucy Steele and Elinor. Lucy is posessive and feigns friendship with Elinor in order to taunt and watch her, whereas Jane is distant from Emma and would rather break the engagement than have him marry her out of obligation. In personality, the compare-and-contrast effect is heightened by Jane Fairfax and Elinor Dashwood - in opposite positions in the real or supposed triangles - having extremely similar personalities: reserved, polite, self-controlled, valuing morals and good behaviour over personal comfort, and willing to bear patiently with difficulties.

Emma, however, behaves extremely badly by Jane on spreading (if only to Frank) the groundless speculation of a romantic connection between Jane and Jane’s friend’s husband. In addition to this being extremely insulting in particular to a woman like Jane with very high moral standards, Emma (not knowing of the engagement) is under the impression that Jane is going to be a governess, and being suspected of such a thing, if it got spread around by gossip, could be extremely destructive to Jane’s job prospects. Though Emma has no real malice, one could easily see Jane feeling similar about her to how Elinor feels about Lucy.

The other contrast with S&S, of course, is that neither Emma nor Frank is either in love with each other; they just have a lively friendship and enjoy other people shipping them (Frank to conceal his actual engagement; Emma for reasons of vanity and because he’s really the only person who’s both socially eligible and close to her age that she’s ever met in her limited social circle).

The other thing that stands out is that, relative to Austen’s other novels, Emma is much more of a sitcom. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion all have comparatively linear narratives revolving around 1-3 relationships involving the main characters. Emma’s much more episodic, without either Emma or Mr. Knightley realizing their feelings until later in the book, and with very low stakes for both of them through most of the book. Austen’s novels seem to alternate in this way. Northanger Abbey (written first, but not published at the time) satirizes popular melodramatic novels, and so to a lesser degree does Sense & Sensibility. The lighter and wittier Pride & Prejudice is followed by the more serious and sober Mansfield Park, which is clearly in conversation with P&P with the strong parallels and contrasts between the two in characters, relationships, and scenes. Then the lighter and more comedic Emma follows the more serious MP, and is in term followed by the more serious and dramatic Persuasion. This feels deliberate on Austen’s part, and would have given her contemporary readers a good amount of variety.

Emma’s an interesting character in that, while her flaws (mainly her snobbishness towards the Martins and how manipulative she is regarding Harriet’s interactions with them, as well as her bad behaviour to Jane) do bother me more than any of Austen’s other protagonists, she also has virtues I couldn’t imagibe having (her father is so aggravating, and she’s so patient and tactful and good at understanding how to manage his interactions with guests in a way that is comfortable for everyone). Really, despite very different social classes, Mr. Woodhouse and Miss Bates are notably similar in being very kind and well-meaning but also very irritating, and taking a long time to say very little. I feel like that may be an intentional parallel.

My sympathies in the book (apart from Jane Fairfax and Mr. Knightley) are most with Mr. John Knightley, Isabella’s husband, and if I were in the book he’s probably the one I would most enjoy spending time with. I too would get annoyed sometimes with many of these people! I too weary of meaningless small talk and local gossip! I could happily accept a little occasional ill-humour from him in exchange for the rare blessing of thirty minutes’ rational conversation.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Silmarillion Daily - Of Menegroth

Today’s Silmarillion Daily contains two events - one is the building/carving of Menegroth and the other, happening around the same time in Valinor, is the births of Turgon and Finrod.

Here’s the part on Menegroth:

Now Melian had much foresight, after the manner of the Maiar; and when the second age of the captivity of Melkor had passed, she counselled Thingol that the Peace of Arda would not last forever. He took thought therefore how he should make for himself a kingly dwelling, and a place that should be strong, if evil were to awake again in Middle-earth; and he sought aid and counsel of the Dwarves of Belegost. They gave it willingly, for they were unwearied in those days and eager for new works; and though the Dwarves ever demanded a price for all that the did, whether with delight or with toil, at this time they held themselves paid. For Melian taught them much that they were eager to learn, and Thingol rewarded them with many fair pearls. These Círdan gave to him, for they were got in great number in the shallow waters about the Isle of Balar; but the Naugrim had not before seen their like, and they held them dear. One there was as great as a dove’s egg, and its sheen was as starlight on the foam of the sea; Nimphelos it is named, and the chieftain of the Dwarves of Belegost prized it above a mountain of wealth.

