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TIME - July 23

grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 23 2013, 10:27am

Views: 449

TIME - July 23

Today in Middle-earth.

Middle-earth calendars* Shire: 1 Wedmath ~ Númenor: 2 Urimë ~ Rivendell: 64 Lairë

July 23, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Ride through grasslands west of Mirkwood.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."... morning dawned bright and fair again. There was an autumn-like mist white upon the ground and the air was chill, but soon the sun rose red in the East and the mists vanished, and while the shadows were still long they were off again... ...all the while they saw nothing save grass and flowers and birds and scattered trees, and occasionally small herds of red deer browsing or sitting at noon in the shade."

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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"There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West."

I'm SO HAPPY these new films take me back to that magical world!!

TIME Google Calendar
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists (updated soon)

grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 24 2013, 10:33am

Views: 347

TIME - July 24

Today in Middle-earth.

July 24, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Bright, fair, chill fall-like mist. Bilbo sees Beorn. Press on under moon.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."...they were eager to press on, for Beorn had said that they should reach the forest-gate early on the fourth day, that they rode still forward after dusk and into the night beneath the moon. As the light faded Bilbo thought he saw away to the right, or to the left, the shadowy form of a great bear prowling along in the same direction. But if he dared to mention it to Gandalf, the wizard only said: "Hush! Take no notice!""

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 25 2013, 2:10pm

Views: 341

TIME - July 25

Today in Middle-earth.

July 25, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Gandalf and Company approach the west edge of Mirkwood.
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
...Next day they started before dawn, though their night had been short. As soon as it was light they could see the forest coming as it were to meet them, or waiting for them like a black and frowning wall before them....
..."...Well, here is Mirkwood!" said Gandalf. "The greatest of the forests of the Northern world. I hope you like the look of it. Now you must send back these excellent ponies you have borrowed."
...The dwarves were inclined to grumble at this... ... "Beorn is not as far off as you seem to think, and you have better keep your promises anyway, for he is a bad enemy. Mr. Baggins' eyes are sharper than yours, if you have not seen each night after dark a great bear going along with us or... ...watching our camps. Not only to guard you and guide you, but to keep an eye on the ponies too. Beorn may be your friend, but he loves his animals as his children. You do not guess what kindness he has shown you in letting dwarves ride them so far and so fast, nor what would happen to you, if you tried to take them into the forest."
..."What about the horse, then?" said Thorin. "You don't mention sending that back."
..."I don't, because I am not sending it."
..."What about your promise then?"
..."I will look after that. I am not sending the horse back, I am riding it!"
...Then they knew that Gandalf was going to leave them... ...and they were in despair. But nothing they could say would change his mind.
..."Now we had this all out before, when we landed on the Carrock" he said. "It is no use arguing. I have, as I told you, some pressing business away south; and I am already late through bothering with you people. We may meet again before all is over, and then again of course we may not. That depends on your luck and on your courage and sense; and I am sending Mr. Baggins with you. I have told you before that he has more about him than you guess... ...So cheer up Bilbo and don't look so glum. Cheer up Thorin and Company! This is your expedition after all. Think of the treasure at the end, and forget the forest and the dragon, at any rate until tomorrow morning!""

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator

Jul 26 2013, 2:47am

Views: 305

Keep your peckers up!

I think I'm becoming fond of that phrase, and wish that Tolkien had retained it, here! Laugh

Just like Gandalf: when things start to get dark (literally), he has to head off! But this does show how much confidence he has in Mr. Baggins. Smile

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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"

grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 26 2013, 11:19am

Views: 295

TIME - July 26

Today in Middle-earth.

July 26, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Gandalf departs at the west edge of Mirkwood.
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."When tomorrow morning came... ...there was nothing left to do but to fill their water-skins at a clear spring they found close to the forest-gate, and unpack the ponies. They distributed the packages as fairly as they could, though Bilbo thought his lot was wearisomely heavy, and did not at all like the idea of trudging for miles and miles with all that on his back.
..."Don't you worry!" said Thorin. "It will get lighter all too soon. Before long I expect we shall all wish our packs heavier, when the food begins to run short."
...Then at last they said good-bye to their ponies and turned their heads for home... ...As they went away Bilbo could have sworn that a thing like a bear left the shadow of the trees and shambled off quickly after them.
...Now Gandalf too said farewell. Bilbo sat on the ground feeling very unhappy and wishing he was beside the wizard on his tall horse. He had gone just inside the forest ... ...and it had seemed as dark in there in the morning as at night, and very secret; "a sort of watching and waiting feeling," he said to himself.

