You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Silmarillion’ category.
This song reminds me strongly of Mae/Fin. Even though I don’t ship ‘em, it reads totally like a letter Mae writes to Fin. This is a very, very difficult song to translate, because most of the lines don’t form sentences, but are instead strung together from broken phrases (due to the nature of the language). I had to agonize over and create a context for many of them. Though above all, it’s hard to come up with a translation that does justice to the beauty of the original lyrics.
追憶の風
The Wind of Reminiscence
Lyrics by: Itou Kanako
English translation by: Bella R.
走り出すこの道 新しい日
Onto this path I take a new step, as the sun again rises
澄んだ君の瞳に 明日を信じて行く
In your clear eyes, I find my belief in tomorrow
追憶の風 幾千の記憶 胸に抱き締め
In the wind of reminiscence, I bury in my chest countless memories
どこまでも遠く 高く
As we soar far and high above this land
Written for the Back to Middle Earth Month, Day 24. Prompt: Your favourite quote.
“You are the loveliest person in the world.” — from the movie Nordkraft, by Ole Christian Madsen.
Made with Karnebogen & Iungbluth’s “Historic Tale Construction Kit”,
a.k.a make your own Bayeux Tapestry.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That thing totally made my day. Such GREAT fun. I wanted to add an archway to the background, but for some reason the programme couldn’t take it, so I had to keep it simple. Strange thing, there was no “upward-pointing” sword, only “flying sword” (and no “firebrand”), so I had to make do with what they had, too.
“[Fëanor] knew with the foreknowledge of death that no power of the Noldor would ever overthrow them; but he cursed the name of Morgoth thrice, and laid it upon his sons to hold to their oath, and to avenge their father.” — Silmarillion, XIII
Alright. Today was the last lesson of the Viking Literature class I’ve been attending. And how do I feel?
The Sagas I’ve read for the class:
Volsunga Saga — the one with the ring and the dragon.
Laxdaela Saga — the one with the Irish slave who turned out the be a princess.
Egil’s Saga — the one about this guy with Paget’s disease of bone.
Saga of Grettir The Strong — as mentioned earlier, the one that tells us not to make fun of a man’s, you know.
Eirik The Red and Other Icelandic Sagas — compilation of several short sagas. The one with Gunnlaug Wormtongue was particularly sappy.
Njal’s Saga —
Guy from class: How did Gunnar manage to hold a halberd in one hand and a sword in the other, at the same time?
Another guy from class: Because Gunnar was awesome.
Oh and Skarphedin was sexy.
——————————————–
I’m not going to write detailed reviews for them, since I read most of them with an “as long as I can finish my paper” speed. (And I’m burnt out from writing all those papers.) I haven’t started on my final paper and I have no idea what ter do with it. I’m tempted to call it a self-inflicted torture, (naturally, I’m not planning to take this many credits for the coming term), but oh, it was fun. It was great fun, and really, really inspiring.
——————————————–
So, what’s this entry all about?
A classmate has just pointed out today that the name of a horse in the saga we discussed today resembles that of “Shadowfax”, Gandalf’s favourite horse. Needless to mention, Nordic influence is extremely apparent throughout ol’ Tolkien’s works. References to names from Nordic Sagas are ubiquitous, and “Shadowfax” is just one of the countless many. (“Faxi” means “mane” in old Norse.)
——————————————–
What with my burnt-out brain I wish to talk about here though, is to point out how deeply the values and mindsets in The Silmarillion echo those in the pagan Viking Age.
Most significantly, there is the oath-taking.
One discrepancy between the pagan and the Christian mindset is that for the former, people do not change, but for the latter, there’s a chance that people would change. Part of the reason is that Christianity was spread by encouraging people to “convert”.
While modern readers may think there could have been more flexibility in adherence to an oath, in the Viking society where lores were built upon oral tradition, an oral oath was ultimate. It could not under any circumstances be broken.
Secondly, there is the vengeance.
In the Viking society, kinship was highly valued. It was the closest form of allegiance, and it was a deeply entrenched custom that blood vengeance to be taken against the killing of a close kin, especially if the victim is one’s father. In such case, it would be any living heir’s responsibility to avenge for the father’s death.