Therefore the Naugrim laboured long and gladly for Thingol, and devised for him mansions after the fashion of their people, delved deep in the earth. Where the Esgalduin flowed down, and parted Neldoreth from Region, there rose in the midst of the forest a rocky hill, and the river ran at its feet, There they made the gates of the hall of Thingol, and they built a bridge of stone over the river, by which alone the gates could be entered. Beyond the gates wide passages ran down to high halls and chambers far below that were hewn in the living stone, so many and so great that that dwelling was named Menegroth, the Thousand Caves.

But the Elves also had part in that labour, and Elves and Dwarves together, each with their own skill, there wrought out the visions of Melian, images of the wonder and beauty of Valinor beyond the Sea. The pillars of Menegroth were hewn in the lines of the beeches of Oromë, stock, bough, and leaf, and they were lit with lanterns of gold. The nightingales sang there as in the gardens of Lórien; and there were fountains of silver, and basins of marble, and floors of many-coloured stones. Carven figures of beasts and birds there ran upon the walls, or climbed upon the pillars, or peered among the branches entwined with many flowers. And as the years passed Melian and her maidens filled the halls with woven hangings wherein could be read the deeds of the Valar, and many things that had befallen in Arda since its beginning, and shadows of things that were yet to be. That was the fairest dwelling of any king that has ever been east of the Sea.

And when the building of Menegroth was achieved, and there was peace in the realm of Thingol and Melian, the Naugrim yet came ever and anon over the mountains and went in traffic about the lands; but they went seldom to the Falas, for they hated the sound of the sea and feared to look upon it. To Beleriand there came no other rumour or tidings of the world without.

There’s another tidbit about Menegroth in History of Middle-earth (The Peoples of Middle-earth, “The problem of Ros”):

…the great Hall of the Throne of Elwë in the midst of his stronghold of Menegroth…was called the Menelrond [heaven-dome], because by the arts and aid of Melian its high arched roof had been adorned with silver and gems set in the order and figures of the stars in the great Dome of Valmar in Aman, whence Melian came.

The section further states that Elwing named Elrond in memory of this place, and that this was held to be prophetic, as it foreshadowed Elrond choosing the kindred of the Eldar and “carrying on the lineage of King Elwë [Footnote: Also also that of Turgon; though he oreferred that of Elwë, who was not under the ban that was laid on the Exiles.]”, while Elros, named for water, crossed the seas and became King of Númenor.

I feel like Menegroth in the passage above comes about as close as anything else we see to Eru’s ideal for the Ainur and the Eruhíni: dwarves and elves and a Maia all working together in Middle-earth to make something beautiful with their different skills and knowledge. The decision to do it in incited by the awareness of danger, but that leads not to hostility but to cooperation and beauty. It’s not in Valinor, but it recalls much of Valinor and of the Valar: the carvings of trees and woodland creatures recall the forests of Oromë, the nightingales the gardens of Lórien, the tapestries of history (and visions of the future) the halls of Vairë and Mandos. Different peoples get a glimpse of things they don’t fully understand, but are drawn to: the dwarves can’t stand the sea, but they nonetheless love Círdan’s pearls.

This is what makes the way Menegroth ends such an absolute tragedy, and it is what makes Legolas and Gimli in The Lord of the Rings the redress of that tragedy: their visits to Aglarond and Fangorn, each understanding what the other loves, is a kind of echo of the unity of these caverns carved with trees and forest-creatures. They’re putting things right. (As, in a different way, Galadriel is putting Fëanor’s story right, and Elrond is putting Thingol’s specifically right.) Not putting things back exactly as they were, but healing them.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Compañeros, hermanos, amigos escuchen y regocíjense.

