Manwë 👁

One difference between the Lord of the Rings books and the Peter Jackson films that I find really interesting is what the hobbits find when they return to the Shire.

In the books, they return from the War, only to see that the war has not left their home untouched. Not only has it not left their home unscathed, battle and conflict is still actively ravaging the Shire. They return, weary and battle-scarred, to find a home actively wounded and in need of rescue and healing. All four launch themselves into defending their home and rousting those harming it, and eventually succeed. But their idyllic home has been damaged, and even once healed, is never quite again the Shire they set out to save.

In contrast, in the Jackson films, they return to a Shire shockingly untouched by the horrors of war. The hobbits of the Shire talk, in the Green Dragon in Fellowship of the Ring, about not getting involved with issues "beyond our borders," and it seems those issues have not invaded their sanctuary. After having been bowed to by kings, dwarves, elves, and men alike at the coronation in Gondor, their only acknowledgment upon returning home is a skeptical head shake from an older hobbit.

One of the most poignant scenes to me in Return of the King (and there are a considerable amount) is the scene where Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are sitting in the Green Dragon. The pub patrons bustle around them, talking loudly, clapping excitedly, drinking cheerfully, just as they had in the beginning of the story. But the four hobbits sit silently, watching almost curiously at what was once familiar but is now foreign to them. Their home has not changed. But they have.

Which is the deeper hurt? To come to your home to find it irrevocably changed, despite all you did to keep it untouched and the same? Or to return home but no longer feeling at home, because it is only you that is irrevocably changed?

Yk what cracks me up is that the Council of Elrond isn’t even an organized event planned years in advance or anything. It’s just like…the messengers of a bunch of world leaders with a bunch of different problems coming to Elrond for advice but coincidentally they all get there at the same time,,,,

It’s hilarious. Elrond sitting them down like schoolchildren at a history lesson to explain how all their problems are connected. The random forming of the fellowship bc it’s a bunch of strangers prepared to go take a message back home but instead they get sent on a quest to save the world,,,,

Just the chaos of it all. The way literally everyone’s initial response to their problems was “let’s go ask Elrond.”

“Let’s go as Elrond” is the middle earth equivalent of “google it” and I think that’s great.

Susan Kare, the Artist who designed many of the fonts, icons, and images for Apple, NeXT, Microsoft, and IBM, 1980′s

#oh is it time to repost this susan kare photo again

Important addition y’all

Just saw her original sketchpad on graph paper at MoMA again recently. Queen shit. Here’s the placard plus photos of the actual sketchpad taken by people who weren’t trying to shoot with an android phone through a vitrine. (Image ID in alt text.)

Míriel Therindë (also Serindë 😉) was the first wife of Finwë, the High King of the Ñoldor and the mother of Fëanor.

He learned his lesson

Nah you guys don’t get it. For all that Gandalf complained about Pippin, he better than anyone else knew that Pippin was absolutely crucial. Pippin accomplishes a very impressive feat: not only does he manage to see something in the palantír (most hobbits would perceive nothing, as these stones were designed for use by high elves), but he manages to close his mind against Sauron. That is a seriously impressive feat of ósanwë given Pippin’s youth and almost total inexperience. The only clue Sauron manages to glean from the meeting with Pippin is that he is in Meduseld: which Pippin probably did not even directly give to him. Pippin did not tell Sauron his name, so Sauron is led to believe that Pippin is Frodo. I remind you, in the books, the Good Guys manage to trick Sauron, by making him believe that Aragorn has claimed the One Ring. They can only do that because of Pippin’s ridiculous feat of ósanwë. Far from sabotaging the mission, he is the one who allows it to succeed (albeit, not on purpose). This is why Sauron doesn’t think anything is fishy when Aragorn wins the Battle of the Pelennor Fields by controlling ghosts: that would be consistent with the idea that he is using the One Ring. Which Sauron believes that Pippin brought to him. This is why Sauron pulls out his old “play nice and weak” card from his Númenor days. He first of all believes that Aragorn is a lot more powerful than he actually is, and secondly thinks that the Ring is beginning to affect him.

He should perhaps have remembered that Aragorn is named for Fingolfin. Fingolfin’s mother-name, Arakáno, would properly be translated to Sindarin as “Aragorn”. Most people would not show up to an enemy fortress with an army they knew was far too small, and start a battle they knew they would lose. But Fingolfin famously did exactly that.

