grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Dec 31 2024, 2:15pm
Views: 6070
|
It's time for one last 2024 BS!
|
|
|
Here is a holiday Book Spoiler. This time of the year holds the Yuledays of the Shire already touched on during this past week. Yule marks the end of one year and the beginning of the next, which is celebrated with a traditional festival and a plentiful feast. Let's look at a very special Yule... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From The Grey Havens: The Return of the King ... [After Sharkey's desolation of Hobbiton and the Shire, food and supplies were wanting. The Yuledays were fast approaching and all understood the Yule midwinter festival and feast would be meager this year.]
... "...the labour of repair went on apace... ...there were thousands of willing hands of all ages.... ...Before Yule not a brick was left standing... ...of anything that had been built by 'Sharkey's Men'...."
... [As the clearing progressed], "...great stores of goods and food... ...were found that had been hidden away by the ruffians in sheds and barns and deserted holes, and especially in the tunnels at Michel Delving and in the old quarries at Scary; so that there was a great deal better cheer that Yule than anyone had hoped for."
And to round out the year, here are some Book Spoilers that look at some of the end-of-the-year events mentioned… for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From In the House of Tom Bombadil: The Fellowship of the Ring … "Tom stirred like a man shaken out of a pleasant dream. 'Eh, what?' said he. 'Did I hear you calling? Nay, I did not hear: I was busy singing. Just chance brought me then, if chance you call it… …We heard news of you, and learned that you were wandering. We guessed you'd come ere long down to the water; all paths lead that way, down to Withywindle… …But Tom had an errand there, that he dared not hinder.' Tom nodded as if sleep was taking him again; but he went on in a soft singing voice:
I had an errand there: gathering water-lilies,
green leaves and lilies white to please my pretty lady,
the last ere the year's end to keep them from the winter,
to flower by her pretty feet till the snows are melted.
Each year at summer's end I go to find them for her,
in a wide pool, deep and clear, far down Withywindle;
there they open first in spring and there they linger latest.
By that pool long ago I found the River-daughter,
fair young Goldberry sitting in the rushes.
Sweet was her singing then, and her heart was beating!
He opened his eyes and looked at them with a sudden glint of blue:
And that proved well for you—for now I shall no longer
go down deep again along the forest-water,
not while the year is old. Nor shall I be passing
Old Man Willow's house this side of spring-time,
not till the merry spring, when the River-daughter
dances down the withy-path to bathe in the water.
[Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 175-176 FotR: Lord of the Rings]
From Homeward Bound: The Return of the King … "Mr. Butterbur had … …not changed his manner of talking, and still seemed to live in his old breathless bustle…the landlord's face looked rather wrinkled and careworn.
… He led them down the passage to the parlour that they had used on that strange night more than a year ago; and they followed him… …they said nothing, and waited.
… As they expected Mr. Butterbur came to the parlour after supper to see if all had been to their liking… '...if you could spare me half an hour before you go to your beds, I would dearly like to have some talk with you, quiet-like by ourselves.'
… 'That is just what we should like, too,' said Gandalf… 'And if you have any pipe-weed, we'll bless you.'
… 'Well, if you'd called for anything else, I'd have been happier,' said Butterbur. 'That's just a thing that we're short of, seeing how we've only got what we grow ourselves, and that's not enough…'
… When he came back he brought them enough to last them for a day or two, a wad of uncut leaf. 'Southlinch' he said, 'and the best we have; but not the match of Southfarthing…. '…and then they talked for many times half an hour… …Things were far from well… '…No one comes nigh Bree now from Outside... ...And there was trouble right here in Bree, bad trouble. Why, we had a real set-to, and there were some folk killed, killed dead…! …Harry Goatleaf that used to be on the West-gate, and that Bill Ferny, they came in on the strangers' side, and they've gone off with them; and it's my belief they let them in. On the night of the fight, I mean. And that was after we showed them the gates and pushed them out: before the year's end... ...and the fight was early in the New Year, after the heavy snow we had.
… 'And now they're gone for robbers and live outside, hiding in the woods beyond Archet, and out in the wilds north-away.'"
From The Grey Havens: The Return of the King … "Old Will Whitfoot had been in the Lockholes longer than any, and though he had perhaps been treated less harshly than some, he needed a lot of feeding up before he could look the part Of Mayor… …The task of hunting out the last remnant of the ruffians was left to Merry and Pippin, and it was soon done. The southern gangs… …fled out of the land and offered little resistance to the Thain. Before the Year's End the few survivors were rounded up in the woods, and those that surrendered were shown to the borders."
Let's show this past year to the borders!!!
Happy New Year Everyone xxxooo :D
  
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Dec 31 2024, 2:17pm)
|
