|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CuriousG
Half-elven
May 24 2020, 7:07pm
Post #26 of 35
(1788 views)
Shortcut
|
|
And that's how we got the women & men of Bree
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
The Men of Bree were brown-haired, broad, and rather short, cheerful and independent: they belonged to nobody but themselves; but they were more friendly and familiar with Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, and other inhabitants of the world about them than was (or is) usual with Big People. According to their own tales they were the original inhabitants and were the descendants of the first Men that ever wandered into the West of the middle-world. Few had survived the turmoils of the Elder Days; but when the Kings returned again over the Great Sea they had found the Bree-men still there, and they were still there now, when the memory of the old Kings had faded into the grass.
If Maciliel ever reappears here, she could have fun with this. I would expect her to edit it like this:
The Men of Bree were brown-haired, broad, and rather short, cheerful and independent, whereas the Women were tall, elegant, and exceptionally shrewd and well-read: they belonged to nobody but themselves; but they were more friendly and familiar with Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, and other inhabitants of the world about them than was (or is) usual with Big People, all because of the enlightened policies of the Bree-Women, who ran the government while allowing Men to run lesser businesses like taverns and inns to keep them busy. 
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
May 25 2020, 2:25am
Post #27 of 35
(1750 views)
Shortcut
|
I've always wondered about Mrs. Butterbur...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
grammaboodawg
Immortal
May 25 2020, 2:35pm
Post #28 of 35
(1702 views)
Shortcut
|
It's time for some Memorable BS!
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
In honour of Memorial Day... for veterans and military throughout the world... lest we forget.
From The Return Journey: The Hobbit ..."They buried Thorin deep beneath the Mountain, and Bard laid the Arkenstone upon his breast.
..."There let it lie till the Mountain falls!" he said. "May it bring good fortune to all his folk that dwell here after!"
Upon his tomb the Elvenking then laid Orcrist, the elvish sword that had been taken from Thorin in captivity. It is said in songs that it gleamed ever in the dark if foes approached, and the fortress of the dwarves could not be taken by surprise."
From The King of the Golden Hall ..."At the foot of the walled hill the way ran under the shadow of many mounds, high and green. Upon their western sides the grass was white as with a drifted snow: small flowers sprang there like countless stars amid the turf.
...'Look!' said Gandalf. 'How fair are the bright eyes in the grass! Evermind they are called, Simbelmynë in this land of Men, for they blossom in all the season of the year, and grow where dead men rest.... ...We are come to the great barrows where the sires of Théoden sleep.'
...'Seven mounds upon the left, and nine upon the right,' said Aragorn. 'Many long lives of men it is since the golden hall was built.'
...'Five hundred times have the red leaves fallen in Mirkwood in my home since then,' said Legolas, 'and but a little while does that seem to us.'
...'But to the Riders of the Mark it seems so long ago... ...that the raising of this house is but a memory of song, and the years before are lost in the mist of time. Now they call this land their home... ...their own, and their speech is sundered from their northern kin.' Then he began to chant softly in a slow tongue unknown to the Elf and Dwarf; yet they listened, for there was a strong music in it.
...'That, I guess, is the language of the Rohirrim,' said Legolas; 'for it is like to this land itself; rich and rolling in part, and else hard and stern as the mountains. But I cannot guess what it means, save that it is laden with the sadness of Mortal Men.'
...'It runs thus in the Common Speech,' said Aragorn...
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harp string, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning,
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning? Thus spoke a forgotten poet long ago in Rohan... ...So men still sing in the evening.'"
From The Houses of Healing: The Return of the King ..."Then Aragorn laid his hand on Merry's head, and passing his hand gently through the brown curls, he touched the eyelids, and called him by name. And when the fragrance of athelas stole through the room... ...suddenly Merry awoke, and he said:
...'I am hungry. What is the time?'
...'Past supper-time now,' said Pippin; 'though I daresay I could bring you something, if they will let me.'
...'They will indeed,' said Gandalf. 'And anything else that this Rider of Rohan may desire... ...in Minas Tirith, where his name is in honour.'
...'Good!' said Merry. 'Then I would like supper first, and after that a pipe.' At that his face clouded. 'No, not a pipe. I don't think I'll smoke again.'
...'Why not?' said Pippin.
...'Well,' answered Merry slowly. 'He is dead. It has brought it all back to me. He said he was sorry he had never had a chance of talking herb-lore with me. Almost the last thing he ever said. I shan't ever be able to smoke again without thinking of him, and that day, Pippin, when he rode up to Isengard and was so polite.'
...'Smoke then, and think of him!' said Aragorn. 'For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning. Though your service to him was brief, it should be a memory glad and honourable to the end of your days.'
...Merry smiled. 'Well then,' he said, 'if Strider will provide what is needed, I will smoke and think.... ...Pippin remained behind. 'Was there ever any one like him?' he said. 'Except Gandalf, of course. I think they must be related. My dear ass, your pack is lying by your bed, and you had it on your back when I met you. He saw it all the time, of course. And anyway I have some stuff of my own. Come on now! Longbottom Leaf it is. Fill up while I run and see about some food. And then let's be easy for a bit. Dear me! We Tooks and Brandybucks, we can't live long on the heights.'
