November 18, 2002

A Smattering of Tidbits
Everett Vandagriff

First of all, to answer the question of the Rune of Mirkwood, the city to which Gandalf travels in order to examine the records of Isildur is Minas Tirith. Upon returning from the battle of the Last Alliance, Isildur stopped at Minas Tirith, where he wrote of the One Ring and its appearance. This is what Gandalf was trying to find, and it informed him of the inscription on the Ring.

Balin and Dwalin were the sons of Fundin. Oin and Gloin were the sons of Groin. Fundin and Groin were the sons of Farin, thus making them brothers. This makes Balin and Gloin cousins, and Gimli, being the son of Gloin, is Balin's cousin, though to what degree I am not exactly sure (1.5, maybe?).

Here are my predictions for TTT. First of all, the story will not be divided as it is in the book. Rather, the movie will switch focus back and forth between Frodo and Sam and the rest of the Fellowship. Since Shelob is not to be in TTT, the final two scenes will be Gandalf and Pippin riding to Minas Tirith, and Frodo, Sam and Gollum starting to climb the stairs of Cirith Ungol after the host of Minas Morgul has passed. I'm Nick Bakay, and I'm just livin' the dream. (For those of you who aren't addicted to Sportscenter, I'll explain in my next post.)

Finally, I would like to conclude with a few points on what is left of the Tolkien-Christianity debate. First of all, I find it amusing that there are far more people submitting pieces calling for an end to the debate than actually contributing anything to it. It has gotten to the point where there are at least five or six pieces calling for an end to the debate for every one piece that even mentions something about it in passing.

Furthermore, I would like to say kudos to Christian Hobbit. Your attack on Buddhists, Mormons, Muslims, atheists, and others was by far the most incendiary piece I've ever seen in this forum, and the responses it elicited were amazingly nasty. It topped, by far, Annatar's histrionic response to my posting "A Namby-Pamby, Pacifist Jesus." But you didn't stop there. After having people refuse to tolerate your views (they not being tolerant of the views of others), you shot right back, and took even more guff. A little vehemence is sometimes needed to liven things up around here, and boy did you deliver. Martin Luther would have been proud.

Also, I would like to address, briefly, the assertion made by the Wandering Wizaerd that religion is merely an opinion. While it is true that religion does invole a credo, it is more than that. Religion is a way of life. It involves not only beliefs, but practices and obligations as well. Certainly, religious practices are adhrered to because of religious beliefs, but in order for one to truly adhere to a religion (or to any belief system, for that matter), one cannot separate belief from practice.

In closing, I would like to offer a quote from Tolkien which will hopefully put the debate to rest: "I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability the the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."

God bless.