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dijomaja
Lorien
Dec 4 2010, 11:46am
Post #1 of 14
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"...to see ourselves as others see us."...
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...as Robert Burns says.
There are more than a few posts about identifying with certain characters in these stories. It's interesting to see the contrast between the characters we identify with and the comparisons other people make.
For example, I always assumed most men would identify with Aragorn: warrior and healer, possessing great courage, knowledge and skill but still able to enjoy a mug of ale and an old song. Or Elrond: wise and strong, concerned for his child's future, living in the woods studying "understanding, making and healing". In the end, though, who has more than Sam? Family, friends, worthwhile work and a beautiful place to live - who needs more than that?
But I got my comeuppance at the NYC showing of TTT w/orchestra this past October. Mid-way into the film my daughter leaned over to my wife and whispered, "It's Dad!". On the screen: Treebeard. Apparently it takes a long time to say anything in Old Daddish and I never say anything unless it's worth taking a lonngg, lonnnggg time.
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entmaiden
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Dec 4 2010, 12:22pm
Post #2 of 14
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I can see how on the inside someone might identify with Aragorn, but others see Treebeard on the outside 
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Kyriel
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Dec 4 2010, 12:30pm
Post #3 of 14
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Hmm, I wonder how other TORNsibs see each of *us* - might be a fun question for the board
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As for me, I've always identified with Eowyn because she's a fighter and a mold-breaker; but for all I know, the rest of the board thinks of me as Gollum.
Those left standing will make millions writing books on the way it should have been. --Incubus
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Nuradar
Rohan
Dec 4 2010, 12:36pm
Post #4 of 14
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and also very interesting. I guess it could have been worse - it could have been Gollum on the screen!
Very interesting post - I wonder others see us, and whether or not that matches how we see ourselves...
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dijomaja
Lorien
Dec 4 2010, 12:48pm
Post #5 of 14
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...even our interpretation of the perceptions of others can be telling.
For example, I could think of Treebeard as the possessor of knowledge and wisdom, protective of his young charges, slow to anger but not to be trifled with.
But my kids probably related to the part where the Hobbits fall asleep as Treebeard drones on.
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Magpie
Immortal
Dec 4 2010, 2:44pm
Post #6 of 14
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I was just reading through old emails last night...
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(I am being ridiculously relentless in trying to find something I wrote about memories being akin to time travel)
...when I found my recap of a long weekend vacation I took with my husband a few years back when he finally fessed up that he stops listening to me after 3 minutes because I just take too long to get to my point. (My sister is the same although I think she is much worse and my aunt was also accused of this trait.)
I wrote:
How many words are too many? Am I too much of an ent? If so, where is my Fangorn Forest on earth?
I write articles for TORn and I have to be succinct. I fight to get copy at work down to a manageable volume so that a clear, quick message can be conveyed in a little 3x5 ad. But when I sit down with people who matter, I want to talk. I want to ramble. I want to speculate and make connections. I want to do this because this is how my brain works. Because I like my brain when it works like this.
It went on to angst about what is too much when one can only judge by what others think and not so much on what feels intuitively right - otherwise, self censoring to keep the volume (as in quantity not loudness) down.
But, yeah... I have often claimed ent status. I find admirable traits in many LOTR characters (not so much in the Sil!) and there are a few that are romantic to imagine being. But if I had to tell it straight, other than my entish qualities, I'd probably be Ioreth. With maybe just a few more brain cells ticking away.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ June 2010 : ROTK Lyrics Update!
magpie avatar gallery ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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Ataahua
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Dec 4 2010, 7:57pm
Post #7 of 14
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I love it when families can poke a bit of fun at each other. :D
I hope you told her that your Treebeard impersonation was just to throw her off the track of your inner Aragorn? After all, having a King for a father could be a bit overwhelming for a girl and you're just protecting her, you know?
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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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Dec 5 2010, 12:38am
Post #8 of 14
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she didn't say Smeagol!!! :D
My g'daughter says I'm most like Sam... no... Pippin... no... Bilbo... no...
*snigger* Apparently I'm a work in progess ;)
 
I really need these new films to take me back to, and not re-introduce me to, that magical world.
TORn's Observations Lists
Unused Scenes
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dijomaja
Lorien
Dec 5 2010, 1:06pm
Post #9 of 14
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Yes, it could have been worse. My son could have seen me as Denethor based on the times I (supposedly) favor his older sister over him. They could have both seen me as the doddering pre-facelift Theoden.
Part of the problem is that they haven't read the book. I often remind my children that "on my brow sits wisdom and in my hand lies strength" but they wouldn't know that about Elrond from the films. Likewise, the best stuff about Sam The Dad is in the Scouring and the unpublished Epilogue.
M, I relate to your Entish thought process. I, too, often use conversation (and writing) to find out what I'm thinking and I've read a number of comments from actual writers who do the same. As for finding your own Fangorn Forest, one thing I've learned from reading Tolkien is that we have to keep the memory of "much that was fair and beautiful" alive even when we're walking in dark places and all we have to go on is a glimpse of a star or a ray of sunlight on a broken monument to another time.
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 5 2010, 3:38pm
Post #10 of 14
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As for finding your own Fangorn Forest, one thing I've learned from reading Tolkien is that we have to keep the memory of "much that was fair and beautiful" alive even when we're walking in dark places and all we have to go on is a glimpse of a star or a ray of sunlight on a broken monument to another time.
Well said, thank you. I've also learned to keep hope alive, that all will come right in the end, so long as we're true to the fellowship.
(This from a woman whose son says he's glad he wasn't named "Frodo"  )
* * * * * * *
Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?
A man may do both. For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day!
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dijomaja
Lorien
Dec 5 2010, 4:06pm
Post #11 of 14
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It's a good example of what Magpie was talking about, talking or writing to find out what you think. I've connected that sense of "hope when things look bleak" with LOTR for a long time but was never able to put it into words before this.
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Gimli'sBox
Gondor
Dec 5 2010, 6:12pm
Post #12 of 14
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"You're not alone", I've called my dad Treebeard before too! That's priceless!//
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Roast chicken?!
You're taller. Who? You. Then what? Then me! I've always been taller than you. Pippin, everyone knows you're the short one. I'm the tall one. Please Merry. Your what? Three foot six at the most. Whereas I'm pushing three seven. Three eight! Three foot eight! You did something.
It's Latin. Loosely translated, it means... we cheat.
"Strange treasures in this fair world appear, strange all, and new to me." That is a poem by Thomas Traherne and I have absolutely no idea what it's about. But, when I was small I was made to learn it by heart so I don't see why you shouldn't suffer too.
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StarElf
Rohan
Dec 5 2010, 8:36pm
Post #13 of 14
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Re: "...to see ourselves as others see us."...
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My dad's about 5'6", loves to smoke, lives out in the boonies, is chubby,brown-haired, loves to cook and eat, complains about noise and machines and is wary of outside people/ influences. He's also very hairy....and unfortunately, he is also a combat veteran. Like many of his generation, he got dragged into what was probably the most senseless war his country ever engaged in. 
Well, you probably know which character this reminds me of!  My mom and I always call him 'Bilbo' or 'the hobbit' behind his back.
(This post was edited by StarElf on Dec 5 2010, 8:43pm)
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dijomaja
Lorien
Dec 18 2010, 2:27pm
Post #14 of 14
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M: Tell them all, "To paraphrase Tolkien: 'Not all those who ramble are lost'."
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