prillalar | Life and Tolkien

My god, but I am useless these days. I blame it on the ever increasing darkness, post-RotK fatigue, and work stress. However, tomorrow is my last day of work for two weeks and I have many merry things planned for the holidays.

Reading
* LotR again
* The Books of Magic
* Sharpe still
* League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 2
* The fucking Iliad. I don't much enjoy the Iliad, except for book 24, which is amazing, but I figure I've got to slog through it again before Troy so I can be properly pedantic about people's fanfic. *g*

Watching
* RotK
* Peter Pan!!!
* all the Stargate S7 that I downloaded
* possibly more Stargate DVDs
* Gundam Wing if I can find it to rent

Eating and Drinking
* much pub time
* a cream tea
* sneaking wine into Peter Pan

Cleaning
* must give my office room a good tidy so I can actually find some of my books
* or maybe not

Socializing
* Not so much planned, actually. I should probably set up a couple of dates so I don't become completely feral.

Writing
* Merry/Pippin
* Legolas/Gimli
* Snape/Lupin -- for a challenge
* more Merry/Pippin
* see if I can plot out a Stargate idea I've been pondering

Creative
* redesign my fic site
* redesign my RL site and update my résumé
* create a wordmark for myself
* start a sekrit project finally

If I get even 1/4 of that done, I'll be pleased.

I've only just now started to read things in LJ that aren't just about RotK. Last night when the boy and I went out for an immense dinner, with prime rib and tiger prawns and goat cheese and beer, I wouldn't let him talk about anything except Tolkien.

We got onto Fëanor and the Silmarils eventually, since the boy thinks that would make a better movie than The Hobbit. The Silmarils seem to cause the same kind of lust and corruption as the One Ring, only they were made by an elf, Fëanor, not Sauron. I find Fëanor rather compelling. Probably because he's evil. *g* Wasn't he the one who kept begging Galadriel for a strand of her hair and she would never give it to him? I'm a little hazy on the details because I can't find the Silmarillion.

In conclusion: Merry ♥ Pippin.

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I would kill for a movie of the Silmarillion. Unfortunately, Christopher Tolkien holds the rights to that book, and he's not selling.

Luthien and Beren would translate well, cinematically, don't you think?

Luthien and Beren would translate well, cinematically, don't you think?

Yes, likely it would. Beren One-Hand. Who would play him?

Wasn't Feanor Galadriel's dad?

Mock
mockery@the-rookery.org.uk

No, he was her uncle. He and her father Finarfin had the same father -- Finwë -- but different mothers.

Re the Iliad: I've started it many times, but never found a translation I really liked and never got very far. Do you have a recommendation? (I even started trying to learn classical Greek to read it *properly* but didn't get far with that, either. Maybe someday. I want to read Aeschylus too.... but begin to suspect I don't have the time in this particular lifetime.)

I look forward to your Merry/Pippin fic.

I liked the new Fagles translation of the Iliad. Actually, I liked the old Fitzgerald one, too, but the Fagles is an easier read, relatively, I thought.

"easier read" sounds like a good idea, given my track record so far. Okay, I'll aim for the Fages. Thanks!

I second the rec for the Fagles translation of the Iliad. His language drew me into the story, where all others made me want to go to sleep.

Thank you! I've already struggled with translations that put me to sleep; I need one I can enjoy for its own sake.

Like every one else, it seems, I'd rec Fagles for readability. I have both Fagles and Lattimore. I love Lattimore because he does elegant translations that are also very faithful to the Greek. (Which also makes them useful as cribs. *g*) His Odyssey, especially, is lovely. I also have his translation of the New Testament, which is quite interesting.

Homeric Greek is pretty straightforward, so far as syntax goes, but the vocab is a lot larger than any of the other Greek I read, so it took a long time to translate, simply because I had to look up so many words. I've only done Book 24 of the Iliad, which as I mentioned is heart-breakingly beautiful, but some large swathes of the Odyssey, which I greatly prefer.

I never studied Greek formally, and still find myself wanting to do so. So many beautiful languages, so little time....

Why do you prefer the Odyssey? Story? Language? Ease of reading? Characters?

I find the story of the Odyssey much more interesting. Less fighting, more weird stuff. Odysseus was quite a shift, actually. Heroes up to then were pretty much all about the brawn. But wily Odysseus used his brain.

No wonder I've had a a good impression of Odysseus! But I know him more from Shakespeare than from Homer.

Wasn't he the one who kept begging Galadriel for a strand of her hair and she would never give it to him?

Yes.

That's why it's such a big deal she gave THREE strands to Gimli. *g*

I like the way she says, "For none have ever made to me a request so bold and yet so courteous." Makes me wonder just how Fëanor went about it.

Oh, I've no doubt Fëanor was utterly rude about it, or as rude as one can be and still be an Elf. Which, considering Thranduil's behavior sometimes (and Elrond's. Oh and the whole Kinslaying thing) is pretty damn rude. *snerk*

Probably something along the lines of "I'm your uncle and you *will*" and she said, "I will *not*," and then they couldn't ever be seated near each other at family parties...

We got onto Fëanor and the Silmarils eventually, since the boy thinks that would make a better movie than The Hobbit.

I agree, if only because I liked the Silmarillion about a zillion times better than the Hobbit. Just my taste but I love the historical scope of it. And there are so many stories there that would make great movies - "Beren and Luthien", for example, or the whole Feanor epic, or even the Rise and Fall of Numenor.

I find Fëanor rather compelling.

So do I. So, I think, did Tolkien. He is so vivid and strong.

Probably because he's evil. *g*

But he illustrates - if I may put it so - the positive side, the beauty of evil. He is proud and creative and strong. He has such certainly of his skills and his desires, such power to make others love him and follow him. He makes other people look weak because his spirit is so strong. That's all most compelling and attractive, if not admirable. (but we don't necessarily admire people or characters for admirable traits!)

Gimli begged Galadriel for a strand of her hair and she gave him three.

My favourite character in the Silmarillion is one whose name I embarrassingly keep forgetting - the nephew of Fëanor (I think) who saved his cousin's life by chopping off his hand when he was shackled to the walls of Angband. I loved that passage and scene. (Parallels to Frodo losing his finger might be pursued.)

But he illustrates - if I may put it so - the positive side, the beauty of evil. He is proud and creative and strong. He has such certainly of his skills and his desires, such power to make others love him and follow him. He makes other people look weak because his spirit is so strong. That's all most compelling and attractive, if not admirable.

Yes, and this is what I like about him, I think. He has charisma. And he's not Ultimate Evil, which is always so boring. He's flawed, fallen.

Tolkien depicts the power of his charisma very well, I think - that dangerous, overwhelming charm that can mesmerize people and bring disaster in its wake. Such energy and will. I like it too that Tolkien isn't overtly judgemental of him - he just tells the story, lets us make our own conclusions.

Life and Tolkien

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Feanor?

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