I’ve finished The Lord of the Rings. I mean, I haven’t read through to the last page yet, but I’ve finished it for all intents and purposes. The One Ring found its fate in the boiling lava of Mount Doom along with that erstwhile hobbit-cum-cavern creature Gollum. Not to mention Frodo‘s ring finger. For some reason I can’t understand, Tolkien decides that another hundred pages are required following this massive climax. I just want to assume that they made their way home, found the aging Bilbo talking to himself in Rivendell, settled into their little garden homes in the Shire and smoked pipeweed until they met their maker (specifically Eru Ilúvatar). That’s fine for me. I don’t need to drudge through the impending travels back across Middle Earth. Strider is the king now. WHOA! Frodo saved the world (which cost him a finger). WHOA! All the magic rings have now become useless and mortality prevails in Middle Earth. Wow. Tolkien needed to learn to quit while he was ahead.
I will say that since the last time I wrote about this, much happened (obviously). Most dramatically, I became obsessed with The Lord of the Rings and the lore created within. I stand by my earlier thought that the first book is trash. It is of a pair with this ending. Dragging us through near meaningless drivel. But, the party starts with the second book. Oh boy. And it doesn’t end until that little slimy demon Smeagol falls into the mountain cauldron. I don’t have much to say. I won’t analyse too much. I am ready to get back to literature, something that produces extra thought, not just imaginative excitement. But I can’t deny that excitement. I will just share two videos that buoyed that excitement while I was still riding the high of it all. CGP Grey is just about the best thing on YouTube. And he came out with these two videos just in time to stir the nerd fire in my heart. I won’t be reading the Silmarillion, so I am glad that someone did it for me. Enjoy:
Rain City Stories 