Europa está en caos, el imperio español se está derrumbando, Portugal continúa perdiendo influencia y Francia pelea en demasiados frentes, es hora de unir nuestras fuerzas, nuestros pueblos pelearán por la libertad, por la justicia ¡Por América!

No sólo derrotaremos a los gachupines, portugueses y franceses en el campo de batalla ¡También nos veremos mejor que ellos mientras lo hacemos!

Esta encuesta determinará quién de todas estas sensuales personas latinoamericanas será la que opacará más a los europeos, a la que más gente le encantaría tener en su cama por una noche ¡El mas grande ejemplo de exquisitez latinoamericana!

¿Quieres nominar a alguien para tan aclamado premio? Puedes hacerlo aquí

Reglas:

1. Puedes nominar a todas las personas que quieras, el formulario no tiene un límite

2. Animamos a que manden propaganda (en inglés o español o portugués)

3. Sexy man/hombre sexy es un término sin género, todos, todas y todes son bienvenidos.

4. Serán juzgados en base de las edades que tenían durante las guerras por la independencia y los admins se esforzarán para encontrar los retratos apropiados.

Eng:

Comrades, brothers, friends listen and rejoice.

Europe is in chaos, the Spanish empire is collapsing, Portugal continues to lose influence, and France is fighting on too many fronts. It is time to join forces, our people fight for liberty and for justice. For America!

We will not only defeat the gachupines, the Portuguese and the French on the battlefield. We will also do it while looking better than them!

This contest will determine who among these sexy Latin Americans outshines the Europeans the most, who most people would invite to their bed for a night. The best example of the exquisiteness of Latin America!

Do you want to nominate someone for such an honor? Nominate them here.

Rules:

You can nominate as many people as you want. The form does not have a limit.

Propaganda is encouraged (in English or Spanish or Portuguese)

Sexyman is a gender neutral term.

They will be judged based on the age they were during the wars for independence and the admins will try their best to find appropriate portraits.

La lista hasta ahora/The existing list is here:

Virreinato de Nueva España

México:

1. Agustin de Iturbide

2. Leona Vicario

3. Juan Aldama

4. José Maria Morelos y Pavón x3

5. Vicente Guerrero x2

6. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Virreinato del Nuevo Reino de Granada:

Colombia:

7. Antonio Nariño x3

8. Antonio Morales Galavís

9. Policarpa Salavarrieta x2

10. Francisco de Paula Santander x 2

Venezula:

13. Simón Bolívar x2

14. José Antonio Paez

Virreinato del Perú:

Perú

11. Manuela Sáenz de Vergara y Aizpuru

12. Micaela Bastidas

Ecuador:

15. Manuela a.k.a Manuelita Saenz x4

Bolivia:

16. Antonio José de Sucre x 2

17. María Ana Carcelén de Guevara y Larrea-Zurbano

Chile:

21. Manuel Javier Rodríguez y Erdoíza

22. José Miguel Carrera Verdugo

Virreinato del Río de la Plata:

Argentina:

18. Manuel Belgrano

19. José de San Martín x 3

20. Martín Miguel de Güemes

Uruguay:

23. Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana

24. Juan Antonio Lavalleja

25. José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscan

Haití:

26. Toussaint L’Ouverture

Brasil/The Empire of Brazil:

27. Joaquim Pires de Carvalho e Albuquerque

28. Maria Quitéria de Jesus x2

29. Joaquim Gonçalves Ledo

30. Maria Leopoldina

31. Pedro I

32. Hipólito José da Costa Pereira Furtado de Mendonça

33. José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva

34.Francisco Gomes da Silva

35. Domitila de Castro Canto e Melo, Marquesa de Santos

[warrioreowynofrohan]

My list: https://pastebin.com/MyGJeqrh

Bonus internet points will be awarded to anyone who actually tries this exercise before voting.

Assume you need to get the spelling at least somewhat close, and if a character has multiple names, only one counts. Also, if a character doesn't have a canonical name, I'm sorry, but "that guy's wife" doesn't count.

