Share Your Thoughts About AR (for the Average Tolkien Fan)

A forum for discussion of Voronwë's book, Arda Reconstructed: The Creation of the Published Silmarillion
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Lalaith
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Share Your Thoughts About AR (for the Average Tolkien Fan)

Post by Lalaith »

:woohoo: I have my copy! I'm so thrilled!

So far I've only had time to read the foreword, but I plan to start into it a bit tonight.

(Okay, yeah, basically, I just wanted to gloat and be the first to post in this forum. :D )
Last edited by Lalaith on Sat Jun 20, 2009 4:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
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vison
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Post by vison »

Grrr.

Goldang Canada Post. :x
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Post by Lalaith »

=:)

Normally I'd feel bad for you, but I'm just feeling ornery tonight!

Feel free to chastise me at will.
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Post by vison »

No, because you might like it. ;)
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Primula Baggins
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Post by Primula Baggins »

I have mine.

I've read it twice, but (a) the first time was a different version entirely and (b) both times were a copyedit, which is not a read for pleasure. I hope to settle down to actually enjoy it this weekend.

I am ashamed to confess that I have not yet read the entire Silmarillion, so I won't be providing any deep insights; but I very much look forward to reading other people's.

I did learn how to spell all the names, some in several versions. That was fun. My style sheet was immense. I did come away grateful that it ended up being "Celeborn" in LotR, not "Teleporno." But the reasons for the two versions of the name were fascinating.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Post by Alatar »

Woohoo!

I'm up to, lemme see, whatever the next chapter is after the short one on "Of Thingol and Melian"

And just to put V's mind at rest, (and anyone else's for that matter), it is very readable as a standalone book. I was afraid I'd need to read on a table, with copies of HoME and the Silmarillion all laid out for reference. In fact it reads very similarly to "The History of the Hobbit".

I am enjoying it thoroughly.
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Post by yovargas »

I did come away grateful that it ended up being "Celeborn" in LotR, not "Teleporno."
Are you being serious? :suspicious:
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

Al, that is most gratifying to read! Certainly, one can read the book with copies of HoMe books scattered around you and following along the Silmarillion page by page. But it was definitely my goal that people wouldn't have to (and that in fact it wasn't necessary to even have read HoMe to follow the book). Essentially, the goal was that I would have the HoMe books scattered around me, so that you (the general you) would not have to. Or something like that.
In fact it reads very similarly to "The History of the Hobbit".
That's a high compliment, indeed!
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Post by Alatar »

Indeed! You could call it "The History of the History of Middle Earth" or H^2oME...
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Post by Lalaith »

I read through Chapter 2 last night. :) Voronwë, I like it very much! I am such a Tolkien neophyte, but I can still understand everything you're saying. I love the Sil, actually, and I'm thinking it might be nice to reread it alongside your book. I can already see that I'm going to have questions, and I'm wondering if we could have a thread for that. (I was thinking of starting it and calling it "No Question is Stupid, Right?" :D But if you have another idea that would be fine.)
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

Lali, I swear to God I had that very same thought this morning. In fact, I was going to start such a thread, but I would be just as happy (or happier) if you were to do so).
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Post by Lalaith »

<cue Twilight Zone music>

Well, great minds think alike, right?

I will start the thread, but I'll try to think of a better title.
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Post by River »

Maybe mine will show up soon...

Teleporno? Teleporno?? OMG, and I though "Trotter" was near miss...
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Post by Primula Baggins »

It grows from the relationship between consonants in the two Elvish languages (I think that's right). And of course at the time Tolkien was writing, either name would have sounded fine. The book dodged a bullet there.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Post by N.E. Brigand »

Woo and hoo! Mine arrived this morning as I left for work, but I had to leave it, waiting for me just inside the front door. Congratulations, Voronwë!
Voronwë_the_Faithful wrote:On p. 216, it says "as renown a Tolkien scholar as Shippey", when it ought to be "renowned".
Ah, well that one is a particular shame, I think. ;)
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Post by yovargas »

Primula Baggins wrote:And of course at the time Tolkien was writing, either name would have sounded fine.
Was the term "pornography" not coined until later? :?
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Post by N.E. Brigand »

yovargas wrote:
Primula Baggins wrote:And of course at the time Tolkien was writing, either name would have sounded fine.
Was the term not coined until later?
It dates to the 1850s: << Etymology >>
However, I think the abbreviation is more recent.
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Post by vison »

I wonder if I should camp out at the post office?
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

N.E. Brigand wrote:
Voronwë_the_Faithful wrote:On p. 216, it says "as renown a Tolkien scholar as Shippey", when it ought to be "renowned".
Ah, well that one is a particular shame, I think. ;)
Yes, indeed. :neutral: Oh well.

vison, it will be there soon, I'm sure.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Post by Lalaith »

Okay, now I'm not feeling ornery, so I can be properly sympathetic. :( Sorry, vison.

(And you're right--I probably would've enjoyed the chastisement! =:) )
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