More Of My Nerd Problems

I did a couple more:

Although today it turned out one of the people in the class didn't know Disney had bought Lucasfilms and that two more Star Wars films were on their way. Where exactly has he been for the past year?

I swear, when I saw that rock in the glass case in the science building with the placard "sillimanite", the first thing I thought was, "Silmaril." And if there's anything I've learned from The Silmarillion, it's that the Silmarils are Magnets Of Doom. Do not touch.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Stick Figures Rule

No doubt, many of us have heard of the online comic strip consisting solely of stick figures by now: xkcd. I haven't seen too much of it, but what I have seen of it is hilarious (a few cartoons of it appear to be taped to the door of one of my chemistry teachers' office).

I especially appreciate this one from today:

Yay! Bonus points for The Silmarillion references, and for addressing the myth that everyone else in the time of Christopher Columbus believed the world was round. They did not. This is a myth perpetuated by people who want you to believe that the Catholic Church was stupid, superstitious, and uneducated, whereas clever Columbus was smarter than all those bishops and priests and knew his science.

Wrong!

In fact, we can blame Washington Irving for most of this Columbus-proved-the-world-was-round business. Since he's best known for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, that should tell you about as much as you need to know about his reputation for historical accuracy. (I think he was also the one responsible for The Knickerbocker Tales, or whatever that book was called. Which also purported to be historical... with a decidedly fictional twist.)

Scholars knew the world was round by the time of St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas (i.e., 13th century). In fact, Christopher Columbus was questioned by some scholarly clergy who worried that he had vastly underestimated the size of the Earth and that he would run out of supplies before he ever reached the Orient. Indeed, he had vastly underestimated the size of the Earth, and if the Americas had not been in his way he would have been doomed.

That being said, it would have made for an awesome plot twist if he had ended up in Valinor. Granted, he would not have been allowed to set foot on the shores of the Blessed Realm after that little fiasco with Ar-Pharazon, who tried to invade it, had rocks fall on his head, and is now sealed in a cave until the end of time. But it would still have been cool.

Granted, we wouldn't have heard from him ever again or would not have believed him, so it wouldn't have done any good. But still... nerds can dream on, can't we? XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Honest Titles for The Silmarillion

These are all insanely accurate. Basically, The Silmarillion consists of thousands of years of the Valar trying to build the world (or tear it down in the case of Melkor/Morgoth, a.k.a. Sauron's boss) and the Elves running around fighting over jewelry. Have you noticed that jewelry is always evil in Tolkien's world?

I wish my copy of The Silmarillion was as pretty as this cover. No, mine is tiny and gray with a hilariously hideous picture of Feanor on the cover. At least, I assume it's Feanor. The three Silmarils (the jewels he made, over which everyone fights and after which the book is named) are the only clue. His clothes look like something worn by a mad old fortune-teller woman, with a shawl and all, in ludicrous shades of red and yellow. He appears to have blue hair, blue earrings, and some sort of tiara thing. Oh, and bracelets.

Me: ??????

Seriously, I've seen better fanart. A lot of better fanart. (For some reason, a lot of fangirls like Feanor. I can't see why. He's an idiot. Maedhros and Maglor? Sure I have a soft spot for them. But not for their idiot dad.)

It reminds me of an early copy of The Hobbit (or The Lord of the Rings, I can't remember) which had an emu and a tree with pink fluffy balls on it, meant to suggest a Christmas tree. J. R. R. Tolkien was informed that the painter hadn't had time to read the book.

He was understandably very upset about it.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

A Minor Realization

So, the other day (or, more accurately, the other week, but I'm only just now getting around to blogging about it) I realized in the "Tolkien Trivia" interview with the Dwarf cast something very interesting happened. Granted, the whole interview is hilarious because the interviewer asks, "What is the most obscure piece of Tolkien trivia you know?" and the cast and crew members (including the director!) splutter.

One of them said, "He was born in South Africa?" (True. In Bloemfontein. You have just been educated.)

And then the clip cuts to Richard Armitage who calmly recites an incident in The Silmarillion where the Dwarves and the Elves fought over a pricless artifact, the Nauglamir, or Necklace of the Dwarves, which had been set with one of the three ultimate jewels, the Silmarils.

All very good. I instantly had strong feelings of hero worship for the man, since it is impossible for me not to hero worship someone like that who is dedicated enough to have read The Silmarillion. Because one does not simply read that book. It is about as bad as wading through the Old Testament! (I'm in Numbers right now, by the way. *tries to stay awake through the lists of clans*)

THEN I had my realization.

Richard Armitage did not use the word "Nauglamir". He said "Nauglafring". "Nauglafring" was the word for it in earlier editions of Tolkien's words, as published in The History of Middle-earth, particularly the first and second volumes, known as The Book of Lost Tales I and II.

HE'S READ THE BOOK OF LOST TALES.

Gah.

He is seriously amazing. In fact, that only other member of the cast who has more Tolkien geek qualifications than RA is probably Sir Christopher Lee, who actually met Tolkien. You can't beat that.

...Never mind me. I'll just be giggling in a fit of hero worship over here. Never mind me...

In Pace Christi,

Elyse