- Joined
- 16 Dec 2009
- Messages
- 3,138
- Age
- 34
Alright, I realize I shouldn't post this at such a late hour. When I wake up tomorrow, I will shake my head at the **** I wrote. Anyway.
I just retrieved my old copy of the Lord of the Rings from the depths of Moria... uhm, I mean, from my bookshelf. And instantly read through the whole thing for what feels like the millionth time. Wow. You have to know, it's actually my parents' copy, and it's from the early 80s. Not just the story, but those books themselves are literally older than me.
When I read it the first time, that must have been more than a decade ago, it made a huge impression on me. LotR is completely different from the usual Fantasy drivel you'll find when you go to the book store. Some people apparently can't handle the Professor's style. I've heard that on several occasions now. And I'll admit that there are some sections that don't quite work out. But oh my god, the rest. This whole universe and its epic history. His vivid descriptions of it.
One thing that gets me everytime is his fascination with the past. I mean, when LotR starts, the best days of the world are already past. The elves aren't just leaving Middle Earth because they want to go on a vacation, their time is over. They're going home. A job well done I would say if I hadn't read the Silmarillion. The best days of the humans are already over as well, in some ways. The references to Westernesse he's throwing out the whole time should give it away. The rangers are the last remnants of the Dúnedain, which are in many ways superior to your garden-variety human. The dwarves have lost Moria, and if you count the Hobbit as the 0th book of LotR (which I do sometimes, though it is different), the Lonely Mountain. And I have the feeling that every second place he mentions is either a ruin or has an insanely long history. And he describes them so wonderfully.
I mean, I see where that comes from. The good professor was a philologist, and so he would have known all the old English tales and myths. Heck, I've read a ton of Medieval German in my days. And I enjoyed the heck out of it. Ik gihorta dat seggen, dat sih urhettun ænon muotin, Hiltibrant enti Hadubrant untar heriun tuem. If you catch my drift. He's read them all. And he's worked some of them into his stories as well. Most names also have hidden meanings in Medieval English or his own made-up languages.
Another thing that I really like is his subtle morality. There's no great preaching about good and evil. It's just not necessary. When the hobbits save the day, it's not because they are sword-swingingly epic warriors. It's because they are determined and resourceful. Oh, there's enough epic sword-swinging to be had in his work. But it's not what the focus is on. In the end, a good heart will get you much farther than a good sword.
And, last but not least, the poems. Oh, the poems. I am madly in love with the English originals, but this is where the old German translation really shines. They did a great job transferring them into my native language. If you didn't know, Tolkien actively helped translating LotR into German and Danish (I think) and the result was magnificent. (They did a more modern translation in 2000 and it isn't nearly as good.) LotR just wouldn't be what it is without all of the poems, from the hobbit songs to the haunting beauty of the elven chants to the awesomeness of the dwarven hymns. It's just so good.
I'll close my post with some lines from Durin's Song.
The world is grey, the mountains old,
The forge's fire is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls:
The darkness dwells in Durin's halls;
The shadow lies upon his tomb
In Moria, in Khazad-dûm.
But still the sunken stars appear
In dark and windless Mirrormere;
There lies his crown in water deep,
Till Durin wakes again from sleep.
I just retrieved my old copy of the Lord of the Rings from the depths of Moria... uhm, I mean, from my bookshelf. And instantly read through the whole thing for what feels like the millionth time. Wow. You have to know, it's actually my parents' copy, and it's from the early 80s. Not just the story, but those books themselves are literally older than me.
When I read it the first time, that must have been more than a decade ago, it made a huge impression on me. LotR is completely different from the usual Fantasy drivel you'll find when you go to the book store. Some people apparently can't handle the Professor's style. I've heard that on several occasions now. And I'll admit that there are some sections that don't quite work out. But oh my god, the rest. This whole universe and its epic history. His vivid descriptions of it.
One thing that gets me everytime is his fascination with the past. I mean, when LotR starts, the best days of the world are already past. The elves aren't just leaving Middle Earth because they want to go on a vacation, their time is over. They're going home. A job well done I would say if I hadn't read the Silmarillion. The best days of the humans are already over as well, in some ways. The references to Westernesse he's throwing out the whole time should give it away. The rangers are the last remnants of the Dúnedain, which are in many ways superior to your garden-variety human. The dwarves have lost Moria, and if you count the Hobbit as the 0th book of LotR (which I do sometimes, though it is different), the Lonely Mountain. And I have the feeling that every second place he mentions is either a ruin or has an insanely long history. And he describes them so wonderfully.
I mean, I see where that comes from. The good professor was a philologist, and so he would have known all the old English tales and myths. Heck, I've read a ton of Medieval German in my days. And I enjoyed the heck out of it. Ik gihorta dat seggen, dat sih urhettun ænon muotin, Hiltibrant enti Hadubrant untar heriun tuem. If you catch my drift. He's read them all. And he's worked some of them into his stories as well. Most names also have hidden meanings in Medieval English or his own made-up languages.
Another thing that I really like is his subtle morality. There's no great preaching about good and evil. It's just not necessary. When the hobbits save the day, it's not because they are sword-swingingly epic warriors. It's because they are determined and resourceful. Oh, there's enough epic sword-swinging to be had in his work. But it's not what the focus is on. In the end, a good heart will get you much farther than a good sword.
And, last but not least, the poems. Oh, the poems. I am madly in love with the English originals, but this is where the old German translation really shines. They did a great job transferring them into my native language. If you didn't know, Tolkien actively helped translating LotR into German and Danish (I think) and the result was magnificent. (They did a more modern translation in 2000 and it isn't nearly as good.) LotR just wouldn't be what it is without all of the poems, from the hobbit songs to the haunting beauty of the elven chants to the awesomeness of the dwarven hymns. It's just so good.
I'll close my post with some lines from Durin's Song.
The world is grey, the mountains old,
The forge's fire is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls:
The darkness dwells in Durin's halls;
The shadow lies upon his tomb
In Moria, in Khazad-dûm.
But still the sunken stars appear
In dark and windless Mirrormere;
There lies his crown in water deep,
Till Durin wakes again from sleep.