A parallel could be drawn, too, between the Noldor and the Icelandic Vikings, who sailed away from Norway to avoid what they thought was tyranny — the rule of King Harald Fairhair.
Definitely not the least, and hardly the last:
Proud, stubborn and impetuous — these were the hallmarks of a Viking hero. We find that in Gunnar Hamundarson, the celebrated hero in Njal’s Saga, who made his choices in life bravely and recklessly, embracing the consequences with his strength and courage.
And we see that in Fëanor.
Today’s Polar Bear Day. Let’s celebrate the wonderful presence of this hardy, magnificent predator.
The sketch above is for a picture I’ve had in mind to draw for today. It’s Fingolfin and Fingon (A.K.A Finbear and Finbear-cub, because they crossed the icy Helcaraxë). I’m posting this classroom doodle first because I know I won’t be able to produce the full-coloured picture in time. Let’s hope for spring break, shall we?
I love polar bears, and I certainly hope they will prevail. For at least once in my life I would like to see them in their natural habitat.
It is irrefutable that the Vikings were sexy beasts.
Prof: Why did Grimhild go to such lengths to get Gudrun married with Sigurd?
Class: He’s strong and he’s a warrior; he has the good genes.
Prof: Yeah, I was just about to call him a stud, but I’m not gonna write that down.
——————————————————————
From the class text, The Laxdaela Saga:
“Olaf Feilan was the youngest of Thorstein’s children. He was a large, strong man, handsome and highly accomplished.”
“The child was sprinkled with water and named Hrut. From his early childhood he was both big and strong for his age, and no man cut a better figure: tall, broad-shouldered and narrow at the waist, with well-formed arms and legs. He was also very handsome.”
’nuff said.
手の鳴るほうへ
Hold My Hand
Song and lyrics by: Cocco
English translation by: Bella R.
愛は あなたのため
I bear love for your sake
鳥は ひとつ歌う
As a lonely bird that sings a song
ゆるり ほどいたなら
If we break loose from what restrains us
今夜 時は満ちてく
Tonight will be ours
I’ve wanted to draw something for Halloween for the longest time, and have hence agonized over what the munchkins from LoTR should “dress up” as. I’ve considered characters from Gothic literature and Norse Mythology, but none of them seem to fit in very well. One thing that stuck though, was “Glorfindel as bunny” — this idea’s been there from the beginning to end. Therefore I decided that it’s actually the thing that I most wanted to draw.
So there you have it. It’s a couple of days late, but still, it’s Glorfy as bunny!
Click me:
This is a collection of chalkboard punishments related to The Silmarillion. Inspired by Sarah and Rei-hime’s hilarious Lord of The Rings Chalkboard.
Contributions are highly welcomed. Please add them as a comment below!
To practice some Japanese, I took a bunch of idioms and made sentences with them. I’ve done so often in the past with common phrases, as part of my notes for class, and it helped me remember the usage pretty effectively.
It’s a fair bit harder making sentences with idioms because they require a certain amount of context behind them. I took much longer than I expected, but it was great fun, because I could draw ideas from wherever I wanted. And it really helped me to grasp the meaning.
This time, they’re mostly about The Silmarillion, since it’s been my recent subject of interest. Here are a few of them:
身につく ― フェアノールはアウレの鍛冶場で、優れた鍛冶技術を身についた。
to learn (a skill) — In Aulë’s Forge, Fëanor learnt great skills.
鍵を握る ― フロドがアルダ全体の存亡の鍵を握っていた。
holds the key to… — Frodo held the key to Arda’s life and death.
取るに足りない － 大局と比べたら、個人の感情は取るに足りないと信じていたマグロールは、自らの疑いを抑えて、ノルドールの王子としての役目を果たし続けた。
inconsequential — Bound by the belief that personal sentiments are inconsequential as compared to the affairs of the state, Maglor suppressed his own doubts and continued to carry out his duty as a prince of the Noldor.
(That was my favourite sentence!)
