Lost in Laurelindorenan

I have just finished reading the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy for the hmmmm, 11th time, but it has been long and long since last I visited the golden bowers of Middle Earth. It has been close to twenty years, perhaps more since last I wandered down the leaf-strewn bowers of amber-coloured sunrises and rose-bedazzled sunsets.

I am glad I went there. Even as each page turned to the next, I found my heart refreshed, my cares forsworn to other days, my woes caressed to sleep.

Galadriel's Song

I watched the movie first, this time, and then read the books. I have a VERY rare copy of the set, The Hobbit & the Lord of the Rings, a Second Edition revised Taiwan edition, fourth printing. A collector values them in good condition as approx. $200.oo for the set. The paper is fine, and thin, with no foxing, but is slightly yellowed with age, now that the books are 40 years old. They even include all the maps! So it was a treat to read the set again.

Although, as in the many times before when I went there, I find myself in a fey mood... I wonder that this Age of Men has lost the ability to see the wonder all around us, the bird faerie, the shining waters of the dew as it drips from the limb of slender tree in misty woods.. It is all around us, and yet, in today's dreary need of job, and time, and pressure to perform, we lose sight ...We lose our humanity when we forget the wonder which God has Blessed us with each and every day. I know I need to MUST set aside a time each day to remember: remember the breath of the trees, remember the cool grace of shadows on my face, remember the laughter of sunlight there as well. To breathe all this remembering and make it part of my day, so that it does NOT get lost. So that I can walk through these days of our lives in a grace of forgiveness and rememberance which brings a deep and lasting joy in our hearts.

Galadriel's Lament

And I found this little gem of a Blog
Distracting From the Now
where she tells us that the King's Foil, the athelas which cures Eowyn and Falamir, and Merry or their wounds given by the Dark Lord's minions is Wintergreen, and as I know Tolkien did not spring The Lord of the Rings full grown from his forehead like Zeus did Pallas Athena, but instead, he used history and transformed it, he remembered it for us. Rememberings of the Light and our endless struggles with the Dark within.. I believe her. I need to get some of this plant, and plant it 'round about the graveyard in our woods by the banks of Wolfdancer Creek. I believe it will grow there. And when I go down to sit with my Beloveds there in the woods, I shall remember them, as well, and I shall break off a leaf and smell of it's healing deeply, and I shall remember.

Have I said that I am looking forward to Peter's new film, the Hobbit? I am! And now I am starting The Silmarillion. I wonder if they will make more of Tolkien's Tales into movies? Peter Jackson has the world in his heart, I hope to see more of his visions! Yes, I admit it, I am a LOTR nerd, a Hobbit in my heart. Brave but Foolish!

I hear that Kindle will make books obsolete, but I cannot believe that. A Kindle may fail, a battery may fade, the data irretrievably lost, yet a book, well kept, will remain your friend forever. Kindles and e-copies have their place, I think ANYTHING which brings the gift of reading to people is a joy ! a Light in dark places! But I will keep my friends the books, and I will hope and pray that those who go beyond me find a way to value them. Because friends they have been to me in darkest times.

May you find a book one day which speaks to you in friendship.

>^,,^<