Chapter Nine: The Great River and Chapter Ten: The Breaking of the Fellowship

Hello.

In this chapter, the Company continues down the river in their elvish boats. Gollum's presence is confirmed, and that he has been following them since Moria. Aragorn's spirit is renewed as they pass under the huge statues of Elendil and Anárion, the Gateway of Argonath. Orcs are sighted on the shore, as well as some great flying beast, but no direct attack takes place. They eventually go ashore at Amon Hen and make camp. Aragorn notices that Frodo's blade, Sting, is glowing slightly, a sign of orcs, though they may be on the other side of the river. After some discussion, Frodo takes a walk in the woods, where he is soon joined by Boromir. The Ring's corruption attacks Boromir and he attempts to assault Frodo to get it. Frodo puts the Ring on and climbs to the throne atop Amon Hen, invisible. He is confronted by the flaming Eye of Sauron, and soon takes it off. Frodo returns to camp and decides to leave. He departs by boat; Sam -- who cannot swim -- follows him, and Frodo is forced to save him and allow him to accompany him. The book ends there.
Most of this chapter was accurately represented in the film. The only major difference is that the orcs have yet to attack, though Frodo and Sam have already departed, while in the movie their attack, kidnapping of Merry and Pippin, and slaughter of Boromir occurs before the end. The stopping point is somewhat different, as in the films every member of the Fellowship who dies does it in the first movie, while Tolkien spreads it out more in the literary version.

This was my last post and I very much appreciate anyone who has been reading, so thank you. I hope that you enjoyed this blog.

Thanks for reading,
C

Chapter Seven: The Mirror of Galadriel and Chapter Eight: Farewell to Lórien

Greetings.

At the beginning of the chapter, the Company meets with Galadriel and Celeborn in their tree-hall. They deliver the news of Gandalf's apparent death and otherwise consult with the elvish rulers. Frodo and Sam are taken to see Galadriel's mirror, which is more of a scrying basin. They see many things in the mirror, among them trouble in the Shire, various unexplained landscapes, and the great fiery eye of Sauron. Afterwards, Frodo offers the Ring to Galadriel for safe keeping, and she transforms into a dark visage of herself and proclaims the would-be result of her possession of the Ring. When the company leaves Lórien, they are given many gifts by the elves. All are gifted a cloak of the Galadhrim, lembas bread, and elven rope. Boromir, Merry, and Pippin receive belts; Aragorn receives a sheath for Andúril and a brooch from Lady Galadriel; Frodo receives the bottled light of Eärendil; Sam receives a box of Lórien earth; Legolas receives a bow of the Galadhrim; and Gimli receives three strands of Galadriel's hair. The company then sets out in boats upon the Great River.
These chapter were very accurately represented in the film. The only major difference I noticed was Aragorn's and Sam's gift.

I will be finishing the book today and posting on the last to chapters later this afternoon.
Thanks for reading,
C

Real Life Fantasy Immersion

Hello.

As a fantasy enthusiast, today I'm going to be talking about the recreation of fantasy worlds in reality rather than in the literary, cinematic, or virtual sense. I will start by saying that the time of year I most look forward to is the fall. This is because the Texas Renaissance Festival, arguably the best and largest renaissance festival in the country, takes place from mid October through December. I usually go twice a year, once with my father and sister and once with my friends. The Festival is a huge town-like setting (of permanent structures) with themes ranging from mediterranean to 'classic' piracy, but generally occupies a standard renaissance/medieval take with magical influence. There are literally hundreds of artisans and vendors, selling various food, armor, weapons, and crafts, as well as dozens of roughly non-anachronistic rides and games (meaning that though they may not have been present in the Middle Ages, the technology is very similar). Various troupes and acts roam the Festival, and performances ranging from comedy to acting to music appear regularly.
When I first started attending the festival close to ten years ago, almost every visitor dressed in costume; mine was originally just time-appropriate garb but has since drifted to a druidic theme and now shifted to a ranger/archer look. Now, few visitors actually dress up. While this does mean that many new people have discovered the entertainment of the Festival, it also means that they are not comfortable enough with the setting to become part of it, and for me personally, they ruin the ambiance. If you do attend any renaissance festival, please try to make yourself part of the environment! I don't want to compel you to dress up, but avoid bright colors, large modern logos, and very modern dress. It is especially annoying when people come dressed as something entirely anachronistic; I don't particularly mind pirates or Romans (which are a little out of place but fine) but I have seen Star Wars clone troopers, Star Trek characters, comic book superheroes, and other various costumes. Please remember that this is not some random costume party if you do choose to attend. Their is a costume rental company outside the main gate if you wish not to purchase a full costume.
I do want to bring 'LARPing' -- Live Action Role Play -- into this as renaissance festivals are in fact a type of casual role play. While I have never participated in a role-played battle, per say, I do think that non-modern dress and weaponry is interesting to have, even for personal amusement. I have several websites that I recommend for weapons (both foam and real), as well as a list of vendors at the Texas Renaissance Festival. I also have a website with listings of renaissance festivals in the United States, which I will link below.

