tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post4023048693506850496..comments2024-03-27T19:07:19.133-04:00Comments on The Silver Key: Through hell and into a vision of heaven: The journey of the Fellowship continuesBrian Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-771559955314074622008-09-06T14:48:00.000-04:002008-09-06T14:48:00.000-04:00It's a very interesting take on a Heaven/Hell rela...It's a very interesting take on a Heaven/Hell relationship in the LotR. Lothlorien would definitely be an ideal heaven-esque place for me as well.<BR/><BR/>I really always liked the part in the book where the cave troll *tried* to come in, but the group repelled it. For some reason, it made the fight in the book scarier than what was portrayed in the movie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-89252699662817406362008-09-04T19:17:00.000-04:002008-09-04T19:17:00.000-04:00Hi James, yes, in many ways we are all of us fight...Hi James, yes, in many ways we are all of us fighting the long defeat. There are so many ways to look at this: The long defeat can be the span of a life, with the darkness of the grave at the end, but many victories and points of light on the journey. We mortal men are all "doomed to die"--but there is also hope that there is something beyond the "great grey rain-curtain" of this world.<BR/><BR/>Sacha: I agree, and my feelings about the long defeat have certainly changed in subsequent readings.Brian Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-60432096612815309482008-09-04T12:51:00.000-04:002008-09-04T12:51:00.000-04:00Another very interesting post, Bryan. The more of ...Another very interesting post, Bryan. The more of your musings I read, the more excited I get about my own, imminent, re-reading of this wonderful tale. <BR/>James makes an interesting point in that I believe Lord of the Rings is a story that grows with you. As you read it subsequent time throughout your life, different themes become more apparent and significant. The 'long defeat' certainly falls into this category. As a young reader, this was a theme that either passed me by completely or only barely registered. Now that I am older and have experienced much more of life's twists and turns, such a theme is glaringly obvious. Balancing this darkness is the new light in which I see the relationship between Frodo and Sam, particularly the nobility of spirit embodied by the latter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-36309294640075831492008-09-04T07:56:00.000-04:002008-09-04T07:56:00.000-04:00The "long defeat" is one of my favorite themes fro...The "long defeat" is one of my favorite themes from <I>The Lord of the Rings</I> and the place where the underlying religious themes of the novel is most clear. As I get older, I find more and more affinity with that worldview and my appreciation for Tolkien's insight grows accordingly. Lothlorien haunts me on some days and I am glad of it.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.com