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3 March 2022 World Book Day
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World Book DayÂź changes lives through a love of books and shared reading.
I have beautiful memories of my son, Thierry’s book days. All those wonderful character’s that he dressed in. Not to mention the love of books and shared reading. One night we had an unplanned readathon- a marathon of reading until the wee hours of the morning.. Thierry kept saying – “just one more book , mama” Until we reached the end of the series.
I used to be afraid of growing old and dying, until we stumbled upon Lord of the Rings
What lore is Lord of the Rings based on?
The Lord of the Rings started as a sequel to Tolkien’s work The Hobbit, published in 1937. The popularity of The Hobbit had led George Allen & Unwin, the publishers, to request a sequel.
His magnum opus The Lord of the Rings told the story of four little hobbits and the part they played in saving the world of Men by defeating the ultimate evil: Sauron and his One Ring of Power.
Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, with much of it being written during World War II. It was originally published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955. It has since been reprinted numerous times and translated into at least 38 different languages, becoming one of the most popular works in twentieth-century literature.
The action in The Lord of the Rings is set in what the author conceived to be the lands of the real Earth, inhabited by humanity but placed in a fictional past, before our history but after the fall of his version of Atlantis, which he called NĂșmenor.
Tolkien gave this setting a modern English name, Middle-earth, a rendering of the Old English Middangeard.
Out of all the races, Men (humans) were the only ones that could truly die in Middle-earth. So, when humans die, we are not bound to the world, we are liberated from it and its troubles.
âMordor. The one place in Middle-Earth we donât want to see any closer. And itâs the one place weâre trying to get to. Itâs just where we canât get. Letâs face it, Mr. Frodo, weâre lost.â – Sam
The way Tolkien writes;
It feels like growing old and eventually leaving this world is a gift
Marking a journey – some universal purpose that we are all going toward some point.
This is in contrast to the Elves, who are reincarnated as themselves over and over – ageless and immortal – and must face their awful fate of dying from “dread” (being too saddened by the world and seeing non-elves die).
“As the high Legends of the beginning are supposed to look at things through Elvish minds, so the middle tale of the Hobbit takes a virtually human point of view – and the last tale (The Lord of the Rings) blends them.“
Tolkien on The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings respectively
Ultimately, we as humans spend a lot of time wanting to be someone that we’re not, whether in age, appearance, occupation, wealth, success etc.
If we can somehow overcome our own psychological vices and be comfortable in our own skins, I think we can finally liberate ourselves from a life of regret.
We create inequality among ourselves, we start wars, we create hate for race religion creed sex class opinions etc.
At the end of it all, and at the risk of sounding clichĂ©d if I haven’t already;
Life is what we make it
We can choose to do good things, to serve others, and fulfil our lives that way, or we can live a selfish one and satisfy ourselves to the bitter end.
However, at the end of the day I urge all of us to consider how we can live without harming the lives of others;
Because they all deserve a chance at happiness. This is probably more relevant to the human power & greed politicians, the leaders, and less so our current 2-3 generations that have to deal with what we inherited from the past, as well as what we will inherit from today.
Because the act of giving can be a beautiful expression. âŁ
âAll we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.â â Gandalf the Grey
One of the most sage pieces of wisdom from J.R.R. Tolkien, this quote tells us everything we need to know about life.
Everything, from when and where we are born to when and how we eventually die, is out of our hands.
What we can decide is what we dedicate our lives to.
When we are old and grey, what will we look back on and wish we did differently?
What memories will we cherish, what choices (or lack thereof) will we regret?
These are the questions Tolkien reminded us to ask ourselves every day, to make sure we make the most of the time we have.
âEven the smallest person can change the course of history.â â Lady Galadriel
Because we are all hobbits; all average, normal, comfy people who prefer the safety of our own homes but are secretly itching for some kind of adventure (okay, maybe not all hobbits are like this).
But we might be afraid that we are not good enough, or smart enough, or beautiful or strong or funny enough to make our dreams come true. Better leave the success to the successful; it seems unreachable from here.
But what Galadriel says â what Tolkienâs entire trilogy proves â is that anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it. If their courage holds and their spirit does not fail, then they are strong, and they can succeed.
And so can you.
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