All I want to do tonight is read - I will try to catch up! I got my book at lunch! There is a LOT though to read up front - read most of that. :) Going to run home, feed the dogs, eat dinner maybe, curl up and continue.
I saw that, flashing through my LJ reading list this morning early! That one image was stunningly beautiful! And indeed you're right--at least, the few drawings that Tolkien did that got reproduced in early calendars and the like, hearkened back to a decidedly art deco feel. In fact, the title page--the drawing of the Gondorian symbols, is very art deco.
"But we have no need of other company, and hobbits are so dull," they laughed. (No individuals, they all seem to be speaking in unison.)
That seemed pretty condescending to me. They then are welcoming and generous to the hobbits after the mention of Black Riders, but then comes that ""It is not for me to say more--lest terror should keep you from your journey," and "It is not your Shire." Perhaps those are not meant to be condescending, especially the last (Elves have such long memories) but in any case, as I recall it's a markedly different treatment than what Frodo gets at the very end of the tale.
Forgot to add, I love the bath song. I too will take baths every time I travel, since we only have a shower here. A bath with perfume in it, and a book . . .
That's a trace of the Elves from The Hobbit, I think. They are much merrier than in LOTR and with almost no backstory, if I remember correctly; certainly not a Silmarillion one. One of the little visible seams between a Hobbit sequel and LOTR becoming part of Tolkien's great mythology.
I wonder if the pointed ears on elves came from the very element that Tolkien despised to thoroughly: Shakespearean illustrations. All I remember is, when fans began drawing elves back in the mid-sixties, more of them had pointed ears than not.
When it seemed to become canonical that elves had pointed ears, and everyone just pointed at Tolkien as the source, I used to become quite irate, because I know the text as well as anyone and it ain't there. But recently somebody suggested to me that it's in the Silmarillion - which I don't know - and hence very early in Tolkien's establishment of his universe. It might be; I can't say, because - poor weak mortal that I am - I never managed to read it. s
I was only able to make it through The Silmarillion after I had read the Eddas. Then my brain went "oh, that's the gear I'm supposed to be using" and I liked it pretty well. But as fiction? Not so much.
from Pilgrimsoul
anonymous
April 8 2017, 11:30:09 UTC
The first time I read FOTR the story look off for me like a rocket! when the Hobbits met the Elves. I loved the strong sense of beauty and vistas of time. The camping trip in the lush, green, water-filled Shire was fun, too, and I appreciated the homey comfort of both Farmer Maggot's house and Crickhollow. My fourteen year old self determined to try mushrooms, and I found some in a can which I liked well enough.
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Then I can read this post.
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That seemed pretty condescending to me. They then are welcoming and generous to the hobbits after the mention of Black Riders, but then comes that ""It is not for me to say more--lest terror should keep you from your journey," and "It is not your Shire." Perhaps those are not meant to be condescending, especially the last (Elves have such long memories) but in any case, as I recall it's a markedly different treatment than what Frodo gets at the very end of the tale.
Forgot to add, I love the bath song. I too will take baths every time I travel, since we only have a shower here. A bath with perfume in it, and a book . . .
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When it seemed to become canonical that elves had pointed ears, and everyone just pointed at Tolkien as the source, I used to become quite irate, because I know the text as well as anyone and it ain't there. But recently somebody suggested to me that it's in the Silmarillion - which I don't know - and hence very early in Tolkien's establishment of his universe. It might be; I can't say, because - poor weak mortal that I am - I never managed to read it.
s
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The camping trip in the lush, green, water-filled Shire was fun, too, and I appreciated the homey comfort of both Farmer Maggot's house and Crickhollow. My fourteen year old self determined to try mushrooms, and I found some in a can which I liked well enough.
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