The Tolkien Coming of Age Club 2

[mark12_30]

Would you believe??? Leggybopper was the key. (fanfare) :

Before and After The Movie -- a thread started by one Child of the 7th Age

(You may rise and blush now, Child.)

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Congrats! Long searching has paid off. And it was in 'Books' no less!

[mark12_30]

Thanks, Hilde!

I've been pondering for several days now how the downs has changed even recently. Perusing and sorting the membership list, and missing Birdland, and Gandalf_theGrey among others, it struck me that the posters had changed, and the Downs had changed; there are forums I visit daily and forums I visit rarely; but The Downs is still a marvelous place to be. I wanted some longer perspective, and these threads help me find that. I'll ponder for a bit, I think.

But I sure do miss that morphing dolphin.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Oh, no.... I am red in the face. I have absolutely no memory of creating that thread or posting on it. You'd think I'd remember something!

It's funny you should say this:

Perusing and sorting the membership list, and missing Birdland, and Gandalf_theGrey among others, it struck me that the posters had changed, and the Downs had changed....

The same thought has crossed my mind. The Downs is settling into a "post-movie" phase, which does not seem to be identical to what went before or what happened during the actual release of the movies. But I guess these are thoughts for the other thread.

[mark12_30]

**rattles clubhouse door & peers thru window**

**gives a quick shove; door opens in a puff of dust to reveal rows of rockers**

Eh... how is everyone?

**wipes several dusty windows with sleeve; lowers self gratefully into rocker with another puff of dust**

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Eh. . .what? Oy, you there! Close that dang-dern door and settle yerself down, there are some of us are trying to sleep.

Confounded whippersnappers. . .

[mark12_30]

Whippersnapper? Whippersnapper? **brandishes cane**

Say goodbye to yer nap, ye auld codger. Why, when I was yer age--

**erupts into a wheezing fit of dust induced cough. More clouds puff into the air**

You could sweep this place once in a while.

**wheeze**

[Mithalwen]

I've never snapped a whipper in my life - but they do require careful handling because of hteir fragile nature... Personally I would regard my self as far more of a:

flibbertigibbet \FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it\, noun:
A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a pert young woman with such qualities.

[Ealasaide]

Howdy, howdy! Been away for awhile battling hurricanes and the like.

Welcome, Mithalwen! I don't think we've met.

Anything new happening with the codger set besides our usual sneezing, coughing, and cane-bashing?

[mark12_30]

**peers into carpetbag**

I might share my Beowulf comic book. Nice artwork. Font's too small, though.

**squints**

[Mithalwen]

Oh I have excellent close vision .... but I need to go soon and get to work with a bottle of potion that promises to cover all grey (butI'm worth it...)
Ealasaide - Hail and well met. Well I am a fairly new arrival but I haven't explored all areas of the downs yet ... Books, mirth and Quiz Room being my usual habitat - usually getting out of my depth and pushing my luck with the Barrow Wight's tolerance level.

[Ealasaide]

AHA, Mithalwen! That explains why we have not run across one another. I have been pretty much exclusively a denizen of the RPG forums lately, but am hoping to branch out again soon! I know I'm kind of late in getting there, but I've been eying the Chapter-by-Chapter threads, thinking that I'll get there eventually.

What I'm really hoping is that our good Prof. Hedgethistle will do the Silmarillion next. **hint, hint**

Regarding Beowulf... I believe I've heard about that one already from our good esteemed codger colleague, Hilde Bracegirdle. She says it's pretty good!

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Glad to see you've survived the hurricane(s), Ealasaide!
*Puts on her glasses and looks around.*
Nice to see the rest of you still hanging in here too!

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Actually, I don't have that version of Beowulf yet, but I have remembered the reading glasses, and the signed edition is weighing on my mind! Signed by the artist that is... not that old yet!

Mithalwen, banish the thought! Put away those elvish potions and such that would prolong youth, and wear those white hairs proudly! You have earned them...plus they add, surprising texture, don't you think?

[Ealasaide]

Glad to see you've survived the hurricane(s), Ealasaide!

Thanks, Esty! Yes, I managed to get through both storms in relatively good shape, only I lost a great many trees to the high wind. Seeing as an Ealasaide falls in the Tolkein-Seuss Bestiary somewhere between an Ent and a Lorax, that part of it was very distressing.

It just rips at my heart to see the destruction of any big, beautiful, old trees. Around the Orlando area alone, we must have lost a couple hundred of them.

On a lighter note:
...magic potion to hide the gray.... hmm... I've dyed my hair so many times now & so many colors (currently artistically striped, platinum & brown), I'm not sure what color it is supposed to be. Maybe I should shave my head & start over. hee-hee

[Mithalwen]

*scuffles around the club room wondering if she should deliberately create a disturbance to wake the old folks up a bit ... investigates the cupboards, sanatogen, steradent, spare hearing aid batteries, the official club magnifying glass ..... Looks at the slumbering inhabitants and hopes that they are merely slumbering * this might be worth a try *opens laptop and starts playing the film DVD*

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Huh? What's that? Is the extended version of Return of the King out yet? Oh, I was only dreaming.....zzzzzzzzz....!!! (and snoring with emphasis.)

[Ealasaide]

Hmmm... speaking of PJ's movies...this has been bothering me for some time:

What's with Elrond's hairline? Is male pattern baldness common among elves? Or, Elrond being only half-elven, could this be his human side coming out? (So to speak. ) Comments, anyone? I believe this may be the first time I have encountered an elf with a receding hairline.

[The Saucepan Man]

Poor guy. He raised Isildur's hair as his own, but then it ran off with his daughter.