Foam Weapons:
http://www.calimacil.com
Foam and Real Weapons:
http://www.swordsofmight.com
Real Weapons:
http://zombietools.net
Texas Renaissance Festival Weapon Vendors (Note that some of these vendors are not exclusive to Texas and may have operations at other festivals or independently):
http://texrenfest.com/artists_merchants/weaponry

Renaissance Festival Listings: http://www.therenlist.com

Also, on costumes: many people make their own costumes, though most buy them from vendors. The most impressive homemade costumes I have seen are exhibited at Blizzcon, the convention for Blizzard Games, the most popular of which is a fantasy game. Here is a video of the costume contest held at the last Blizzcon (2011):

I hope that you obtain the opportunity and the motivation to try this!
Thanks for reading,
C

Chapter Five: The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm and Chapter Six: Lothlórien

Hello.

At this point in the book, the company has just found the dwarf Balin's tomb. Gandalf finds a ledger-tome of the dwarves, finding terminal phrases such as "We cannot get out," "Drums in the deep," and "They are coming," and just as they finish assessing the situation, the aforementioned drums begin. The company prepares to make a stand against the orcs which have emerged from the darkness with an enormous cave troll. After a good many orcs are killed, the hordes draw back in fear. One orc drives a spear into Frodo's chest, which is luckily turned by Bilbo's mithril mail shirt. Gandalf discerns orcish words for fire amongst their fear; the fire is quickly revealed as a balrog, a terrifying flaming demon. The company flees to the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm, which spans a great chasm to connect to the exit. As the group travels across, Gandalf stands against the balrog, successfully deterring it with the made-famous phrase "You shall not pass!" However, as it falls into the chasm, it wraps its whip around the wizard's leg and drags with down as well, leaving the remaining company with the equally famous words "Fly, you fools." The company escapes the mines and makes its way to the woods of Lothlórien, where is encounters a party of elves led by Haldir. They travel to the tree dwellings of the Galadhrim, where they will soon meet the rulers of Lórien, Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel.
I was slightly disappointed, though not entirely surprised, by the literary depiction of the misadventures in Moria. Not only did I miss Pippin's mishap involving dropping a armor-clad skeleton down a well and Gandalf's angry retort, "Fool of a Took!" I found that the stand against the orcs was more of a small attack without a real focus, while the film adaptation centered around the attacking cave troll and its immense destructive strength. The film also did a much better job of dialogue -- of course, this was published more than fifty years ago, so the speech is somewhat different -- by writing it in a modern style and pulling some of the more iconic lines to places where they make more sense. One place I really noticed was Gandalf's speech to the balrog on the bridge: in the book it is basically a monologue, while in the film it is a back-and-forth between the wizard and the demon. Not enough has really happened in Lothlórien for me to make a comment, so I'll save it for tomorrow.

I did not get in time to do my real-life immersion post so it will definitely go up tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,
C

Chapter Three: The Ring Goes South and Chapter Four: A Journey in the Dark

Greetings.

In these chapters the company begins their journey, beginning with their establishment: Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas -- to represent the elves, Gimli -- to represent the dwarves, Boromir -- to represent men (along with Aragorn), Merry, and Pippin. Bilbo presents Frodo with his elvish sword Sting and his valuable mithril chain shirt. Upon leaving Imladris they travel east to the mountains in an attempt to cross the Pass of Caradhras. On their way into the mountains they encounter a flock of spying crows, the crebain, though the spy is not specified. When they do reach Caradhras itself the storms stymie their progress and force them to retreat backwards. The company decided to attempt a trip through the abandoned underground dwarf mine of Moria, but not before being attacked by orcish wargs. When they do reach the entrance, Gandalf must first find the doorway and the password, which is hidden in a riddle on the title above the door: "Speak Friend and enter." When he finally opens it (the word being "Friend"), the company is attacked by a tentacled creature in the dark pool and are forced to retreat into the mines, where they become trapped and begin the path to the other side. The true value of Moria, in the mithril mined from it, is revealed to the reader. The chapter ends with the discovery of the tomb of Balin, the last dwarf lord of Moria.
While the film maintained close similarities in Rivendell, the journey varies more as they go. The sword Narsil is reforged as Anduril before they even leave Imladris as a mere sword, while in the movies it is remade in the third film and serves significantly as a key to win the battle of Pellinor Fields by commanding the Dead Army. There is much less obvious interference from Saruman: in the film he both spies through the crebain's eyes and amplifies the storms over Caradhras, as well as playing a part in revealing the danger of Moria in his book which says that the dwarves of Moria awoke "shadow and flame" from delving too deep into the earth; in the literary version he is neither identified as the spy nor as a force in the storm, and so far there has been no forewarning of the balrog. Also, when the company enters Moria in the film, Gimli expects to find a hospitable kingdom of dwarves but finds slaughtered kin and a dark, dusty mine. In the book, they know that the mine is certainly mostly abandoned, and there is no conflict of dwarf remains inside the entrance.

