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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 19 2007, 9:40am
Post #1 of 33
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TIME - February 19 (Our first TIME here :)
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Today in Middle-earth.
February 19, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Company makes its way down the River.
(not from the appendices)
"The dull grey hours passed without event. As the third day of their voyage wore on the lands changed slowly: the trees thinned and then failed altogether. On the eastern bank to their left they saw long formless slopes stretching up and away toward the sky; brown and withered they looked, as if fire had passed over them, leaving no living blade of green: an unfriendly waste without even a broken tree or a bold stone to relieve the emptiness. They had come to the Brown Lands that lay, vast and desolate, between Southern Mirkwood and the hills of the Emyn Muil. What pestilence or war or evil deed of the Enemy hand so blasted all that region even Aragorn could not tell....
'How wide and empty and mournful all this country looks!' said Frodo. 'I always imagined that as one journeyed south it got warmer and merrier, until winter was left behind for ever.'
'But we have not journeyed far south yet,' answered Aragorn. 'It is still winter, and we are far from the sea. Here the world is cold until the sudden spring, and we may yet have snow again. Far away down in the Bay of Belfalas, to which Anduin runs, it is warm and merry, maybe, or would be but for the Enemy....'
...Sam looked from bank to bank uneasily. The trees had seemed hostile before, as if they harbored secret eyes and lurking dangers; now he wished that the trees were still there. He felt that the Company was too naked, afloat in little open boats in the midst of shelterless lands, and on a river that was the frontier of war."
2. Gandalf recovers in Lothlórien.
(from the appendices-no text)
For long hours Galadriel and at times Celeborn would sit with Gandalf as he would fall into fitful sleep. Together they strove in thought against the darkness as Gandalf made his way back to strength and renewed purpose.
[The layout is a work in progress. I'm still trying to get the cut'n'paste to format for me]
 
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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Noneoftheabove
Lorien
Feb 19 2007, 10:19am
Post #2 of 33
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Hey Gramma! I'm glad things are still going as usual, even if they are a bit different these days.
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I do like the new forums though, they're sure spiffy lookin'.
Something struck me as I read this post regarding Time in Middle Earth..
"They had come to the Brown Lands that lay, vast and desolate, between Southern Mirkwood and the hills of the Emyn Muil. What pestilence or war or evil deed of the Enemy hand so blasted all that region even Aragorn could not tell.... "
Watching the films, I always thought Emyn Muil was a natural geological formation rather than an evil deed caused by the enemy. Why that is significant, I really don't know... It just caught my attention!
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Feb 19 2007, 1:30pm
Post #3 of 33
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really is a geological formation; it's the Brown Lands that were destroyed by Sauron. Although his "taint" runs through the Muil as well, making it an evil, unhospitable place!
Remember Treebeard telling about the Entwives? Here's a bit of the history of that place (the Darkness referred to, in the first sentence, was the Darkness of Morgoth):
"Then when the Darkness came in the North, the Entwives crossed the Great River, and made new gardens, and tilled new fields, and we saw them more seldom. After the Darkness was overthrown the land of the Entwives blossomed richly, and their fields were full of corn. Many men learned the crafts of the Entwives and honoured them greatly; but we were only a legend to them, a secret in the heart of the forest. Yet here we still are, while all the gardens of the Entwives are wasted: Men call them the Brown Lands now.
'I remember it was long ago -- in the time of the war between Sauron and the Men of the Sea -- desire came over me to see Fimbrethil again. Very fair she was still in my eyes, when I had last seen her, though little like the Entmaiden of old. For the Entwives were bent and browned by their labour; their hair parched by the sun to the hue of ripe corn and their cheeks like red apples. Yet their eyes were still the eyes of our own people. We crossed over Anduin and came to their land: but we found a desert: it was all burned and uprooted, for war had passed over it. But the Entwives were not there. Long we called, and long we searched; and we asked all folk that we met which way the Entwives had gone. Some said they had never seen them; and some said that they had seen them walking away west, and some said east, and others south. But nowhere that we went could we find them. Our sorrow was very great.'"
