The Hall of Fire

*is ecstatic*

*has itchy fingers!*

Like Ethel, I feel very certain this thread isn't for me. I think this is a topic worth discussing, and I hope the thread goes on and on. Yet the "sensation" of being unwelcome is too strong for me to overlook. I 'm not blaming anyone, or feeling wounded, or anything unpleasant of that nat...

Now, maybe someone here can explain this to me. I have always been under the impression that the separation of Church and State was more to protect the churches from state interference (England having an established church, which your founding fathers didn't want) than to protect the state from chur...

Vison, that is an interesting response to Strange and Norrel; I found it un-put-downable and absolutely gobbled it up! (Felt like a kid again; after my beloved grumbled that it was 2 in the morning already and could I please put out the light, I got my itty bitty book torchlite and read it half und...

The word "God" was not included in the pledge of allegiance until when, 1954? It seems more a case of religion interfering, than religion being interfered with, to have put the words "under God" in the pledge in the first place. As for the words "In God We Trust" on you...

Ack.

Me fingers is itchy.

Whistler said: "All it takes is a small group to turn a whole culture on its ear." Well, that's true. And that's how I feel about the sort of people who call themselves "Christians" while longing for the future depicted in the "Left Behind" books. As a Canadian, when I ...

Oh, yes, sheets dried on the line are beautiful. I remember when I was little sheets were hanging outside in winter, frozen rigid and ringing like iron. I love drying my son's things outside, over my lemon bush and mint and near jasmine. Now that I'm temporarily without a washing machine, I had to ...

Thank you, Voronwë. But you and are twain on this subject. It doesn't really matter, you know. I love LOTR despite what I think of as a few flaws. No work is perfect! It is closer to perfect than nearly anything else I ever read, particularly something so long and involved and detailed. If it hadn't...

I have Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell half-read on my table. I like it very much, but I can't read it much at a sitting. It is excellent fun, but the style and language can be tiring. Ms. Clarke does a pretty good job of imitating 19th century style, etc., but it can still be wearing.

I would never assume that those hateful books speak for[/] "Christians" as a whole. But they are SO popular! They sell, and sell, and sell. They have made rich men out of their authors and publishers. I am sorry to say I believe they resonate strongly with SOME people. There are people, of...

Lord_M said: "As such, they are not redeemable any more than their weapons are, and the merciful thing is to kill them. I do not believe that they posess fëa. " I can't bear this, to be honest. This is the thing, above all others, that makes me pull my hair out and then set it on fire. A c...

Thank you, Impenitent! What an interesting post. It doesn't quite solve my difficulty, though. I mean, I get what Twiggyleaf is saying. It's not that. My difficulty with Faery (as in Tolkien's essay) is that I just can't see WHAT Tolkien meant. Perhaps he meant to say "alien-ness"? I don't...

I have posted this elsewhere, but I'm posting it here. Why? Because of the pictures for which the link is provided. There are several that bring Quan Yin strongly to mind. Sunday » December 4 » 2005 Making history: ART I Hazel Wilson uses her Haida button blanket maker's skills to depict the life an...

For me, one of the "problems" with the Orcs is that they aren't REAL. I used to think that Tolkien made them up so that when they needed to be slaughtered in their thousands, for instance at Helm's Deep and on the Pelennor Fields, their deaths were no cause for remorse, either for the peop...

Alatar wrote: It is certainly claimed here that the Romans never conquered Ireland. Not because they could not, but simply because they never bothered. There was very little here worth conquering to be honest! Norman architecture is the only evidence of foreign occupation in Ireland (naturally exce...

Voronwë_the_Faithful wrote:And I. And all of us.

Precisely the difficulty I have had with it for years. I just try not to think about it.

That way lies madness.

I have always found this little tale quite chilling, and very much in line with the heavy emphasis that Tolkien often placed on 'doom' and 'fate'. But the question I always wonder about is, did Nerdanel merely foretell her favorite sons demise (albeit indirectly) or did she pre-ordain it? Both, in ...

jnyusa, I once asked my neighbour about that, why we can't remember our past lives and her answer was: "Why, that would make things too easy." And she looked at me with this look . You said: "Yet people seem to need to go through motions of some kind, and communities tend to evolve to...

I don't prance. I sashay. And I say fol de rol . This place needed a touch of je ne sais quoi and then New Toby came along and............ we still need it............... :D Howdy, Toby Hall. Nice to see you here. :hug: To quote James Thurber: A hey nonny nonny, and a nuts to you! I think I might s...