Barrow-themed Christmas Greetings

[Bêthberry]

This thread is inspired by Estelyn Telcontar's recent blog entry in Niggle's Parish. I'm sure everyone's mail boxes are overflowing with seasonal funnies, so here's a chance for everyone to post some Downs or LotR-related greetings.

To start the thread off, here's an old internet chestnut all decked out for the season--and a new skwerl for our chatty forum.



PS. It's a shame I can't get the animation to work here. Or maybe it isn't.

Still and all, I'm sure there are other Barrow-themed greetings that we can hang here to decorate this dark, mysterious forum deep in the bottom of the Downs.

[Mithalwen]

First, time to stock up on some festive fare..

www.wighthamper.co.uk/hampers.php

This emporium has a lot of the things you might need...
http://www.wights.com/holidays.php

or you may want to relax and let others take the strain...

www.wighthotel.co.uk/christmas.htm

You will still need to buy gifts though

http://wightchristmas.wordpress.com/...ristmas-gifts/
and maybe want some seasonal entertainment

http://wightchristmas.wordpress.com/...-variety-show/

[Bêthberry]

Very enthusiastic of you, Mithalwen! I think you've just found a very likely spot for the next Barrow Downs meeting site. Maybe folks could even start planning for a Wight Christmas on the Isle of Wight in 2009? Or would 2011 (two thousand and eleventy) sound more appropriate?

[Mithalwen]

Well it is practically on my doorstep.... I used to have a summer job handing out Tourist Information at the Ferry terminal...

Of course we would hope they would run this :

http://www.isleofwightwalkingfestiva...il.asp?walk=98

[piosenniel]

Merry Christmas & A Howling New Year to the WW Gamers!!

~*~ Pio

[Nazgûl-king]

Merry Christmas and a Pippin new year year! (it's an inside joke, though I'm pretty sure you guys will be able to get it!)

[piosenniel]

[Gilthalion]

It was Christmas Eve, and the old hobbit thought on his friends of Auld Lang Syne and thought also that they might find a pleasant Yule Tide diversion in a recent bit of what he called verse... ...naturally, they cringed, but read it anyway...

Gulf Shores Night Before Christmas

© 2007 Robert W. Gardner.

'Twas the night before Christmas
And through the beach tower,
Not a creature was stirring,
No, not at that hour.

The lights had been strung
Through the palm trees with care,
In hopes that some tourists
Would spend Christmas there.

Some snowbirds were roosting,
Most likely asleep,
For not one was complaining,
Not even a peep!

The renters were booking
Just as they should
With vacationers coming
The next year looked good!

The real estate agents'
Dreams were aglow
With visions of buyers
Who fled from the snow.

Then over the water
There came such a splashing
The guard fell from his chair
And awoke from the crashing.

His flashlight came on
As he rose from the floor
Looked out of the window
And ran through the door.

“It’s those naked young lovers
Again in the spa!
This time I’ll catch them!
And I’ll call the law!”

But he couldn’t believe
What he saw right out there:
A skiff pulled by dolphins
Who swam through the air?

They flew up above
The waves and the foam
Up over the condos
And every beach home!

The guard just stood staring
With his mouth open wide
And he could not believe
What flew over the tide!

The dolphins were soaring
At the command
Of a jolly old elf
Who was fat but well tanned!

Up, up they went,
Right up to the roof.
The guard’s report read
Like he drank Eighty Proof!

But, when they got there
The rooftop exploded
With gifts for the Island
That Santa unloaded!

Of course it was Santa,
Who else could it be?
Flying with gifts
Out over the sea?

Saint Nicolas came
As he does every year
With News of the Savior
And of great Christmas cheer.

His work soon was done
And he soon flew away
To parts of the world
Where he needed a sleigh.

Though no one believed
What the guard had to say,
He didn’t get fired
Since it was Christmas Day!

[Child of the 7th Age]

I thought a Christmas card from the Tolkien family wouldn't be inappropriate. JRRT was just ten months old.....

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/Media?MEDIA_ID=197461

[Bêthberry]

Great contributions here! And a few more thematic offerings:





I did sincerely try googling Kwanza and squirrel and Hannukha and squirrel (and various permutations thereof) and even Eid and squirrel, but not even a skwerl shaped latke could I find. I did find this for all you werewolf fans though:



Apparently there are lyrics and the song is sung to 'Joy to the World'.

[Bêthberry]

And using the 'six degrees of separation' argument, here's another seasonal appropriation that some Downers at least might enjoy:



(PS. Sorry for double posting but there's an image limit here.)

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Bethberry, are you inquiring that we look like Shrek?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I saw that Shrek Christmas special, Bb! Thanks for the image as a reminder.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by TheGreatElvenWarrior

Bethberry, are you inquiring that we look like Shrek?

