The wolf-pits, the wine harvest, the festival in hell

[sovay]

The first time I heard the story of Beren and Lúthien, I was taking the Green Line to the MFA to look at the cinerary urn of A. Folius Felix and his wife Manilia Optata, and captainbutler was telling it to me. My efforts to read The Silmarillion kept bouncing off the theogony of the Valar and the sense that I was reading the kind of nineteenth-century translation from the Sindarin that would have lost all the heft and strangeness of the language and retained only the word order; I never made it more than about fifty pages in. But when I went tonight to dinner with yhlee and other awesome people—these last seven days have almost been better than anything in the previous half-year—I brought with me the same jacketless first-edition hardcover I've been throwing myself at since high school, so I wouldn't have anything else to read on the subway.

Now fair and marvellous was that vessel made, and it was filled with a wavering flame, pure and bright; and Eärendil the Mariner sat at the helm, glistening with dust of elven-gems, and the Silmaril was bound upon his brow. Far he journeyed in that ship, even into the starless voids; but most often was he seen at morning or at evening, glimmering in sunrise or sunset, as he came back to Valinor from voyages beyond the confines of the world.

On those journeys Elwing did not go, for she might not endure the cold and the pathless voids, and she loved rather the earth and the sweet winds that blow on sea and hill. Therefore there was built for her a white tower northward upon the borders of the Sundering Sea; and thither at times all the sea-birds of the earth repaired. And it is said that Elwing learned the tongues of birds, who herself had once worn their shape; and they taught her the craft of flight, and her wings were of white and silver-grey. And at times, when Eärendil returning drew near to Arda, she would fly to meet him, even as she had flown long ago, when she was rescued from the sea. Then the far-sighted among the Elves that dwelt in the Lonely Isle would see her like a white bird, shining, rose-stained in the sunset, as she soared in joy to greet the coming of Vingilot to haven.

Maybe I will read The Children of Húrin after all.

Comments

[ex-greythist387.livejournal.com]

I found "Narn i hin Húrin" best of the stories in Unfinished Tales, and for that reason alone I've eyed Children warily and left it alone.

Anon....

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

I don't know that I'll be reading The Children of Húrin any time soon; few tales are sadder, and I'm having enough trouble staying off Prozac as it is.

[setsuled.livejournal.com]

I've been wanting to read The Silmarillion for a long time, and The Children of Hurin has been very tempting, especially with the Alan Lee illustrations. Damn my glacial reading pace . . . Those paragraphs you quote are beautiful, and I'd already been in the mood to wallow in Tolkien's prose after that fanfic thing. I need to be rebuilt, I need the technology, I need to read faster, stronger . . .

[palecast.livejournal.com]

I love the Silmarilion - better than LoTR I think. It is hard going but also marvellous and miraculous. I like the story of Beren and Luthien and the tale of Turin the best.

[carandol.livejournal.com]

Yes, you have to get *past* the first 50 pages before the Silmarillion gets good! It's a lovely book to read aloud. And The Children of Hurin is definitely worth reading, though much more dark and tragic than the prose you quote.

[clarionj.livejournal.com]

It has been so long since I've read The Simarillion. I loved it then and now you've made me want to go back. I haven't read The Children of Hurinyet and don't even own it yet. I'd like to go back and refresh myself on The Simarillion and Unfinished Tales first. If you do read it, let us know what you think. (Ah, there was a time I could name all the ancestors of Aragorn, all the connections to elves and men, all he was heir to and what ran in his blood. I loved the story behind his ring--oh I forgot to say that my copy of Aragorn's ring is one of the things I'd take with me first when packing those separate, careful boxes for moving. Actually, I keep it in my purse and hold it like a talisman when I need strength.)

[yukihada.livejournal.com]

I did get through The Silmarillion once when I was in junior high. (There should be a tshirt or button really for completing this book.) I did think it was beautiful and difficult so I put it off to the side & forgot most except for the little bits about Beren & Luthien.

Now I might just have to pick it back up again. Thanks for sharing.

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

Not sure if you've read all the stories in the Silmarillion yet, so shall avoid spoilers...

Beren and Luthien: "And long ago in the Hidden Kingdom she laid her hand in his." *cries about a pint of tears* I heard that on Tolkien and Mrs. Tolkien's gravestones it says Beren and Luthien. *beams*

Turin Turamabar and his nearest and dearest should just have pulled their socks up and gone on with their lives. My God, he's like someone from a Child Ballad. "But this is a folk song, so it all ends in tears..."--Brian Peters, in a live concert I once attended.

[zdenka]

Oooh. I see Tolkien fans.

Shameless plug: The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza I've belonged to Minas Tirith for about five months now, and I love it dearly.