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One Ring
The One Ring, also called the Ruling Ring and Isildur's Bane, is a central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–55). It first appeared in the earlier story '' The Hobbit'' (1937) as a magic ring that grants the wearer invisibility. Tolkien changed it into a malevolent Ring of Power and re-wrote parts of ''The Hobbit'' to fit in with the expanded narrative. ''The Lord of the Rings'' describes the hobbit Frodo Baggins's quest to destroy the Ring and save Middle-earth. Scholars have compared the story with the ring-based plot of Richard Wagner's opera cycle '' Der Ring des Nibelungen''; Tolkien denied any connection, but at the least, both men drew on the same mythology. Another source is Tolkien's analysis of Nodens, an obscure pagan god with a temple at Lydney Park, where he studied the Latin inscriptions, one containing a curse on the thief of a ring. Tolkien rejected the idea that the story was an allegory, saying that applicability to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' New York Herald Tribune'' for best juvenile fiction. It is recognized as a classic in children's literature and is one of the best-selling books of all time, with over 100 million copies sold. ''The Hobbit'' is set in Middle-earth and follows home-loving Bilbo Baggins, the titular hobbit who joins the wizard Gandalf and the thirteen dwarves of Thorin's Company on a quest to reclaim the dwarves' home and treasure from the dragon Smaug. Bilbo's journey takes him from his peaceful rural surroundings into more sinister territory. The story is told in the form of a picaresque or episodic quest; several chapters introduce a new type of monster or threat as Bilbo progresses through the landscape. Bilbo gains a new level of maturity, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Speech
The Black Speech is one of the fictional languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien for his legendarium, where it was spoken in the evil realm of Mordor. In the fiction, Tolkien describes the language as created by Sauron as a constructed language to be the sole language of all the servants of Mordor. Little is known of the Black Speech except the inscription on the One Ring. Scholars note that Tolkien constructed this to be plausible linguistically, and to sound rough and harsh. The scholar Alexandre Nemirovski, on linguistic evidence, has proposed that Tolkien based it on the ancient Hurrian language, which like the Black Speech was Agglutinative language, agglutinative. Tolkien Objective The Black Speech is one of the more fragmentary languages in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Unlike his extensive work on the Elvish languages (Middle-earth), Elvish languages, Tolkien did not write songs or poems in the Black Speech, apart from the One Ring inscription. He sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milton Waldman
Milton Waldman (1895–1976) was an author of historical biographies and literary advisor at William Collins, Sons, London. He is also remembered for his correspondence with J. R. R. Tolkien who was seeking a publisher for his legendarium and ''The Lord of the Rings'', combined into one work. Waldman was interested but refused to publish the work. Biography Milton Waldman was born in 1895 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was educated at Yale University. During the First World War, he served in the United States Army. He wrote biographies of historical figures, especially Queens of England. His first published book was ''Americana'' in 1925, about American literature from the time of the first Europeans onwards. Around 1930 he moved to London, where he worked as an editor at the '' London Mercury'' literary journal, and as a literary advisor for the publisher Longmans, Green. In 1949 he became a literary advisor to the publisher William Collins, Sons. He rose to become director of that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Shadow Of The Past
"The Shadow of the Past" is the second chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's bestselling fantasy work, ''The Lord of the Rings'', which was published in 1954–1955. Tolkien called it "the crucial chapter"; the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey labelled it "the vital chapter". This is because it represents both the moment that Tolkien devised the central plot of the book, and the point in the story where the protagonist, Frodo Baggins, and the reader realise that there will be a quest to destroy the Ring. A sketch of it was among the first parts of the book to be written, early in 1938; later that year, it was one of three chapters of the book that he drafted. In 1944, he returned to the chapter, adding descriptions of Gollum, the Ring, and the hunt for Gollum. The chapter changes the book's tone from the first chapter's light-hearted hobbit partying, and introduces major themes of the book. These include a sense of the depth of time behind unfolding events, the power of the Ring, and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Doom
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world, fictional continent of Middle-earth, Mordor (; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is a dark realm. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and to the south of Mirkwood. #Mount Doom, Mount Doom, a volcano in Mordor, was the goal of the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of the Ring in the quest to destroy the One Ring. Mordor was surrounded by three mountain ranges, to the north, the west, and the south. These both protected the land from invasion and kept those living in Mordor from escaping. Commentators have noted that Mordor was influenced by Tolkien's own experiences in the industrial Black Country of the English Midlands, and by The Great War and Middle-earth, his time fighting in the trenches of the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the First World War. Tolkien was also familiar with the account of the monster Grendel's unearthly landscapes in the Old English poem ''B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor () is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. In