by: Arne Piepke
Then he went among the sleeping people, and sat beside their dying fire where none kept watch; and he took up a rude harp which Bëor had laid aside, and he played music upon it such as the ears of Men had not heard; for they had as yet no teachers in the art, save only the Dark Elves in the wild lands.
-The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion Chapter XVII Of the Coming of Men into the West
– expressions-of-nature:by: Arne PiepkeThen he went among the…
Highway Glory
© Susan Kramer 2015 All Rights Reserved
US 101 Hwy near Seal Rock, Central Oregon Coast US
First sight of the Great Sea from the Western shore of Beleriand for the Minyar and Tatyar amassed there. Plus that token Nelyar contingent of course.
I’ve compiled some of the bits I found interesting from ‘Fragments on ElvishReincarnation’, published in L’Effigie
des Elfes, edited by Michaël Devaux, Bragelonne 2014.The
text begins with a recap of the ‘Converse of Manwë with Eru’ that appears as an
appendix to ‘Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth’ in Morgoth’s Ring. Some of the
text that follows appears in Christopher Tolkien’s notes to this text and
others, but this is the first time it has been published as a whole.The
‘Converse’ was written in 1959, and begins with Manwë’s presentation of the
problem to Eru: Elves, who were supposed
to be immortal, were dying. This comes
to a crisis point when Míriel dies. In
Tolkien’s ‘Comments’, he writes:The Valar were troubled,
not only because of the case of Finwë and Míriel but because of the Avari and
Sindar; for Middle-earth was perilous to
bodies, and many had died, even before the Eldar came to Aman. (p 102)So,
the Valar actually did remember, and care about the Elves who were left behind?That is the most terrifying and disturbing interpretation of the reshaping of the world ever, I’m really annoyed with Tolkien now. Eru takes Valinor out of the world by just…killing all the Elves? Everyone who takes the Straight Road is (unknowingly) leaving the physical world behind to half-exist as spirits until the end of Arda? And the mortals who go with them just die? I knew Tolkien and I had different senses of what constituted a happy ending, but I feel weirdly betrayed now.
(mentally files this away with ‘Teleporno’ to totally ignore)
Deep stuff. Ima trying to wrap my head around it still. But yeah, this oughta be under “Read and forget”.
A charming scene of the Noldor Elves, led by Gildor, and the Hobbits, Frodo, Sam, and Pippin, from The Fellowship of the Ring:
‘Hail, Frodo!’ he cried. ‘You are abroad late. Or are you perhaps lost?’ Then he called aloud to the others, and all the company stopped and gathered round.
‘This is indeed wonderful!’ they said. ‘Three hobbits in a wood at night! We have not seen such a thing since Bilbo went away. What is the meaning of it?’
– elf-esteem:A charming scene of the Noldor Elves, led by Gildor,…
“If it had been in the movie it would have been… it would have been quite a nice shot.” – Alan Lee
With the home-entertainment release theatrical edition of The Battle of the Five Armies impending, I am finding myself wondering if we’re gonna get DOS’ed again with an extended edition with NO additional scenes featuring the Elves.
An essay with pictures about Thranduil’s scars, Elven magic, Elven healing, and Tolkien’s lore vs. the movie.
So, I’ve seen fans posting about Thranduil being blind in his left eye; I frowned 😡 and decided to try to help clear the air. Tolkien would have wtf’d the whole thing, if he ever wtf’d,…
Even with just this bit, I had to laugh and agree all at once. Bless elf-esteem for her detailed and thorough essay. The premise goes beyond movie!Thranduil’s scars to the physical constitution of Elves themselves. Just perfect meta on the scars of movie!Thranduil. Canon-heads should be chuffed as kitties after an indulgence of cream.
Beautiful rendition of Thranduil’s scar vanity. (Source: xi zhang’s art station site)
They make for a great visual, but really, as elf-esteem puts so succinctly:
We, the fans, in this case, are the thick-skulled Dwarves that Jackson was pandering to because actually understanding the subtleties of Elves, which Tolkien spent years explaining, is ‘complicated’ without reading the explanations.
Sadly, within the strangely compressed, and yet drawn out spiel of the movie!Hobbit, devices that shock and awe seem par for course (sometimes even favoured) by the powers that be.
Yet, where did the powers pluck the interesting bits from?
Where else?
Canon. Book canon that is.
If you’re one for it, it does preclude those scars as they were presented in the movie.
Look, everyone who watched the movies know Sauron’s almighty. But when even Sauron’s boss, who’s another level of almighty, couldn’t rid himself of the gimp he got in a fight with an Elf, lesser beings (among whom Elves figure, and among whom Thranduil number – shocking, I know) aren’t going to suddenly leapfrog him and self-regenerate and live forever young all at once. (Being able to do BOTH is the exclusive province of these guys.)
Even though it lacks the visual drama of those scars, still canon has its own distinctive allure. It reaches to Ages far, far back and long, long ago.
Nothing wrong with being exclusively movie-devout, but as a movie-firster myself, I contend that anyone intensely interested in Thranduil could do far worse than attempt the effort to (at least try) understand the character’s true origins.
Admittedly, Thranduil himself doesn’t grace the works much at all, but the peripherals still informs who he was. In itself, it is richly textured and much more interesting than the headcanon spawning visual drama of those scars. elf-esteem’s comprehensive essay is a GREAT start. Besides, reading’s always FUN, what more Thranduil studies? =)
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by Michael Martinez
Lurker in the Mirk 