The Tolkien Birthday Toast - Page 2 - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Galadriel55 · 01-03-2013, 04:43 PM

This year I've done the Tolkien Toast in the most pleasant and (in)appropriate

company.

Agan, Greenie, Lommy, Nog, skip, Rune, Eonwe, Squatter, Legate, Oddwen, Hooky, Bethberry, and yours truly (I hope I haven't missed anyone, but I'm sure I'll be corrected quickly if I have) did not wait till 9:00 but all toasted (and roasted!) the Professor sometime early via Skype. And, to honour the day, we read two chapters, and possibly more after I left.

Once again, happy eleventy-eleventh, Mr. Tolkien!

Aganzir · 01-03-2013, 04:57 PM

Happy birthday, Professor!

During the afore mentioned event, we learned that if you ask Hookbill to read the passage in the Window on the West about toasting, you'll have to face the consequences that he may continue the passage with "And then Théodred said..."

Nogrod · 01-03-2013, 05:17 PM

"It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to child or a man that hears it, when the 'turn' comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a peculiar quality.

Even modern fairy-stories can produce this effect sometimes. It is not an easy thing to do; it depends on the whole story which is the setting of the turn, and yet it reflects the glory backwards. A tale that in any measure succeeds in this point has not wholly failed, whatever flaws it may possess, and whatever mixture or confusion of purpose."

J.R.R. Tolkien: "On Fairy Stories"

Happy birthday Mr. Professor, and may your words of ("realism-based") encouragement enlighten our souls!

Bêthberry · 01-03-2013, 07:29 PM

And I sadly had to leave with a coughing fit before the readings got underway. What a great way to celebrate The Professor. I love Noggie's quote. I think it's a fascinating glimpse into Tolkien's concept of narrative.

I'm half an hour away from my official toast here.

Mithalwen · 11-21-2013, 02:20 AM

I shall be raising a glass later in honour of Christopher Tolkien's eighty ninth birthday. Without his efforts we would have far less to talk about here.

Inziladun · 11-21-2013, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I shall be raising a glass later in honour of Christopher Tolkien's eighty ninth birthday. Without his efforts we would have far less to talk about here.

Hear, hear.

Mithalwen · 01-03-2014, 05:45 AM

Don't forget to raise a glass in memory of JRRT at 9pm your time...

Bêthberry · 01-03-2014, 06:48 PM

Haven't decided yet if it will be a mug of tea or a snifter of brandy, but I have an hour left to decide.

Bêthberry · 01-03-2014, 07:51 PM

"yet its maker was telling of things already old and weighted with regret, and he expanded his art in making keen that touch upon the heart which sorrows have that are both poignant and remote. If the funeral of Beowulf moved once like the echo of an ancient dirge, far-off and hopeless, it is to us as a memory brought over the hills, an echo of an echo. There is not much poetry in the world like this."

A glass of South African shiraz.

Formendacil · 01-03-2014, 08:16 PM

"Indeed, he [Frodo] at once began to carry on Bilbo's reputation for oddity. He refused to go into mourning; and the next year he gave a party in honour of Bilbo's hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called a Hundred-weight Feast. But that was short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited, and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as hobbits say."

-Samuel Adams "White Christmas" brew (a Belgian White ale)

Aganzir · 01-03-2014, 08:46 PM

We raised glasses of port wine with Lommy, Greenie, Nog, Legate, Kath, Hookbill, Rune, and Oddwen. It was part of our dinner which consisted of tea, cake, scones, seed-cakes, coffee, more cakes, beer, red wine, pies and cheeses, raspberry jam and apple-tart, salad, eggs, cold chicken, and pickles. Some observant individuals may notice that's pretty much what Bilbo served the Dwarves at the Unexpected Party.

Galadriel55 · 01-03-2014, 10:27 PM

Rather missed the time, but better late than never. The Professor!

