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Professor Tolkien was a linguist first and foremost. He created Middle-Earth so there could be a world in which characters spoke and inhabited his languages. He poured decades of his life into perfecting his creation and the result was a staggering body of work that birthed different races, mythologies, cultures, languages and stories spanning thousands of years. His first work was the Hobbit, a relatively simple children's tale, which chartered Bilbo Baggins' unexpected journey with 13 Dwarves and a Wizard from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain. It wasn't until he began work on the sequel, The Lord of the Rings, that Tolkien began to appreciate the depth of what he was attempting - to the extent that he attempted to return to the Hobbit to incorporate and change certain elements so that the story linked up to the wider legendarium. However, with the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings aside, Tolkien began his lifelong task of widening the mythos of Middle-Earth. This was largely the unfinished Silmarillion book, which was published by his son, Christopher Tolkien. It didn't reach the same public spotlight as either the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings due to its unfinished state and the writing and presentation style of its stories. However, the Silmarillion was a representation of the sheer scale of Tolkien's world. It showed that the events of the Lord of the Rings were just a drop in the ocean, and rather insignificant in the wider context. It charted the birth of the universe with Eru, the rise of Melkor/Morgoth (to whom Sauron served as a lieutenant), the fall of Numenor, the saga of the Silmarils, the story of Beren and Luthien, the fall of Gondolin and the War of the Wrath: a confrontation between Morgoth and his forces and the Host of the Valar, featuring Winged Dragons, Balrogs, Wraiths, Wolves, Valar, Maiar, Eagles and the greatest host ever assembled by Men and Elves. This thread is to discuss all of the literary works of Tolkien and the place for stupid questions about the Blue Wizards, Tom Bombadil, the functioning of the Ring(s), wingless Balrogs, Eagles or discussion about how utter badasses Glorfindel and Fingolfin were.  What are the notable works that make up Tolkien's Legendarium?
After Tolkien passed away in 1973, his eldest son Christopher took over responsibility. He used his father's mass amount of unpublished documents and manuscripts to produce the comprehensive history of Middle-Earth that his father had been working on.  Resources: http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Main_Page The Tolkien Professor Podcast quote:An English professor at Washington College, Corey Olsen holds a Ph.D. in medieval literature and has been a student of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works all his life. As a professor, Olsen became increasingly frustrated with the separation between academics and general readers — namely, the inability for general readers and lovers of literature to enjoy the thought-provoking discoveries made in the cloistered world of academics. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tolkien-professor/id320513707
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Feb 4, 2013 23:56
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Hatter106 posted:I tried to read the Silmarillion back after the LOTR films came out, and just found it utterly convoluted. It's like reading the Old Testament. But I think I finally have the patience to tackle it... I also wanna start Children of Hurin, and I think I might switch over to that once I hit the Turin chapters of the Sil. Does that make sense? Levitate posted:I always think if you go into the Silmarillion with the mindset that you're reading a history rather than a story, it works a lot better. There's a lot of really interesting poo poo in there and fleshes out his world better. Gives it some more depth. I would second Levitate. It's more like a history textbook, which comes as a surprise to those who finish the Lord of the Rings and go in expecting a proper narrative. But if you do choose to tackle it and get past all the names and nicknames that are thrown at you, then you'll be blown away by some of the stories and events. Millions posted:Side note, having Glaurung fresh in my mind before reading about Smaug again made me realize how ineffectual Smaug was in comparison. Smaug's attempt to burn down Laketown right before his death didn't accomplish much, but Glaurung's last minute "You hosed your brother, peace, I'm out" was a masterstroke. I just picked up Children of Húrin for three bucks, so I'm going to dive into that soon before swiping my dad's copy of Unfinished Tales. On the dragon point, I think it's a shame that Glaurung and Smaug are the only dragons we get any real exposure to. Though we had Glaurung as the father of dragons, he wasn't a patch on Ancalagon The Black (his size pictured in the OP) - who is only really mentioned twice in Tolkien's writings. And it was left open how Eärendil managed to slay him in the War of Wrath, which I have always found curious given Ancalagon's size meant that he encompassed three mountains. And yeah, more pictures would be welcome. The only artist I have had any real exposure to has been Alan Lee.
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Feb 5, 2013 17:10
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I think the Bombadil theories that have the most merit are him being an unnamed spirit that came down into Arda or him being a consequence of the discord in the Music between Eru and Melkor/Morgoth. The same going for Ungoliant.Effectronica posted:Going further along this road, Aragorn mentions taking long journeys below the equator and far into the east in FOTR. It seems quite possible that these were essentially diplomatic missions to various neutral or anti-Sauron groups that would be in place to negotiate quick peace with Gondor once he took the throne. How far into the east would you take this to be? I know the point of the Blue Wizards being dispatched was so that they could journey into the East in attempts to aid the war against Sauron too. On that note, I love that despite all the meticulous detail and world-building, there's the idea of the Blue Wizards journeying off to the east and we have little to none insight into their adventures and what became of them or how differently things would have played out if they had failed in their tasks.
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Feb 19, 2013 13:35
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Has anybody read The Last Ringbearer?quote:An alternative retelling of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, as told from the point of view of Sauron's forces, based on the proverb: "History is written by the victors." Critics have called The Last Ringbearer "a well-written, energetic adventure yarn that offers an intriguing gloss on what some critics have described as the overly simplistic morality of Tolkien's masterpiece." Infringement issues aside, it sounds interesting. Salon article on the book: http://www.salon.com/2011/02/15/last_ringbearer/
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Feb 19, 2013 18:10
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sassassin posted:Really enjoy those theories on Tom Bombadil. The 'oh he's just an old spirit' interpretations are so boring. Have you read this? http://km-515.livejournal.com/1042.html
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Feb 21, 2013 15:45
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Levitate posted:I started reading Children of Hurin and yeah if you've read The Hobbit and LoTR's and want some more, it's a pretty good place to start if you're not sure the Silmarillion will be your style. It focuses on one story (instead of a kind of history like the Silmarillion) but teases enough things that might interest you to read more of the Silmarillion if the style of writing doesn't turn you off Yup, it's really, really dark for Tolkien. I was really surprised by the shift from the tone of his other works.
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Mar 25, 2013 22:57
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Data Graham posted:Book series being taken over by others after the original author's death sometimes kindasorta work, usually don't, and almost never retain the same feel. Ruth Plumly Thompson amirite? Same with Eoin Colfer with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Don't know how well Sanderson pulled off Wheel of Time, there's not usually that many complaints.
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Apr 5, 2015 12:33
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SirPhoebos posted:Given that Gandalf said that there are even worse things lurking in the chasm he fell into, I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't last either. Is this one of those ambiguous references or do we have a reasonable idea of what these 'worse' things were?
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May 19, 2015 23:26
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