..."Good-bye!" said Gandalf to Thorin. "And good-bye to you all, good-bye! Straight through the forest is your way now. Don't stray off the track!---if you do, it is a thousand to one you will never find it again and never get out of Mirkwood...."
..."...Do we really have to go through?" groaned the hobbit.
..."Yes, you do!" said the wizard, "if you want to get to the other side. You must either go through or give up your quest. And I am not going to allow you to back out now, Mr. Baggins. I am ashamed of you for thinking of it. You have got to look after all these dwarves for me," he laughed....
......growled Thorin. "Good-bye! If you won't come with us, you had better get off without any more talk!"
..."Good-bye then, and really good-bye!" said Gandalf, and he turned his horse and rode down into the West. But he could not resist the temptation to have the last word. Before he had passed quite out of hearing he turned and put his hands to his mouth and called to them. They heard his voice come faintly: "Good-bye! Be good, take care of yourself—and DON'T LEAVE THE PATH!"
...Then he galloped away and was soon lost to sight. "O good-bye and go away!" grunted the dwarves... ...they were really filled with dismay at losing him. Now began the most dangerous part of all the journey. They each shouldered the heavy pack and the water-skin which was their share, and turned from the light that lay on the lands outside and plunged into the forest."

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 26 2013, 11:37am

Views: 288

Oh me too :D

It's phrases like that that endears the Professor to me. It also tells me that he's so into the story that he just goes for it. Too bad reconsiderations get in the way ;)

Gandalf is really good at being called away just when he'd come in handy; but those he (essentially) leaves in charge have spent enough time with him and experienced enough of the right stuff that he KNOWS they're up to it... much to their own surprise.

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 27 2013, 1:20pm

Views: 308

TIME - July 27

Today in Middle-earth.

July 27, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Welcome to Mirkwood!
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."They walked in single file. The entrance to the path was like a sort of arch leading into a gloomy tunnel made by two great trees that leant together, too old and strangled with ivy... ...The path itself was narrow and wound in and out among the trunks. Soon the light at the gate was like a little bright hole far behind and the quiet was so deep that their feet seemed to thump along while all the trees leaned over them and listened.
...As their eyes became used to the dimness they could see a little way to either side in a sort of darkened green glimmer. Occasionally a slender beam of sun that the luck to slip in through some opening in the leaves far above, and still more luck in not being caught in the tangled boughs and matted twigs beneath... ... But this was seldom, and it soon ceased altogether.
...There were black squirrels in the wood. As Bilbo's sharp inquisitive eyes got used to seeing things he could catch glimpses of them whisking off the path and scuttling behind tree-trunks. There were queer noises too, grunts, scufflings, and hurryings in the undergrowth... ...but what made the noises he could not see. The nastiest things they saw were the cobwebs: dark dense cobwebs with threads extraordinarily thick, often stretched from tree to tree, or tangled in the lower branches on either side of them. There were none stretched across the path, but whether because some magic kept it clear, or for what other reason they could not guess."

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 28 2013, 11:18am

Views: 304

TIME - July 28

Today in Middle-earth.

July 28, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Mirkwood.
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."It was not long before they grew to hate the forest as heartily as they had hated the tunnels of the goblins, and it seemed to offer even less hope of any ending. But they had to go on... ...long after they were sick for a sight of the sun and of the sky, and longed for the feel of wind on their faces. There was no movement of air down under the forest-roof, and it was everlastingly still and dark and stuffy. Even the dwarves felt it, who were used to tunnelling, and lived at times for long whiles without the sight of the sun; but the hobbit, who liked holes to make a house in but not to spend summer days in, felt he was being slowly suffocated."

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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geordie
Tol Eressea

Jul 28 2013, 11:53am

Views: 291

Tolkien's silly sense of humour:

quote: "...all the while they saw nothing save grass and flowers and birds and scattered trees, and occasionally small herds of red deer browsing or sitting at noon in the shade."

That reminds me of a story about when Tolkien once saw some deer - (I think it was in the grounds of Magdale College, where they have a deer park) - Tolkien was walking along with friends and when the deer came into sight he doffed his hat and said, "Hail, fallow, well met!"

Smile

grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 28 2013, 12:18pm

Views: 271

giggle Oh... I love that!!! :D

Now I'll this of this every time I read this part!! *warm hug* THANK YOU! *still smiling*

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator

Jul 28 2013, 7:59pm

Views: 276

Leave it to a philologist

to come right up with that! Laugh

Thanks, geordie!