For reference, if you can name the 9 members of the Fellowship, the eponymous Hobbit and his 13 dwarf buddies, 3 prominent women, and the guy who runs the Rivendell B&B, that's 27 characters right there. And you probably also know the name of a dragon.

For further reference, Tolkien Gateway has 637 (!!) pages dedicated to Third Age characters. (Don't click that link until you've voted, of course)

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Meeting Tom Bombadil this morning, braced for impact, but like bro it’s fine it’s just the scop’s song from Beowulf (etc). My guy is just singing all the histories. He got to the start of the universe and the Hobbits were all :/ about it and stopped following which is annoying bc I want to know which versions he likes!!

Enjoyed Tom Bombadil vs Old Man Willow galdor battle.

I guess I should add that just bc I keep going “IS THAT— IS THAT FROM—“ doesn’t mean I think of the story as a series of straightforward references to early medieval stuff; it’s its own story from that storyworld and it’s just fun to recognise (or think I recognise) genre beats. Also I cannot shut up and I’m having the time of my life.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

LM 2.3.6

There's a lot of very fairy- tale vibes around Cosette's story, and this bit, with her Providential meeting of her New Dad in the woods, is a lot of it.

I did a binge on critical analysis of fairy tales some *mumble mumble* years ago, and one of the concepts that came up a lot is how The Forest is a place where human rules--social rules and actual laws both-- are irrelevant. Not merely defied, but actually a non-issue. * This makes the woods dangerous --none of the human safeguards exist--but also a place of rare opportunity and magic. Things that Society would never allow can still happen in the woods.

So in the forest, the pauper has a fortune, and even finds a family. And in the forest, the abused orphan servant girl finds a father, one who will transform her into a fine lady and take her away from all her troubles. We've already been told this is being overseen by the spirit of Cosette's mother, and that's a very fairy tale touch too. This encounter isn't a superstition that can be ignored, but a real personal transformation for both of them.

But first they have to leave the woods, and confront Cosette's personal Ogres.

For more on this, see, of course, Sondheim's musical essay "Into the Woods" :P

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Thank you! this is all fascinating! and yes, all that about Grendel makes sense! (Also Gollum is a cannibal.) I will be very interested in your obsevations on Gollum in the next books!

And The Silmarillion very much does have lots about Elf Creation! as well as about the creation of the stars and moon and sun specifically, so I hope you will enjoy that! (Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew riffs on Tolkien’s creation account in several ways, some of which I would guess Tolkien wasn’t super keen on.) There is also lots more about Lúthien Tinúviel and some of the other things in the LOTR songs.

I’d guess that the medieval symbolism about the planets is in Lewis’ Space Trilogy, especially Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra.

Also wait, Aragorn’s sword has seven stars plus the sun and moon on it!? How did I never notice that!? Suffice to say: there are major in-universe symbolic references in that, and also knowing that seven stars was significant to medieval cosmology is GREAT to know!

I am enjoying your liveblogs so much!

My knowledge about the early medieval period is almost nil, so if you have any other book recommendations that would be suitable for a beginner, I would be very interested!

Replying to a comment on this ask reply about evil in the North in LOTR (but it was too long to actually put in a comment ,)

@warrioreowynofrohan I'm so glad evil is in the north in The Silmarillion!! I have also been promised that the story of the creation of the world is also in there, since Frodo fell asleep during Tom Bombadil’s early medieval cosmology lesson. I really, really want to know what happens in Elf Creation, because Tolkien did not write a book about it academically but CLEARLY had at least a few opinions about early medieval ideas of where the world came from, which he possibly just put in Middle Earth, if he had them fleshed out enough. This makes me nuts bc CS Lewis, meanwhile, wrote a whole-ass book called The Discarded Image about his idea* of the medieval vision of the cosmos (like where is outer space, where are the planets, where’s heaven, etc, including How It All Got Made) and also per the word of a thesis supervisor back in the day who was super into this stuff, worked symbolism of the planets in the medieval cosmos into one of his fictional works.