Some had been seen walking west: and I hope it was indeed Fimbrethil, surviving the wars, who Hal saw on the North Downs...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still 'round the corner there may wait
A new road, or a secret gate...
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 19 2007, 3:39pm
Post #4 of 33
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Howdy! dernwyn's excellent post
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on what happened to create the Brown Lands tells the sad tale. I think Sam's cousin Hal either saw one of the Entwives walking in the Shire... but given their description, it sounds more like an Ent looking for the ladies.
Now... wouldn't that be a nifty story insert into the tale of Middle-earth between the time of The Hobbit and LotR? ;)
Cheers!
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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Cirdan the Shipwright
Registered User
Feb 19 2007, 5:46pm
Post #5 of 33
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Whew! TIME! All is right with the (new board) world.
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Greetings, Gramma. So glad you're here.
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silneldor
Half-elven
Feb 19 2007, 5:52pm
Post #6 of 33
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The black swans have no further reference
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which adds to the mystery, but black does suggest evil presence. Tolkien in a letter to Milton Waldman, maybe late in 1951 said: 'All though the book hints of the watchfulness of spies have multipied.'
It is hard to snuff out all life though. It's resiliency shows in the whistling and piping of many birds in the reeds although seldom seen. There are signs also within sight to the west of many places green with wide plains of grass.
At least the company could dwell upon more recent pleasent things and Legolas of his homeland among the summer beech-woods.
"Tolkien, like Lewis, believed that, through story, the real world would become a more magical place, full of meaning. We see its patterns and colors in a fresh way. The recovery of a true view of the world applies both to individual things, like hills and stones, and to the cosmic - the depths of space and time itself. For in sub-creation, in Tolkien's view, there is a "survey" of space and time. Reality is captured on a miniature scale. Through stories like The Lord of the Rings, a renewed view of things is given, illuminating the homely, the spiritial, the physical, and the moral dimensions of the world."
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis- The Gift of Friendship -Duriez
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Reptile
Rivendell
Feb 19 2007, 5:57pm
Post #7 of 33
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De-lurking for a moment to say hi and let you know I really enjoy your observation lists. In fact, way back when, I first stumbled onto these boards through a link from your old lists.
The new boards are a wonder-but I'm not sure if I did this right. If not, my appologies. Now, back under my rock.
-R
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Feb 19 2007, 6:04pm
Post #8 of 33
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*meep*meep* Delurker alert! Delurker alert!
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Welcome Reptile! It's great to see you raising your head above the rock. ;)
Feel free to join in! Everyone's newbie-esque here.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Aerlinn
Lorien
Feb 19 2007, 6:23pm
Post #9 of 33
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Nice footer. 
 | TheOneRing.net – where everybody knows your name!
And J.R.R. Tolkien’s middle names… and the name of his publisher’s son … and the name of Aragorn’s great-great-great- grandfather on his mother’s side… and what Frodo’s name almost was… |
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N.E. Brigand
Half-elven
Feb 19 2007, 9:52pm
Post #10 of 33
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Curious's UUT about the swans...
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which you can read here, is that they are a symbol or presage of Aragorn's ascendancy to kingship.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Tolkien Illustrated! Jan. 29-May 20: Visit the Reading Room to discuss art by John Howe, Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith and others, including Tolkien himself.
Feb. 19-25: The Hobbit.
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silneldor
Half-elven
Feb 19 2007, 10:25pm
Post #11 of 33
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Hammond and Shull, Foster's Guide to ME and Tyler's
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Complete Tolkien Companion do not have that info. N.E., where did that fact come from? ! That is so intriguing.
"Tolkien, like Lewis, believed that, through story, the real world would become a more magical place, full of meaning. We see its patterns and colors in a fresh way. The recovery of a true view of the world applies both to individual things, like hills and stones, and to the cosmic - the depths of space and time itself. For in sub-creation, in Tolkien's view, there is a "survey" of space and time. Reality is captured on a miniature scale. Through stories like The Lord of the Rings, a renewed view of things is given, illuminating the homely, the spiritial, the physical, and the moral dimensions of the world."
