A little Tolkien, anyone?

[LTBF]

Has anyone seen the trailer for LOTH:ROTK yet? I know it is out, with "Secondhand Lions," but I have not seen it yet.

I have just finished reading a new little paper-back book that deals with Frodo's quest. It is quite philosophical. In fact, it is based on ideas found in theosophy. I very vaguely know what theosophy is, and what it espouses, and I can't say I am too much impressed with many of its ideas, but it is interested when used to interpret Frodo and his mission.

I'll post more about the book later. It is interesting and fairly easy reading, and discusses some of the things we discussed on this board: for example, who or what Tom Bombadil is.

I saw a short item about the movie today, and the impression conveyed was that it is by far the best of the three movies, and will almost certainly have to dealt with by the Oscar folks. We'll see. I eagerly await its release in less than two months!

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

_________

EDITOR'S NOTE: Here's a link to order the book from Amazon: <a href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=bamanation&p=8&asins=0835608239&IS2=1&lt1=_blank" target=_new">FRODO'S QUEST</a>

[This message has been edited by BamaNation (edited 10-27-2003).]

 

[bobstod]

Well now, Caroline; you have got me all curious about theosophy and this little paperback book.

I wonder if we can get another thread started to equal the Tolkein threads that started this board! They were wonderous!

BTW, I had heard from a reliable source that the third LOTR movie was not going to be the last. That they felt that they were having to cut too much great stuff to get it down under four hours, and decided to split the material into two movies, therefore allowing the inclusion of much more good footage. Do you know if this is true?

 

[LTBF]

Bob, I hadn't heard that, but wouldn't it be wonderful if it were true?

Besides, why kill a giant cash cow? Yesterday's article said that the first two movies had grossed over $600M dollars each (I think. I'll check that out).

I'll post more from the book and its title and from the NP article.

Can't wait!

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

 

[LTBF]

Here's the skinny from yesterday's Birmingham News:

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, from New Line, opening Dec. 19.

CONCEPT: A mega-franchise finishes up. Elves win.

EXPECTATIONS: Duh. The franchise keeps getting more lucrative, with the first two movies garnering $313 million and $339 million, domestically.

BUZZ: Rumor has it it's the best script of the three. This third "ring" is getting a big Oscar push both for Best Picture and for director Peter Jackson.

Sorry about misquoting the amounts originally. I tend to get carred away with very large amounts. A few billion here, a few billion there, and it begins to add up!

The book is entitled <a href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=bamanation&p=8&asins=0835608239&IS2=1&lt1=_blank" target="_new">Frodo's Quest: Living the Myth in The Lord of the Rings</a>. It was written by Robert Ellwood (appropriate name, don't you think?), who is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Religion from the University of Southern California. It was published by The Theosophical Society of America, so be warned that it is full of their ideas.

Ellwood says that Tom Bombadil "suggests primal unfallen humanity in Eden or perhaps in the 'imperishable Sacred Land' of Theosophical tradition, the first home of the earliest human beings. He lives in harmony with nature in a wonderful way almost incomprehensible to us." He (TB)seems to live out of the rich, joyous energy of the primal earth, knowing all wild things.

Ellwood comments that "it goes without saying" that Tom's relationship with Goldberry is a full joyous sexual one, and that Tolkien, being the Victorian that he was, always skirted around anything sexual, only suggesting, never stating directly.

Ellwood compares Galadriel to Sophia in the Book of Proverbs and identifies her with the Blessed Virgin Mary, which makes sense, since Tolkien was a very devoted Catholic.

He provides this context: When Tolkien was hard at work finishing up his book in the 1950s, the coldest part of the Cold War was all around us. It was at this time (1950)that Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption of the BVM into Heaven, and Ellwood quotes Graham Greene, a Catholic convert himself, as saying that "'Sometimes it seems as though the supernatural were gathering its forces in our support, and whom should we expect in the vanguard but Our Lady?'" (Life, Oct. 30, 1950, p. 56.)

Ellwood makes the same point that you did, that the quest could not be completed without Gollum, and that it was for this reason that he was always spared, despite the revulsion all felt for him.

You can leave out most of the Theosophical mysticism and still have a rich, meatly book about Frodo's quest. You can accept some of their ideas, as I do, without being bound by them all. You can marvel at how all things, all religions, all philosophies, seem to be bound together in Tolkien's incredible work of fiction. Herman Hesse is mentioned several times, linking our reading of Siddhartha to LOTR.

I hope some of you will read Frodo's Quest and be willing to discuss it in conjunction with LOTR:ROTK.

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!


[This message has been edited by BamaNation (edited 10-27-2003).]

 

[BamaNation]

LTBF-
hope you don't mind, but i added links in your posts to the book on amazon:

<a href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=bamanation&p=8&asins=0835608239&IS2=11=_blank" target="_top">Frodo's Quest</a>

[This message has been edited by BamaNation (edited 10-27-2003).]

 

[LTBF]

Brett, I'm delighted that you did. I got the book from the library, in my usual discriminating way: I go over to the new non-fiction section and browse around until I find things I want to read.

I will definitely order this one, however, to keep as a reference, and I hope others will too, as I would like to discuss it.

I always order my books from Amazon by going through the TideFans link. It is so convenient to do it that way.

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

 

[bobstod]

Thanks, Brett. I ordered it, too.

I have just about made you a rich man by ordering thru Tidefans!

(Yeah, right!)

It's a good link to keep, and our board is the best place for it. I also am signed up on the honor system.

 

[BamaNation]

hey bob...

THANKS!

...every penny helps

BTW, we will be down in Foley for the game this w/e. If you're there and see me, be sure to say hello!

-brett

 

[CapstoneStan]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by bobstod:

BTW, I had heard from a reliable source that the third LOTR movie was not going to be the last. That they felt that they were having to cut too much great stuff to get it down under four hours, and decided to split the material into two movies, therefore allowing the inclusion of much more good footage. Do you know if this is true?

</font>

I honestly don't know if there will be a fourth movie or not, but I do know there was an April Fool's joke going around earlier this year about splitting ROTK into two parts.

 

[bobstod]

I was on the www.tolkeinonline.com site and they did not say anything about it. I assume that they are going to put all the good scenes that were cut into the expanded video version.

 

[LTBF]

The two DVDs that are out already have many extra scenes from the first two parts. I'm sure they'll do the same thing with ROTK.

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!