The Hall of Fire

Okay, I have another post in the works, but it's going to have to wait while I try to clear something up for myself. Questions.....questions that need answering. What does Gollum's "redemption" mean in the context of Middle-earth? What are we really talking about here? Does it mean the &qu...

Ath, I think JRRT had both long defeats in mind, nor do I think they were separable for him . You're most likely right, ax. I swear, I'm not going to read the Akallabêth again. It shouldn't trump my reconcilation with a kinder concept of the long defeat. Ah, Blake...."the world in a grain of s...

Well, much has passed here since I last posted! I’m quite rusty at getting my thoughts organized, and I’ve been gazing at this unwieldy post with a mixture of bemusement and horror, trying to figure out how to make it more sensible. I like Sassy’s idea of grouping her ideas under titles, so I’m goin...

his wilful refusal to see things from any point of view other than his own limited experience, as shown for instance by his refusal even to accept Galadriel's own judgment about the wisdom of her refusal to take the One Ring I would say that exchange between Sam and Galadriel is more about Tolkien ...

Impy, your post was such a pleasure to read. I especially liked: I think Sam is Tolkien's hero, too. I know Frodo was the hero - or Hero, even - of the tale, but Sam embodied the hopes and hopelessness, the stoicism, of the ordinary, the lesser, the overlooked, the quiet achiever. Yes! I think that ...

Well.....that was a surprising turn in a thread about Samwise Gamgee! :D I'll be away from my computer for the next 24 hours or so, but that will give me a chance to mull over your excellent points and try to find a way to articulate my thoughts in response. I'm packing along both LOTR and the Sil f...

First of all, Sass, thank-you again. I have long had a deep respect for your uncompromising honesty. Now I am in awe of your strength and courage. I think there could not be a more appropriate topic to discuss with you at this time. Let us walk, and talk, and learn together. :hug: "They are sai...

Thank-you Sass.

Heartbreakingly deep and beautiful.

Just dropping in to tell you that I'll be back soon with my thoughts. It will be so nice to talk Tolkien with you again.....especially about Sam.

Hands down, it's Nighy's Sam. :love: It feels like how a hobbit would sing of elves, if that makes sense. It makes perfect sense to me, Wampus! The BBC version of the Lay has a very appropriate chant-like quality to it, with such a lovely tinge of sadness and gravitas that speaks of its ancient root...

:burned: <smiley representation of my head exploding> :D Myths Transformed always makes me cranky. Very, very cranky. :x I quite enjoy reading Tolkien's musings about the world he created in his Letters. I like the honesty of the man, and how he can admit to himself and others that there were indeed...

Hmmmmm. Once again I'm reminded how much I dislike Myths Transformed. The Orcs were beasts of humanized shape (to mock Men and Elves) deliberately perverted/converted into a more close resemblance to Men. Their 'talking' was really reeling off 'records' set in them by Melkor. Even their rebellious c...

Well, I'm another one who just can't reconcile what I know about the nature of orcs with what I know about Tolkien's moral universe. I think vison is right. There are too many inconsistencies that require some pretty impressive mental gymnastics to make any kind of consistent sense out the creatures...

The military controls part of it, but I believe I linked earlier to where Obama was controlling parts of it as well. I'm sorry hal, but I can't find that link (at least not in the last few pages of the thread). Can you repost it? BTW, the NBC report went into quite a bit of detail about the "h...

Hal, go to You Tube, type in "Obama Afghanistan Visit" and you'll see the results for yourself.

We don't actually know, because he silenced the press. Who silenced the press? The international press corp and Obama's own campaign PR people weren't permitted to tag along on most of the Afghanistan tour. Obama's movements were kept very hush-hush by the military themselves . Yes, the security is...

well, I'm confused... US press was not allowed, but Al Jazeera was? That doesn't sound right at all. Are we sure that video is what it claims to be? Hal, there are a various news source vids on You Tube that show exactly the same footage with voice-overs and other "extras" that the networ...

A fact-finding trip implies going to find facts: seeing for one's self the situation on the ground, asking questions, listening to the concerns of the men. It seems as if Obama did indeed do this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8IB2ZzzBiU And for what it's worth, a response to the story in the Com...

Great post Ath, and I'm glad to see this: I love this idea! The ability to create “the thing” from “the thought” apparently in an instant if so desired. But it's such a big, and ultimately unfathomable idea, like so much of the subcreative lore that Tolkien constructed for the Eldar (and other immo...

Ax once noted in the Sil thread that the greatest quests in Tolkien's works are never accomplished by a single character. Thinking specifically of the recovery of the Silmaril, would one refer to either Beren or Lúthien as "the sidekick" or "the helper"? It's more like they form...

I think the names that Tolkien bestowed on Frodo and Sam in one of his drafts of LOTR as well as in the Epilogue pretty much says it all for me. Bronwe athan Harthad - Endurance beyond Hope, and Harthad Uluithiad - Hope Unquenchable. Ultimately, both those qualities were essential in getting the Rin...