...'No, I can't; at least not yet. But at least we can know about them now, and honor them. It is best to love what you are fitted to love, I suppose: you must start somewhere and have some roots, and the soil of the Shire is deep. Still there are things deeper and higher, and not a gaffer could tend his garden in what he calls peace but for them, whether he knows about them or not. I am glad I know about them, a little. But I don't know why I am talking like this. Where is that leaf? And get my pipe out of my pack, if it isn't broken.'"
From The Field of Cormallen: The Return of the King ..."Frodo and Sam were led apart and brought to a tent, and there their old raiment was... ...set aside with honour; and clean linen was given to them. Then Gandalf came and in his arms, to the wonder of Frodo, he bore the sword and the elven-cloak and the mithril-coat that had been taken from him in Mordor. For Sam he brought a coat of gilded mail, and his elven-cloak all healed of the soils and hurts that it had suffered; and then he laid before them two swords.
...'I do not wish for any sword,' said Frodo.
...'Tonight at least you should wear one,' said Gandalf.
...Then Frodo took the small sword that had belonged to Sam.... '...Sting I gave to you Sam,' he said.
...'No, master! Mr. Bilbo gave it to you, and it goes with his silver coat; he would not wish anyone else to wear it now.'
Frodo gave way; and Gandalf, as if he were their esquire, knelt and girt the sword-belts about them, and then rising he set circlets of silver upon their heads. And when they were arrayed they went to the great feast; and they sat at the King's table with Gandalf, and King Éomer of Rohan, and the Prince Imrahil and all the chief captains; and there also were Gimli and Legolas... [and all paused for]... the Standing Silence..."
..."'And I,' said Legolas, 'shall walk in the woods of the fair land, which is rest enough.'
'To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying,
The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.
West, west away, the round sun is falling.
Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling,
The voices of my people that have gone before me?
I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me;
For our days are ending and our years failing.
I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.
Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,
Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,
In Eressëa, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,
Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!' And so singing Legolas went away down the hill."
From Many Partings; The Return of the King ..."Often long after the hobbits were wrapped in sleep they would sit together under the stars, recalling the ages that were gone and all their joys and labours in the world, or holding council, concerning the days to come. If any wanderer had chanced to pass, little would he have seen or heard, and it would have seemed to him only that he saw grey figures, carved in stone, memorials of forgotten things now lost in unpeopled lands. For they did not move or speak with their mouth, looking from mind to mind and only their shining eyes stirred and kindled as their thoughts went to and fro."
From The Scouring of the Shire: The Return of the King ..."At last all was over. Nearly seventy of the ruffians lay dead on the field, and a dozen were prisoners. Nineteen hobbits were killed, and some thirty were wounded. The dead ruffians were laden on waggons and hauled off to an old sand-pit nearby and there buried: in the Battle Pit.... ...The fallen hobbits were laid together in a grave on the hill-side, where later a great stone was set up with a garden about it. So ended the Battle of Bywater, 1419, the last battle fought in the Shire, and the only battle since the Greenfields, 1147, away up in the Northfarthing. In consequence, though it happily cost very few lives, it has a chapter to itself in the Red Book, and the names of all those who took part were made into a Roll, and learned by heart by Shire-historians. The very considerable rise in the fame and fortune of the Cottons dates from this time; but at the top of the Roll in all accounts stand the names of Captains Meriadoc and Peregrin."
From The Grey Havens: The Return of the King ..."'Where are you going, Master?' cried Sam, though at last he understood what was happening.
...'To the Havens, Sam,' said Frodo.
...'And I can't come.'
...'No, Sam. Not yet anyway, not further than the Havens. Though you too were a Ring-bearer.... ...Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot always be torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.'
...'But,' said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, 'I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done.'
...'So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. But you are still my heir: all that I had and might have had I leave to you. And also you have Rose, and Elanor; and Frodo-lad will come, and Rosie-lass, and Merry, and Goldilocks, and Pippin; and perhaps more that I cannot see. Your hands and your wits will be needed everywhere. You will be the Mayor... ...as long as you want to be, and the most famous gardener in history; and you will read things out of the Red Book, and keep alive the memory of the age that is gone, so that people will remember the Great Danger and so love their beloved land all the more."
From The Lord of the Rings: Appendix A. III: "Durin's Folk" ..."So it was that after Azanulbizar the Dwarves dispersed again. But first with great labour they stripped all their dead, so that Orcs should not come and win there a store of weapons and mail. It is said that every Dwarf that went from that battlefield was bowed under a heavy burden. Then they built many pyres and burned all the bodies of their kin. There was a great felling of trees in the valley, which remained bare ever after, and the reek of the burning was seen in Lórien.*"
..."* Such dealings with their dead seemed grievous to the Dwarves, for it was against their use; but to make such tombs as they were accustomed to build (since they will lay their dead only in stone not in earth) would have taken many years. To fire therefore they turned, rather than leave their kin to beast or bird or carrion-orc. But those who fell in Azanulbizar were honoured in memory, and to this day a Dwarf will say proudly of one of his sires: 'he was a burned Dwarf', and that is enough."
