Help me to love the Lord of the Rings

Started by Bernadette, February 13, 2022, 03:43:25 PM

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Melkor

Quote from: Pæniteo on February 14, 2022, 06:51:08 PM
Quote from: Melkor on February 14, 2022, 06:36:08 PM
Can you please stop letting everyone know? my cover is blown.
Ungoliant

Don't mention that traitor! Good thing for Balrogs, eh?
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.

"Am I not here, I who am your mother?" Mary to Juan Diego

"Let a man walk ten miles steadily on a hot summer's day along a dusty English road, and he will soon discover why beer was invented." G.K. Chesterton

"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill." Jesus Christ

TerrorDæmonum

#16
Quote from: Melkor on February 14, 2022, 06:37:48 PM
Get this instead, it's extremely useful when diving into the mythos.

If one dares, one can also get The History Of Middle-Earth as well.

I would caution against digital editions of books, especially from Amazon. These kinds of works tend to have worse reviews when they are digital (anything with images tends to have that), and relying on Amazon is a bad idea. Get what you possess and keep it. Don't rely on evil overlords allowing you to access what you paid for. For reference, there are wikis online as well, so one does not have to buy anything to learn more detail.

I wouldn't want it to seem like "help me to love" requires buying stuff, even when one has an incentive to sell.

For nice books, I much prefer to see them in person. The condition they can come in when shipped can be disappointing. That History boxset seems particularly prone to coming in less than perfect condition when shipped. They are packed and shipped quickly without regard to what they are. This applies to things sold from warehouses, not individuals.

TerrorDæmonum

#17
Quote from: Melkor on February 14, 2022, 06:57:14 PM
Don't mention that traitor! Good thing for Balrogs, eh?

Speaking of which, I'm hungry. I think I am going to go eat some taters.

Philip G.

#18
Quote from: Pæniteo on February 13, 2022, 03:52:46 PM

Whether you love something or not depends on what you want from it. My appreciation of The Lord of the Rings, as literature and as a movie, The X-Files, Charles Dickens, and H. P. Lovecraft are all a little different.

What is there to appreciate about h.p. lovecraft?  Because, my guess is that indulging his works would constitute a sin, potentially grave.   A quick wikipedia check brought up a number or red flags.  The man was an athiest who wrote about the occult, specializing in grimoires/books of magic.  Below is a pasted section from his wiki page.

Religion and occultism
Several contemporary religions have been influenced by Lovecraft's works. Kenneth Grant, the founder of the Typhonian Order, incorporated Lovecraft's Mythos into his ritual and occult system. Grant combined his interest in Lovecraft's fiction with his adherence to Aleister Crowley's Thelema. The Typhonian Order considers Lovecraftian entities to be symbols through which people may interact with something inhuman.[242] Grant also argued that Crowley himself was influenced by Lovecraft's writings, particularly in the naming of characters in The Book of the Law.[243] Similarly, The Satanic Rituals, co-written by Anton LaVey and Michael A. Aquino, includes the "Ceremony of the Nine Angles", which is a ritual that was influenced by the descriptions in "The Dreams in the Witch House". It contains invocations of several of Lovecraft's fictional gods.[244]

There have been several books that have claimed to be an authentic edition of Lovecraft's Necronomicon.[245] The Simon Necronomicon is one such example. It was written by an unknown figure who identified themselves as "Simon". Peter Levenda, an occult author who has written about the Necronomicon, claims that he and "Simon" came across a hidden Greek translation of the grimoire while looking through a collection of antiquities at a New York bookstore during the 1960s or 1970s.[246] This book was claimed to have borne the seal of the Necronomicon. Levenda went on to claim that Lovecraft had access to this purported scroll.[247] A textual analysis has determined that the contents of this book were derived from multiple documents that discuss Mesopotamian myth and magic. The finding of a magical text by monks is also a common theme in the history of grimoires.[248] It has been suggested that Lavenda is the true author of the Simon Necronomicon.[249]

For the stone shall cry out of the wall; and the timber that is between the joints of the building, shall answer.  Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and prepareth a city by iniquity. - Habacuc 2,11-12

TerrorDæmonum

#19
Quote from: Philip G. on February 14, 2022, 11:22:55 PM
What is there to appreciate about h.p. lovecraft?  Because, my guess is that indulging his works would constitute a sin, potentially grave.
You have yet to explain your previous thoughts about me.