Incidentally, this issue was recently raised on this wonderfully named thread:

Gillete, The Best Cirdan Can Get!

[Snowdog]

Ok, don't get me started on Agent Elrond (Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins) Smith and his hair....

That said... what with the EE ROTK not coming out til December ... 12th I think?

Glad to see you folk in the southeast have made it through the storms.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

It is a little-known secret that the Hair of Isildur was actually a toupee, and after being passed down for so many generations, who can blame Elrond for not wanting to wear it?! (canon reference - HoME XIV, 'The Shaping of the Coiffure'. )

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

It is a little-known secret that the Hair of Isildur was actually a toupee ...

Indeed. For thus it was revealed to Faramir in a recurring dream:

Seek for the Hair that was woven;
In Imladris it resides;
There shall foreheads be open;
Shinier than babies’ backsides.
There shall be shown a token
Of pileous pates near at hand,
For Isildur’s Brow shall beckon,
And the Hairpiece forth shall stand.

[Mithalwen]

or it might be worth bellowing into Prof Hedgthistle's ear trumpet to see if he kept the other one......

Hugo has always had a high hairline even when he had a lot more hair (Bodyline,1983)... and since he was wearing a wig, they would have surely reversed the retreat. I just think he look even more intelligent...

Maybe this is the quintessential difference between the underage and coming of age club - Screaming Hugo Fangirl rather than Leggyboppers...

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Here, I thought it just the elven version of a mohawk! Elrond...such a rebel.

[Ealasaide]

AHA! So THAT'S what they have been talking about all this time...the hair of Isildur! heehee Well, I suppose I should be grateful that Elrond didn't go in for the comb-over look. Scary!

But...while we are on the subject of Elrond's hair.. what about those two tails that hang down on either side of his face? Dreadlocks, perhaps? With a mohawk? Someone needs to have a word with his hairdresser.

Brilliant poem, Saucepan Man!

[Mithalwen]

Perhaps the knots are to remind him of something...
Surely it was the "hare of Isildur" that was required ....or perhaps the heir of Isildur's hare... explains what Aragorn was doing int he wilderness all that time..

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The heir of Isuldur's hairy hare??

Har, har!

[Mithalwen]

I believe Isildur's hares produced very fine warm wool that was prized, especially by elven rug weavers

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Anyone interested in the question of Middle Earth hares might want to check out this thread.

Perhap's Isildur's hare deserted him when he was ambused and found a new home with the Elves of Mirkwood. . .?

[Lalwendë]

Elrond is standing in front of his mother-in-law's infamous mirror, combing his locks, and gazes down sadly at the excess strands which have come out. He sighs wistfully "Oh well, hair today, gone tomorrow".

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

Anyone interested in the question of Middle Earth hares might want to check out this thread.

Perhap's Isildur's hare deserted him when he was ambused and found a new home with the Elves of Mirkwood. . .?

This is possible and would fit the time frame since Legolas would have been no more than an elfling at this time I believe. The descendents of the original hare of Isildur (the resulting distinct species being known still in the North as "Isildur's Hare") were bred by the Silvan Elves and Thranduil made a gift of several breeding pairs to his kinsmen in Lorien. Much to his chagrin, Galadriel failed to reciprocate this gesture by sharing the secret of how the wool could be combed and blended into the famous cloth used as camouflage by the Galadhrim - for it was believed that the wool of an Isildur's Hare was vital in this fabric. Even the Noldor of Imladris could not find the method and so were limited to using the wool in a coarser form for rugs.....

[Ealasaide]

Ah, mercy! You all are too quick and too clever for me!

I feel like an ent surrounded by elves. I think I'll go back to my trees hroom, hroom.... at least I can keep pace with them.

[Snowdog]

You will notice there were no 'high-forehead' Rohirrim. Elrond knew that an herb called Rohgain grew there, and so had to send an army to protect his source from Sarumann who never did get that hair thing down for the orcs......

Everyone knows the true Hair of Isildur was plucked from Isildur's head by a tiny hand of the infant Valandil when daddy kissed him goodbye.....

[Ealasaide]

Alas, the one true hair!

[The Saucepan Man]

Gimli's the hair of Galadriel, right?

Those Elves in Aman are going to get a lot more than they bargained for when he arrives with Legolas ...

[Mithalwen]

Given its symbolism it would be more intriguing if Gimli were Galadriel's hare. The hare represents the moon and since Galadriel represents the morning and so the Sun, it could be taken to mean that Gimli was her complemetary opposite, her true soul mate. Of course the hare also represents fertility and sexuality so it could simply be a euphemism that they were more than just good friends

[Ealasaide]

the hare also represents fertility and sexuality

Interesting! Not that it has any relevance here, but in Native American Indian tradition, the Hare is a trickster, who also represents fear, in that he is a "fear-caller", i.e. he talks constantly about his many fears, thus calling them to him and making very bad things happen to himself.

[Mithalwen]

Freud would have a field day with this...

[Snowdog]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Given its symbolism it would be more intriguing if Gimli were Galadriel's hare. The hare represents the moon and since Galadriel represents the morning and so the Sun, it could be taken to mean that Gimli was her complemetary opposite, her true soul mate. Of course the hare also represents fertility and sexuality so it could simply be a euphemism that they were more than just good friends

Gimli would have to be into shinnying...
So their offspring would be Half-Elven? Half-Dwarven?

Ealasaide, I thought the raven was the trickster in Native-American lore.

[Ealasaide]

Snowdog - Actually it depends on which tribe you belong to. You must be from the Northwest Coast! Raven is the trickster amongst the Haida, Tlingit, etc. In the Eastern Woodlands, Rabbit is the trickster. Amongst the Southwestern and Plains tribes, it is coyote.