**Spoiler Warning** Rings of Power S1E1 - "A Shadow of the Past"

[Michael Murry]

William Cloud Hickin:

I don't think it's helpful to try to back-project onto Tolkien's thinking rather anachronistic 21st-century notions which to his mind - conservative even for his generation - weren't really present

Originally Posted by Huinesoron:

The whole swanship sequence is weird. . . . It's a boat! It's going to take you to the beach unless you do something ridiculous like jumping off it.

Yes of course she jumps off it. I don't know what her plan was.

Reply courtesy of Thinlómien:

This sequence was visually gorgeous but as you aptly describe, very silly. I'm still confused whether Galadriel intended to swim all the way back to Middle-Earth (and how long did she actually swim before being picked up by the shipwrecked humans on the raft).

Just what I needed. More poetic inspiration "based on" (or "adapted from") commentary on the Barrow Downs discussion forum. I've got verse compositions from 2011 to 2021 but I really hadn't gotten anything for 2022 -- until now. Many thanks for all the reviews, critiques, and opinions.

WOKE "WARRIORS" AWAKEN!

With knife in hand [they] dove into the sea
To sink or swim without a clue or plan.
But never worry. Just no "her" or "she".
Another shipwrecked castaway -- a man --
Turns up according to the script decree
To save Galadriel. Does this stuff scan?
The cargo-cultists watching on TV
Seem to accept the latest pronoun ban.
It's just how sequel/prequels ought to be:
Some "after," some "before", much also-ran.

Michael Murry, "The Misfortune Teller," Copyright © 2022