"Dear-bought those songs shall be accounted, and yet shall be well-bought. For the price could be no other. Thus even as Eru spoke to us shall beauty not before conceived be brought into Ea, and evil yet be good to have been."

mark12_30 · 01-05-2014, 10:13 AM

Thanks to Bethberry' s note on FB, I was able to enjoy a tribute to the man who provided my mythos and the Legendarium in which I remain most comfortable.

Cheers, Professor. Grace and peace.

Morthoron · 01-05-2014, 05:48 PM

A Birthday Toast:

Here’s to Tolkien,
And here’s to you and me.
If perchance we disagree
On Middle-earth canonically,
Hell with you, here’s to Tolkien and me.

Guinevere · 01-03-2015, 02:06 PM

To the Professor! I raised a glass of Moscato Spumante, together with my husband & sons.

Quote:

man, sub-creator, the refracted light
through whom is splintered from a single White
to many hues, and endlessly combined
in living shapes that move from mind to mind.

McCaber · 01-03-2015, 02:14 PM

The Professor!

Inziladun · 01-03-2015, 02:59 PM

*raises a cup of tea*

Formendacil · 01-03-2016, 08:09 AM

There are two pre-eminent feasts in the Barrow-downer year: Bilbo & Frodo's Birthday and Tolkien's birthday, and the latter of these is upon us. Break out the toasting glasses and something nice to drink this evening.

Estelyn Telcontar · 01-03-2016, 09:02 AM

I will be toasting with my traditional mimosa.

How about some birthday cakes for the occasion?

***Mithadan*** · 01-03-2016, 11:15 AM

Happy 123rd, Professor.

Galadriel55 · 01-03-2016, 11:34 AM

Milk for me.

Happy birthday, Professor!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

How about some birthday cakes for the occasion?

Half of these don't look edible. They're beautiful and creative, but I somehow hesitate to trust any cake that doesn't look like food.

I really like the Gondor and Lothlorien inspired ones, though.

Rumil · 01-03-2016, 11:48 AM

Happy Birthday Prof!

And hail and well met to all the Downers, hope you al have a very Merry New Year

Rumil

Inziladun · 01-03-2016, 12:04 PM

A cup of tea, as usual. Prosit!

Guinevere · 01-03-2016, 01:59 PM

The Professor! * raises a glass of cider *

Kuruharan · 01-03-2016, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Formendacil

There are two pre-eminent feasts in the Barrow-downer year: Bilbo & Frodo's Birthday and Tolkien's birthday, and the latter of these is upon us. Break out the toasting glasses and something nice to drink this evening.

Huzzah and so forth!

Bêthberry · 01-03-2016, 09:06 PM

To the Professor!

(And because of the requisite time of the toast, I could raise but a glass of goodly dihydrogen monoxide.)

And as for my quote, well, 'tis a newish one. Let's see if any can identify it.

"Let us rather be glad that we have come suddenly upon a storehouse of those popular imaginings that we had feared lost, stocked with stories not yet sophisticated into a sense of proportion, with no thought of the decent limits of exaggeration, with no sense (or certainly not our sense) of the incongruous, unless, as we may at times suspect, incongruity is delighted in."

Pitchwife · 01-04-2016, 03:54 PM

A day late, thanks to binge-watching Outlander with Pitchwife-Wife, but nevertheless: *raises bottle of Czech beer*

The Professor! To adventures we seek and to those that seek us, to things fair and terrible, vast and small; to mountains and mushrooms, silmarils and cooking-pots; to chamber music and songs at the campfire; to the stories we weave to make sense of our lives and the world we live in, and to language, that many-faced glass through which we view the world and ourselves and never stop discovering new facets.

