#tolkienjournal

I finally settled on what to do with this sticker. There are three quotes here. The top one is from the tale of Beren and Luthien from the Silmarillion. "They buried the body of Felagund upon the hill-top of his own isle, and it was clean again; and the green grave of Finrod Finarfin’s son, fairest of all the princes of the Elves, remained inviolate, until the land was changed." Above the heraldry, the opening and closing lines of the battle between Finrod and Sauron from the Ley of Leithian: "He chanted a song of wizardry, ... and Finrod fell before the throne." The bottom half is one quote from Unfinished Tales, spoken by Finrod's sister, Galadriel: "Of Finarfin's children I am the last, but my heart is still proud. What wrong did the Golden house of Finarfin do?" #tolkienjournal #tolkienquotes #finarfin #finrodfelagund #galadriel #unfinishedtales #silmarillion #leyofleithian #tolkien #elvenheraldry (at Simpsonville, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CT-BzhUL1XR/?utm_medium=tumblr

Got another page in my Tolkien journal done. "In tearing down heroes, you also tear down the idea of heroes. We learn to excuse our own misdeeds because we have now set the standard so very low. No one is perfect, but we should all be striving to be better. If the story of one hero helps me or someone else be more noble, generous, kind and courageous, the effect is better than a thousand gritty, dark, tarnished “real” stories." #tolkienjournal (at Simpsonville, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf70VfxDspY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Got a pair of pages in my Tolkien journal done. The first page is a passage from the Hobbit. "Suddenly there was a great shout, and from the Gate came a trumpet call. ...Out leapt the King under the Mountain, and his companions followed him. Hood and cloak were gone; they were in shining armour, and red light leapt from their eyes. In the gloom the great dwarf gleamed like gold in a dying fire. ... “To me! To me! Elves and Men! To me! O my kinsfolk!” he cried, and his voice shook like a horn in the valley. Down, heedless of order, rushed all the dwarves of Dain to his help. Down too came many of the Lake-men, for Bard could not restrain them; and out upon the other side came many of the spearmen of the elves." The facing page I forgot to write down my source. Safe money is on either the Prancing Pony Podcast or the Amon Sul podcast. "This is king Thorin really coming into his own right here. The dragon sickness is gone. Olsen has a great phrase that I really love, 'This charge shows that his self-absorbtion has turned to self-sacrifice. This is a king ready to do the right thing' And I love this: you know how one of the lines we get in the prophecies is about that gold would flow from the gate of the mountain? Do you notice how Thorin is described? That he gleamed like gold in a dying fire?" #tolkienjournal #Tolkien #thorin #fire #gold #thereandbackagain #thehobbit #battleoffivearmies #tolkienquotes (at Simpsonville, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CaODiGDOVOB/?utm_medium=tumblr

Finished a couple pages of my Tolkien journal today. First page on left is the lyrics to "This Is My Father's World," a hymn that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Shire theme from Howard Shore. Second image is a quote from @prancingponypod host, Shawn. "[Frodo] recognizes the part that he has to play to make the right decisions. Fate sets up the opportunities for him, but he has to use his free will to act on it. #tolkienjournal #Tolkien #ppp #prancingponypodcast #lotr #lordoftherings (at Simpsonville, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ7vK8BO3v5/?utm_medium=tumblr

The first page is taken from the Ley of Leithian: "and there she wrought with elvish arts a strong defence, a binding power, singing until the midnight hour. ... Then howling under moon he springs fourfooted, swift, from stone to stone from hill to plain—but not alone: a dark shape down the slope doth skim, and wheeling flitters over him." The second page was done awhile ago. It's a collection of excerpts from The Tolkien Professor's lecture on Beren and Luthien. "Luthien's insistence on the two of them being together is not just about her loyalty to him, and not just about her saying - you know - " look, like, so powerful are the mushy gushy feelings within me that I don't ever want to leave you." It's much more than that. ... What they share is far more than just romance... it is that, it is held up as that within this world, but it is the ultimate story of union... It was her song that blasts Sauron's fortress. It's her song that knocks Morgoth off his throne... But the greatest song that she sings, the greatest song ever sung by anybody, by any of the Children of Iluvatar is the song that she sings before Mandos.... She becomes a spokesperson for both Elves and men, and that is what moves Mandos." #Tolkien #tolkienjournal #beren #luthien #leyofleithian #tolkienquotes https://www.instagram.com/p/CWhagWMjAAT/?utm_medium=tumblr

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." One of my favorite quotes from Tolkien's work. If we treat people like cogs in an economic system, and not Image Bearers, we sin. We're stealing them of their humanity and life, murdering them in a sense. The greater context of this quote hits heavy when you think about it. This is a dwarf. A king of a people known for their craftsmanship and love of beautiful things, particularly those made of metals precious and mundane. Yet, at the end of his life, his dying words almost echo Ecclesiastes in its subtext. "Vanity of vanity." He's fought, lost friends and kin, all for a mountain of gold. And he's naught to show for it, because in a few minutes he will draw his last breath and not be able to enjoy one single coin of his conquest. #Tolkien #tolkienart #tolkienquotes #tolkienjournal #thorinoakenshield #thorin #thehobbit (at Simpsonville, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWhBsuVPTXV/?utm_medium=tumblr

Reasons I love the @prancingponypod right here. ""His last words - Boromir's - really strike me. How short they are but how to the point they are. Look, just look at one sentence, one set of sentences I should say, one phrase: "I tried to take the Ring from Frodo. I am sorry, I have paid." Here is confession, apology, and penance all in just a handful of words." - Alan Sisto: The Prancing Pony Podcast" #tolkienjournal #prancingponypodcast #PPP #boromir (at Simpsonville, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUWIkcOjtwv/?utm_medium=tumblr

"Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?’ ‘A man may do both,’ said Aragorn. ‘For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time.'" #tolkienjournal #tolkienquotes #aragorn #eomer #twotowers (at Simpsonville, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUWDYpsDRGZ/?utm_medium=tumblr