The next chapter is the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm, which I am very much looking forward to as it was possibly my favorite scene in the entire film series as well as my favorite non-elvish musical composition on the soundtrack (find it on iTunes!). If I have time I will also talk about the two biggest real world fantasy immersions: Renaissance Festivals and "Live-Action Role Playing." If I don't find time then (Thursday, July 25th) I will certainly find it the day after, so be sure to take a look.

Thanks for reading,
C

Chapter One: Many Meetings and Chapter Two: The Council of Elrond

Hello again.

These chapters take place entirely in Imladris -- that is, Rivendell. Frodo awakes from his wraith-induced coma, healed by Lord Elrond, and finds Gandalf with him. He is reunited with his previous traveling companions and meets the elves of Imladris, including Elrond and his daughter Arwen. Frodo also encounters Bilbo, who has traveled from the Shire to Rivendell, then to Dale, at the foot of the Lonely Mountain, and back to the elven sanctuary, where he plans to live out the rest of his days. We see the Ring's affliction upon him when he requests to see it from Frodo and practically transforms into a shadowy creature upon seeing it. Soon, many travelers arrive: the dwarf Glóin and his son Gimli, the elf-prince of Murkwood Legolas, and Boromir of Gondor. At Elrond's council meeting, much information of the Ring and several other rings -- the Three, the Seven, and the Nine -- is given. Gandalf also reports on his adventure to Isengarde and Saruman's treachery and war machine, his imprisonment atop the tower of Orthanc, and his escape with the great eagle and the journey from the Riddermark of Rohan thereafter. It is eventually decided that between the two options -- concealment or destruction of the Ring -- that the only viable choice is to destroy it, and the only possible way to do so to be in the fires in which it was made in Mordor. After some argument, Frodo volunteers to carry the Ring, and the story pauses there.
I found the film representation to be generally accurate for these chapters. The only part I really missed was that when Gimli attempts to destroy the Ring with a cleave of his axe. There was also a much more complicated story within Saruman's plot than was represented in the movie. At the end of the chapter, there was no immediate formation of the Fellowship of the Ring, but I am sure it will come promptly in the following chapters.

Thanks for reading,
C

Lord of the Rings: Video Games

Hello there.

Over the past few days I have looked into some of the video games based upon Tolkien's work. The first games, developed in the eighties, were text-based. Today, we have games for Nintendo systems, a LEGO video game (and many physical sets), and even an MMORPG. Over the last several days, I have been playing both the LEGO game and the MMO. Unfortunately, I do not have any gaming system consoles like Nintendo, so I was unable to test those games made for them. Below I have included a short review and Let's Play video from Youtube of each game (I couldn't get the video I made to upload to Blogger), as well as a video for the latest console game. I also learned of a very interesting Tolkien Middle Earth project in Minecraft and have provided a video of the server and a link to their website.

LOTRO: Lord of the Rings Online

This seemed like a pretty typical MMORPG, with a Lord of the Rings theme, of course. I didn't get very far, just to about level eight. Since my review is somewhat biased toward that smaller range, I have also included a link to a full review below. A typical ability bar and interface are located at the bottom of the screen, with a minimap in the upper right corner and a list of quests below, as well as a character profile in the upper left corner. Movement is the usual AWSD keys. I tried both the loremaster class as an elf and the hunter class as a human. I mildly enjoyed my gameplay and am sure that later zones are much more interesting (as per my experience). The music was a little dull but typically ambient, and the graphics were moderately good. Character animations were slightly lacking but movement was fine. I did find that though the game is free to play, much of the game came in microtransactions with the game's maker; things from quests to more characters to abilities to "emotes" were available -- dare I say necessary -- to purchase. I do think this is an entertaining game and a relatively good MMO, but I did not find it as interesting to play as others.
Review: http://www.pcgamer.com/review/lord-of-the-rings-online-review/

LEGO Lord of the Rings

I thought this was a great game, especially for LEGO. The graphics are very good (if somewhat LEGO-fied), the music is the same as the film's (which is amazing), and the gameplay is overall good. I have played the other LEGO games in the past (Star Wars and Indiana Jones) and found this to be superior to the versions of both. The player begins in the Shire and follows the story through the general storyline of the Ring. It adds interesting mechanics and simple puzzles that help make it interesting, features excellent character animations, and adds extra content beyond the levels in Middle Earth, with mini quests, forging of special items, and characters to unlock. One can play as any of the Fellowship or almost any other character, good or evil. My favorite are the Lothlórien elf soldier and Saruman, and it is even possible to play as Sauron's original corporeal form. The game's makers give a particular salute to the original literary story by adding characters such as Tom Bombadil and Gil-galad to the array. The game is available on the App Store for Mac computers or in disc copy, as well as for most gaming consoles.

Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest

Wiki Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_Aragorn's_Quest

Review: http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/09/20/the-lord-of-the-rings-aragorns-quest-review-2

MineCraftMiddleEarth

This is so very cool you just have to look at it.

http://www.mcmiddleearth.com

I plan to post on the last chapter of the book this Saturday, the 27th of July, as I am traveling for an extended period of time after that. 

Thanks for reading,

C

Chapter Eleven: A Knife in the Dark and Chapter Twelve: Flight to the Ford

Greetings, reader.

In these two chapters we come to the end of the first book of the Fellowship of the Ring and prepare to move into the the second; the transition is marked by the arrival at Rivendell and the founding of the Fellowship, separating the journey of the hobbits from the journey of the entire party. The chapter starts with the passing of the Black Riders. As for which Strider had prepared, the beds intended to be occupied by the hobbits are torn to shreds. However, the Black Riders finally move away from the hobbits as they and the ranger journey onward. Aragorn chooses to take them through the Midgewater Marshes, a marshland infested with midges, as indicated by the name, and on to the watchtower of Amon Sûl, better known as Weathertop, the hill upon which it rests. Aragorn relates the tale of Lúthien Tinúviel, an elf maiden, and her mortal love, in which she chooses mortality to be with him. He dies in battle, and she must live on without him; this seems a precursor to the relationship of Aragorn and Arwen that will later appear and the outcome if Aragorn were to die. But as the story ends, the moon rises, signaling the night, and the Black Riders attack, wielding a terrible aura of fear that paralyzes Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Frodo slips on the Ring and sees the terrible, ghostly forms of the wraiths. Their leader, the Witch King of Angmar, steps forward and stabs him through the shoulder with his icy blade -- the knife in the dark. The chapter ends with Strider leaping forth with fire and light, the bane of the wraiths.
When Aragorn discovers the morgul-blade used to stab Frodo, he realizes the dire situation in which the hobbit is. He uses leaves of the athelas plant to stall its corruption, but cannot heal him. They resume their travels, continuing east across the River Hoarwell, or Mitheithel. Aragorn finds a green beryl, an elf stone, and takes it as a sign that the elves have allowed them to pass into their lands. They are eventually approached by the elf Glorfindel, an elf of the House of Elrond. He recognizes Frodo's weakness and illness and seats him upon his own horse to journey on to Rivendell. As they approach the Bruinen Ford over the Loudwater, however, the Black Riders reappear and pursue the mounted hobbit to the river. As Frodo tells them off, their great power shatters his sword and clutches his body. But as he and the elven horse reach the shore, the very waters of the river rise up in a gushing flood that sculpts itself into charging horses, carrying away several wraiths and startling the others. The chapter ends as Frodo looses consciousness in the saddle.
I was somewhat disappointed by these chapters, in comparison to the film. I love the title "A Knife in the Dark" -- the song by that title on the soundtrack (find it on iTunes) is marvelously dark and terrifying -- but I found, as I have before, that the pace of the book greatly reduced the drama found in the movie. To start with, it is wonderfully scary to watch as Aragorn observes the would-be wraith assassins from the window across the street, while in the book they simply find the result in the morning. While I found that the experience at Weathertop was well represented, I noticed -- as I have previously, again -- that the film made out Frodo's companions to be somewhat foolish and ignorant, loudly cooking a meal over a bright fire, while the literary depiction faulted none of them in that way  for the encounter. I also loved the introduction of Arwen in the movie; so far she is entirely absent but for the allusive tale of Tinúviel. It was especially interesting to see her and Aragorn's chemistry before they had been introduced as a couple and the fast-paced race to get the catatonic Frodo -- who, in book, was fully non-wraith and conscious until the very end of the chapter -- to Elrond. While I respect Tolkien's work and in no way mean to insult it, I found these chapter too drawn out. I loved the fast pace, as I am sure Peter Jackson, the movie's director, intended. Also, I sorely missed the spell-invocation of the flooding waters ("Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer; Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Ulaer") as it is one of the largest chunks of spoken Elvish, which is a beautiful language, in the films and Liv Tyler was fabulous. 

Please feel free to respond with your opinion in the comments. I will be looking into some Lord of the Rings video games or video game interpretations in the next few days, and will probably post about them sometime between Saturday, July 20th and Monday, July 22nd (this weekend). If you have any you think I should look at feel free to let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading,
C

Also: I should have added this in the "Interesting Sources" post but forgot.
Arwen-Undomiel.com has, among other things, all of the Elvish lines in the films and even more of the language, including some fun and basic phrases. If you are an elf enthusiast as I am, please visit the link below.

http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/elvish.html

Chapter Ten: Strider

Hello.

