The Hall of Fire

And I. And all of us. Precisely the difficulty I have had with it for years. I just try not to think about it. That way lies madness. ;) Then I must be mad, because for me, far from being a difficulty, I find this merging of free will and predestination to be one of the most profound things about T...

And I. And all of us.

Its not a pleasant story, that's for sure. Not the least because Nerdanel does not come off much better then Fëanor himself. But quite revealing, I think.

Although I enjoy the Silmarillion I ache at what it might have been. I wish with all my heart that the full Quenta could have been as fully expanded as it was in the narratives in "Unfinished Tales". It's only there that we see the Silmarillion written in the narrative style of Lord of th...

Wampuskitty, I don't find your views peculiar at all.

Not a chance.

And yes, I know that I am not ttbk

Welcome to Toby Hall and Elfshadow.

A great big (but very chaste, of course) and to Mrs. Frodo Baggins.

My opinion is that since this thread is mostly for pictures, people should not feel obliged to shrink them to fit. Of course, ultra-large pictures should probably be avoided, but we haven't had anything approaching that yet.

ETA: And I am one who is on dial-up.

Welcome, oldtoby! Great to see you here.

Athrabeth wrote:I already have my books waiting to be packed for our Mexican holiday next month: Le Carre's Constant Gardener,

Ath, I just stared reading The Constant Gardener and I like it very much.

Welcome, Samaranth. I know that it is probably getting old for people to hear me keep saying this, but I am so happy to see you here.

there can be times, particularly at climactic moments in the music, where you feel that it's not you at all, but something "playing through you." In essence, the volitional aspect of it drops out as you are swept up in the power of the music being created. I have heard many musicians desc...

I trust you.

VERY interesting, Jn. Particularly the story of your dream.

My dear vison, no one can tell you that your way of appreciating something is the wrong way. Not me, not yourself, and not Tolkien. I had probably read the LOTR 25 times before I ever read the Silmarillion (let alone the UT and the HoME). It had a profound effect on my spirit when Fëanor was nothing...

That's interesting, vison, because I have come to think that a big part of Tolkien's great brilliance was his ability to show the subtleties of evil. But you have to look at characters like Melkor, Fëanor, Thingol, Denethor, Boromir, Saruman, Túrin and Húrin to see that, not the orcs. His ability to...

Thanks, Al. You know, when this project was first announced, I was quite skeptical at the idea of capturing the LOTR in one musical. But I am very impressed with what I have seen. I now think that there is a good chance that it will be a worthy addition to the lore of Middle-earth.

Whatever else one may say, Mr. Rumsfeld has been entertaining. I love this 'poem' taken from one of his briefings: The Unknown As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know. But...

W, that is one of the most remarkable pictures I have ever seen.