I believe Esty has answered you, TGEW.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Should anyone find a source for an image of Fiona in that fur hat, please do let me know - it would be a wonderful winter avatar!

[Bêthberry]

Still looking for that perfect gift for your fellow Tolkien fan? Look no farther: here is a life-sized (!) bust for the person who has almost every Tolkien collectible imaginable.

Life-sized Balrog Bust (scroll one third down the page)

Yes, check it out and check it twice. Ain't it nice? A mere 48"w, 40"h, 26"d. And only for CAN$2,750 (+ tax).

Now, I can think of several Downers who might want this!

[Beregond]

Humph, there's no wings!

And though I wouldn't particularly favour a Balrog head in my room, I love the idea of true life-sizeness! I'd buy a life sized Aragorn! Or Luthien.. Or Hobbit, since that's all I could afford.

In the theme of Christmas, here's something I drew for a Christmas card. Before you say anything, yes, I shamelessly based Gandalf off of an Alan Lee painting and take no credit for the figure.

[Bêthberry]

I bet it comes with detachable wings!

A very lovely card, Beregond. I like the tone of the green and the brown--warm and rich. And who is in the small portrait adorning the wall?

[Beregond]

Thank you. The portrait is left to the imagination; however, I would suggest it to be one of Frodo or Bilbo's ancestors. Maybe it's even Bilbo himself...

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Still looking for that perfect gift for your fellow Tolkien fan? Look no farther: here is a life-sized (!) bust for the person who has almost every Tolkien collectible imaginable.

Life-sized Balrog Bust (scroll one third down the page)

Yes, check it out and check it twice. Ain't it nice? A mere 48"w, 40"h, 26"d. And only for CAN$2,750 (+ tax).

Now, I can think of several Downers who might want this!

Four foot wide?! Flamin' Nora! I mean, we are supposed to be getting a monster telly tomorrow and are wondering where it's going to go, but this thing is even bigger!

And the price!

I could knock one of these up out of an old goat's head and some polyfilla in my cellar for a fraction of the price

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Though references to religious customs and holidays are quite rare and veiled in Tolkien’s works, we do find exact instructions for creating a decoration appropriate to this season:

“Seven stars and seven stones and one white tree.” (LotR 985)

The first necessary element is a tree of your choice, fir or other. Should it not already be white by nature, the necessary colour can be added by various means, all available in a store near you. Whether snow spray or a tube of opaque from your paintbox (the latter recommended only for very patient craftspersons) – the main objective is to get the tree white.

The proper style of decoration is rather sparse, according to Tolkien. Palantíri are rare nowadays – and quite expensive, even if you find an antique shop that carries them. (To say nothing of the risks and undesirable side effects they entail...) We therefore recommend the usual commercially available Christmas balls. Strict Tolkien fans choose the traditional clear glass baubles, hand-blown, though others who enjoy experimenting may opt for the coloured, mirrored, or painted variations that are available.

When you have distributed seven of these baubles, enough space remains for the seven stars required by the literary reference. Of course these are not meant to be real stars; we are working with “applicability”, not “allegory”, as every attentive reader knows. Since we have no further clues as to the possible forms and materials of the stars, much artistic freedom is left up to the sub-creator. Whether they are made of straw, wood, or metal; whether five- six- or eight-pointed ; whether gold- or silver-coloured; whether including a light or not – true Tolkienists compete for the most inventive interpretation.

Then, when the tree shines in all its splendour, a king can be crowned or a wedding celebrated. Should neither of these events be imminent, an appropriate traditional song can be sung instead. Here are the words to the best known:

Oh Gondor tree, oh Gondor tree,
How withered are thy branches.
Thy boughs bloom only for the king,
“Where is Isildur’s heir?” we sing.
Oh Gondor tree, oh Gondor tree,
How withered are thy branches.

Oh Gondor tree, oh Gondor tree,
When wilt thou yet delight us?
A steward did the city rule,
The palantír made him a fool,
Oh Gondor tree, oh Gondor tree,
When wilt thou yet delight us?

Oh Gondor tree, oh Gondor tree,
Teach me to hope for Strider.
Elendil comes: though yet we wait,
Estel Telcontar is not late.
Oh Gondor tree, oh Gondor tree,
Teach me to hope for Strider.



(This article was originally written in German and appeared in the German Tolkien Society's journal "Der Flammifer von Westernis", Nr. 38, 3/2009. The rights for both original and translation are my own - Middle-earth references are borrowed from Tolkien.)

[Lindale]

Aww, milady Esty, you should have posted it earlier, that I might have applied the seven-stones and -stars to my own little Christmas tree.

