Tag: the lord of the rings

A Message from Sauron REPRINT

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From November 3, 2015

That’s one of my Orcs in the background.

Hi! I’m the Dark Lord from those Lord of the Rings movies. Betcha didn’t know I’m real! But of course, here in the real world, I go by another name that only sounds like “Sauron.”

Anyway, I’m here today to tellya that national borders are, like, so totally obsolete, we just don’t need ’em anymore. And look around the world–those borders just don’t work. Go ahead, show me where they’re working. ( http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-30/orban-accuses-soros-of-stoking-refugee-wave-to-weaken-europe )

What’s that I hear you sayin’? That me and my friends, we sabotaged the borders, we stirred people up to invade neighboring countries, we created this whole illegal immigration/refugee crisis–just so we could say, “Oops, dude, too bad, this whole nation thing doesn’t work anymore, the only thing is global government”? Would we do that to you?

You say we shouldn’t be rewarded by being given what we want, after we did everything we could think of to gut immigration laws and create a jillion refugees. But I say this–if you stupid peasants know what’s good for you, you’ll let us rule you. We’ve got the money, we’ve got the science, we’ve got the power… and you don’t.

Remember, it’s not nice–and it sure ain’t healthy!–to mess around with Sauron.

Only in the movies–oh, yeah, and in that Bible of yours: but the Bible simply isn’t true–do the good guys beat me.

And this is not a movie.

Five Favorite Novels

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THE CHESSMEN OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Mars Book #5)

Bob Abbett’s cover art is only one of many delights!

We’re living in an age of rampant cultural decay; and there are times when we need to NOT have it on our minds. We need escape! It’s as simple as that.

Here are five novels that I can always count on to provide escape.

The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Not only does ERB provide you with the rules of Martian chess; he also brings on Ghek the Kaldane, one of the most intriguing non-human characters ever created. Any description I might briefly offer would fall short by a long shot.

Freddy and the Ignormus by Walter R. Brooks. The Freddy the Pig books are marketed as children’s books, but they’re full of fun for adult readers, too–maybe even more so. In this outing, the legendary pig and his barnyard friends take on a haunted house. But is it really haunted, or just set up to look that way?

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. What can I say? I consider this the greatest fantasy novel of all time. Tolkien’s artistry with words will put you there. And although this tale is full of monsters, good is stronger than evil. Can’t hear a more welcome message than that, can you?

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea  by Jules Verne. A lot of modern readers don’t like this book, but I do–and always have, since I was a boy. It was written well before the invention of SCUBA gear and deep-sea vehicles… but it’s so easy to forget this, once the story sucks you in.

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. This is the climax of Lewis’ “space trilogy,” but it works just fine as a stand-alone story. Can the world be saved from a cannibalistic alliance of Science and Government? Better hope so! Lewis wrote it some 70 years ago, and it seems prophetic now.

So there’s five books to get you started on a summer of fabulous escape fiction. The idea is to step aside for a moment and take a breather, hose down your brain, and get ready for the next round. In that sense, these books are part of God’s divine, all-foreseeing providence. Be thankful for them.

‘Loving a Fictional Character’ (2016)

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Thursday Movie Blogging: Theoden King May Be My Favorite Character in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings"

Here he is in the movie.

I don’t know if I’ve ever achieved this as a story-teller: moved readers to love a character whom I made up. But J.R.R. Tolkien achieved it.

Loving a Fictional Character

Old King Theoden! Some of the things he says and does move me practically to tears. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to covering nooze dominated by characters who would definitely be on the Mordor team if they were in The Lord of the Rings. Where else would you put Chuck Schumer?

We need more models of goodness. Maybe if we had more, it’d start spilling over into our public business.

Worth a try, at least.

‘Child Suspended from School for ‘Threat’ to Use Magic Ring’ (2015)

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Magic ring - Wikipedia

I re-run this post every now and then because it drives home two major points:

1. Public education is beyond repair. Get out while you can.

2. Living in a Red State like Texas means nothing at all; the same wacko “educatorxs” control public schooling in all 50 states.

Child Suspended from School for ‘Threat’ to Use Magic Ring

How is it even possible to “threaten” anybody with a magic ring? Do “teachers” not understand that there is no such thing? This, by the way, was the Kermit Elementary School–named for Kermit the Frog?–in Texas. You don’t have to be in Massachusetts or California for your kids to be “educated” by idiots.

Why are your children still in public school? What kind of magic have they used on you?

