Showing posts with label hurin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hurin. Show all posts

The End of the Third Age (The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 4) Review

The End of the Third Age (The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 4)
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The End of the Third Age (The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 4) ReviewIf you already have the 9th volume in the 'History of Middle-earth' (H.O.M.E), 'Sauron Defeated' (published in 1992), you DO NOT need to buy this book, 'The End of the Third Age': It contain less then half the material that already appered in volume 9 (i.e pages 3-141 of the main text & 441-457 of the index). The soul purpose of this book is to complement the newly-packeged 'mini series' 'The History of the Lord of the Rings', which is made up from volumes 6, 7, 8 & this first half of volume 9 of the H.O.M.E. series. The current book DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY NEW MATERIAL.The End of the Third Age (The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 4) Overview

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Morgoth's Ring (History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 10) Review

Morgoth's Ring (History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 10)
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Morgoth's Ring (History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 10) ReviewI grew up on tolkieniana: I cannot rememer the first time I read JRRT's works, but I cannot have been more than a few feet tall. tolkien's universe is so unseparable from my own that at times I look at the falling oak leaves around me and think that they are mallorn. no other bookworld is as real to me as his: no other fictional history is as historical as his.
the morgoth's ring is probably the least read piece of tolkien lore, and for good reasons. it is hard to get your hands on (had it not been for peter jackson's movies, it would probably not exist in paperback), and is considered to be one of christopher tolkien's shadiest amalgamations of facts. the criticism is valid, however, the morgoth's ring answers questions I have pondered for years. a lot of the gaps in the silmarillion can be filled out, or at least lessened, by information collected in this volume. although a strange compilation of notes to a tolkien novice, to a tolkieniast it is of great value. thus, I strongly recommend it to a more tolkien-educated audience.Morgoth's Ring (History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 10) Overview

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Lord of the Rings Part III, Return of the King Review

Lord of the Rings Part III, Return of the King
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Lord of the Rings Part III, Return of the King Review"Return of the King" is the worthy climax to J.R.R. Tolkien's epic saga, the fantasy that created the genre as we know it today. Now, as the blockbuster movie adaptation is over, many readers are checking out the dramatic story that ends Tolkien's masterpiece and life's work.
Gandalf has ridden to the city of Gondor with Pippin (partly to keep him out of trouble), where the forces of Mordor are attacking. There is upheaval in the city itself, as the steward of Gondor is going nuts. Merry pledges his service to King Theoden of Rohan, not knowing what is ahead for the king and his relatives. And Aragorn is seeking out allies to fight Sauron on a military scale, even if they can't defeat him unless the Ring is destroyed. His search will take him to tribes of forest-dwellers, to Gondor -- and even to summon an army of the dead.
In Mordor, the unconscious Frodo has been captured by Sauron's orcs, and taken to the fortress of Cirith Ungol. Sam is desperate to free his friend, but knows that he can't take on an army, and that Frodo would want him to finish the quest. Sam manages to free Frodo from captivity, but they must still brave more dangers before they can come to Mount Doom, the only place where the Ring can be destroyed. As they travel Sam sees Frodo slipping further and further into the Ring's grasp. Will Frodo be able to destroy the Ring?
Usually, the climax of an epic adventure is a disappointment. "Return of the King" succeeds in almost every way, wrapping up each individual storyline, one by one. The ending has a feeling of finality; this is one story that could never have a sequel; Tolkien shows that in a war like this, there is no true "happy ending." Even if the good guys win, there will still be scarring, and death, and haunting memories of what once happened. And even if a person survives, he will never be the same.
This is the grimmest of the three books in this trilogy. Frodo and Sam are stuck in the vividly horrific Mordor, while the city of Minas Tirith is on the verge of completely crumbling. Tolkien does a phenomenal job of exploring the madness, despair, rage and sorrow that accompany a war, and the way it can affect even the idyllic Shire. And he doesn't forget the slow period of healing that follows -- for people, for civilizations, and even for nature.
Though a section of the book near the end descends into near-biblical prose, which changes post-Gondor, Tolkien does not waver in his ability to evoke emotion. One of the most touching scenes in the book is when Sam finds Frodo naked, unconscious and being beaten by an orc. Others include Merry's farewell to Theoden, Eowyn's slaying of the Witch-King, and of course the bittersweet final scene.
Speaking of Frodo, this trilogy's hero is almost unrecognizable in parts of this book. The bright, naive young hobbit of the first book has been worn down to a pale shadow of himself. As he grows increasingly attached to the Ring, we even see him doing what seems unimaginable: threatening Sam with a dagger. Sam has come a long way from the shy young hobbit who couldn't say a word around the High Elves -- now he's attacking orcs and carrying Frodo to Mount Doom.
And the supporting characters are not neglected either, with the younger hobbits being exposed to the horrors of war, Aragorn breaking fully into his role as the future king of Gondor, and passionate war-maiden Eowyn affecting the war as nobody else could. Some much-loved characters are lost, and others will be permanently changed.
The story doesn't really end on the last page; for more background, especially on Aragorn and Arwen, readers should also read the appendices at the end of the book. Another good addition is "The End of the Third Age," in which the unpublished epilogue of this book can be found. Though this is probably not canonical, it nicely concludes the story and is a heartwarming look at what happens in the years following "Return of the King."
It's difficult, once the story has finished, to accept that one has to say goodbye to Middle-Earth and its enchanting inhabitants. But as Gandalf says, "I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."Lord of the Rings Part III, Return of the King Overview

