tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post7645755459105086790..comments2023-10-31T07:32:11.739-04:00Comments on Wormtalk and Slugspeak: Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566889846240013567noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-26118863913255931872008-09-29T17:09:00.000-04:002008-09-29T17:09:00.000-04:00...also, the greater use of "Lo!" in ROTK is part ......also, the greater use of "Lo!" in ROTK is part of the gradual shift in language from beginning to end. At the start Tolkien gives us the merely quaint (Edwardian?) in FOTR; wherein we are merely hearing a tale from our grandfather's time. As the story moves across Middle Earth it moves further back away from history and into legend.<BR/><BR/>This is why if you read the Eagles calling to Faramir on the return from the triumph at the Black Gate it sounds merely... odd. If you get to it by way of the long road, reading from FOTR through the TT, it sends chills up one's spine.<BR/><BR/>Great post, btw.The Overgrown Hobbithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09806927514541692971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-3793313392105629582008-09-23T16:09:00.000-04:002008-09-23T16:09:00.000-04:00A tiny correction* regarding Gimli and Legolas' re...A tiny correction* regarding Gimli and Legolas' retelling of the Paths of the Dead episode in "The Last Debate": there are not two but three instances of "Lo!" there.<BR/><BR/>1. Legolas uses the word to express hope of victory because of the great number of ghosts.<BR/><BR/>2. Legolas quotes Aragorn using "Lo!" when he perceives that Minas Tirith is on fire.<BR/><BR/>3. Gimli uses the word when he notes that Aragorn had taken command of the corsair fleet.<BR/><BR/>Also, I assume you deliberately omitted the appendices, where Aragorn twice uses "Lo!" -- when he foretells that the time of Elrond's departure approaches, and when he informs Arwen that his own death is near.<BR/><BR/>A side note on the emergence from the Paths of the Dead in "The Passing of the Grey Company". That section <A HREF="http://archives.theonering.net/rumour_mill/rpg/viewer/readingroom/448612BC00024F53.html" REL="nofollow">reminds me</A> of the end of Dante's <I>Inferno</I>: in both cases a stream is heard before it is seen in a tunnel, and emerging to the open air, the characters see the stars.<BR/><BR/>*Or expansion? I wasn't quite sure if your eighth example from <I>RotK</I> referred to one or two uses of "Lo!"N.E. Brigandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17601573470596905112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-12009862470534086402008-09-23T13:35:00.000-04:002008-09-23T13:35:00.000-04:00I think what often accounts for the heavy reliance...I think what often accounts for the heavy reliance on "lo" in these imitations is more the assumption that Tolkien's prose is universally mock-biblical ("lo" occurs throughout the Old Testament; more than a dozen times in Genesis alone). Of course, that assumption is very wrong. Even where Tolkien uses a style some might call biblical, it's not usually in The Lord of the Rings, particularly not in the early scene-setting chapters or in the synopses people seem to glom onto so much. Nice job calling out the WSJ (only the most recent offenders, sadly) for this foolishness.Jason Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05809154870762268253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-15467359419143902802008-09-23T08:39:00.000-04:002008-09-23T08:39:00.000-04:00Oh my goodness, your 'grade and comments' left me ...Oh my goodness, your 'grade and comments' left me laughing so hard! I agree that the WSJ article was a pathetic, badly done rip-off. Sadly, most of its readership won't know the difference.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14894152513746944497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-74130243315807584172008-09-23T01:09:00.000-04:002008-09-23T01:09:00.000-04:00You left out "As has been told".You left out "As has been told".John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.com