As indicated by the name, in this chapter Strider's identity as Aragorn starts to be revealed and the situation of the hobbit travelers becomes more premonitory as the Black Riders narrow in on them. I will start by sharing the rhyming prophetic verses in Gandalf's letter:

All that is gold does not glitter,
     Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
     Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
     A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
     The crownless again shall be king.

This is by far my favorite of the little songs and chants that Tolkien writes into the story, and it is possibly the most significant. He achieves a fantastic poetic sense of foresight which has a lovely effect, which seems unspecific when first read but will later become obvious. It is contained in the letter from Gandalf that urges Frodo to make haste and identifies Strider as a friend. Strider strikes a very powerful images in these chapters, clever, aware, and knowledgeable as well as obviously competent and in-charge. The chapter end with the information from Gandalf's letter and Strider and Butterbur's observations of evil's approach, and with the placement of false bodies into the beds.

The film version of this chapter seems very similar if heavily condensed. There is much more dialogue and interaction with the inn staff but the ideas are the same. However, it is somewhat altered that Gandalf had left them a letter instead of planning to meet them there and failing to appear. I also have some questions about Strider, in that, though Frodo draws "Renewed shall be blade that was broken" to relate to the broken sword he carries, the line of the poem obviously refers to Narsil, blade of Elendil. It seems strange that Aragorn would carry that blade with him, and also raises inquisition to the location of the broken shards. I am sure that it will be made clear later in the book.

Thanks for reading,
C

Some Interesting Sources

Hello reader,

Today I wanted to share some interesting sources and information I have been looking at as I have been reading; they are all easily accessible websites filled with trivia, encyclopedic information, or other amusing tidbits.

This website, Tolkien Gateway, is one I use often while reading, if I need to further define a term unique to Tolkien's writing, usually a creature or landscape of some sort. It also features information on adaptations of Tolkien's work into other forms of media.
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Main_Page

The webpage for the Tolkien Society, an "educational charity," features a detailed biography of Tolkien and his career as a writer, as well as the life of his works. Did you know that the opening sentence of The Hobbit -- "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" -- was written before Tolkien had even defined what a hobbit was? Or that in 1965 a pirated version of The Lord of the Rings was printed? Visit this page to find out more.
http://www.tolkiensociety.org/index.html

This, The Barrow Downs, is perhaps the most interesting of Tolkien-themed websites. It features encyclopedic information and FAQ about Middle Earthen lore, as well as several entertaining games. It also features a Tengwar transcriptor (only PC supported, unfortunately) if you did not try your hand at it back when I posted about it,  not to mention a personality quiz (I was matched to Aragorn), an optimal environment quiz (Rivendell for me), and many, many other activities.
http://www.barrowdowns.com/faqs.php

I hope you enjoy these websites; I know that I did. Please check back soon as I will continue on with the book! Also, if you know of an interesting source that I did not mention please comment below with a link or information about it.
Thanks for reading,
C

Chapter Eight: Fog on the Barrow-Downs and Chapter Nine: At the Sign ofthe Prancing Pony

Greetings.

In these chapters, Frodo and his companions leave the dwelling of Tom Bombadil and Goldberry and make there way into the Barrow-Downs and, beyond, Bree, a small town inhabited by hobbits and "Big Folk." The Barrow-Downs is a hilled area, carpeted in fog, in which the hobbits are separated from each other. Merry, Pippin, and Sam are captured by a barrow-wight, a sort of evil spirit that inhabits the barrows of the hills, small underground burial chambers. Upon its treasure hoard, the three hobbits are paralytically bound; Frodo nearly joins them but is saved by, yet again, Tom Bombadil, who is summoned with a special sort of song. I find the songs and chants Tolkien very interesting and often entertaining, as it is one of the few books in which I have seen something like this fully written out so frequently (and some are quite good). It is from song, in fact, that Bombadil's influence comes. He sings away the wight and frees the hobbits, retrieving what of their belongings he can. He then leaves them, and Frodo and his companions continue on to Bree, where they make their way to the Prancing Pony, an inn recommended by Bombadil. In the inn, they are greeted by the innkeeper Barliman Butterbur, and among others, Frodo meets Strider, a mysterious ranger who will play a huge part in the later story.

Very little of chapter eight appears in the film. Again, I note that I wish that Tom Bombadil had made a movie appearance. In chapter nine, I find that the film represented the inn as a much more hostile environment full of leering drunkards and angry men, though in the book it seems a warm and cheery place. I thought that Strider was rather well represented, and look forward to seeing more of him. 

Tomorrow, July 12th, I plan to post some interesting resources about the writer -- JRR Tolkien -- and his work. If you wish to add your opinion on anything here to my own, please feel free to comment below. 

Thanks for reading,

C

Chapter Six: The Old Forest and Chapter Seven: In the House of Tom Bombadil

Hello there,
I've chosen to group these two chapters as they seemed to flow into each other very well, and are very much two sections of one episode of the journey.