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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"

Brethil
Half-elven

Jul 28 2013, 8:02pm

Views: 271

*(chuckles) Wonderful! //*

The first TORn Amateur Symposium starts this week in the Reading Room! Come and join in!

grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 29 2013, 9:51am

Views: 301

TIME - July 29

Today in Middle-earth.

July 29-August 15, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Mirkwood watches the newcomers.
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth
..."The nights were the worst. It then became pitch-dark... ...so black that you really could see nothing. Bilbo tried flapping his hand in front of his nose, but he could not see it at all.... ...They slept all closely huddled together, and took it in turns to watch; and when it was Bilbo's turn he would see gleams in the darkness round them, and sometimes pairs of yellow or red or green eyes would stare at him from a little distance, and then slowly fade and disappear and slowly shine out again in another place... ...sometimes they would gleam down from the branches just above him; and that was most terrifying. But the eyes that he liked the least were horrible pale bulbous sort of eyes. "Insect eyes" he thought, "not animal eyes, only they are much too big."
...Although it was not yet very cold, they tried lighting watch-fires at night, but they soon gave that up. It seemed to bring hundreds and hundreds of eyes all round them, though the creatures... ...were careful never to let their bodies show in the little flicker of the flames."

July 29, 1954
1. The Fellowship of the Ring published.
...The first of 3 volumes of The Lord of the Rings was published in the United Kingdom. This volume contains the first 2 of Tolkien's 6 "books" of his epic tale. This volume introduces us to a history of Middle-earth, the main characters, the tale of the Ring of Sauron, the creation of the Fellowship, and the launch of the Quest to destroy the Ring.

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator

Jul 29 2013, 10:19am

Views: 287

Those eyes...eyes in the dark...

I'd still like to know how those 13 managed to sleep at night, I've always imagined the trail being narrow, just enough for one person along it, so there's no actual room to "huddle together", never mind lying down comfortably! Crazy

What a living dungeon Mirkwood is!

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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"

grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 29 2013, 11:28pm

Views: 279

I wonder if they might

sleep back-to-back ;) We saw them packed in pretty good in Goblin-town's front porch, so they know how to fit together like a puzzle. But I never stopped to think about how wide the Mirkwood path really was! Your thought that it might be as narrow as that (even narrower than the tunnel down from the hidden door) is very likely!

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 30 2013, 9:56am

Views: 270

It's time for some BS!

Here's a Book Spoiler of how it could have been worse before they even reached Mirkwood! Bilbo, I'm sure, recalled another warning that Beorn had given them before they left (see if you notice something familiar in his strategy)... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.

From Queer Lodgings: The Hobbit

..."The goblins," Beorn had said, "will not dare to cross the Great River for a hundred miles north of the Carrock nor to come near my house... ...but I should ride fast; for if they make their raid soon they will cross the river to the south and scour all the edge of the forest so as to cut you off, and Wargs run swifter than ponies. Still you are safer going north, even though you seem to be going back nearer to their strongholds; for that is what they will least expect, and they will have the longer ride to catch you...!"......That is why they were now riding in silence, galloping wherever the ground was grassy and smooth, with the mountains dark on their left, and in the distance the line of the river with its trees drawing ever closer. The sun had only just turned west when they started, and till evening it lay golden on the land... ...It was difficult to think of pursuing goblins behind, and when they had put many miles between them and Beorn's house they began to talk and to sing again and to forget the dark forest-path that lay in front. But in the evening when the dusk came on and the peaks of the mountains glowered against the sunset they made a camp and set a guard... ...most of them slept uneasily with dreams in which there came the howl of hunting wolves and the cries of goblins."

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jul 31 2013, 4:33pm

Views: 278

It's time for some BS!

This is part 1 of a 3-part Book Spoiler as we look at one of Appendix B's Tales from the Third Age… for a moment of Tolkien-zen.

APPENDIX B: THE TALE OF YEARS

(CHRONOLOGY OF THE WESTLANDS)

The Third Age

..."These were the fading years of the Eldar… …long they were at peace, wielding the Three Rings while Sauron slept and the One Ring was lost; but they attempted nothing new, living in memory of the past. The Dwarves hid… …in deep places, guarding their hoards… …when evil began to stir again and dragons reappeared, one by one their ancient treasures were plundered, and they became a wandering people. Moria… …long remained secure, but its numbers dwindled until many of its vast mansions became dark and empty. The wisdom and the life-span of the Númenoreans also waned as they became mingled with lesser Men."

4th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - May 1, 2013

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