#i will have to buy the books for myself some day

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

While I agree that not everything can be effectively translated from page to screen, I don’t buy that in this case. I just recorded myself reading these lines, not rushing, but reading them how I’d like to hear them spoken, and it took me 12 seconds. 12 seconds. It might take me one or two seconds longer if I really slowed down for emphasis. More on this in a minute.

Why do you think it would be comical? Not if it were done well, and Miranda Otto would certainly have done it well. Not if it were allowed to have the same importance that some of Tolkien’s other canonical dialogue had in the movies. This scene has nothing in common with a real emergency situation or a real combat situation, even if it’s depicting one: what it actually is is art, and the rules are different.

Was there time for Théoden to make his speech before the Battle of the Pelennor Fields? In a real emergency situation, shouldn’t they have just charged? Yes, but the thing is, it isn’t a real situation, it’s a story. It works for Théoden to make that speech. It makes the scene infinitely better. In fact, it’s one of the best scenes, if not the best scene, in both the books and the movies. This should have been treated no differently. Cutting down Éowyn’s dialogue didn’t make her scene work better, it removed the full gravitas that it could have had.

Théoden’s speech in the movie takes a long time. First he gives commands to Éomer, Gamling and Grimbold, and I’m not going to count that part, because it’s the most “realistic” part of his speech in the sense that it’s necessary for winning the battle. That takes about 11 seconds, for reference. Then this takes him 18 seconds to say: “Forth, and fear no darkness! Arise! Arise, riders of Théoden! Spears shall be shaken! Shields shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises!” After a pause, he says: “Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride for ruin, and the world’s ending!” That’s 11 more seconds of dialogue, not counting the pause. This is already significantly longer than Éowyn reading those lines would have been! And this is all before they start chanting “Death!”

Between “Forth, and fear no darkness” and the time they charge, more than a full minute passes. Is that realistic? Is that what you should really do in an emergency? No! But it's REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD IN A STORY. If this speech had been cut down for brevity or so-called realism, the scene would have been much, much poorer for it.

Movies get a lot of criticism, often rightly, when opponents talk to each other during a fight, because it can seem absurd to talk while actively exchanging blows. But dialogue during a fight is different that dialogue before a fight. When Éowyn confronts the Witch-king, they’re not actually fighting yet. Théoden has just fallen beneath Snowmane and the fell beast has landed on it. He’s trapped. The Witch-king is in no hurry, and not only that, he’s used to being unopposed: most mortal Men fall to the ground in terror just at the sound of his voice. He has no expectation that anyone will try to challenge him, let alone kill him.

There’s actually even more dialogue before the quotation we’re talking about:

‘Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!’ A cold voice answered: ‘Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.’ A sword rang as it was drawn. ‘Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.’ ‘Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!’ Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. ‘But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.’

Note that the fighting happens after this. She kills the fell beast and they fight after all this is said. Now the dialogue is long, and I understand cutting it down, and I get that there are changes that need to be made from page to screen. But we’re talking about 12 seconds, the part at the end right there, just 12 seconds, give or take.

Now let’s talk about the movie scene for a minute. It’s quite different:

Éowyn says, “I will kill you if you touch him.” The Witch-king says, “Do not come between the Nazgul and his prey.” She kills the fell beast. They fight. He chokes her, which didn’t happen in the book, and I really hate it because it was completely unnecessary. He says, “You fool. No man can kill me. Die now.” Merry stabs him in the leg. Éowyn says, “I am no man,” and kills him.

In my opinion, the way they expanded the fight part of this scene actually removed some of its drama. Cutting down the dialogue also removed its drama. The part where he choked her was awful and should have been changed. And do you see how in the movie version the dialogue is actually interspersed in the fighting, which is not the case in the book? That also reduced the drama of the scene. Imagine instead a version of the movie that more heavily relies on Tolkien’s dialogue and how the scene actually went:

The fell beast lands on Snowmane, poised to attack. Éowyn draws her sword and says, “Begone, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!” The Witch-king says, “Thou fool. Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey. Or I will not slay thee in they turn, but bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured. No living man may hinder me!” Éowyn laughs and says, “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” Then the fell beast attacks her and she chops off its head. The Witch-king attacks her and breaks her arm and Merry stabs him in the leg and she kills him.

