The Hall of Fire

Football Club. I may do it alone here, but for the first time in what seems an age, I can wax lyrical about the team whose every heart-beat is in synchronicity with my own. And that's football,. as in soccer. No snide comments from this side of the Herring Pond; "soccer" has been in use he...

I have been slowly (possibly slower than any book that I have ever read before) working my way through Douglas Kane's work, and I have to admit I am thoroughly fascinated by it. The scholarship involved is meticulous, and admirable for that. Hats off! :) Yet as I progress through this book (this enj...

Henry Ford was an expert at artificially simplifying the complex, and reducing the world to gears and predictability. History isn't bunk. History is evidence of a restless race - constantly, imperfectly, peacefully and murderously, seeking higher ground. The Fir-Bolg are always there, but to our cr...

I have a slightly askance view of what is transpiring here. The UN is challenging a power base that is distinct from its auspices. The RCC has its own laws, own rules, own rationale; all distinct from the UN, which is this paragon of probity and virtue... OK, sarcasm is most likely unwarranted, but ...

A dispassionate appraisal of war crimes is near impossible, I guess. Stalin had it right; one death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic. But it is always qualified; a million of their deaths is a statistic. One of our deaths is a tragedy. Irrespective of the "our" and "their&qu...

Ethical relativism may well be a steep and dangerous slope, but ethical absolutism does not enjoy any particular position of authority. :) x kills a man y kills 2 men. Is y twice the criminal of x? I think the single most criminal act of WWII was the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki.* The bombadier on th...

Without making any specific comment on the rights or wrongs of this event, I wonder why there is this discomfort with historical revisionism. I am not a historian, but even from my lay perspective, I am aware that if I read a history book from the nineteenth century, and read a text that covers the ...

But there is also this: `Many things I can command the Mirror to reveal,' she answered, `and to some I can show what they desire to see So I really don't think that it is a stretch to suppose that she could see what is going on in Ithilien by commanding the Mirror to reveal what is happening with F...

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...

Oh dear. I feel a need to apologise again. I've held back from making any comment, and then jumped in with one impression from your book that I found of specific interest, only to be told that I am making a "repeated statement" (really?) regarding implied misogyny. You are, of course, corr...

I'd be curious to know where in the book you think that it states that Christopher Tolkien exhibits misogyny, with specific references to the comments made that you believe say that. Because I don't recall ever saying that. :scratch: My error, V. I am forever confusing usage of "..." in a...

My reading Arda Reconstructed is ongoing, but within this partial exposure, I found the focus on Christopher Tolkien's "misogyny" somewhat discordant. For example, there is much play made of the excising of Galadriel as "the most valiant" (AR p74). Is this really an example of mi...

Smaug's voice wrote:Grrrr

welcome

Grrrr

Why thank you. Does Smaug talk with sidd's voice?

No substantive posts here, as yet. My powder is drying...

Good to make your reacquaintance, S_v.

Voronwë, you have my promise that I will share my thoughts on Arda Reconstructed when I have given your work its deserved attention.

Frelga, your welcome has caused the broadest smile to stitch itself to my lips. I am immensely flattered, but fear I am signally undeserving of such a greeting.

Welcome to my friend, jotnar! :welcome: Thank you Voronwë, my friend, for your most kind greeting. It has taken me a little time to find this treasure trove of a site, and as one of those who have been obliquely criticised for their approach "in another place", I will ensure my style is s...