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis- The Gift of Friendship -Duriez
A little bit of my Middle-earth by canoe.
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N.E. Brigand
Half-elven
Feb 19 2007, 10:54pm
Post #12 of 33
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"Letters" and "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil".
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Curious cites those two sources in the post to which I linked -- but I'm guessing that you couldn't see my link, which looked no different than the rest of my text. Here it is again:
Curious, July 6, 2005
Hammond & Scull, Foster and Tyler all largely stick to confirmed facts, and Curious's idea is explicitly a UUT, though an intriguing one.
Your own citation of Letter #131 was not available when Curious posted his idea, by the way, that portion of the letter not having been published until December 2005 in H&S's The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tolkien Illustrated! Jan. 29-May 20: Visit the Reading Room to discuss art by John Howe, Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith and others, including Tolkien himself.
Feb. 19-25: The Hobbit.
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silneldor
Half-elven
Feb 20 2007, 1:51am
Post #13 of 33
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for the link.More possibilities. More intrigue.
"Tolkien, like Lewis, believed that, through story, the real world would become a more magical place, full of meaning. We see its patterns and colors in a fresh way. The recovery of a true view of the world applies both to individual things, like hills and stones, and to the cosmic - the depths of space and time itself. For in sub-creation, in Tolkien's view, there is a "survey" of space and time. Reality is captured on a miniature scale. Through stories like The Lord of the Rings, a renewed view of things is given, illuminating the homely, the spiritial, the physical, and the moral dimensions of the world."
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis- The Gift of Friendship -Duriez
A little bit of my Middle-earth by canoe.
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Noneoftheabove
Lorien
Feb 20 2007, 2:24am
Post #14 of 33
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Gramma wrote: "Now... wouldn't that be a nifty story insert into the tale of Middle-earth between the time of The Hobbit and LotR? ;)"
Gee Gramma, I think you may be on to something. 
Thinking of the Tree Ents, I've often wondered how they communicate with each other in their own language, and I came up with this idea: What if they communicate by the way their branches sway in the breeze? I believe this is an elegant way to describe the Ents. I don't believe Tolkien ever mentioned this idea...
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 20 2007, 3:17am
Post #15 of 33
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The Ent's swayed at the Entmoot... so whose to say that wasn't part of their dialogue!?
Excellent idea, Nonoftheabove! *twitch*
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 20 2007, 3:21am
Post #16 of 33
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*lifts up stones* Now where's that Reptile snuck off to?
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You've got a history with the lists!? That's awesome! I've been working on a cast and crew list, so you'll have to take a peek at it when I'm done and give me ideas of how to sort it out and/or add to it!
It's so great to see you! Please stick around!
... and thanks :)
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 20 2007, 3:23am
Post #17 of 33
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It really is a rush to see everyone on level ground, so to speak.
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Just when you think TORn has not more surprises... SURPRISE! :D
I'm still checking the rocks along the wall. Reptile's gotta be here somewhere!
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 20 2007, 9:41am
Post #18 of 33
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TIME - February 20 Happy Fat Tuesday :D *tosses beads*
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Today in Middle-earth
February 20, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The days on the River pass slowly.
(not from the appendices)
"There was little speech and no laughter in any of the boats. Each member of the Company was busy with his own thoughts.
The heart of Legolas was running under the stars of a summer night in some northern glade amid the beechwoods; Gimli was fingering gold in his mind, and wondering if it were fit to be wrought into the housing of the Lady's gift. Merry and Pippin in the middle boat were ill at ease, for Boromir sat muttering to himself, sometimes biting his nails, as if some restlessness or doubt consumed him, sometimes seizing a paddle and driving the boat close behind Aragorn's. Then Pippin, who sat in the bow looking back, caught a queer gleam in his eye, as he peered forward gazing at Frodo. Sam had long ago made up his mind that, though boats were maybe not as dangerous as he had been brought up to believe, they were far more uncomfortable than even he had imagined. He was cramped and miserable, having nothing to do but stare at the winter-lands crawling by and the grey water on either side of him. Even when the paddles were in use they did not trust Sam with one."
