Looking to the New Year.

Hello good reader!

When I started this blog I didn’t expect much (if any) of a positive response, but much to my delight and suprise I have recieved one. So, the infancy is over, and onward we march into the new year, heads held high and plans for it like bees swarming.

Today I’m going to share some of the plans I have for the future.

This year I find myself with nearly no responsabilities, and an astonishing amount of free time, which I plan to put to good use. I’ve got plans for this blog.

I’m going to be posting a lot more, about more things, and with greater care and quality put into what I write. I’ll be finishing the series I started on The Hobbit, and starting a new one on the Silmarillion in the later half of the year. I’ll also be doing more writing on poetry and short stories (some Poe to get things moving I think), films and comics, and basically an form of story-telling that’s worth while. I’ll be writing more stuff about art, and sharing more of my own, which has been a struggle this year because of a gimpy wrist. And if all goes according to plan, I’ll be starting a youtube channel for things that aren’t really suited to being shared on a blog (which includes some art stuff) and doing some collaborations with my good friend @Ianfjay from http://ianfjay.wordpress.com/, which will be great.

This year already looks good, thanks for being part of it.

Bravely onwards into the future. Until next time.

 

Character is doing what’s wrong when everyone is looking.

Character is doing the right thing

When no soul is in sight

Doing what makes you

What you are inside

 

Character is doing the best thing

That the world will never know

Making better the part of you

That you never’ll show

 

Character is doing the wrong thing

When on you the worlds eyes aim

Taking the fall, feeling the hate

To strengthen the flame

that burns inside

All That is Gold Does Not Glitter

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king

Hello good reader!

If by now you haven’t figured it out, today we’re going to be looking at J.R.R Tolkien’s poem ‘All That is Gold Does Not Glitter’ from The Lord of The Rings(I know, it wasn’t obvious at all was it?). This is one of my favourite poems, it’s short, to the point (which sounds midly contradictory as it’s abstract) and it’s starts with a marvelous subversion of an old proverb, whilst still respecting it. This post is going to get into some mildly intricate details of the mythology of Middle-Earth, be prepared Let’s start with the first line.

All that is gold does not glitter,

What a hook, seriously, this could be my favourite line of poetry ever, period. It’s so simple, and yet so clever. The old saying “All that glitters is not gold” (which, I believe is a deviation of a line from Shakespear’s ‘The Merchant of Venice”), is mean’t to communicate that not everything that is visually appealing, or beautiful, carries the traits of beauty deeper than it’s surface. Tolkien’s subtle change of this proverb completely changes the meaning. Now we can take from it that many things which have incredible value don’t show it. Now this is very clever, it subverts an old proverb that, I would say, everyone knows, and replaces it with something that is equally as true. It also sets up the whole premise of the poem, appearance and expectation don’t necessarily reflect truth.

      Not all those who wander are lost;

      This line is slightly more specific to the book (not that the first isn’t, this one just has less of an application to the real world. This line is implicitly reffering to the rangers (or more specifically the Dunedain Rangers). It suggests that the common belief that the rangers are somewhat aimless is incorrect.

      The old that is strong does not wither,

I must admit that I’m not actually specifically how this line refers to the story, although I can take an educated guess and say it’s about Aragorn’s lineage, seeing as he is from a far more pure and ancient line than the current ruler/steward of Gondor. This line als says something interesting about real life as well, as so often we believe that old things are inferior and weak.

      Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Just like the last line I can only assume that this line is reffering to Aragorn’s lineage, it carries pretty much the same conetations as the previous line. At this point I would like to point out that the first two lines share a syllable count of eight, and the second two of nine. To me this suggests that they are intentionally grouper according to their meaning, the first two lines speak about appearances or perceptions not truly reflecting that nature of a thing, whilst the second two speak about the strength and resiliance that old, well established things have.

I believe the second stanza is best looked at as a whole, so let’s do that.

     From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

    A light from the shadows shall spring;

    Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

    The crownless again shall be king

The syllabilic structure of this stanza is very interesting to me. At first one might think to group the first two lines together, and then the second two, which is fair enough, after all, ashes, fire and light clearly belong together, as do blade, crown[less] and King (when understood in the context of Narsil, Aragorn and Gondor). However upon deeper inspection, one can see that the first line has the same syllable count as the third, and the second with the fourth. This suggests to me that each line has two parters, So fire that wakes from the ashes doesn’t only belong with light coming from the shadows, but also with the reforging (through fire) of a blade. And then that The light from the shadows not only should be partered with the 5th line, but also with the crownless becoming king (which, if understood in context, does seem to fit quite well, considering that Aragorn more or less came out of the shadows to become king, think of how he is introduced in the story).

Anyway, that’s my understanding of the poem, I hope you learned something, or just enjoyed another perspective on the poems meaning. In the coming weeks I’ll be doing more like this, and posting some of my own poetry (word to the wise, it might make your eyes bleed).

Until next time.

That is All.

Update on the Hobbit series

Hello good reader!

I hope you’ve enjoyed what I have written on the Hobbit so far, because it’s been a pleasure to write. Due to the business of Christmas I can’t afford to put a lot of time into doing the Hobbit series, so until the new year, it’ll be taking a backseat. I’ll still be doing similar posts on literature/poetry each week, They’ll just be on simpler things (or if not simpler, shorter). I really didn’t feel as though I was doing The Hobbit justice with my posts, so taking a break and getting everything in order for a new start will help me to make the content better.

To start this temporary phase on a good note, tomorrow I’ll be taking a quick look at one of Toklien’s most well known poems, which will be a joy.

Until next time.

That is All.