A Writer’s Resource: Other Writers

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Tolkien and Lewis: A friendship | Angelus News

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis

I was in a jam last year, trying to write The Ocean of Time. I knew it would require a double climax, but I didn’t know how to pull it off.

For no conscious reason, I began to reread Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Not that I was trying to follow him, or imitate him–but suddenly my own book got very much easier to write! I managed the double climax, and by the time I was done, I thought I’d written my best Bell Mountain book ever.

Now I’m writing Ozias, Prince in Peril–and it looks like the guide that has emerged is C.S. Lewis’ trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength). This conviction has been strongly reinforced by a study of the trilogy, Deeper Heaven by Christiana Hale. So while I’m writing my own book, I think I need to be reading these four books.

Not to copy them in any way–that’s not how it works. A writer who tries to do that will damage his art. Actually, I’m not quite sure how this works. Somehow Lewis’ stories are giving me a clearer vision of my own. Writing novels is kind of weird, that way. I sort of wanted to revisit Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Martian novels, but the pull of Lewis’ trilogy is too strong to resist. Something’s telling me just to go with it. I was temped to call it “my instinct,” but that gives me too much credit. I do ask God to guide me in my work; and I think my prayers are answered.

 

Amazon’s New Tolkien Epic (Is This Trip Necessary?)

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I’m one of many people who love J.R.R. Tolkien’s milestone fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. I love it so much, I didn’t watch the movies. And I don’t think I’m going to watch this “billion-dollar saga” produced for streaming on Amazon Prime, a la Game of Thrones.

Why not? Well, of course they’re going to tweak this classic to make it more–I dunno: can we say “woke”? More in line with the conventions and shabby “values” of a cultural era which Tolkien himself surely would have despised. And so, for instance, Galadriel–presented in the original as wise, thoughtful, and powerful–is now decked out with a sword and armor… and I don’t want to be there when she resorts to jumpin’, spinnin’ kicks to wipe up the floor with the bad guys.

So this new TV series will be called The Rings of Power, taking the story back several thousand years (based on The Silmarillion, published posthumously and not actually written by Tolkien–whose son, Christopher, cobbled it together from his father’s vast store of notes; and also the “Appendices” attached to Lord of the Rings), with new characters added, that no one ever asked for.

They just have to screw around with it, don’t they? Maybe they can squeeze some transgender into it. I wouldn’t put it past them.

Warning to authors who don’t want their work vandalized–don’t die! Your copyright runs out and then they try to make more money off your name. And they really don’t care if they turn your vision into balderdash.

 

 

‘Idiot: “Lord of the Rings” Is Racist’ (2018)

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Orcs from the movies–they need a Safe Space

The fact that there are no such thing as Orcs doesn’t faze this alleged science fiction writer: he’s hot to trot for Orcs’ civil rights!

Idiot: ‘Lord of the Rings’ is ‘Racist’

Well, we do know this, don’t we–leftids are only happy when they can find something to complain about and spoil normal people’s fun.

We read fantasy to get away from stuff like this. The surest, deadliest way to kill a fantasy is to inject it with the follies that beset us in the real world. So much for escape!

Liberals are people who want to tunnel into prison camps.

‘A Message from Sauron’ (2015)

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Now that they’ve learned how to steal elections, and will never again be voted out of office, Democrats no longer have to try to pass themselves off as human. But that mask has been slipping for years.

A Message from Sauron

It’s so nice for them. The Dominion voting machines spit out however many votes they need, and they stay in power forever. Plenty of time to Fundamentally Transform America into a real-world Mordor.

‘Tolkien Was Deeper Than I Thought’ (2013)

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Shortly after publication of The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien had a very strange experience.

Tolkien Was Deeper Than I Thought

He could only describe it by saying it was like actually meeting one of the characters he thought he’d made up–Gandalf the Grey, the wizard. If you haven’t read the book, trust me: this is not the sort of person anyone encounters in real life.

Once you’re able to see the Christianity in Tolkien’s work, you can’t unsee it.

Everyone who works in Christian fantasy owes him a debt.

‘Hobbits, Orcs Colonize New Jersey’ (2014)

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Actually, the Orcs aren’t so much interested in colonizing as they are in tailgating and honking at you to drive faster–especially when you’re stopped at a red light. When they’re not doing that, they’re operating leaf blowers.

Hobbits, Orcs Colonize New Jersey

But what I really wanted to do with this post, back in 2014, was to call attention to what was then my newest Bell Mountain book, the seventh in the series, The Glass Bridge. I still marvel at the way artist Kirk DouPonce brought Gurun to life.

I find it very hard to remember she’s not a real person. And sometimes I don’t bother trying.