Lord of the Rings thoughts
I'll probably have legions of Tolkien readers, not to mention his ghost himself, haunting me for what I'm contemplating on my readthrough of Fellowship of the Ring this time around.
First of all, Aragorn is looking like Genghis Khan. Specifically, this Genghis Khan.
This movie, by the way, Mongol, is single-handedly responsible for me thinking of Genghis Khan as a loving, kind family man first and foremost, which probably will make most scholars of Asian history laugh and laugh.
And I'm imagining Merry and Pippin as girls.
Not for any romantic reason, mind, but because the Fellowship really is a great big sausagefest, and I like the idea. And while I love the actors who play them in the films, I know their faces, I remember which one goes to Gondor and which one to Rohan, I cannot for the life of me remember which one is Merry and which one is Pippin. Now they have a very distinct look, in my imagination (which is quite important to me!) Pippin has arched eyebrows and the Peter Pan haircut, and in general a pointy, angular air. Merry has a rounder face, longer, darker hair, and is easier now to imagine as the more sensible, grounded Hobbit. And I just like the genderbending idea, though I can't really justify it any better than that. I guess I could try and make it into a feminist literary rereading, reclamation of the Tolkien Mythos, but... *shrug*
Thoughts: Arwen has spent a lot of time studying/living at Lothlorien before the hobbits arrive at Lothlorien. She was probably Galadriel's personal student (considering, y'know, they're grandma and granddaughter). I wonder if Galadriel had Arwen designated as, "Should I perish, and that would take a lot of effort because I'm a Noldor and a Teleri, but just in case, you shall bear my Ring and rule Lothlorien in my place." That would be awesome.
Also, why is Galadriel's ring the Ring of Adamant and the Ring of Water? I have trouble keeping this straight because to my mind Adamant = Earth, which makes sense as she lives in Lorien, but apparently her ring's element is really Water? But Water is not unbreakable, it's kind of famous for that.
And Elrond's is the Ring of Air? But I... I made this great conclusion about how Elrond says to the Fellowship "None of you are constrained by any bond, you may take different paths as you wish, or leave the journey, whatever" and it sounds like he's almost describing rivers breaking off into smaller rivers along their paths, water going where it will. So I was like "Hey, that makes sense, he has the Ring of Water." But he doesn't! This makes no sense. Sigh.
Also, today I ate Lembas bread! It was delicious, and made with honey, orange peel, and rosewater. It tasted flowery. I want to make some myself now!
First of all, Aragorn is looking like Genghis Khan. Specifically, this Genghis Khan.
This movie, by the way, Mongol, is single-handedly responsible for me thinking of Genghis Khan as a loving, kind family man first and foremost, which probably will make most scholars of Asian history laugh and laugh.
And I'm imagining Merry and Pippin as girls.
Not for any romantic reason, mind, but because the Fellowship really is a great big sausagefest, and I like the idea. And while I love the actors who play them in the films, I know their faces, I remember which one goes to Gondor and which one to Rohan, I cannot for the life of me remember which one is Merry and which one is Pippin. Now they have a very distinct look, in my imagination (which is quite important to me!) Pippin has arched eyebrows and the Peter Pan haircut, and in general a pointy, angular air. Merry has a rounder face, longer, darker hair, and is easier now to imagine as the more sensible, grounded Hobbit. And I just like the genderbending idea, though I can't really justify it any better than that. I guess I could try and make it into a feminist literary rereading, reclamation of the Tolkien Mythos, but... *shrug*
Thoughts: Arwen has spent a lot of time studying/living at Lothlorien before the hobbits arrive at Lothlorien. She was probably Galadriel's personal student (considering, y'know, they're grandma and granddaughter). I wonder if Galadriel had Arwen designated as, "Should I perish, and that would take a lot of effort because I'm a Noldor and a Teleri, but just in case, you shall bear my Ring and rule Lothlorien in my place." That would be awesome.
Also, why is Galadriel's ring the Ring of Adamant and the Ring of Water? I have trouble keeping this straight because to my mind Adamant = Earth, which makes sense as she lives in Lorien, but apparently her ring's element is really Water? But Water is not unbreakable, it's kind of famous for that.
And Elrond's is the Ring of Air? But I... I made this great conclusion about how Elrond says to the Fellowship "None of you are constrained by any bond, you may take different paths as you wish, or leave the journey, whatever" and it sounds like he's almost describing rivers breaking off into smaller rivers along their paths, water going where it will. So I was like "Hey, that makes sense, he has the Ring of Water." But he doesn't! This makes no sense. Sigh.
Also, today I ate Lembas bread! It was delicious, and made with honey, orange peel, and rosewater. It tasted flowery. I want to make some myself now!