This is so much more dramatic and carries so much more weight and meaning than the scene in the movie. Of course some things could be added or subtracted, and there are different ways it could be done, but I’m just showing you that the original dialogue could have played more of a role here. It not only adds to Éowyn’s gravitas, it adds to the power of the Witch-king and makes his defeat more satisfying. And it actually builds to a crescendo. It’s far better to have the dialogue first and the action after rather than breaking up the dialogue with an unnecessarily extended fight scene.

Tolkien knew what he was doing. It absolutely does make sense for Éowyn to verbally challenge the Witch-king this way, and it works within the style of writing and the story that Tolkien created. There were many times when his dialogue translated beautifully from page to the screen, and this could have been no different!

The movie dialogue could never measure up to this:

“But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.”

How could anyone cut this?! How?! How?!?!?!?! These lines are so incredibly stirring, so powerful, so moving. “I am no man” doesn’t even come close.

First of all, I like that the negative statement of “No living man am I” is followed by the positive statement of “You look upon a woman.” It’s direct and definitive. She’s been disguised as Dernhelm up until this point—another thing that was cut from the movie—but now she’s revealing who she really is.

Second, in a similar way, I like that she says, “Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter.” It’s like a challenge. It’s like announcing one’s identity before a duel—which is in effect what she is doing.

Third, “You stand between me and my lord and kin.” This reminds me of one of the most poignant quotes from the book: “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” It’s very important that Éowyn did this brave deed out of a desire to protect Théoden.

Finally, “Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” THIS IS LITERALLY SO AMAZING! THIS IS SO COURAGEOUS! I CAN’T EVEN EXPRESS HOW THIS MAKES ME FEEL! I don’t know which part is better—the fact that she threatens him, or that she gives him the choice to forfeit and flee the battlefield.

There’s an incredible heroic resoluteness to the final line, “For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” This, right here, is the essence of the courage of mortals in Tolkien’s books. It’s the acceptance of death, but the desire to go down fighting—the knowledge that death is inevitable, but the one thing we have control over is how we meet it.

Éowyn is facing Sauron’s most powerful servant, who is almost a personification of death itself, and she is declaring that no matter what he is, and no matter the outcome, she WILL fight him. When she says these lines, she doesn’t know that she and Merry will vanquish him. It’s sheer determination against impossible odds, it’s extraordinary courage in the face of death—and THAT is why this scene is so powerful.

[the-ellia-west]

Hey y'all, so this is a new type of post for me!

Life Update #1 - 01/20/25

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I haven't done a lot recently, I'm kind of in a more stagnant period after getting home from Camp, and knowing I have to go back to school

Thankfully, we have a snow day tomorrow, and I'll most likely have time to finish up on some of my schoolwork

I have a lot of things I want to do, but not the time or the motivation to reasonably consider doing them without a schedule

It's cold outside, and I can't seem to connect with anyone outside of my church, which is two cities away and means I go through the school day with glimpses of my sister and my own thoughts

I'm slowly beginning to figure myself and my true identity out now that I have begun to pray and read my bible more often

I'm more confident in what I want and I haven't been on the verge of panicking since before I went camping

My interactions with my family haven't bothered me since I left for Camp

I wrote more of my Sister's Birthday gift today, Thought about JoR a little bit, and just relaxed

I want to buy better clothes, go out somewhere with my friends, do work on my WIPs, go for daily runs despite the cold, finish my maps, finish the book I started reading, finish my schoolwork, do my laundry, clean, make a playlist for JoR, finish the moodboard, and maybe talk to someone new.

But I'm not quite sure where to start

I trust in God and I know he will lead me where I want to go, I trust my friends are honest with me, and for the first time in years I feel comfortable in my own skin

I looked in the mirror, and the skin problems didn't bother me, I didn't hate how I looked

I appreciate my skills for what they are and where I'm at, I like my body and my hair, I like my life and I'm happy with my interests

I still have a lot to do and a lot to learn, and a bunch of things to do, but I know I'm going to be okay

And that makes me happy

Thank you Jesus, I love you.

