Putri Prihatini Profile picture
Jun 13 5 tweets 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
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 An illustration of a Persia...Painting of several dragons...
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
Their depictions crossing boundaries between magic and modern marvel. To us, they're mechanical. To the people in the tales, they looked like a strange, dangerous magic. It's said that, after Gondolin, devices like the Iron Dragons wouldn't be seen again until the Great End. 4/4 An illustration of a black ...A painting of a dragon atta...
🎨
The ebony horse: Edmund Dulac, Swede Gustav Tenggren

Iron dragons: Roger Garland, John Howe (from their Fall of Gondolin paintings)

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Putri Prihatini

Putri Prihatini Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @BlogTolkien

Jun 13
"The Battle of Sơn Tinh and Thủy Tinh" is a Vietnamese myth behind monsoon flooding; a fight between Mountain God and Lord of Waters to win the hand of a princess, ending in perpetual grudge of the water lord.

A tale for #FairyTaleTuesday #FairyTaleFlash theme of weather. 1/4 An illustration of The Moun...
Mỵ Nương, a great king's daughter, was so beautiful that she wanted only the best suitors to show their powers. Sơn Tinh waved his hand to grow trees and raise mountains. Thủy Tinh summoned strong wind and rain and increased the sea level, making the choice difficult. 2/4 An illustration of a beauti...
Seeing Thủy Tinh's high temper, the king asked the suitors to race in bringing wedding gifts: a nine-tusk elephant, a nine-spur cockerel, and a nine-mane horse. This was a ploy to choose the gentler Sơn Tinh, since the gifts could be found more easily on his realm. 3/4 An illustration of a prince...
Read 5 tweets
May 23
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 A pen illustration of a sle...
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
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 A pencil sketch of a loungi...
Read 12 tweets
May 21
#FolkloreSunday 🧵 on whale sharks as local folklore in some areas in Indonesia:

Balikukup locals in my home province East Borneo call them Hiu Nenek ("Grandmother Shark"). Seen as a benevolent grandmother, fisherfolk consider it good luck if a shark swims past their boats. 1/8 A photograph of three whale...
Still in East Borneo, fisherfolk of Derawan Islands and Talisayan see the sharks as a blessing, since their appearance signify more fish to catch. In Talisayan, whale sharks even swim up for "breakfast" when fisherfolk throw less-than-ideal fish from their nets to them. 2/8 A photograph of a whale sha...
Villagers of Botubarani, Gorontalo Regency, call whale sharks Munggianggo Hulalo ("Moon Shark"). When they appear, people see it as a good time to fish. Locals feed the sharks fish and shrimp's heads to beckon them, and they are so friendly that children can play with them. 3/8 A photograph of a whale sha...
Read 8 tweets
May 16
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 An illustration of Frodo, a...
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
Read 10 tweets
May 16
Suvannamaccha is a mermaid that appeared in various Southeast Asian versions of Ramayana. She spoiled Hanuman's efforts to build a bridge across the sea. When they confronted each other, they fell in love and began a courting dance instead. 1/3

#FairyTaleTuesday #FairyTaleFlash A detail of a mural paintin...A dark brown statue of Suva...
In Thai and Cambodian versions, Suvannamaccha was the daughter of Ravana, the kidnapper of Sita (who Hanuman was trying to rescue with the bridge). Her and Hanuman had mutual understanding about their actions; the lovers departed amicably after the bridge was finished. 2/3 A giant temple mural in Tha...
The courting dance between Hanuman and Suvannamaccha was an inspiration for folk dances, including Thai Khon performance and Cambodian Robam Sovann Macha. The mermaid is a good luck charm in Thai folklore, represented on streamers or framed images in some shops and houses. 3/3 A Khon performance featurin...An image of a cloth banner ...
Read 4 tweets
May 10
A 🧵revisiting various bunny temples and shrines for #WyrdWednesday's Japan week.

1. Okazaki Shrine in Kyoto has bunny statues, wishing plaques, lanterns, and charms. The bunnies symbolize fertility and safe childbirth, and people who wish for those can rub the stone rabbits. A white rabbit statue with ...Close up of little mini whi...A black stone rabbit surrou...Statues of a rabbit and its...
2. Kamakura has Meigetsu-in, or "Temple of the Clear Moon", famous for its hydrangeas, moon-shaped window at the main hall, and various bunny statues, showing the folkloric connection between the moon and bunnies. The temple also takes care of bunnies. An image of a completely ro...A statue of a rabbit and st...A stone staircase toward th...
3. Miwa Shrine in Nagoya has a stone hare related to the legend of Hare of Inaba. In the story, a flayed hare was helped by the kind Ōkuninushi, who returned its fur. In gratitude, the hare helped him wooing Princess Yakami of Inaba instead of his selfish older brothers. The front yard of a small s...A statue of the Hare of Ina...
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(