The Hall of Fire

It's strange how quaint this seems after all these years.

"why do I keep my mind on you all the time..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0KzLo0-6Ro

Thanks River and LM. My impression of AS was based on a few of his books and the odd thing I'd heard of him over the years. And I'm so sorry Frelga. We're Ukrainian and Serbian on my love's side, with Polish and Austrian on my side. When it comes to that part of the world, my default is to blame acc...

Huh? Never thought of Solzhenitsyn in those terms. IIRC he supported Putin's desire of a return to "Russian values" (whatever that means); I daresay he would be no fan of Putin now.

ETA: timing

Absolutely. There's something so old-school about all of this. When you throw the off-again, on-again plans to develop a missile shield in Poland into the mix, a return to Cold War ways seems more likely every day. (Which was predicted as early as when the missile shield was being discussed in the m...

River wrote:Whoops. The truth about the Crimean referendum results slipped out

Those kind of numbers -- the slipped ones -- have lead to a few majority governments in Canadian elections. No joke.

That fleshes the story out nicely. Thanks Elen. I've been wondering for some time why the story of Joseph just gets started then takes a detour for all of Genesis 38... the notion is a bit hazy... not sure yet how to say it, but here goes: The theme of Genesis 38 mirrors the over-arching theme of th...

Very powerful stuff... Surrender! April 17, 2014 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” — Exodus 14:13–14 O...

Whatever the flaws of DOS, Evans was inspired casting. I was skeptical at first, but he ends up being one of the most likeable and believable characters across all five films. Yes, I quite like him as Bard. He brings a certain gravity -- which is essential to pulling off Bard, obviously -- not just...

I have a bad feeling about this... If you're referring to the incident with the Dragon, Legolas is barely involved. Here's my prediction: Orcs will attack Laketown in concert with Smaug. Legolas will be there only to keep them away from Bard (cementing the alliance between Elves and Men). The real ...

Thanks for the link Sir V. On a related note, and perhaps I'm not looking in the right places, I haven't seen any serious criticism on The Fall of Arthur and it's been almost a year since its release. I assume the same channels would generate some reflections on Tolkien's Beowulf if such channels ex...

Most excellent...

Not very long ago, here in the Arthur thread, NEB expressed hope of seeing an edition by 2017. Bittersweet perhaps, but welcome news nonetheless.

A quick aside: it is entirely possible for an author or editor to do any number of things systematically *and* unconsciously. Any number of times I have looked back at my own work and noticed glaringly obvious trends I was oblivious to while writing and revising. The result can be more revealing th...

Thanks Lali, Here's one that came through today: What Are We? January 26, 2014 What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. — Psalm 8:4–5 In Psalm 8, King David asked: “What...

axordil wrote:
Did anyone else note how Thorin's profile neatly lined up with that of the great stone dwarf statue (his grandfather?) outside during his one speech before the hidden door?

Yes... which rendered Balin's line about Thorin acting like his grandfather superfluous.

If you toggle Top Critics, DoS is at 100% right now.

And a mixed review from Geek Nation, that includes the single most discouraging paragraph that I have seen so far: What’s missing from Desolation of Smaug is Bilbo. I certainly hope that he is overstating the case. This may be spoilerish so I'll err on the side of caution. In one of the reviews (no...

Negative review from Slant Magazine: http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug Was coming to post this. The following captures what came to mind while I was watching TTT last night: [DoS] forgets these adventures' magic was never conjured by bells and whistles. The...

Voronwë the Faithful wrote:Yes, it was my intention (though in a flippant way).

Ah, great minds sort of

ETA: However, I was tempted to vote for Angelina Jolie, just to be different. This is a good answer to the question, "What is it with Tolkien and Dragons?" insofar as it brings Beowulf into the discussion. But perhaps that was not your intention? (It was mine when I clicked on the thread,...