*bc the rest is under cut: if you want a more accurate read for medieval and Renaissance cosmology, the textbook is Planets, Stars, and Orbs by Edward Grant. I would not recommend TDI for historical accuracy

Lewis brushes over early medieval ideas only briefly (early medieval anything is actually not usually included in medieval academia on a theme; it’s sort of a weird zone from ca. 600-1100 AD, and Grant doesn't cover it either). But while the book is interesting on some points, it's pretty misleading, and CS Lewis's one solid error was presenting all of medieval cosmology as a Single Idea, which it also very much was not. People did not magically stop arguing about how the world got made and what it looked like for one thousand years, and modern scholarship has looked at that. But he was reading all the same texts as Tolkien, and this weird oversight that has bothered me for years, and for YEARS i have been wondering if Tolkien thought something else. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t! WHY did he put the seven stars (the five visible planets plus the sun and moon) on Aragorn’s sword PLUS the sun and moon, throwing off the count entirely?? Maybe he did not actually give a shit). I look forward to finding out, and probably suffering for it.

RE: Gollum! Your actual question! Honestly at the moment (aka at the end of Fellowship), Gollum seems like such a thoroughly Grendel figure that I almost get worried I’m being lured into a 1:1 comparison, when Tolkien seems to enjoy making a bunch of different references within each character. Strider is King Arthur, Strider is that guy in that saga nicknamed Strider, Strider is another guy with a sword situation in another saga(??) (I have not read enough Norse sagas). Gollum, though, is associated with the underground and with water; he has his dark low pool; Grendel lives in a low dark pool (with his mum). Even being cast out by a matriarch maaaaybe suggests something of Grendel’s Mother, who is just as much a main character, or perhaps more so; she’s the final boss of the Grendel bit of Beowulf, after all. So in conclusion: yeah I see your point! I'd be curious to figure out what else is being folded in. However, assuming the Grendel similarities are on purpose, congrats to Tolkien for the only good Beowulf adaptation ever.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

This isn’t even LOTR, I was just in a bookshop skimming Icelandic Saga translations to see how long it would take to find something Tolkien cheerfully borrowed, which was about 15 minutes. Nicknames like this are common — there’s another very similar one given to another man in this saga which stays untranslated in Norse, and basically means wide-walker iirc. But anyway here’s a Strider hiding in Hen-Thorir’s Saga (Hœnsa-Þóris saga).

[warrioreowynofrohan]

I’m fine, I’m fine, it’s totally cool that the last galdor (spoken charm particularly used, under various names, in the Dark Ages in the European North Atlantic) Gandalf lays down is “You cannot pass.” And that the SECOND to last galdor Gandalf lays down is to protect the abandoned Bill the Pony.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

I love that Tolkien included this. You find it on so many Viking rune-stone carvings, so it was a fun Easter egg, but also idk man I love a signature, I love when someone yells across time, “HEY I DID THIS.” I love that Tolkien took a second to include that.

(Viking rune stone signatures, for reference)

Source (x) (my actual source is Neil Price, Children of Ash and Elm, but I’m too tired to find it atm and this works)

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Holy shit, holy shit, I just got into Lothlorian properly and NOBODY TOLD ME that it’s like. Not “timeless” it’s literally outside time it’s an Otherworld like all those islands in Irish stories where if you try to go back to the real world you age and crumble to ash, like Immram Bran or whatever — only not, presumably, that last part. They do specify that it’s outside time tho in a kinda literal sense. But it’s also got a GROVE but it’s also got a tall hill in opposition to an evil tower, Norse witchcraft style, but it’s ALSO got a BIG TREE at the foot of which THREE PEOPLE SIT next to a WELL and then a woman tells past present and FUTURE like oh my fucking god it’s Yggdrasil. It’s an Otherworld. It’s the combination Otherworld-Yggdrasil. Reading this is like eating the best and most interesting cheese platter of your life. And then Sam Gamgee is upset.