Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #TolkienTrewsday
Most recents (6)
For #Tolkien, Faerie is the land of endless beauty and peril, where humility is required. The concept is present in many of his works, but it's also something I'm familiar with from what's known as Hutan Larangan ("sacred forest").
A 🧵for #TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday 1/8
A 🧵for #TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday 1/8
In Tolkien's early writing, an explorer, Eriol, was about to enter a tiny magical house called the Cottage of Lost Play. The house asked him to will himself to be as tiny as the "little folk" to enter. We can read it as a test of humility. 2/8
🎨: Amani Warrington
🎨: Amani Warrington
One of Tolkien's "fairy poems" showed the consequence of acting with arrogance when you got a chance to enter the Faerie: the unnamed narrator was reduced to a rambling wreck, suffering an indescribable feeling of loss. 3/8
The Ebony Horse in Arabian Nights and Iron Dragons in The Fall of Gondolin shared fascination over mechanical beasts in classic fantasy tales, and how they are viewed in the lens of folktale/fairy tale and modern eyes. 1/4
#TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday #Tolkien
#TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday #Tolkien
In The Ebony Horse, the flying horse was made by a craftsman who was later imprisoned over a disastrous flying test; he tampered with the horse for revenge. Meglin (Maegln) suggested the Iron Dragons to Melko, who ordered his smiths and sorcerers to make them. 2/4
Note that Tolkien started The Fall of Gondolin after his experiences in the battlefield of Somme. The Iron Dragons, with their "hearts and spirits of blazing fire" and clanging hollow bellies from where Orcs poured out, sounds like magic infused with the image of tanks. 3/4
For my second #TolkienTrewsday tweet on "animals": a thread on Tolkien's quaint poem about a dreaming cat. In the legendarium, this poem was written by Samwise Gamgee, showing Hobbits' love toward lighthearted animal lore. 1/12
#TolkienTuesday #Tolkien
🎨: Patrick Tolen
#TolkienTuesday #Tolkien
🎨: Patrick Tolen
Tolkien wrote it in 1956 for his granddaughter, starting it with a cute image of a cat sleeping. One might think this cat was dreaming of mice and a bowl of cream:
The fat cat on the mat/
may seem to dream/
of nice mice that suffice/
for him, or cream.
But they're wrong!
2/12
The fat cat on the mat/
may seem to dream/
of nice mice that suffice/
for him, or cream.
But they're wrong!
2/12
This seemingly tame cat dreamed about being a large, ferocious beast. Tolkien described the animal in the cat's dream as its distant kin:
Lean and slim/
or deep in den/
in the East feasted on beasts/
and tender men.
3/12
🎨: Alan Lee
Lean and slim/
or deep in den/
in the East feasted on beasts/
and tender men.
3/12
🎨: Alan Lee
For #TolkienTrewsday theme of favorite character: one part that always makes me see Frodo in special way is when he volunteered to carry the Ring to the fire, but followed it with softer, "Though I do not know the way."
#TolkienTuesday #Tolkien 1/10 🧵
🎨: Jenny Dolfen
#TolkienTuesday #Tolkien 1/10 🧵
🎨: Jenny Dolfen
This part is so poignant; when all these great Men, Elves, and Dwarves were debating, and no one answered the question about who will carry the Ring, the only one volunteered was this Hobbit who had been hurt by Morgul blade and wanted nothing but going home. 2/10
The fact that he followed it with a soft "I don't know the way" showed his inner strength. He still couldn't see the magnanimity of the situation. He just knew there would be consequences of not destroying the Ring. He volunteered even before thinking about the details. 3/10
For #TolkienTrewsday theme of villain: this thread is from my blog post on the Paths of the Dead and the Dead Men that haunted the place. Their origin was unique because they started as "the oath breakers". 1/5
🎨: The Paths of the Dead by Darrell Sweet
#TolkienTuesday #Tolkien
🎨: The Paths of the Dead by Darrell Sweet
#TolkienTuesday #Tolkien
The Dead Men were originally the Men of the Mountains. Their king had sworn allegiance to Isildur at the Stone of Erech. However, when Isildur summoned them to fight against Sauron, they refused. Furious, Isildur cursed them to never find rest until their oath was fulfilled. 2/5
The Dead Men emphasized the importance of an oath. Several instances of oath-taking in Middle-earth legendarium played important parts in history; from the infamous Oath of Fëanor to the Oath of Eorl, made under the names of Eru and Valar (thus invoking “divine power”). 3/5
Hi I had no idea #tolkientrewsday was a thing but as a war historian I feel compelled to chime in on the Visions of War theme! I’d like to highlight the variety of ways Tolkien has explored war: geopolitically, strategically, and socially. 1/15
One thing Tolkien consistently features is alliances, both of good and of evil. The letter from Gil-galad to Tar-Meneldur in Aldarion and Erendis (Unfinished Tales) is a brilliant case study of how the Free Peoples maximise security: 2/15
they don’t rely on principles of self-help, but on trust and cooperation. Does it mean they never act in self-interest? Of course not. But it’s incredibly notable how much Tolkien frames alliance in terms of “friendship”, beyond simply political alignment. 3/15