In these chapters, the four hobbits choose to go off into the Forest, a place of mystery and legend. As they travel through the woods, Merry and Pippin are seized by a great willow tree, for in this forest the trees move and speak to each other. Frodo and Sam try to release them by burning and cuttign at the tree but only succeed in making it angry. They are rescued by Tom Bombadil, a sort of forest man who lives amongst the trees. He addresses the tree "Old Man Willow" as if it were a person, and it actually responds to his command to release the hobbits. Tom Bombadil had me impressed by the second paragraph of his appearance, a rare occurrence for a minor side character. He takes the hobbits to his home where they meet his beautiful naiad-like wife Goldberry and spend the night before setting off again in the morning. I very much enjoyed the passage in which Bombadil speaks of the trees and the nature of Old Man Willow, who he calls a "survivor." He says that Willow's hateful actions were in part the product of the destruction caused by the mobile creatures of the earth. I found this reminiscent of today's deforestation problems and wished that the trees of our forests fought back. Tom Bombadil also handles the Ring directly, something that seems unusual to me.

In relation to the film, I understand that the faster pace made it difficult and unnecessary to portray this part of the book, but I love Bombadil's character and wish that they could have found a way to incorporate him. I also noticed that Frodo's dream reminded me quite a lot of Gandalf's escape from Isengard: the tower, the staff-wielding figure, and the egress by eagle. I hope to see a further portrayal of this scene later as I loved the film's Saruman versus Gandalf (You... have elected... the way... of PAIN!).

Just a brief idea of future posts: in addition to finishing the book, I hope to talk some about Tolkien and his works, Renaissance Festivals and the like, and maybe do a review/talk about of some of The Lord of the Rings video games.

Thanks for reading,
C

Chapter Five: A Conspiracy Unmasked

Hello there.

Chapter five is a rather uneventful chapter, mainly focusing on dialogue and development. Sam, Merry, and Pippin pledge to accompany Frodo throughout his journey, and it is revealed that they have developed a sort of conspiracy over the existence of the Ring and the true purpose of the journey. They also notice a strange, dark object that seems to be following them and resolve to journey into the Forest next. One thing that I found as I read, not specifically in this chapter but throughout the book, was Tolkien's manner of writing, in the sense of the seemingly random information he gives the reader. I interpreted this as Tolkien not writing the book to appeal to the reader, as so many stories today are, but to appeal to himself and to record the story of the Middle Earth that he developed. He does not seem to care that the reader may not know what he is talking about.
This chapter took a turn that I did not anticipate from my knowledge of the film. While the "conspiracy" was not entirely unexpected, the decision to enter the Forest was. While I have not seen the outcome -- it is still possible that their journey will be stalled and redirected -- this seems foreign to me. The only significant forests I can think of are Lothlórien and Fanghorn. I will be interested to see where the story goes.

Thanks for reading,
C

Chapter Four: A Shortcut to Mushrooms

Greetings, reader.

In chapter four, Frodo and his companions continue on their way to leave the Shire. When they awake, after their night of frivolity and council with the elves, they find that the elves have departed, leaving them with some of their elvish foods. At the beginning of the chapter, the group's discussion over the sniffing noise made by the Black Rider prompts the observation that the Rider had been attempting to find something or someone olfactorily; this theory is later confirmed when, at Farmer Maggot's home, one of the Black Riders specifically asks for "Baggins." Now the reader knows that the Riders are in fact hunting the hobbits. Thankfully, the hospitable Farmer Maggot declines to produce the group, informing the black-garbed figure that the Bagginses do not live in that area. This is the first occurrence of speech from the Black Riders, which, though not uncivilized, rasps with paranormality emphasized by the hissing noises that accompany the dialogue. By the end of the chapter, Merry has joined the group, and they continue their journey Bucklebury.
In relation to the movie, this chapter varies as much as the others so far. Farmer Maggot not only makes an appearance, but is friendly and hospitable, unlike the angry voice represented  by the head of a pitchfork weaving through the cornfield. As Merry joins the party, it is also evident to me that Tolkien has not created Merry and Pippin as the inseparable troublemakers defined by the film. I find that, like C. S. Lewis, another great fantasy writer, Tolkien lacks a strong comedic standing. The filmmaker's alteration of Merry and Pippin's characters adds the laughs that modern moviegoers desire. I also noticed that, unlike the film, the Black Riders are somewhat less monstrous. This presents itself in their speech especially; the movie creatures hiss short phrases and scream bloodcurdlingly while the literary Riders speak in full and normal sentences, though slightly raspingly. I find that at this point in the book, this adds mystery to what they are: it seems as though they could still be somewhat human.

Please feel free to respond to my commentary in the comments below.
Thanks for reading,
C

Chapter Three: Three is Company

Hello,
I'm sorry for the cease in posts over the last several days; as it is summer traveling is not uncommon for me and I found that I could not access the time and resources needed to write. I do, however, plan to get in extra chapter-posts in the next few days so that the final entry will be closer to my planned terminus.