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Tolkien's Ring Review

Tolkien's Ring
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Tolkien's Ring ReviewThis book is a piece of "literary detective work"; it seeks to find the myths and stories that inspired Tolkien in his creation of his three great works: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion.
The author states something of a disclaimer at the beginning though:
"In Tolkien's Ring, we will survey a vast body of myth and legend in search of Tolkien's sources. We will look at other rings and ring quests, and we will see where many elements of his epic tale were provoked into existence. However, we should never mistake Tolkien's creative process as a mere cobbling together of ancient lore. Richer and more profound through Tolkien's writing is for the ancient tradition it draws on, Tolkien's art is by no means imitation. The Lord of the Rings is a highly realized and originally conceived novel that has renewed, invigorated and finally reinvented the ring quest for the twentieth century." (page 17)
I think the author correctly identifies the primary time period and location that served as the prime inspiration for Tolkien. To use England as a benchmark, the time period runs from the end of the Roman period in England (406 AD) to the Conquest of William the Conqueror (1066 AD). The location is that is northern Europe; Scandinavia and Germany in particular.
The author also makes some interesting insights regarding metallurgy, the Iron Age, alchemy and ring-based mythology. The ring in that time period (especially in Scandinavia) was a symbol of power (e.g. Kings are "ring-givers") and it became the central symbol of the struggling pagan religions of Europe against the Christian symbol of the Cross. In many of the ring myths, the hero is always questing for a ring, which will provide him the power to rule the world, increase his physical strength, increase his wisdom or provide him with other such powers. This reflects the discovery of iron making; those who know how to make iron had a clear advantage of those who did not. Iron knowledge was thus precious and often kept secret. The knowledge to control and manipulate iron was often combined with magical/alchemical ideas; this led to the idea of the sorcerer-smith.
The Niebelungenlied (a Germanic epic) and the Volsunga Saga (Norse; unknown date. Probably within 400-1000 AD) were the prime examples of what Tolkien called the "noble northern spirit," of Germany and Scandinavia. Tolkien's tale leans more towards to German epic with its sense of morality reinforced by strong elements of Arthurian legend. The idea of a sorcerer/magician as a wandering old man with beard and hat was clearly modeled on the depiction of Odin (to draw a rough analogy; he is the Norse version of Zeus) in the Volsunga Saga.
In reading this book, there were times where I thought the author was really stretching his source material. It may be interesting to investigate the ring mythology of Tibet, but this was not exactly a significant influence on Tolkien. There were other times where the author simply summarized the myth; an entire chapter could go buy without reference to Tolkien or his works. With respect, when I buy a book on Tolkien, I expect to find analysis and discussion OF Tolkien. The author's analysis could have been improved by investigating Tolkien's life; what sagas were his favorites? Why did he like them? Did he read the sagas in the original languages (I happen to know he did, from reading one of his biographies).
The second last chapter is a synopsis of Richard Wagner's huge opera, "The Ring of Nibelung." The author makes the point that every age retells and adapts the ring myth for its own time and that this opera was written for 19th century Germany. However, if the reader has been paying attention to the previous chapters, this is simply a repeat of the previous stories with some changes.
The last chapter is a chapter of speculation on, "The Lord of the Rings." The author seeks to understand why it has become so popular and how the message of the novel can be applied to our times. Thankfully, the author includes this disclaimer:
"That is not to say that The Lord of the Rings is an allegory of our time. Tolkien rightly rejected the allegorical view as too narrow for his tale. He especially abhorred questions of the 'Are Orcs Nazis or Communists?' kind. Tolkien's purpose was both more specific and universal than that." (page 177)
My main criticism of this book is the total lack of documentation. There are no footnotes, no endnotes, and no bibliography. One wonders where the author got some of his ideas (e.g. a legend about Solomon controlling demons) and it would be helpful if the author could have recommended good translations of the relevant epics and other such information.
Reading this book was somewhat difficult for a person who is not familiar with the literature of the "noble northern spirit"; the barrage of unfamiliar names, places, spirits, Gods etc is difficult to keep track of. It is unfortunate that this literature is given almost no time in school curricula compared to the time given to the Roman and Greek mythology. Western civilization is based on Greco-Roman culture and Christianity, but that does mean the literature and culture of the so-called "Dark Ages" ought to be neglected.Tolkien's Ring Overview

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Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9) Review

Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9)
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Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9) ReviewIn "Sauron Defeated", Christopher Tolkien brings to a close "The History of The Lord of the Rings", a subset within his "The History of Middle Earth". Like the previous three volumes in this series, Christopher traces the development of his father's thought as the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings are written. Of special interest are the early conceptions of "The Scouring of the Shire" and the two versions of the never-published "Epilogue". The Epilogue was, to me, particularly touching, as it involved Sam, now a middle-aged hobbit with a houseful of kids, reading to his family and keeping the Story alive.
HOWEVER, the above material, while unable to fit into the previous volume (The War of the Ring), was not enough to warrent a volume all by itself. So Christopher has also included "The Notion Club Papers" -- a space/time/dream travel story, written at the same time as The Lord of the Rings was being developed. The story itself involves Numenor -- Tolkien's telling of the Atlantis saga. Of particular interest to CS Lewis fans, "The Notion Club Papers" purports to be a discussion of (among other things) Lewis' own space travel fiction, penned in the late 30's and early 40's. It's a shame that this story was never brought to completion -- I'm finding the ideas it expresses to be quite interesting.
Again, 5 stars, both for the Master, and for the tireless work of Christopher.Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9) Overview

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