The Tale of the Children of Húrin has, rather fairly, earned a reputation as being the grimmest and saddest of all Tolkien’s stories. Indeed, its presence in a mythological world permeated by the eucatastrophe may seem incongruous to first-time readers, used to the inherent hope and joy of Arda (and perhaps not yet cognizant of just how deeply tragic and bittersweet it often proves). The implications of its unyielding tragedy, of Túrin and the potentiality of his free will, and the justifiability of the various choices he makes along his long and destructive road are all themes that have been…
Leave a CommentThe Blog of Mazarbul Posts
It is with absolute pleasure that I am able to finally announce the Blog of Mazarbul’s new project – a work of analysis so audacious, so comprehensive, and so important, that it may very well change the face of Tolkien scholarship forever. I, like many of my tens of readers, enjoy listening to the occasional podcast, watching a video essay, or reading some piece of analysis on Tolkien’s works. There are, of course, many brilliant and worthwhile discussions, reviews, analyses and classes available online for those interested in studying Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and other associated works. But…
Leave a Comment
We all of us are things forgotten still clinging to memory. Immortality. The great and universal human ambition. Promised ever and anon by the mystic words of prophets and sages, whose very sight hath pierced the veil twixt death and everlife. Sought after by philosophers and surgeons, greedy grasping for elixirs and potions that may prolong mortality by weeks, days, even precious and fleeting seconds. It may be that the king, the historian, and the artist can rightly claim to having mastered immortality. For though their fleeting flesh perishes and withers into dust, their deeds and doings ring through the…
Leave a Comment
Something that’s long struck me as being worthy of investigation and consideration is the subtle and quiet character journey that Aragorn undergoes throughout The Lord of the Rings. It’s something I might dip into a few times this year, as (despite the not infrequent criticisms that he is a flat and uninteresting character in the books) I truly believe there is much of merit to be gleaned. Aragorn may seldom serve as the point of view character, and is undeniably already fully realised as a hero when he meets the hobbits in Bree…yet he does have an arc, I think.…
Leave a Comment
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a blog with any sort of Tolkien adjacency is in want of a Tom Bombadil theory. The Bombadil Question is not only a perennial fixture for Tolkien’s readers, it may well be the original Middle-earth enigma. Where other Legendarium mysteries are relatively recent preoccupations (how were Orcs first made?) or have been repeated to the point of parody (do Balrogs have wings?), the Bombadil issue remains not only pertinent (if now itself somewhat parodied), but possesses an ancient lineage. Even before The Lord of the Rings was published, Tolkien found himself fielding questions…
Leave a Comment