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Court of War

A short break from Tolkien to discuss my new book.

All other books have been put on hold due to a simple lack of inspiration and overwhelming presence of monotony in the story. Court of War, however, is of a fantasy sub-genre known as Outpost Wars, where the war is not a LotR style, two massive armies clashing over massive cities kind of war, its a more skirmish-based fighting style, with smaller battles over important, strategically placed Outposts. Not to say there won’t be a siege battle near the end, but that won’t be commonplace.

Court of War is about a hero of the northern borderlands of the elven forest nation who, faced with a massive promotion and a powerful new enemy, is forced to take action. The renegade princess suddenly appearing in his Outpost is no help, needless to say. I’ve written the first 30% now, and I’d say this one has a much better chance of being finished than my many others.

The second part is a court intrigue with the princess trying to send help to the north, while her opposition seeks to see our hero fall, and his noble house with him. Many obstacles lie in the paths of both protagonists, but the question is, are they strong enough to overcome them?

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Sindarin vs Quenya

Another highly debated topic amongst us nerds. Which Eldarin language is ‘easiest ‘ to learn, and why? What different benefits come from learning each? Why do so many of us pour hours into learning them when they’re ‘practically useless’?

I do not claim to be fluent in either of these languages, though I have some passable Sindarin, and rudimentary Quenya. In my opinion, Quenya is easier to learn if you already speak a language with noun inflection. There are 10 cases, making things quite difficult for those of us who aren’t used to even having more than one. Quenya is quite simple grammatically aside from that, and has a more extensive vocabulary, making it more useable. Sindarin does not use noun inflection, however, it has a complex system of mutation where consonants often shift depending on the grammatical or phonological placement of the word. While this may be difficult to memorize, it’s certainly easier than 10 cases when you’ve never spoken more than 1.

Yes, i am aware that there are few benefits to learning a mythical language out of a book. However, I advocate that people stop claiming that it is ‘useless’, or that they have no benefits whatsoever. There is a widespread community of Tolkien nerds all over the internet who pour hours into this. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to communicate with somebody who doesn’t speak your native language simply because you are both fans of the same book? But if you need something more solid, here is one of the biggest practical benefits of learning Elvish (primarily Sindarin, but this applies to both): Once you’ve learned it, every other language you want to learn will seem incredibly simple.

Now, just why do we put so much time and effort into this? For some people, they see it as a way to honour what Tolkien created. For others, bringing such a crucial part of his world into ours helps to bring them closer to the core themes and helps them understand the deeper morals of the legendarium at a much deeper level. Some reasons aren’t as deep; my friend and I tried to learn it simply as a secret language so have secret conversations to keep secrets from the memeable-content-hunters who need to find all of your embarassing moments. While she soon fell away when the journey got difficult, I held on. We all do it for our own reasons. I simply do it for the fun of it. I get so much joy when, while re-reading the books for the forty-second time, I stumble across some Sindarin phrase that I understand. Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen! Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!

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Ents & Eagles

One of the most frequently asked questions in the Tolkien fandom is, how did the Ents come to be? The Eldar and Edain (Elves and Men) were created by Illuvatar, AKA God, and the dwarves were created by the Vala Aule in secret, but when were the Ents made? The answer is found in the Silmarillion, Of Aule and Yavanna.

After the dwarves had beeen made but before the Children of Illuvatar had come to Arda, Yavanna began to fear for the kelvar and olvar (plants and animals), that the Children of Illuvatar would slay them without pity. So she went to Manwe, king of the Valar, who spoke to Illuvatar. And Illuvatar heard Yavanna’s prayers, and told her that when the Elves are in their prime, and Men are yet young, trees would awaken, and be shepherds of the forest. And to Manwe was promised that there would be great Eagles to roam the skies, and to aid the Free Peoples of Middle earth when the need was most dire.

The Ents and Eagles are one and the same, simply different in form. They are not Maiar, though may be a lesser form of Ainu, though this cannot be confirmed. They are spirits subservient to the Ainur, and dwell amongst the Free Peoples, if only in isolation.

I’m sorry today’s article was quite short, but a lot of people have been asking me about this, so I thought I’d clear it up. I’ll be back with something long soon, maybe an essay on allegory?

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Galadriel of the Noldor

As I’ve said multiple times, my favourite character in the entirety of the Third Age is undoubtedly Galadriel, Lady of Light.

Age Born: Years of the Trees

Age: 7000+

Race: Noldor

Family: Finarfin (Father), Celeborn (Spouse), Celebrian (Daughter)

In the Age of the Trees we have her refusing Feanor her hairs, performing incredible athletic feats, and earning the great Quenya name Altariel, in addition to the Telerin Alatariel, meaning ‘maiden crowned by a radiant garland’, as her preferred hairstyle implies. In the First Age we have her going to Ennor, though apart from Feanor’s war. She fights against Morgoth for her own reasons, and proves herself as a much greater warrior than many a man in Feanor’s ranks. Tolkien descibes her as a ‘woman of Amazon disposition’. Amazons were, as you should know, the denizens of Themyscira, a race of warrior women in greek mythology, and of course the inspiration for the DC superhero Wonder Woman. In the Second Age she is married to Celeborn (this event and her voyage to Ennor are highly disputed among scholars, as Tolkien wrote two separate accounts of her story that contradict each other repeatedly, this is merely one account), and joins the Nandor living in the woods of Lothlorien. Finally, in the Third Age she is a ringbearer and great queen of the heart of elvendom in Middle-Earth, Caras Galadhon.

Galadriel, her Sindarin name (translating more directly to Lady of Light, calad + riel), was chosen when she came to Middle-Earth and the High-Elven tongue was banned by Elu Thingol, king of Doriath. She is often known as Galadhriel, which was a Nandorin joke at heart; Lady of the Forest. She is the last elf in Ennor in the Third Age to speak Quenya as a birth tongue; scholars may have spoken it, but it was learned at an older age. Frodo Baggins, for instance, was among them.

Portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the Jackson films, she performed wonderfully, fulfilling the role of Galadriel within the story. Any gripes I may have with her are from the writing. In Rings of Power, however, she was played by Morfydd Clark, and performed stunningly well. The writing was wonderful, and I can say nothing against her, despite my gripes with the show as a whole.

If I haven’t just bored you all to death, I may do other character biographies such as this one at a later date. Enjoy!

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Tolkien and Allegory

This is a widely discussed topic among the greatest of Tolkien scholars. While I do not claim that status, I wish to pledge my allegiance in this debate, make my views clear, and perhaps someone will find a nugget of wisdom in this that can make a difference in the big fight.

As a true Tolkien fan, I state that the Middle-Earth legendarium is not an allegory, and contains no major allegorical references to any real-world or religious events. In the Foreword to the Second Edition of the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien states very clearly:

“As for any inner meaning or ‘message’, it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical. As the story grew it put down roots (into the past) and threw out unexpected branches: but its main theme was settled from the outset by the inevitable choice of the Ring as the link between it and The Hobbit. The crucial chapter, “The Shadow of the Past’, is one of the oldest parts of the tale. It was written long before the foreshadow of 1939 had yet become a threat of inevitable disaster, and from that point the story would have developed along essentially the same lines, if that disaster had been averted.”

In the same foreword, I found an intriguing quote:

“I think that many confuse ‘applicability’ with ‘allegory’; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author.”

While it is, in fact, the reader, that gives the story true meaning, that is not allegory, merely them applying it to their own lives.

This is a very quick review of where I stand, and eventually I plan on writing a several-page article on the idea as a whole and address some of the opposition’s arguments, but this should satisfy you for the time being