Dawn Xiana Moon: Melodic folk pop infused with passion and honesty. From Chicago.

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Tuesday, January 14, 2003

Tolkien Tidbits

Welcome to the new, slightly redesigned blog. So what do you think?

Anyone who hates Lord of the Rings (do those people even exist?) can skip the rest of this entry. But for the rest of us.... :-)

Check out a unique Two Towers review from a magazine I discovered a few days ago. "Joy. Wonder. Really Cool Hats."

From the Letters of JRR Tolkien: "I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size). I like gardens, trees and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humour (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much." According to the cast of the film, director Peter Jackson is a hobbit as well, right down to refusing to wear shoes most of the time.

An excellent article on Tolkien, CS Lewis, and myth.

Here's a wonderful reference for diehard LOTR fans: The Encyclopedia of Arda. It's still something of a work-in-progress, but what's there already is pretty helpful. It even comes in French.

Did elves have pointed ears? The answer from the Tolkien Meta-FAQ "There is no known text in which Tolkien makes an unambiguous statement about the shape of Elvish ears. Those who argue in favor of pointed ears generally cite a remark which seems to support that position found in the 'Etymologies' (part of The Lost Road). That document was written in the period immediately before the composition of LotR, so it is unclear to what extent it should be treated as a canonical source. Those who argue against pointed ears focus on Tolkien's statements that Elves and humans were sufficiently similar that they could be mistaken for each other. There is no consensus on this issue."

Let's put the matter of Tolkien's supposed racism to rest.

Another article on the spirituality of Lord of the Rings.

From writer Charles A. Coulombe's essay "Lord of the Rings: A Catholic View" (yes, Tolkien was Catholic): "It has been said that the dominant note of the traditional Catholic liturgy was intense longing. This is also true of her art, her literature, her whole life. It is a longing for things that cannot be in this world: unearthly truth, unearthly purity, unearthly justice, unearthly beauty. By all these earmarks, Lord of the Rings is indeed a Catholic work, as its author believed: But it is more. It is this age's great Catholic epic, fit to stand beside the Grail legends, Le Morte d'Arthur and The Canterbury Tales.... In an age which has seen an almost total rejection of the faith on the part of... Civilization... Lord of the Rings assures us, both by its existence and its message, that the darkness cannot triumph forever."

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