When you read the line “fool of a Took!” It is important to understand that in the context of Gandalf calling himself a fool on several occasions. Galadriel too sees beyond the veneer of foolish naivety in Pippin. She gives him and Merry belts that almost definitely were once her brothers’. A golden flower on a gift from Galadriel can only be a golden lily, the sigil of the House of Finarfin. Galadriel, while all hell was breaking loose in Tirion, raided her brothers’ rooms and took their belts from when they were little kiddos, hauled them across the Helcaraxë, and then held onto them for three Ages before giving them to two hobbits she just met. Merry, of course, is comparable to Angrod and Aegnor: his great deed is done in a moment of beserk rage, and it is a feat of strength. This then implies that she is comparing Pippin to Finrod. That’s one hell of a complement coming from Galadriel: but as I just pointed out, entirely warranted. Pippin manages to reproduce Finrod’s feat of radio silence, in the face of torture by Sauron. Which again, is extremely impressive given that Pippin is far younger and less experienced than Finrod was.

You see me <3

[ID: Tags by tumblr user TheFreakWithTheWings reading: “love that the post is like. op: has a funny take on tolkien. reply: here’s a lecture on lotr based on things you could only know if you read the silmarillion like a masochist.” End ID.]

I mean, they were also two pretty different mission/quest/things. One of them was a quest that needed a fool.

he really said "none of you can read" ajxndjjxdkcnjfj

(source)

LEGO officially reveals new Lord of the Rings Rivendell set with 6,167 pieces and 15 minifigs for $500

LINK

The Lego gollum they have in the pre-order section will be me standing outside the Lego store at every odd hour of the clock.

Followup: Naturally, the set now has a review.

Legendarium by  Christopher Nelson

Sauron: The First Age

“Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment.”

Revealed

“Then Sauron stripped from them their disguise, and they stood before him naked and afraid. But though their kinds were revealed, Sauron could not discover their names or their purposes.”

Gaze of the Balrog

Finrod Felagund

Finrod, also known fully as Finrod Felagund, was a Ñoldorin Elf who was born in Aman, He was King of Nargothrond and the eldest son of Finarfin and Eärwen, and the brother of Galadriel, Angrod and Aegnor. Finrod was one of the noblest elves of the House of Finarfin and a friend of Men.

Finrod` oarth to Barahir

“It was Barahir of the House of Bëor who saved his life, and Finrod swore an oath of abiding friendship and aid in every need to Barahir and all his kin. As a token he gave Barahir his ring, which became known as the Ring of Barahir.”

Minas Tirith of Beleriand

Minas Tirith was the tower on the island of Tol Sirion that guarded the Pass of Sirion. It was built by Finrod Felagund to prevent the forces of Morgoth from invading Beleriand from the plains of Ard-galen.

Isle of Werewolves

After Finrod built Nargothrond, he handed over control of the watchtower of Minas Tirith to his nephew, Orodreth, before it was captured by Sauron and renamed Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the “Isle of Werewolves”.

As a young librarian, I started trying to figure out why more young people aren't ever coming in; 90% of our demographic are the elderly and parents of children, and the rest are a rough mix of the kids and teenagers who come in just for school projects. As a result, I've been attempting different ways to get the Youth TM to come into libraries, but first I wanted to see why they don't come in. Please reblog to get this poll out to more people! <3

space girl, show me the stars ⭐💫

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Christmas gift for my dad all finished! pattern is Smaug Erebor by ilutienCrossStitch by hwood19

Show some respect, people.

THANK YOU

The story of Balto is interesting. He led a team of sled dogs across the Alaskan wilderness in the dead of winter with diphtheria antitoxins to stop an outbreak in Nenana Alaska. Diphtheria is a deadly infectious disease that could wipe out a third of a town’s population. It is mostly unknown to the public today because of vaccines. Balto’s body is preserved in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

He’s a big hero of mine!

Let’s not forget Togo! Who, at 12 years old during the serum run, lead his team 200 miles through much more dangerous conditions during the first leg of the journey before Balto ran the last 55-mile stretch.

Togo and Balto didn’t bust their asses for dying children for you to turn around and not vaccinate your damn kids

LOTR Triptych, by Yaroslava Murashko.