Michael’s Comments (group member since Jun 10, 2010)

Michael’s comments from the J.R.R. Tolkien group.

Mary wrote: "That was fun - thanks for posting! I managed to get 80%, and it was refreshingly challenging. ;)"

Thanks, Mary :-D

Neil; Alatar: Thanks for your appreciation :-)

Thanks, John. Glad you enjoyed it :-)

8/12 is a pretty good score, Anne Marie :-)

Too kind [blush]!

When I get a bit of time, I will write a new one :-)

Thank you to everybody who took this quiz and commented (all very complimentary :-D ) since early 2013. I was pretty much off Goodreads from then until a couple of months ago, so only just seen your remarks when new alerts came up.

Excuses made, I'm pleased you all enjoyed taking the quiz, as I particularly enjoyed writing it :-) Thanks, again!

Fatini wrote: "Unfortunately my name is not available."

Although the web page is set up for English names, it also gives the meaning of the English name. Perhaps you could search for the meaning closest to Fatini and see if you can get an Elvish name that way :-)

Thanks, Shellie - I'll think about putting them on my tottering TBR pile! :-D

Shellie wrote: "I took Verlyn Flieger's course through Signum University last year called Tolkien and Tradition. We read the Story of Kullervo and the original Kalevala but it will be so awesome to have her final..."

What a cool course to be able to do!

So, I've read Tolkien's story and enjoyed it. Phew! Always a bit nerve wracking to read a favourite author's early work.

As in many of his other writings, the story is a mix of prose and poetry, the latter pleasingly sticking to the Kalevala metre made famous in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha.

It is a dark story of betrayal, murder and revenge, so definitely not one for the younger children. It is written in an 'antique' style, which may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it's relatively short so not a chore to read, I think.

Now on to the editor's notes and commentary.

An interesting observation by the editor, Verlyn Flieger, in the introduction (page xvii): "... it is no exaggeration to say that without The Kalevala there would be no Story of Kullervo, and without The Story of Kullervo there would be no Túrin." Obviously, without Túrin there would be no The Children of Húrin, so as short and unfinished as this work is, it clearly has an important place in the conception and development of Tolkien's legendarium.

Shellie wrote: "Well didn't I get my dates all wrong! Barnes and Noble will lose business if they don't get with the program because that's where I looked."

It's showing as available on Amazon UK, but unavailable on Amazon USA, so maybe there is a different release date.

Oh,wow!I can't believe you have to wait so long. Even Treebeard would get impatient waiting until then! If somebody would be kind enough to remind me if I forget, I'll reschedule it for a second discussion in April :-)

To mark the publication of the newest (and oldest!) Of Tolkien's works, I've added an extra Group Read for The Story of Kullervo. I'm not sure if it's published yet in all territories, hence the long duration for this one. Also, anybody getting this for a present at the festive season will have an opportunity to join in the discussion :-)

Welcome, N.A. Both writers are, indeed, inspirational.

For anybody whose interest is piqued by your own work, I've added a link in the Group Members' Writing folder, where you're welcome to discuss it :-)

Here's a link to new Group member N.A. Finlay's story, Phusen Noix: By N.A. Finlay, which he describes as being the start of his own world-building.

It was one of Tolkien's earliest pieces of writing, so it should be interesting on that point alone.

There are some more posts on the impending publication here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

:-)

I watched Tango and Cash again recently (hence it was fresh om my mind when posting earlier) and I don't think I will need to repeat the experience. I really hope they don't remake Big Trouble - some things are good enough just as they are.

The comment threads get a little tangled at times - it was Joe, the OP, who was reading The Hobbit for the first time :-) I've lost count of the number of times I've read it, and the Silmarillion is one of my favourite books - I had no trouble reading that one ;-)

I love Big Trouble so much that I can forgive Kurt Russell for Tango and Cash (but only just!).

From the ever fascinating LOTR Project website, an analysis of the birth dates Tolkien assigned to his characters and (speculation) as to his unconscious psychological motivations for doing so.

http://lotrproject.com/blog/2015/07/2...