In this chapter, Frodo and his companions finally decide to depart their home and travel away from the Shire. In a secretive manner, they buy a house in an outlying hobbit town and tell their friends that they are going to live there. To my great dismay, Bag End is sold to none other than the matriarch of the loathsome Sackville-Bagginsses, Lobelia. However, this action shows the commitment that Frodo has put forward into taking the Ring. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin have decided to travel east to Rivendell and the House of Elrond Halfelven, and will meet up with Merry later. Their progress is quickly deterred by the appearance of a rider in black, who they hide from on the side of the road. Later, another appears. Again, Tolkien chooses to hide significance, keeping the identity of the riders a secret. The first appearance of elves follows soon after, High Elves who have lingered in the eastern lands. They give us the impression of a calm and happy people, not yet revealing any great power or ability. Their leader, Gildor, helps to emphasize a more ominous tone, mentioning a nameless "Enemy" as well as showing the danger of the Black Riders with his cautious attitude towards Frodo's report of their emergence.
Again, this chapter's pace seems very slow in comparison with the film. Not only does Frodo take the time to settle his situation in Hobbiton, the journey they start begins quite leisurely, making camp and cooking meals often. Even after they encounter the Black Rider, they do not quite find the necessity to hurry to their destination. They also have no specific plans to meet with Gandalf, only with Merry, and so far there has been no speak of a confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman. Also, the appearance of elves so early in the journey is interesting, solving much of the mystery behind the elvish existence and providing an outside source of information, mentioning Bilbo's passage and other goings-on of the area. While this dissolves some tension that remains in the movie, Tolkien transfers the tension to "the Enemy" and the Black Riders, making up for this variance.

Again, I apologize for my absence and thank you for reading,
C

Tengwar: Script of the Elvish Languages

Hello,
Today, in correlation with the appearance of the script on the Ring of Power, I am going to do a brief post on Tengwar. Tengwar is a beautiful and elegant script developed by Tolkien himself. It encompasses both Quenya and Sindarin, the two Elvish languages, and is also easily utilized in many of our modern languages.

Here is a short video of someone writing in Tengwar:

Here is a sample of my (rather untidy) Tengwar:

I wrote this in ballpoint pen; fountain pen lettering makes for a much more refined look as you can see above.

Tengwar actually has many more characters than are used in English, mainly for digraphs, including (but certainly not limited to) common appearances such as "th" and "ch." Tengwar also possesses its own set of numerals and punctuation marks. There are also several grammatical rules that are important to remember.

There are two modes in this script, Sindarin and Quenya. They differ little in the characters but vary mainly in that Sindarin (as I and the video have used) places the vowels (represented by markings above the letters) on the letter after the sound, while Quenya places them on the letter before.

I found that the easiest way to learn this was by merely writing various passages or phrases with the assistance of the key, eventually becoming independent but for minor references. Here is the website I used to learn:
http://freenet.am/~sssite/res/elvish.html
There are also many videos on Youtube if you feel that you learn better by having someone talk to you about it.

Good luck and thanks for reading,
C

Chapter Two: The Shadow of the Past

Hello, Carter here.

Chapter two brings into light the nature and significance of the Ring of Power, which of course is the ultimate subject of the trilogy. The reader now knows where it comes from, who the ultimate villain is -- Sauron -- as well as orcs and the land of Mordor, and a little more about all of the characters that have played a role in its journey to Bag End, including Isildur and Gollum. Tolkien also introduces information of Saruman, head of Gandalf's wizard order, as well as mentioning the Nine, the ringwraithes produced from the nine human kings gifted Sauron's "Nine" rings (ah that sounds like a rhyming couplet). I think this chapter boosts the amount of knowledge that the reader needs to become absorbed into the story and to start to care about what happens. Tolkien also establishes that Frodo will indeed journey to the elves with the ring, and in extension literally pulls (through the window) Sam Gamgee into it with him. Also in this chapter, we see a primary glimpse of the tengwar script, the writing of the elven languages Sindarin and Quenya and the black speech of Mordor! I'll do a post about this tomorrow.

I found that this chapter made more connections to the movie than the previous one. The history behind the ring is finally explained, something that in the movie takes place immediately. I saw several lines spoken in the film that I was familiar with, though they were somewhat out of place. I found in the movie there was a heavy tone of urgency: as soon as Gandalf returns, he sets Frodo and Sam on the road because Gollum has told Sauron where they are and Saruman has turned against them and the Nine are coming! But to this point in the book it seems to be a leisurely journey to the elves that they will take when they are ready. I found that I preferred the film's take on this section, which seems to compress everything that is happening into a fast-paced adventure (from what I have read up to this point).

As I mentioned, tomorrow -- Saturday the 29th of June -- I will be posting about Tengwar. This is a very fun and easy script to write and read,  please so be sure to check it out. Feel free to comment or otherwise respond with your own opinion of what I have talked about or bring up something I may have missed or should mention.