[Bêthberry]

What better to suit a Tolkien-themed Christmas greeting than to remember where it all started: with an Old English poem about Advent. Here are the relevant lines with a modern translation taken from the wikipedia entry on earendel.

Originally Posted by Crist, ll. 104-108

éala éarendel engla beorhtast
ofer middangeard monnum sended
and sodfasta sunnan leoma,
tohrt ofer tunglas þu tida gehvane
of sylfum þe symle inlihtes.

Hail Earendel, brightest of angels,
over middle-yard to men sent,
and true radiance of the Sun
bright above the stars, every season
thou of thyself ever illuminest.

Merry Christmas, Downers.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

As a composer, this is the best Yuletide greeting I can come up with. It's from the second of my suites inspired by the works of Tolkien, Travels of the Grey Pilgrim, and this movement is entitled "The Shire at Yule." It's not the best of recordings or performances, since it was done entirely on my home computer using sampled instruments (and was done before I had a better "orchestra" available to me), but it's not too bad. Though it may sound a mite tinny on laptop speakers (they really don't have much in the way of decent bass, do they? ). It can be heard here.

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, a Good Yule to all.

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Something my brother just drew for you all...

[Pitchwife]

Ibrin, this is really beautiful music! You have a gift of inventing melodies that sound archetypically familiar, always seeming to remind me of something I can't quite lay my finger on, without ever being in any way derivative - like memories from a dream, if that makes sense. Thanks for sharing this!

And Hookbill, give my compliments to your brother. Alien is especially cute on this one.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

Ibrin, this is really beautiful music! You have a gift of inventing melodies that sound archetypically familiar, always seeming to remind me of something I can't quite lay my finger on, without ever being in any way derivative - like memories from a dream, if that makes sense. Thanks for sharing this!

Thank you very much *blush*. I know that like any musician, I've had strong influences (probably the strongest being Vaughn Willams, Debussy, and Hovhaness, not to mention folk music and Gregorian chant), but I have tried to find my own voice and not be a mere echo of someone else's. Saying it's "like memories from a dream" is perhaps very accurate. All my life, I've had a sort of "soundtrack" running through my head, tunes that my brain came up with on its own, but that I was only occasionally able to get out for others to hear (usually when I could write lyrics and make a song of it). I was tough even when I studied composition in college, because by that time, I was oriented more toward voice than orchestra. Having a computer program that gave me an orchestra at my fingertips was a godsend, and I'm happy that I've been able to share it with others.

I hope everyone's Christmas was merry, and that the coming New Year will be blessed for all.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Ibrîniðilpathânezel

Thank you very much *blush*. I know that like any musician, I've had strong influences (probably the strongest being Vaughn Willams, Debussy, and Hovhaness, not to mention folk music and Gregorian chant), but I have tried to find my own voice and not be a mere echo of someone else's.

Very, very nice, Ibrin. It is reminiscent of...many things. It rather seems as if Fairport Convention (circa Liege and Lief) played an instrumental gaelicized version of King Crimson's 'The Night Watch'...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7kK24nFGJU

Or not. I've gotten an inordinate supply of Gevalia coffee in my Christmas stocking, and I am once again suffering caffeine overload.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Hmm, I've never heard that before (though I confess, I'm about as familiar with popular music as I am with Frisian -- I've heard the name and I know what it is, and that's about all). So I guess it may just be that Gevalia overload talking. And a happy holiday to you, Morth!

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Ibrîniðilpathânezel

Hmm, I've never heard that before (though I confess, I'm about as familiar with popular music as I am with Frisian -- I've heard the name and I know what it is, and that's about all). So I guess it may just be that Gevalia overload talking. And a happy holiday to you, Morth!

Frisian in popular music is an upcoming trend, particularly among the Goths.

Happy New Year, m'dear.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Frisian in popular music is an upcoming trend, particularly among the Goths.

LOL!!! Or is that the Visigoths?

[Nogrod]

A fine song Ibrin! I really appreciated that as one who makes a kind of same stuff at home... and I am just awed by the way you make it. (heh, you may say your software is bad, but it is infinitely better than mine.)

The melody-line and the basic harmonic proceeding is beautiful!

But maybe less would be more this time around?


And a merry (late) Christmas to everyone!

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

But maybe less would be more this time around?

Certainly a possibility. Though I wrote that some years ago, while I was still working with a strictly computer-generated MIDI setup, no sampled instruments at all. It sounded rather different in that incarnation; this recording is a re-do with my first set of sampled instruments, and there were some overtone issues that I never was quite able to resolve (especially among the reeds). Perhaps I will rescore it again someday (but given how long that takes, and the number of pieces I still have to do that with to catch up on myself, it may be a while). It's a never-ending process, just like writing. You edit, then rewrite, then edit again, and rewrite again, and again....

Happiest of holidays to you, too, Nogrod!