Bonus, tagging people in this one, tell me if you'd like to be tagged or not in future posts like this

@corinneglass @sunflowerrosy @seastarblue @homelessnerd @vesanal

@thebookishkiwi

[goldyluna]

geis yes or no

Geis hell yeah

I just finished the second book and it was so good! The art is beautiful, the story is really engaging and the characters are so awesome—io, the judge, law and artur are definitely my favs for now!

Absolute must for death game enjoyers!

Thanks for introducing me to it and letting me read it <3333

[menthol-drops]

I have a child, a one-year old. Not using screen time as a solution to “my kid wants my attention all the time but i need a moment to myself” isn’t easy, it’s fucking hard, but we’ve done it! She has toys and books, that she can be directed to if we need a moment.

There is such a huge advantage to reading to/with your kids. If you don’t know what toys to buy i recommend looking at Lovevery (they’re a montessori-style toy subscription service, but you can get some good ideas from them without buying anything off them). If you’re a working parent even 1 or 2 books a day in the morning or at bedtime still help your child learn more than 50mins on an ipad ever will.

There is a difference in behaviour between ipad kids and non-ipad kids. Less tantrums, more patience, better attention spans, faster and more advanced language/cognitive/motor skill development. You’re raising a future adult, you should want to set your kids up for success imo

no offense but there is almost nothing in the world more shameful to me than letting your child be an ipad baby. I'm not saying parents don't have it hard, but I personally could not live with myself if I purposefully let my child get addicted to the technological equivalent of black tar heroin just because I'm too fucking tired to parent. literacy rates are at a record low right now -- partially because schools removed phonics from their curricula, yes, but also because fewer and fewer parents read to their children or encourage them to pick up a fucking book. you are allowing your child to emotionally and intellectually stunt themselves, and for what? I'm not saying kids shouldn't have any access to television or computers (they should, although particularly for computers I'd encourage one stationary PC in a computer room like we had in the 90's and 2000's), but no, your child should not have unsupervised, unlimited, unadulterated access to everything the web has to offer at the tender age of 6. or give them some age appropriate video games for god's sake. mario or spyro or SOMETHING. something other than tiktok and youtube. call me crazy for thinking that that's shit parenting. not to mention that by only giving them access to ipads and iphones that they don't know how to work actual computers anymore (go on, ask your 12 year old to open and save a file folder on your desktop, I dare you). a generation of shitty parents who have raised emotionally stunted low-attention-span illiterate incurious apathetic children who will very soon become an entire generation of illiterate incurious apathetic voters and consumers. that's another thing, too -- your children are constantly being advertised to and are being groomed to be relentless and uncritical consumers. your children are being preyed upon on multiple levels and you don't fucking care!! easier to call people giving you warnings "prudes" and "boomers" than actually think critically about your child and their future.

look I know parenting is hard. Unfortunately for you, your child didn't ask to be born, and it is nonetheless YOUR responsibility to raise them well and give them every fucking opportunity you can. and I am watching millions and millions of parents who could not give less of a fuck that they are actually materially disadvantaging their own children. im sick to my stomach for real.

[shortqueershakespeare]

Funny that my migraines can sometimes just look like me being too fucking tired and foggy to mediate between family members

[hislittleraincloud]

I'm supremely tired today even though I passed out early-ish for me. (Maybe 3AM? That's early for me.) I did it without taking my full meds, so I woke up sick and had to take them anyway...and now I can't keep my eyes open. Idiopathic hypersomnia is a real fucking bitch (and I've had it most of my life; my mother also has it).

This sucks so gd much bc I have things to write. I want to write. But right now there's so much fatigue that I'm just useless atm. I couldn't even find the energy to put together my Wednesday sticker album with its stickers.