Thanks for reading,

C

Prologue and Chapter One: A Long-Expected Party

Hello there,
I have just finished the prologue and first chapter, so here goes my first post.

Prologue
One of the first things that struck me upon beginning the book was the amount of information that Tolkien establishes before he even begins to tell the story. Not only does he provide a short history of hobbits and their ways, he also summarizes the previous occurrences narrated in "The Hobbit," as well as casually dropping names of races, places, and people that the reader has yet to discover. I have mixed feelings on this writing style: it was intriguing to hear of the existence elves, dwarves, men, and various other presences before I had begun the tale, but I found that the overload of knowledge was slightly complex and made it hard for me to distinguish what I really needed to know for the best possible reading experience.
In relation to the film, I have to say that I preferred the film's introduction. While the extra elaboration on hobbits and some of Middle Earth's history was interesting, I found that when I started reading the first chapter there was little that I cared to recall in conjunction with the text. I did, however, enjoy the film's introduction thoroughly. I found that, from (I assume) Galadriel's perspective and with her declaration of change, the story had already started -- in literary terms --"en medias res" or "in the middle of things." In a similar way, it shows the racial presences of the realm with the distribution of the rings, though much more concisely. There is a somewhat ominous tone in the narration here, which helps set the stage for the dark situation in which Middle Earth is. The viewer is directly introduced to Sauron, while the book has little to no mention of any outstanding evil force. The book also fails to mention any significance of the ring but for Gollum's obsession with it, while the film directly explains exactly what the ring is and the history that surrounds it, though the viewer is not positive that Bilbo's ring is the Ring of Power until Gandalf later confirms it. I personally found that, while it somewhat equals the reader to the book characters in their knowledge, I preferred having the information that the movie gives.

Chapter One
I found that this first chapter was a good start to a story that could develop into something fantastic, though the prologue was slightly lacking. Bilbo's (and Frodo's) birthday and that wonderfully whimsical number "eleventy-one" were a nice, quiet beginning that held stirrings of normal familial malcontent and illustrated the odd grandeur of Bilbo's past adventures. Gandalf's entrance and hasty exit leaves mystery around who and what he is: the reader knows that he is a wizard of some type, with talent in pyrotechnics, but not much else. The reader can see Bilbo's oddity throughout this chapter, especially in the speech he makes at his birthday party. I am eager to see what comes next!
In relation to the film, I thought that this section of the book was done rather well. I found I was not as interested in or impressed by Gandalf as I was in the movie (Ian McKellen is fantastic) but that the character still sparked curiosity. I noticed that Merry appeared more often than Sam or Pippin; this struck me as odd since I always assumed that Merry and Pippin would have been inseparable, and Frodo and Sam would have been closer. I thought that the film's screen writers made it work really well and that their dialogue flowed more smoothly than Tolkien's, finding that some of the lines I really liked  from the movie were either slightly different or entirely absent (though "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve" was there).

I am very sorry about this one being so long; I imagine future posts will be shorter and cover less book content, making room for more interesting postings. Please feel free to agree, disagree, or otherwise let me know what you think in the comments.

Thanks for reading,
C

An Introduction

Welcome and hello!

My name is Carter Green. I am an avid and passionate reader as well as a fantasy enthusiast. Lore of exotic races and creatures, mystical forces, otherworldly realms, and of course, the concept of magic, fascinates me. I ardently immerse myself in these abstractions, which, though I recognize as non-existent, draw vividness and mystery into a reality of resolute laws of physics and mundane parameters. If one names it, there is a good chance I've done it: reading (of course), television and movies, Renaissance Festivals (I live near --arguably-- the largest and best in the United States), MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games, in essence the most "hard-core" type of gaming, often centered in a fantasy universe). "Cosplaying" or "LARPing" is on the to-do list, though I have yet to actually participate in either. 
One of my favorite universes is that created by author J. R. R. Tolkien: Middle Earth, stage for the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as the Hobbit and the Silmarillion. These are among my most favorite of films. Their story is gripping, their visual effects an ocular immersion, and their characters some of the most awesome and the most despicable or valorous. Being a strong believer in reading a book before one sees the cinematic adaptation, I am sad to say that, though I love what I have seen, I have not yet read the books. 
That is where this blog comes into play. Over the course of the next week to two weeks or so, I will be reading the first book in the Lord of the Rings, that is, the Fellowship of the Ring. Each day I will read at least one, maybe several chapters (I will attempt to group them well so as to tie in my responses) and write a reflection on my readings. In these compositions I will give my opinion on the story's progression both independently and with relation to the film, while sometimes incorporating Middle-Earthen culture or interesting information for a touch of extra engagement. 
My first post will be on Thursday, the 27th of June, 2013. Please enjoy and feel free to comment or respond.

Thanks for reading,
C