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Thread: RIP and Namárië, Christopher Tolkien....

  1. #1

    RIP and Namárië, Christopher Tolkien....

    So sad to hear of his passing today at the age of 95. Any fan of Middle-earth will acknowledge a great debt to the executor and zealous guardian of J.R.R. Tolkien's massive literary output. What he has accomplished in over 40 years of stewardship is nothing short of remarkable. He will be sorely missed. I think I'll go read The Silmarillion for the hundredth time.
    "And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision."

    Occasional musical musings on https://darkelffile.blogspot.com/

  2. #2
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    Take a bow on your way out, sir. No one else could have done what you did, as well as you did. Kudos and bravo.

  3. #3
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    This may seem like blaspheme - but is the Silmarillion a good read or just for the real middle earth crazies? Ive read the Hobbit and LOTR books a few times. Is it worth the read if you arent a crazy big a fan? - I'm kind of a middle fan.

  4. #4
    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    RIP. 95 is definitely a full life.
    What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)

  5. #5
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yodelgoat View Post
    This may seem like blaspheme - but is the Silmarillion a good read or just for the real middle earth crazies? Ive read the Hobbit and LOTR books a few times. Is it worth the read if you arent a crazy big a fan? - I'm kind of a middle fan.
    I'm a big LOTR's fan and couldn't read the Silmarillion, tried a few times.

    RIP.
    Ian

    Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
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    Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
    I blame Wynton, what was the question?
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  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Yodelgoat View Post
    This may seem like blaspheme - but is the Silmarillion a good read or just for the real middle earth crazies? Ive read the Hobbit and LOTR books a few times. Is it worth the read if you arent a crazy big a fan? - I'm kind of a middle fan.
    Depends on your reading preferences. As a lifelong lover of mythology (as opposed to more modern fantasy), I think The Silmarillion is superbly written, and told in a high literature style with a far more serious tone than The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. There are no humorous Hobbit bits or funny asides. It is more biblical, for want of a better reference point, and it is an excellent synthesis of mythological and folkloric motifs: the Finnish Kalevala, Plato's Atlantis, Norse and Greek mythos (including deities reminiscent of the pantheons of Greek and Norse gods), Medieval Christian cosmology, Celtic language (particularly Welsh), the Old Testament -- it is a creation story that spans the cosmos from before the making of the world through the First and Second Ages of Middle-earth. And it is far darker than Tolkien's later Middle-earth books, there is rape and incest, human sacrifice, suicide, fratricide and immense betrayals.

    And Tolkien's Genesis tale, The Ainulindalë, is perhaps the most beautiful creation story ever written, wherein the one god Eru creates the universe from the void with celestial music.
    "And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision."

    Occasional musical musings on https://darkelffile.blogspot.com/

  7. #7
    Weird thing just happened. Several days ago I finished reading his last edition of his father's work (The Fall of Gondolin). Then, for something lighter, picked up a Mike Resnick book - and that night heard that Mike had passed.

    And now this.

    Maybe I'd better lay off reading living writers for a while...
    Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Yodelgoat View Post
    This may seem like blaspheme - but is the Silmarillion a good read or just for the real middle earth crazies? Ive read the Hobbit and LOTR books a few times. Is it worth the read if you arent a crazy big a fan? - I'm kind of a middle fan.
    Not blasphemy, and a very good question.

    The Silmarillion is actually a collection of five parts.

    The first part, "Ainulindalë" is (as Dark Elf noted) an exquisitely beautiful creation myth.

    The second, "Valaquenta", is basically a list of the "Gods" of Tolkien's world - they aren't really gods, they're actually earthbound angels, but let that pass.

    The third is the main part, "Quenta Silmarillion", "The Tale of the Jewels". This is about twenty chapters that begin with the Valar (Gods, Angels) struggling to make Middle-earth a fit place for humans and elves to live in, and ends with massive destruction as they fight the mightiest of their own number, Morgoth, the father of lies and evil, who has nearly destroyed the human and elven races, to cast him out of Middle-earth. This part is in about twenty chapters, each of which is a story in its own right (except for one, which is a geography lesson and nearly unreadable...). Several of them contain the best stories Tolkien ever wrote - my favorite is the tale of Túrin Turambar, but your mileage may vary.

    The fourth part is the "Akallabêth", Tolkien's history of an Atlantis-like country called Númenor whose name you may recall from LotR. It is a history and not a story.

    And the fifth part, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age", is a brief summary of the history of the twenty Rings, where they came from in the Second Age, down to the War of the Ring and the end of the Third Age; it brings the story full circle.

    The thing to keep in mind in all of this is that it is not a novel, but a collection of myths, histories, and romances; and it is written in a spare, tight language somewhat reminiscent of the King James Bible (though without all the thees and thous and other archaic terms - not that there aren't any, but it isn't overloaded with them).
    Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.

  9. #9
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    The road goes ever on.

    May he go on to the house of his father, in whose mighty presence he need not be ashamed.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  10. #10
    Lucky Man
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sturgeon's Lawyer View Post
    Several of them contain the best stories Tolkien ever wrote - my favorite is the tale of Túrin Turambar, but your mileage may vary.
    Reading this thread last night, this is where my mind went. The tale of Turin Tarambar, Master Of Doom, By Doom Mastered. Most affecting, dire stuff.

    The Silmarillion as a whole is a difficult read. The story of Turin could well have become a book unto itself, indeed Tolkien may have given that thought. As with several or more of the other stories.

    The book is dense with names of people and places. It is dark and tragic, with moments of redemption, glimpses of great beauty and joy. Love and good triumphing at last over great evil and hatred. A lot like life.
    Perhaps finding the happy medium is harder than we know.

  11. #11
    Actually, Christopher Tolkien did release the story of Túrin as a book unto itself, notably expanded from the Silmarillionversion. It's called The Children of Húrin.
    Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.

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  13. #13
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Ian

    Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
    https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/

    Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
    I blame Wynton, what was the question?
    There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.

  14. #14
    RIP! This genius gave us so many great works! As a fan of his work, when I learned about his death, I cried in the evenings for a week ((( Yesterday I still admired the books of the living Tolkien, and today he is no longer alive! It was very difficult for me then to accept his death! Thank God, he gave us a great legacy - his books. I have read each of them many times! Great books! My friends don't really talk about books and films, so I spent a long time looking for a forum to discuss Tolkien's work. And I found it! Now I spend there 5 hours a day. For Tolkien fans I can give you a link to it: https://www.thetolkienforum.com/wiki/Eye-of-Sauron
    Last edited by Besalynus; 08-30-2021 at 08:05 AM.

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