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…
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A businessman, on his way to an important conference, checks into his hotel. The businessman is rude, brusque, demanding. Ungracious and ungrateful, he is ready to make all sorts of imposing and unreasonable demands upon the cozy hotel’s staff. But today, he has met his match. Over the next half hour, the businessman will be subjected to a wide range of increasingly bizarre indignities, as the hotel staff leer at him through his window. “Nice legs” one of them coos at him as he hurries away. Another lurks for him in his room, hidden behind a corner until the businessman…
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I had a stray thought recently, inspired by Sam’s reluctance to give the Ring back up to Frodo in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. For anyone who needs a refresher, this occurs in Book VI, following Shelob’s Lair and Sam’s taking of the Ring from Frodo’s (seemingly) lifeless body. When Sam finds and rescues Frodo in the tower, he has a moment of hesitation in giving the Ring back: Sam fumbled for the Ring and its chain. ‘But I suppose you must take it back.’ Now it had come to it, Sam felt reluctant to give up the Ring and…
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I’ve always been fond of “significant” numbers, of milestones and notable figures. I suspect I like them less for any actual achievement that they represent (after all, technically speaking reaching 101 of something is more of an achievement than 100, and yet the latter is disproportionately lauded!) and more for their large round numberiness, but the effect is the same either way. I like a milestone. For more than a few blog pages, 50 posts wouldn’t necessarily feel like a milestone – that’s just a post a week for a year, with Christmas and Easter off into the bargain. But…
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The Man with the Golden Gun is not a great Bond film. Indeed, it isn’t even a particularly good film. It’s by no means the worst Bond film ever made (I can think of three or four that I loathe much more off the top of my head), but it’s either the best of the bad Bond films, or the worst of the mediocre entries. Yet, I think it’s the Bond film we need right now. It might not be the best Bond film ever made, but I think that The Man with the Golden Gun is the best Bond…
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