Random thoughts on re-reading Fellowship of the Ring
1) I am henceforth basing all views on the movie and any other retellings on the existence of many alternative and 'corrected' re-copyings of the Red Book of Westmarch.
2) I really like Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. (Though I don't think they translate to movies)
4) I'd half-forgotten that Aragorn's effect on Black Riders etc - and Glorfindel's - and the wandering Noldor the hobbits meet in the Shire - isn't so much about hand to hand combat as about 'power'. This explains why Aragorn can get away with wandering all over the place carrying a broken sword, but you can't help feeling that if he's got so much internal oomph he would stand out like a beacon if he'd actually made it to Mordor. But maybe you can damp it down? This is a different kind of 'power' to the Jeremy Clarkson sort. I hope we are all clear on that...
5) Haldir seems surprisingly offish with Aragorn when they arrive in Lorien, given that Aragorn seems to know Lorien well and you'd think Haldir would at least know him by sight.
6) I wonder at what point it was that Legolas suddenly decided to be best buddies with Gimli. On the way into Lorien he's all 'plague on the stiff necks of Dwarves!' and then suddenly when they arrive at Caras Galadhon he starts taking Gimli everywhere with him to explore Lorien. Is Legolas feeling a bit insecure in Lorien, which is frankly quite a bit more Noldorin and mysterious than his own place in Mirkwood, so he wants a Dwarf with him so he won't be the odd one out? Is he so impressed by Galadriel being nice to Gimli that he changes his mind? Is he shocked by Haldir's blatant Dwarfism? Is it the bonding of Northerners faced with the weird behaviour of Southerners? Is it because everyone else in the Fellowship is hanging out in species groups (hobbits and Men) and poor Gimli is lonely because he's the only dwarf?
7) Legolas's gift from Galadriel of a bow strung with elf-hair ... cue inevitable wonderings about the tensile strength of elf-hair, and what else they use the stuff for...
8) I wonder if there is some odd etiquette going on there, that Gimli gets asked what present he wants and everyone else just has to take what they get given. Is there a gift-giving protocol specific to Dwarves? Also, Gimli gets three spare bow-strings!
9) are the black swans they see *evil* swans? For that matter, are the black squirrels of Mirkwood evil squirrels? How do you tell if a squirrel is evil? I wonder if they have shiny gold squirrels in Lorien...
2) I really like Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. (Though I don't think they translate to movies)
4) I'd half-forgotten that Aragorn's effect on Black Riders etc - and Glorfindel's - and the wandering Noldor the hobbits meet in the Shire - isn't so much about hand to hand combat as about 'power'. This explains why Aragorn can get away with wandering all over the place carrying a broken sword, but you can't help feeling that if he's got so much internal oomph he would stand out like a beacon if he'd actually made it to Mordor. But maybe you can damp it down? This is a different kind of 'power' to the Jeremy Clarkson sort. I hope we are all clear on that...
5) Haldir seems surprisingly offish with Aragorn when they arrive in Lorien, given that Aragorn seems to know Lorien well and you'd think Haldir would at least know him by sight.
6) I wonder at what point it was that Legolas suddenly decided to be best buddies with Gimli. On the way into Lorien he's all 'plague on the stiff necks of Dwarves!' and then suddenly when they arrive at Caras Galadhon he starts taking Gimli everywhere with him to explore Lorien. Is Legolas feeling a bit insecure in Lorien, which is frankly quite a bit more Noldorin and mysterious than his own place in Mirkwood, so he wants a Dwarf with him so he won't be the odd one out? Is he so impressed by Galadriel being nice to Gimli that he changes his mind? Is he shocked by Haldir's blatant Dwarfism? Is it the bonding of Northerners faced with the weird behaviour of Southerners? Is it because everyone else in the Fellowship is hanging out in species groups (hobbits and Men) and poor Gimli is lonely because he's the only dwarf?
7) Legolas's gift from Galadriel of a bow strung with elf-hair ... cue inevitable wonderings about the tensile strength of elf-hair, and what else they use the stuff for...
8) I wonder if there is some odd etiquette going on there, that Gimli gets asked what present he wants and everyone else just has to take what they get given. Is there a gift-giving protocol specific to Dwarves? Also, Gimli gets three spare bow-strings!
9) are the black swans they see *evil* swans? For that matter, are the black squirrels of Mirkwood evil squirrels? How do you tell if a squirrel is evil? I wonder if they have shiny gold squirrels in Lorien...