01-03-2013, 04:43 PM	#41
Galadriel55 Blossom of Dwimordene Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The realm of forgotten words Posts: 10,377	This year I've done the Tolkien Toast in the most pleasant and (in)appropriate company. Agan, Greenie, Lommy, Nog, skip, Rune, Eonwe, Squatter, Legate, Oddwen, Hooky, Bethberry, and yours truly (I hope I haven't missed anyone, but I'm sure I'll be corrected quickly if I have) did not wait till 9:00 but all toasted (and roasted!) the Professor sometime early via Skype. And, to honour the day, we read two chapters, and possibly more after I left. Once again, happy eleventy-eleventh, Mr. Tolkien! __________________ You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera

01-03-2013, 04:57 PM	#42
Aganzir Woman of Secret Shadow Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: in hollow halls beneath the fells Posts: 4,511	Happy birthday, Professor! During the afore mentioned event, we learned that if you ask Hookbill to read the passage in the Window on the West about toasting, you'll have to face the consequences that he may continue the passage with "And then Théodred said..." __________________ He bit me, and I was not gentle.

01-03-2013, 05:17 PM	#43
Nogrod Flame of the Ainulindalë Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wearing rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves in a field behaving as the wind behaves Posts: 9,308	"It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to child or a man that hears it, when the 'turn' comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a peculiar quality. Even modern fairy-stories can produce this effect sometimes. It is not an easy thing to do; it depends on the whole story which is the setting of the turn, and yet it reflects the glory backwards. A tale that in any measure succeeds in this point has not wholly failed, whatever flaws it may possess, and whatever mixture or confusion of purpose." J.R.R. Tolkien: "On Fairy Stories" Happy birthday Mr. Professor, and may your words of ("realism-based") encouragement enlighten our souls! __________________ Upon the hearth the fire is red Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet...

01-03-2013, 07:29 PM	#44
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 5,996	And I sadly had to leave with a coughing fit before the readings got underway. What a great way to celebrate The Professor. I love Noggie's quote. I think it's a fascinating glimpse into Tolkien's concept of narrative. I'm half an hour away from my official toast here. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

11-21-2013, 02:20 AM	#45
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,455	I shall be raising a glass later in honour of Christopher Tolkien's eighty ninth birthday. Without his efforts we would have far less to talk about here. __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace

01-03-2014, 05:45 AM	#47
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,455	He would have been twelvety-two today! Don't forget to raise a glass in memory of JRRT at 9pm your time... __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace

01-03-2014, 06:48 PM	#48
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 5,996	Haven't decided yet if it will be a mug of tea or a snifter of brandy, but I have an hour left to decide. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

01-03-2014, 07:51 PM	#49
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 5,996	To The Professor "yet its maker was telling of things already old and weighted with regret, and he expanded his art in making keen that touch upon the heart which sorrows have that are both poignant and remote. If the funeral of Beowulf moved once like the echo of an ancient dirge, far-off and hopeless, it is to us as a memory brought over the hills, an echo of an echo. There is not much poetry in the world like this." A glass of South African shiraz. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

01-03-2014, 08:16 PM	#50
Formendacil Dead Serious Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Perched on Thangorodrim's towers. Posts: 3,326	"Indeed, he [Frodo] at once began to carry on Bilbo's reputation for oddity. He refused to go into mourning; and the next year he gave a party in honour of Bilbo's hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called a Hundred-weight Feast. But that was short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited, and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as hobbits say." -Samuel Adams "White Christmas" brew (a Belgian White ale) __________________ I prefer history, true or feigned.

01-03-2014, 08:46 PM	#51
Aganzir Woman of Secret Shadow Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: in hollow halls beneath the fells Posts: 4,511	We raised glasses of port wine with Lommy, Greenie, Nog, Legate, Kath, Hookbill, Rune, and Oddwen. It was part of our dinner which consisted of tea, cake, scones, seed-cakes, coffee, more cakes, beer, red wine, pies and cheeses, raspberry jam and apple-tart, salad, eggs, cold chicken, and pickles. Some observant individuals may notice that's pretty much what Bilbo served the Dwarves at the Unexpected Party. __________________ He bit me, and I was not gentle.

