“He had only just had break fast, but he thought a cake or two and a drink of something would do him good after his fright”
– Bilbo Baggins, most relatable character ever written
Tag: the hobbit
Gandalf sitting on a chair that is obviously too small for him and popping smoke rings. (Must be at Bilbo’s home.)
(i) of Fëanor’s death, The Silmarillion
(ii) of Thorin’s death, The Hobbit
(iii) of Boromir’s death, The Two Towers
(iv) Thomas von Kempen, Prayers and Meditations on the Life of Christ
dancing in Middle-earth
or not ? i can only find three references to dancing. Vana dances. Lúthien dances. two hobbits dance at the party of special magnificence.
i’m presuming that Mr T was not a keen dancer.
i mean, Elves dancing… my word 🧐. but they’d look fabulous !
i wonder if he wanted to avoid the cheesy victorian ‘fairies’ thing, or even the cheesy Shakespearian thing of skipping fairies… so, no dancing.
what a pity ! bring on the dancing Elves !
Wow, are there really only three references? I’d automatically assumed that the Rivendell Tralalally elves and the partying Mirkwood elves danced… Doesn’t Gimli dance at some point?
I can’t remember about the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings but in the Silmarillion there is a sentence that makes clear that at least the elves in Valinor danced as part of festivities, so here are some dancing elves for you OP 🙂
‘Therefore Yavanna set times for the flowering and the ripening of all things that grew in Valinor; and at each first gathering of fruits Manwë made a
high feast for the praising of Eru, when all the peoples of Valinor poured forth
their joy in music and song upon Taniquetil. —
and they sang before Manwë and Varda
in their lofty halls, or danced upon the green slopes of the Mountain that
looked west towards the Trees.’(from the chapter ‘Of the Darkening of Valinor’)
I think i’s a lovely image, many elves dancing on the green slopes of the Taniquetil, bathed in bright tree-light.
And from the Hobbit, all regarding Rivendell:
“None to be seen by this moon,“ said Elrond, and he gave the map
back to Thorin; and then they went down to the water to see the elves dance and
sing upon the midsummer’s eve.”
and
“Dance all ye joyful, now dance all together!
Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather!
The river is silver, the shadows are fleeting;
Merry is May-time, and merry our meeting.”
and
“Weariness fell from [Bilbo] soon in that house, and he had many a merry jest and
dance, early and late, with the elves of the valley.”
in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. the absolute madman
first and last lines
There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar … Here ends the SILMARILLION. If it has passed from the high and the beautiful to darkness and ruin, that was of old the fate of Arda Marred; and if any change shall come and the Marring be amended, Manwë and Varda may know; but they have not revealed it, and it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos.
“Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?” —Gandalf.
“Gandalf the Grey” by Lelpel.
me: i love tolkien’s worldbuilding and lore it’s so intricate and beautiful and amazing and-
tolkien: golf was invented when a hobbit knocked a goblin king’s head off with a wooden club and the head soared through the air and landed in a rabbit’s hole
For the meme, LOTR + memories/remembering
With some difficulty, I kept this to LotR characters and 3rd/4th Ages only.
1. Aragorn envies the elven perfect memory of basically all the people closest to him. He has kept a very detailed journal since adolescence. When on the road it’s written in the Middle Earth version of shorthand on whatever material he can find. Mostly carved on walking sticks.
2. When Gandalf “sleeps” he dreams memories of the Music.
3. Saruman has forgotten the Music.
4. There is no real winter in Lothlorien because of Helcaraxe.
5. Once Glorfindel came back and settled by Elrond’s side he wasted little time in telling him childhood stories of Earendil. Especially the embarrassing ones.
6. When Legolas and Gimli go on their trip to Fangorn, Treebeard’s tales of the trees of Beleriand are so vivid that Legolas feels both foolishly young and very old at the same time.
7. At Aragon’s coronation, Elrond flashbacks to all the coronations of Numenor. From Elros to Ar Pharazon.
8. Bilbo described the Arkenstone to Elrond once and Elrond froze in place for a good five minutes in a fit of traumatic third kinslaying memories conflicting with missing Maedhros. (I’ll admit I’m just putting this here to hear your take on the Arkenstone = Mae’s Silmaril thing)
9. The archives of Minas Tirith are full of Numenor. King Elessar brings those memories to the light and as much peak age Numenorian culture to the city as he can.
10. As soon as Frodo (and later Sam) sets foot in Aman, he forgets about Tom Bombadil entirely. If Gandalf mentions him then he’ll remember vaguely for the duration of the conversation before it all fades away again.
ephal ephalak idon hi-akallabeth 