February 20, 3020 (S.R. 1420)
1. The Shire rebuilds.
(not from the appendices)
"The trees were the worst loss and damage, for at Sharkey's bidding they had been cut down recklessly far and wide over the Shire; and Sam grieved over this more than anything else. For one thing, this hurt would take long to heal, and only his great-grandchildren, he thought, would see the Shire as it ought to be."
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Feb 20 2007, 2:50pm
Post #19 of 33
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Time to party!
No party for the Fellowship, though. It always gives me the creeps, thinking about Boromir biting his nails! Him, a nobleman of Gondor - it's like a manifestation of his own personal "descent into darkness".
"...the Shire as it ought to be": Sam's not even proposed to Rosie yet, and he's thinking of his descendants, generations hence! And, in his own way, grieving for the things they may not have. What was it, that Galadriel called him: "little gardener and lover of trees". She knew what could happen; and she provided him with the means to restore that which was - even in his own generation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still 'round the corner there may wait
A new road, or a secret gate...
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Finding Frodo
Tol Eressea
Feb 20 2007, 3:12pm
Post #20 of 33
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Thinking about Mardi Gras and New Orleans after Katrina, I hope that there are enough "Sams" working to restore that city to the way it ought to be. Of course, it seems that it never was really "The Shire" because of all the problems with crime, poverty, poor educational system, etc. This is all just what I've heard -- I've never been there myself, but I hope to go someday. Too bad we don't have a box of Galadriel's earth to sprinkle around to help things along.
Where's Frodo?
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Feb 20 2007, 3:42pm
Post #21 of 33
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The heart of Legolas was running under the stars of a summer night in some northern glade amid the beechwoods; Gimli was fingering gold in his mind, and wondering if it were fit to be wrought into the housing of the Lady's gift. Merry and Pippin in the middle boat were ill at ease, for Boromir sat muttering to himself, sometimes biting his nails, as if some restlessness or doubt consumed him, sometimes seizing a paddle and driving the boat close behind Aragorn's. Then Pippin, who sat in the bow looking back, caught a queer gleam in his eye, as he peered forward gazing at Frodo. Sam had long ago made up his mind that, though boats were maybe not as dangerous as he had been brought up to believe, they were far more uncomfortable than even he had imagined. He was cramped and miserable, having nothing to do but stare at the winter-lands crawling by and the grey water on either side of him. Even when the paddles were in use they did not trust Sam with one."
I used to enter writing contests, and you would get docked big time if you ever strayed out of one person's point of view. I always laugh now when I read this paragraph.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chance Meeting at Rivendell: a Tolkien Fanfic
and some other stuff I wrote...
leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Reptile
Rivendell
Feb 20 2007, 8:13pm
Post #22 of 33
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Try looking under the eclogite...
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I'll be watching for the cast and crew list. I still think I saw an orc wearing glasses in FoTR, when the Uruks are being outfitted, but I'll watch it again and see if I was dreaming. My eyesight is kind of dim from spending so much time underground.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 21 2007, 10:55am
Post #23 of 33
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Today in Middle-earth.
February 21, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. A clever waterman; slyer than a fox and slippery as a fissssshhhh.
(not from the appendices)
"As dusk drew down on the fourth day, [Sam] was looking back over the bowed heads of Frodo and Aragorn and the following boats; he was drowsy and longed for camp and the feel of earth under his toes. Suddenly something caught his sight: at first he stared at it listlessly, then he sat up and rubbed his eyes; but when he looked again he could not see it anymore.
That night they camped on a small eyot close to the western bank. Sam lay rolled in blankets beside Frodo. 'I had a funny dream an hour or two before we stopped, Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'Or maybe it wasn't a dream. Funny it was anyway.'
