David C. Downing's Blog, page 4

Here's an article about a new audio recording of J. R. R. Tolkien that has come...

Here's an article about a new audio recording of J. R. R. Tolkien that has come to light, a speech he gave to admiring fans in the Netherlands in 1958 to celebrate the new Dutch translation of THE HOBBIT.


J.R.R. Tolkien Reveals TRUE Meaning Of 'The Lord Of The Rings' In Unearthed Audio Recording
www.huffingtonpost.com
Over 20 years ago, a lost recording of J.R.R. Tolkien was discovered in a basement in Rotterdam, but the man who found it kept this important reel-to-reel tape hidden away. Until recently, only he had heard the recording....

Fun fact: Cair Paravel, the citadel by the sea in Narnia, is probably inspired b...

Fun fact: Cair Paravel, the citadel by the sea in Narnia, is probably inspired by the young C. S. Lewis's visits to the ruins of Dunluce Castle in the north of Ireland.

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn'...

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Narnian Society on Facebook just became an Open Group. Have a look!

The Narnian Society on Facebook just became an Open Group. Have a look!

Take the quiz. Are you a "Lord of the Rings" superfan or only a dabbler?

Take the quiz. Are you a "Lord of the Rings" superfan or only a dabbler?



10 Things Only Real 'Lord Of The Rings' Fans Know
www.huffingtonpost.com
Have you read The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings -- and seen the extended editions of the movies -- multiple times? Is Shadowfax your fave fictional horse? Do you have strong feelings about Tom Bombadil being left out of Peter Jackson's "Fello...

Question: If orcs and trolls are so ferocious, how come every one of them gets k...

Question: If orcs and trolls are so ferocious, how come every one of them gets killed or neutralized in combat during the Hobbit films, while all the halfling hobbits come out with nothing more than scraps and bruises?

Which would be the bigger adventure?: Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" or a signing...

Which would be the bigger adventure?: Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" or a signing up for a Carnival Cruise?

"The Hobbit 2: Desolation of Smaug" opens this weekend. It looks as if they are...

"The Hobbit 2: Desolation of Smaug" opens this weekend. It looks as if they are treating Tolkien's first book as a fantasy epic, a la LOTR, rather a children's story. But it looks quite watchable nonetheless!


The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - HD Main Trailer - Official Warner Bros. UK
"The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug" opens nationwide across the UK on 13th December 2013 Facebook - http://bit.ly/Hobbit_UK Twitter - http://bit.ly/12kyYmV ...

C. S. Lewis's SPIRITS IN BONDAGE: A CYCLE OF LYRICS (1919) is available for free...

C. S. Lewis's SPIRITS IN BONDAGE: A CYCLE OF LYRICS (1919) is available for free download for Amazon Kindle. This is the volume of poems Lewis published when he was 21, a decade before he became a Christian. He was something a gnostic at that stage, contrasting spirit as good and matter as bad, some good poetry offering a glimpse of the young Lewis at that stage of his spiritual journey.

The Inklings are also being honored, or gently satirized, in the comics these days!

The Inklings are also being honored, or gently satirized, in the comics these days!