I love everything about this, Zoe! And I've just recently reread these chapters, so it's even more impactful and appreciated. Well-done! (Thanks for the shout-out as well!)
Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I read your restacked post at the right time by chance (if chance it was!) and had to include it. Always on the lookout for interesting analyses by other Tolkienists!
There exists in any meditation on history and artifacts a strong intimation of mortality. Not only did they—those kings and queens and warriors of long ago—pass beyond the veil of the living, but so too shall we. And much sooner than we expect. Who then will remember our struggles and our exploits, even our names? All the things and issues we consider so important, how much value do they have in the scales of eternity?
I love everything about this, Zoe! And I've just recently reread these chapters, so it's even more impactful and appreciated. Well-done! (Thanks for the shout-out as well!)
Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I read your restacked post at the right time by chance (if chance it was!) and had to include it. Always on the lookout for interesting analyses by other Tolkienists!
There exists in any meditation on history and artifacts a strong intimation of mortality. Not only did they—those kings and queens and warriors of long ago—pass beyond the veil of the living, but so too shall we. And much sooner than we expect. Who then will remember our struggles and our exploits, even our names? All the things and issues we consider so important, how much value do they have in the scales of eternity?
Beautiful <3 Memory is such a strange, lovely, and sad thing. It reminds me of Bilbo's song:
"...I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see
For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green
I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people who will see a world
That I shall never know..."
Great 💎