If you know me, I am a huge, huge cards and sticker collector...when my ex dumped all my stuff, I had a very extensive collection, sports and non-sports; I had a thing for Mets Mike Piazza and had a collection of his rare inserts (including a mistake print that was the only one in the world...and #001 — and a couple of #031 — inserts as well, and an early online friend was nice enough to gift me his Bowman Dodgers rookie card, which isn't worth shit now but the rare inserts and the mistake printing still sting). I mostly did non-sports, and had a bunch of TV show inserts and special sets. I didn't have any of my Paninis though, those are still back at the house in Massachusetts.

Speaking of non-sports cards, where in fuck are the Wednesday cards? Where the fuck is Cryptozoic, and why haven't they made a Wednesday set yet? I'm sure that that would make big bank...I could see the Wenclairs going insane over having a piece of the rainbow film that NC Wednesday/Ortega scraped off of her side. In fact I can think of a million different screen-used "pieces of" Season 1 that would make perfect insert cards. The rainbow film, pieces of Donovan's cork board (like the map of Jericho), a piece of one of Xavier's drawings or paintings, piece of one of the Nightshades's robes, piece of one of the Poe Cup cat suits, piece of one of Tyler's Lesbian Plaid™ shirts (😘), piece of Wednesday's novel, etc. (Ooo, piece of the Rave'N dresses, since there were multiples made.) So many opportunities for inserts there. Cryptozoic isn't terrible (they're the ones who put out the Sons of Anarchy set, through which I have Donovan's autograph). This Panini thing is pretty fucking terrible though, with the worst artwork. I love me some Panini, but I suppose they're only good for animated works rather than live action since any number of fan artists could've done a better job with the art in this. Why do companies settle for such mediocrity? This is terribly simplistic and unappealing art, looks like it was done in less than 5 minutes/with autotrace for the vectors (and the most pathetic part is that it was likely done by someone with an art degree)

Anyway. I'm so tired. And horned up because of my testosterone shot. God damn it.

ETA: Happy Birthday, Wednesday. And uh...tomorrow is technically ABW's birthday (just after midnight, LOL). She is 18 today/tonight! ...✨🫠✨

[nauticalfools]

.

[seaofreverie]

The Me who bought tickets to see TMBG in february 2023 and the Me who's going to actually go to the show next month are two completely different people

[averagemrfox]

Big news I went to the supermarket today. Everybody clap

[steelycunt]

sorry for succumbing to the thrill of litl pakaj. it will happen again

[c0rpsedemon]

i NEED the tcgf novels i need them so bad

[brotherhoodoftheblade]

A current portrait of me as a LJG series fan in an OL world:

Me: Great, now every time I see 'Titus Andronicus' on my bookshelf I'll be painfully reminded of Percy for the rest of my life. 😭 I'm never giving D*ana G*baldon another single red cent again as long as I live!! 😤💀

Also me while at the used bookstore: Oooh, hello hardcover editions of the LJG books...you will be mine! *rubs hands together gleefully* 😍 (Just missing BotB and TSP now.)

Also me just in general: I'm never giving DG my money again as long as I live!!...butttt...if they were to release new editions of the LJG books that actually have nice covers I may have to break my sworn oath. 😅

(Seriously, all the book designs are so visually underwhelming...no wonder I hadn't even heard of OL until the show came out. I'd just been walking past them in bookstores for years because there's nothing remotely eye-catching about them. I've seen some editions in other languages that at least had some suitably atmospheric covers -- but the English editions? Forget about it! 🙃)

[cetoddle-archive]

sims game is working got a new job therapy is going well my med situation is getting sorted out.,,things are going too well i’m suspicious

[snowfea]

This week is being mean to me but today while I was looking in despair at a PowerPoint for a presentation due tomorrow I noticed a rainbow, and then a double rainbow outside my window (though you have to squint for the second one because my phone's camera is shit)

So remember to take a deep breath once in a while guys, may you find little moments of joy even when your day is tougher than others

[autistic-shaiapouf]

Got up and started going presyncope, then learned I was being offered extra hours at work and got to actually sit down and say "you know what, I think I'm okay"

[waugh-bao]

A Day in NYC (2023)