Preliminary Thoughts

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Well, we're getting there.

[Primula Baggins]

Asymptotically.

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

I don't know if my vote counts for much but I think it's a worthwhile undertaking and should be continued. The journey may, at times, seem like a slog but I believe there is so much more to analyse, disagree on and stimulate discussion in later chapters. The structure, idiom, scope and ambition explode after The Fellowship of the Ring so you should definitely keep at it.

I'll try to catch you up.

[Impenitent]

I'm involved, but silently.

I just don't have the...whatever it was that swept over me when I started the Silmarillion study group on TORC ten years ago (TEN YEARS AGO! ) And even back then, after getting it off the ground, I was more the custodian than the discussion leader, and often found myself too busy to actually contribute, no matter my best intentions.

So, I'll just go sit behind Al and Frelga and take notes, shall I?

[Primula Baggins]

Whatever this is, I want to be part of it.

To have the chance to talk about a book that means so much to me (that saved my mother's life, years ago . . . that meant the same to me not that much more recently). . . .

Anyway. I'm as in as I possibly can be.

[Primula Baggins]

Whatever this is, I want to be part of it.

To have the chance to talk about a book that means so much to me (that saved my mother's life, years ago . . . that meant the same to me not that much more recently). . . .

Anyway. I'm as in as I possibly can be.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Gorthaur, your vote counts for much! And Prim, that was definitely worth saying twice.

I'll wait another day or so and see if anyone else want to volunteer to get the next chapter started, and if not, I'll go ahead and work something out.

[kzer_za]

I'm not quite at Khazad-dûm yet, but I could probably do a writeup in the future!

[Primula Baggins]

Phooey, now I can't cover my tracks. . . .

[Voronwë the Faithful]

My work here is done.

(Not really, of course, but it sounds like a maverick and danger to us all kind of thing to say )

[Primula Baggins]

Pbbbbbthtttttthhhhhhhhhh.

Now I'll get back to my regular mission of elevating the tone around here.

[Morwenna]

I'm in! I don't come onto the site every day, and mostly I'm trying to catch up with reading all the posts relating to the chapters that have been done already. But I do want to continue!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Yay! I think I will move on to Lothlórien, unless someone wants to volunteer to begin the discussion on that chapter.

[Beorhtnoth]

I wonder whether there is any enthusiasm for continuing with the next chapter, "The Mirror of Galadriel"? I find Galadriel Tolkien's most enigmatic character (save perhaps Tom Bombadil), and Boromir's warnings of her "sorcery" from the previous chapter more prescient than credited.

(As an aside, I somehow felt "short-changed" when reading of Galadriel in The Silmarillion, as though her role had somehow been diminished.)

B

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There is no way that that comment is not a reference to my book. You are a lot more well-read than you are letting on.

And I for one would love to continue on, so long as I don't have to lead the discussion.

[Beorhtnoth]

I regret I haven't (yet) read Arda Reconstructed, but, yes, I was employing a little sorcery of my own, as a carrot to begin the next chapter. I am not a great practitioner of magic!

In my wandering of the Hall of Fire I've dipped my toe in most of the forums, and picked up on your observations regarding Galadriel. It interests me specifically because I do find this Elven queen wonderfully ambiguous, and the best illustration of how Elves are not just Men with pointy ears.

[Inanna]

I would like to as well.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I regret I haven't (yet) read Arda Reconstructed, but, yes, I was employing a little sorcery of my own, as a carrot to begin the next chapter. I am not a great practitioner of magic!

In my wandering of the Hall of Fire I've dipped my toe in most of the forums, and picked up on your observations regarding Galadriel. It interests me specifically because I do find this Elven queen wonderfully ambiguous, and the best illustration of how Elves are not just Men with pointy ears.

[Beorhtnoth]

I have an idea to present the next chapter, The Mirror of Galadriel, for discussion, but knowing it incorporates a wealth of contention, I wonder whether, unlike other chapters, a short summation without commentary might be the best avenue to take?

I think this is, possibly, the most important chapter, tying LotR inextricably with the Silmarillion.

What thinkyou?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Please go ahead and start a new thread on the chapter. I will leave it up to you if you want to start with a short summary without commentary, or not.

ETA: By the way, for the record, I thought your response to my comment "I'll be back," which I saw before you deleted it, was funny.