Your heckling of me does not matter, and your citation has nothing to do with the actual works in question.

Philip G.

Quote from: Pæniteo on February 14, 2022, 11:47:54 PM
your citation has nothing to do with the actual works in question.

I did begin by asking you a polite question.  What is there to appreciate?  Because, I find reference to such a figure scandalous.  You are referencing the occult by all appearances.  Reading occult literature is a grave sin.  Just do a google image search of h.p. lovecraft, and all sorts of dark, demented, and satanic looking imagery will greet you. 
For the stone shall cry out of the wall; and the timber that is between the joints of the building, shall answer.  Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and prepareth a city by iniquity. - Habacuc 2,11-12

TerrorDæmonum

#21
Quote from: Philip G. on February 15, 2022, 12:37:32 AM
I did begin by asking you a polite question.

Asking me to defend myself against your accusation of potentially committing a grave sin is not a "polite question". If you want to discuss the finer points of other literature, you'll have to make your own thread about it. This thread is about The Lord of the Rings.

Bernadette

I've been listening to The Fellowship of the Ring for two days now, and have just gotten to the Tom Bombadil chapter. I think it's one of my favorite parts. :)
My Lord and my God.

Aulef

Tota pulchra es, Maria
Et macula originalis non est in Te

Christina_S

Quote from: Bernadette on February 15, 2022, 07:48:06 AM
I've been listening to The Fellowship of the Ring for two days now, and have just gotten to the Tom Bombadil chapter. I think it's one of my favorite parts. :)
See, this is one of the things I love about LOTR: the imagery. Tolkien had such a grip on how to create an atmosphere of good or evil, peace or war in his descriptions of places. The characters in certain places, the architecture or natural wonders in particular scenes, or even the emotional state of the characters all contribute to a sense of what was and what will be.

We're just getting into the second half of The Two Towers and it's the part my husband dislikes lol: Sam and Frodo wandering around a bunch of rocks and dark places for ages. To me, all these types of imagery are reminiscent of life. It won't always be mystical and beautiful like Lorien, nor good-natured and sunny like the Shire. It may be murky and mysterious like Fangorn, deeply supernatural like ruined towers of old, or full of darkness and hidden dangers like Mirkwood.
Perhaps I've done a poor job of putting it into words, but it feels like there's always something to relate to.
"You cannot be a half-saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all." ~St. Therese of Lisieux

Check out the blog that I run with my husband! https://theromanticcatholic.wordpress.com/
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maryslittlegarden

For a Child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace

Jayne

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.

red solo cup

I first read LOTR back in the mid 60s. It was different world then for fans of SciFi. That's what it was called..there wasn't a 'fantasy' category. I read van Vogt. Andre Norton, Assimov etc. For me and my friends the best story teller was Burrough's John Carter of Mars series. LORT was in a class by itself. It changed everything for SF.  I loved it and the Hobbit too...but Siimarillion left me cold.
I also was intrigued by Lovecraft. Spent a lot of time researching the catacombs under Beacon Hill ala" Pickman's Model".  I went to school in the area at the time. But Lovecraft was always clear that Cthulu and the Old Gods were something to fear and avoid in real life.
As far as Crowley and La Vey go..they're a couple of self indulgent, narcissistic bores. Complete wastes of time.
non impediti ratione cogitationis

TerrorDæmonum

#28
Quote from: red solo cup on February 15, 2022, 10:56:33 AM
I loved it and the Hobbit too...but Siimarillion left me cold.

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy were published works of the author. The Silmarillion was not written or published the same way and is a different type of work.

drummerboy

But if love is an act of the will, cannot one simply will themselves to love LOTR....? :huh:
- I'll get with the times when the times are worth getting with

"I like grumpy old cusses.  Hope to live long enough to be one" - John Wayne