Tolkien's stories, Celebrimbor was an elven-smith who was manipulated into forging the Rings of Power by the Dark Lord Sauron, in fair disguise and named ''Annatar'' ("Lord of Gifts"). Sauron then secretly made the One Ring to gain control over all the other Rings and dominate Middle-earth, setting in motion the events of ''The Lord of the Rings''. Tolkien, as a professional philologist, had been asked to translate an inscription at the late Roman temple of Nodens at Lydney Park in Gloucestershire. The inscription recorded a curse upon a ring; the place was named "Dwarf's Hill"; and he traced Nodens to an Irish hero, ''Nuada Airgetlám'', "Nuada of the Silver-Hand". This combination inspired him to create Celebrimbor (whose name means "Silver-Hand" in Tolkien's invented language of Sindarin), dangerous Rings, and Dwarves skilled in craftsmanship and friendly to Celebrimbor as elements in his fantas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eregion
The geography of Middle-earth encompasses the physical, political, and moral geography of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional continent Middle-earth on the planet Arda, but widely taken to mean all of creation ('' Eä'') as well as all of his writings about it. Arda was created as a flat world, incorporating a Western continent, Aman, which became the home of the godlike Valar, as well as Middle-earth. At the end of the First Age, the Western part of Middle-earth, Beleriand, was drowned in the War of Wrath. In the Second Age, a large island, Númenor, was created in the Great Sea, Belegaer, between Aman and Middle-earth; it was destroyed in a cataclysm near the end of the Second Age, in which Arda was remade as a spherical world, and Aman was removed so that Men could not reach it. In ''The Lord of the Rings'', Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age is described as having free peoples, namely Men, Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves in the West, opposed to peoples under the control of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elf (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, Elves are the first fictional race to appear in Middle-earth. Unlike Men and Dwarves, Elves do not die of disease or old age. Should they die in battle or of grief, their souls go to the Halls of Mandos in Aman. After a long life in Middle-earth, Elves yearn for the Earthly Paradise of Valinor, and can sail there from the Grey Havens. They feature in '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. Their history is described in detail in '' The Silmarillion''. Tolkien derived Elves from mentions in the ancient poetry and languages of Northern Europe, especially Old English. These suggested to him that Elves were large, dangerous, beautiful, lived in wild natural places, and practised archery. He invented languages for the Elves, including Sindarin and Quenya. Tolkien-style Elves have become a staple of fantasy literature. They have appeared, too, in film and role-playing game adaptations of Tolkien's works. Origins Icelandic folklo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle-earth Peoples
The fictional races and peoples that appear in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth include the seven listed in Appendix F of ''The Lord of the Rings'': Elves, Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents, Orcs and Trolls, as well as spirits such as the Valar and Maiar. Other beings of Middle-earth are of unclear nature such as Tom Bombadil and his wife Goldberry. Ainur The Ainur are angelic spirits created by Eru IlĂşvatar at the Beginning. The Ainur who subsequently enter the physical world of Middle-earth are the Valar ("powers"), though that term primarily means the mightiest among them., " Ainulindale" Lesser spirits are called the Maiar. Most of the Valar and Maiar withdraw from Middle-earth to the Undying Lands of Valinor, though some of the Maiar assume mortal forms to help or hinder the peoples of Middle-earth, such as the Istari (Wizards), Melian, Balrogs, and the Dark Lord Sauron., "Valaquenta", "Of the Maiar" and "Of the Enemies" Wizards The wizar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Age
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainu (Middle-earth), Ainur entered Arda (Middle-earth), Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional universe. Time from that point was measured using Valian Years, though the subsequent history of Arda was divided into three time periods using different years, known as the Years of the Lamps, the Years of the Trees, and the Years of the Sun. A separate, overlapping chronology divides the history into 'Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar'. The first such Age began with the Awakening of the Elves during the Years of the Trees and continued for the first six centuries of the Years of the Sun. All the subsequent Ages took place during the Years of the Sun. Most Middle-earth stories take place in the first three Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar. Major themes of the history are the Christianity in Middle-eart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic (Plato)
The ''Republic'' (; ) is a Socratic dialogue authored by Plato around 375 BC, concerning justice (), the order and character of the just city-state, and the just man. It is Plato's best-known work, and one of the world's most influential works of philosophy and Political philosophy, political theory, both intellectually and historically. In the dialogue, Socrates discusses with various Classical Athens, Athenians and foreigners the meaning of justice and whether the just man is happier than the unjust man.In ancient times, the book was alternately titled ''On Justice'' (not to be confused with the spurious dialogue of the On Justice, same name). He considers the natures of existing regimes and then proposes a series of hypothetical cities in comparison, culminating in Kallipolis (), a utopian city-state ruled by a class of philosopher-kings. They also discuss ageing, love, theory of forms, the immortality of the soul, and the role of the philosopher and of poetry in soci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
