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For it is said indeed that being embodied the Istari had needs to learn much anew by slow experience, and though they knew whence they came the memory of the Blessed Realm was to them a vision from afar off, for which (so long as they remained true to their mission) they yearned exceedingly.
- UT, "The Istari"

I've been starting to ponder the ( Read more... )

Bloody hell. This fellow I'm acquainted with looks -exactly- like I picture Olórin to look, back in the Valinorean days that is. Skinny-ish, unkempt ginger-colored hair more or less chin or shoulder length, bit of a wee beard. And this was the picture that came into my head several years ago, before I knew this person. It's uncanny. Every time ( Read more... )

I wrote entirely original fiction for a good 15 years before becoming enamoured of Tolkien's world and characters. (You have to know the rules before you can break them, right? I've heard it said a good writer must know how to create their own world, not mooch off someone else's, and I'd agree but I don't think that disqualifies derived works as ( Read more... )