01-03-2014, 10:27 PM	#52
Galadriel55 Blossom of Dwimordene Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The realm of forgotten words Posts: 10,377	Rather missed the time, but better late than never. The Professor! "Dear-bought those songs shall be accounted, and yet shall be well-bought. For the price could be no other. Thus even as Eru spoke to us shall beauty not before conceived be brought into Ea, and evil yet be good to have been." __________________ You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera

01-05-2014, 10:13 AM	#53
mark12_30 Stormdancer of Doom Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars Posts: 4,349	Thanks to Bethberry' s note on FB, I was able to enjoy a tribute to the man who provided my mythos and the Legendarium in which I remain most comfortable. Cheers, Professor. Grace and peace. __________________ ...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.

01-05-2014, 05:48 PM	#54
Morthoron Curmudgeonly Wordwraith Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Ensconced in curmudgeonly pursuits Posts: 2,508	A Birthday Toast: Here’s to Tolkien, And here’s to you and me. If perchance we disagree On Middle-earth canonically, Hell with you, here’s to Tolkien and me. __________________ And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision.

01-03-2015, 02:14 PM	#56
McCaber Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Skyrim, again. Posts: 820	The Professor! __________________ Werewolves vs. Fishmen. The battle of the century.

01-03-2015, 02:59 PM	#57
Inziladun Gruesome Spectre Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Heaven's doorstep Posts: 8,037	raises a cup of tea __________________ Music alone proves the existence of God.

01-03-2016, 08:09 AM	#58
Formendacil Dead Serious Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Perched on Thangorodrim's towers. Posts: 3,326	There are two pre-eminent feasts in the Barrow-downer year: Bilbo & Frodo's Birthday and Tolkien's birthday, and the latter of these is upon us. Break out the toasting glasses and something nice to drink this evening. __________________ I prefer history, true or feigned.

01-03-2016, 09:02 AM	#59
Estelyn Telcontar Princess of Skwerlz Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles) Posts: 7,500	I will be toasting with my traditional mimosa. How about some birthday cakes for the occasion? __________________ 'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'

01-03-2016, 11:15 AM	#60
*Mithadan* Spirit of Mist Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Tol Eressea Posts: 3,373	Happy 123rd, Professor. __________________ Beleriand, Beleriand, the borders of the Elven-land.

01-03-2016, 11:48 AM	#62
Rumil Sage & Onions Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Britain Posts: 894	Happy Birthday Prof! And hail and well met to all the Downers, hope you al have a very Merry New Year Rumil __________________ Rumil of Coedhirion

01-03-2016, 12:04 PM	#63
Inziladun Gruesome Spectre Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Heaven's doorstep Posts: 8,037	A cup of tea, as usual. Prosit! __________________ Music alone proves the existence of God.

01-03-2016, 01:59 PM	#64
Guinevere Banshee of Camelot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Switzerland Posts: 5,830	The Professor! * raises a glass of cider * __________________ Yes! "wish-fulfilment dreams" we spin to cheat our timid hearts, and ugly Fact defeat!

01-03-2016, 09:06 PM	#66
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 5,996	On mathom day To the Professor! (And because of the requisite time of the toast, I could raise but a glass of goodly dihydrogen monoxide.) And as for my quote, well, 'tis a newish one. Let's see if any can identify it. "Let us rather be glad that we have come suddenly upon a storehouse of those popular imaginings that we had feared lost, stocked with stories not yet sophisticated into a sense of proportion, with no thought of the decent limits of exaggeration, with no sense (or certainly not our sense) of the incongruous, unless, as we may at times suspect, incongruity is delighted in." __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

01-04-2016, 03:54 PM	#67
Pitchwife Wight of the Old Forest Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Unattended on the railway station, in the litter at the dancehall Posts: 3,329	A day late, thanks to binge-watching Outlander with Pitchwife-Wife, but nevertheless: raises bottle of Czech beer The Professor! To adventures we seek and to those that seek us, to things fair and terrible, vast and small; to mountains and mushrooms, silmarils and cooking-pots; to chamber music and songs at the campfire; to the stories we weave to make sense of our lives and the world we live in, and to language, that many-faced glass through which we view the world and ourselves and never stop discovering new facets. __________________ Und aus dem Erebos kamen viele seelen herauf der abgeschiedenen toten.- Homer, Odyssey, Canto XI