'Well, what was it?' said Frodo, knowing that Sam would not settle down until he had told his tale, whatever it was. 'I haven't seen or thought of anything to make me smile since we left Lothlórien.'
'It wasn't funny that way, Mr. Frodo. It was queer. All wrong, if it wasn't a dream. And you had best hear it. It was like this: I saw a log with eyes!'
'The log's all right,' said Frodo. 'There are many in the River. But leave out the eyes!'
'That I won't,' said Sam. 'Twas the eyes as made me sit up so to speak. I saw what I took to be a log floating along in the half-light behind Gimli's boat; but I didn't give much heed to it. Then it seemed as if the log was slowly catching us up. And that was peculiar, as you might say, seeing as we were all floating on the stream together. Just then I saw the eyes: two pale sort of points, shiny-like, on a hump at the near end of the log. What's more, it wasn't a log, for it had paddle-feet, like a swan's almost, only they seemed bigger, and kept dipping in and out of the water.
'That's when I sat right up and rubbed my eyes, meaning to give a shout, if it was still there when I had rubbed the drowse out of my head. For the whatever-it-was was coming along fast now and getting close behind Gimli. But whether those two lamps spotted me moving and staring, or whether I came to my senses, I don't know. When I looked again, it wasn't there. Yet I think I caught a glimpse, with the tail of my eye, as the saying is, of something dark shooting under the shadow of the bank. I couldn't see no more eyes, though.
I said to myself: "Dreaming again, Sam Gamgee," I said; and I said no more just then. But I've been thinking since, and now I'm not so sure. What do you make of it, Mr. Frodo?'
I should make nothing of it but a log and the dusk and sleep in your eyes, Sam,' said Frodo, 'if this was the first time that those eyes had been seen. But it isn't. I saw them away back north before we reached Lórien. And I saw a strange creature with eyes climbing to the flet that night. Haldir saw it too. And do you remember the report of the Elves that went after the orc-band?'
'Ah,' said Sam, 'I do; and I remember more too. I don’t like my thoughts; but thinking of one thing and another and Mr. Bilbo's stories and all, I fancy I could put a name on the creature, at a guess. A nasty name. Gollum, maybe?'
'Yes, that is what I have feared for some time,' said Frodo. 'Ever since the night on the flet. I suppose he was lurking in Moria, and picked up our trail then; but I hoped that our stay in Lórien would throw him off the scent again. The miserable creature must have been hiding in the woods by the Silverlode, watching us start off!'
'That' about it,' said Sam. 'And we'd better be a bit more watchful ourselves, or we'll feel some nasty fingers round our necks one of these nights, if we ever wake up to feel anything. And that's what I was leading up to. No need to trouble Strider or the others tonight. I'll keep watch. I can sleep tomorrow, being no more than luggage in a boat, as you might say.'
'I might,' said Frodo, 'and I might say "luggage with eyes". You shall watch; but only if you promise to wake me half-way towards morning, if nothing happens before then.'"
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Feb 21 2007, 3:02pm
Post #24 of 33
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Uh-oh...gramma's put a smiley face on this one...
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Eyes on a log! Dear observant Sam - and his trust that Frodo's not going to tease him about, or downplay, what he believes he saw. And Frodo is no doubt just as relieved to have someone else "in the know" about Gollum (this being before he finds out that Aragorn knows, as well).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still 'round the corner there may wait
A new road, or a secret gate...
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 21 2007, 3:28pm
Post #25 of 33
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Will you lookit that! huh...
This is one of my favourite exchanges between Frodo and Sam :) It reveals so much of their own minds and reactions to each other. And I love it when "eye issues" happen. "'The log's all right... But leave out the eyes!'" and Legolas' outburst later "'There are eyes! Eyes looking out from the shadows of the boughs! I never saw such eyes before!'" "'No, no!' cried Gimli. 'Do as you please in your madness, but let me first get down from this horse! I wish to see no eyes!'"
More about logs tomorrow ;)
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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TIME - February 21
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1