“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength." – Theodore Roosevelt
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
|
|
|
grammaboodawg
Immortal
May 25 2020, 2:43pm
Post #29 of 35
(1697 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Ohh, I hope she shows up! :D //
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength." – Theodore Roosevelt
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
|
|
|
grammaboodawg
Immortal
May 26 2020, 11:05am
Post #30 of 35
(1635 views)
Shortcut
|
This is Book Spoiler is about Elves and Men in The Silmarillion... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From Of the Coming of Men into the West: The Silmarillion
... "During this time the Haladin remained in Thargelion and were content. But Morgoth, seeing that by lies and deceits he could not yet wholly estrange Elves and Men, was filled with wrath, and endeavoured to do Men what hurt he could... ...he sent out an Orc-raid, and passing east it escaped the leaguer, and came in stealth back over Ered Lindon by the passes of the Dwarf-road, and fell upon the Haladin in the southern woods of the land of Caranthir.
... Now the Haladin did not live under the rule of lords... ...but each homestead was set apart and governed its own affairs, and they were slow to unite. But there was among them a man named Haldad, who was masterful and fearless; and he gathered all the brave men that he could find, and retreated to the angle of land between Ascar and Gelion, and... ...he built a stockade across from water to water; and behind it they led all the women and children that they could save. There they were besieged, until their food was gone.
... Haldad had twin children: Haleth his daughter, and Haldar his son... ...both were valiant in the defence, for Haleth was a woman of great heart and strength. But at last Haldad was slain in a sortie against the Orcs... ...Haldar, who rushed out to save his father's body from their butchery, was hewn down beside him. Then Haleth held the people together, though they were without hope... ...some cast themselves in the rivers and were drowned. But seven days later, as the Orcs made their last assault and had already broken through the stockade, there came suddenly a music of trumpets... ...Caranthir with his host came down from the north and drove the Orcs into the rivers."
“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength." – Theodore Roosevelt
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
|
|
|
CuriousG
Half-elven
May 26 2020, 4:39pm
Post #31 of 35
(1615 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Yay, the cavalry appears at the last minute!
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
Something about those three paragraphs makes me think a much longer story could have been written about this whole episode. That desperate defense like The Alamo, the father dying in the rally, his son dying trying to save his body, and Haleth holding people together when their fate seemed certainly grim--that really grips the imagination with a few strokes of the pen.
|
|
|
grammaboodawg
Immortal
May 27 2020, 10:37am
Post #32 of 35
(1553 views)
Shortcut
|
Today in Middle-earth
May 27, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The escort of Arwen leaves Lórien.
(from the appendices-no text)
...Arwen is leaving Lothlórien to travel to Minas Tirith via Edoras along with Elrond (Lord of Rivendell), Galadriel and Celeborn (Lady and Lord of the Galadrim), Glorfindel and Erestor (Elrond's chief counsellor), and other members of the household of Rivendell.
May 27, 3020 (S.R. 1420)
1. Spring in the Shire.
(not from the appendices-no text)
...The hobbits of the Shire enjoy the fairest spring they can remember while continuing to heal the hurts caused by Sharkey and his brute-squad.
“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength." – Theodore Roosevelt
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
|
|
|
grammaboodawg
Immortal
May 27 2020, 10:51am
Post #33 of 35
(1542 views)
Shortcut
|
No food, their leaders dead... she held them together for 7 days! You're right...there's an incredible story here. I wonder if there was crowing in the distance to welcome them! But the trumpets... the horns they heard... *goosebumps*
“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength." – Theodore Roosevelt
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
|
|
|
CuriousG
Half-elven
May 27 2020, 10:07pm
Post #34 of 35
(1502 views)
Shortcut
|
If anybody ever makes a real story about Caranthir's rescue of Haleth's people, I wouldn't at all mind a repeat of "Horns, horns, horns...The Noldor had come at last." That line never loses its punch.
|
|
|
grammaboodawg
Immortal
May 28 2020, 11:35am
Post #35 of 35
(1486 views)
Shortcut
|
Today in Middle-earth
May 28, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. The road swings southeast through open country. Ahead are the hills of the Trollshaws.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."Mostly it had been as good as May can be, even in merry tales, but now it was cold and wet. In the Lone-lands they had to camp when they could, but at least it had been dry.
..."To think it will soon be June," grumbled Bilbo as he splashed along behind the others in a very muddy track. It was after tea-time; it was pouring with rain, and had been all day; his hood was dripping into his eyes, his cloak was full of water... ...the others were too grumpy to talk. "And I'm sure the rain has got into the dry clothes and into the food-bags," thought Bilbo. "Bother burgling and everything to do with it! I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!" It was not the last time that he wished that!"
“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength." – Theodore Roosevelt
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
|
|
|
|
|
