Exploring a word: Many years ago in my first marriage my husband Nick introduced me to Lord of the Rings by J.R.Tolkein. It took me long time to get through it, and it became a favourite of mine, especially Tolkiens funny little verses in his Bombadil book.
Then the cinematic films came along and we were whisked into a magic land of beautiful elves and ugly trolls, with the little Hobbits who lived in the Shires. It was, and is, pure fairy land magic. It has no subtle deeper meaning pertaining to the human condition, it was just a story.
It reminded me of the art books that came out, some of which I collected at the time, Alan Lee being amongst them. I did not realise he had created hundreds of drawings for the films. But I enjoyed the marvellous landscapes that Peter Jackson, the film maker created out of Lee's work. The great underground halls of the dwarves, the beautiful world the elves lived in. Nobility and honour in brave fighting Men. The ugliness was underlined by the trolls as they slaved away in their dark fiery mines. Tree Ents were my favourite, I like to think of trees as having a personality, though my mind questioned how they walked! Then there was Shadowfax, the gray, though obviously white to those of you who don't know the proper language for horses;) As Gandalf sat on Shadowfax on the ridge with thousands of warriors behind him and then galloped towards the great battle it was one of those exhilarating moments of warfare.
I haven't got to the word yet, it is of course 'troll' a word used too easily I think in describing negative words in our comment section. Actually I think it is too strong a word to use, especially in front of me who immediately see the images of trolls, and remembers the poem about them.
But the one thing I would advise, if you want to question anyone's view, and it is a free world we live in after all, go and do it on your own blog, be open about it but nice.
And now my troll calls, a 14 year old incontinent whippet called Teddy, who howls when I am not around downstairs in the day and he is thinking it is my coffee time, absolutely right Teddy, we will share our scone together soon.
Troll sat alone on his seat of stone,
And munched and mumbled a bare old bone;
For many a year he had gnawed it near,
For meat was hard to come by.
Done by! Gum by!
In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone,
And meat was hard to come by.
Wise words Thelma and don't ever turn comment moderation on, it leads to many unfounded accusations that can never be verified.
ReplyDeleteRachel you are a very clever person, I have vowed never to cross swords/words with you, I would come out worst for a start. But I do think it is wrong to go on someone's blog and criticise someone who has commented. There was a full and rational explanation given of the action taken about Covid and my mind flipped weren't you having lunch the day before with friends? In the end it is all trivial but people do get hurt along the way and that is wrong.
DeleteI asked the same question as others. Comment moderation hides it all.
DeleteYou have given me a slower appreciation of the Hobbit and all its magical characters.
ReplyDeleteIt is a complicated story Tabor, and I never read his Silmarillon book, which looked rather deep. Lord of the Rings is a very long read though.
ReplyDeleteI think that your words are right and wise, Thelma, and I thank you for them. I have often tried to read Lord of the Rings (I own the trilogy), but I can never get interested enough to slog on. When I read posts like yours, I always feel badly about that.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Debby, I started young ;) Words can soothe or they can inflame but we are lucky to have a spoken language. How did the Stone age survive, on grunts, or did they say gosh that is a marvellous cave painting you have just done.
DeleteI've lost count of my times through Tolkien's books. He taught me much about the world.
ReplyDeleteHe is a long read Joanne, my paperback got well thumbed.
ReplyDelete