Saturday, June 19, 2021

Song of Durin

Growing up immersed in Fantasy books and role playing, I was always far more enamored of elves than I was of dwarves.  I do not know that it was anything personal per say - Tolkien's Elves are not our later Western models of small, wispy creatures that dwell in forests, but strong, powerful warriors, craftsmen and sages - and, handily, immortal.  Even in early Dungeons and Dragons editions, Elves were some of the most powerful and magical beings.

Dwarves, by extension, were not.  They were, to be fair, good at craftsmanship in metal and fighters, but that was about it.  They were not inherently magical.  They were mortal, although their lives ran to 200+ years.  They seemed to pale in comparison to elves.  Back in the day, I almost never played a dwarf.  They were "boring".

But over the years as I have grown, I have come to appreciate the qualities that are supposed to belong to dwarves:  Loyalty.  Stubbornness.  Courage.  Dedication to a particular idea or craft, perhaps for one's life.  A long and burning sense of justice.  And, if needed, savage bravery.  Qualities that I have found I need in life.

It is not that I love the elves the less.  I just now love dwarves the more.

The song below is taken from Tolkien's work (again).  The run time is 5 minutes or so.  Another largely vocal number, it is delightful.  The fact that it seems to involve a number of voices from different parts of the United Kingdom (you can hear it in the accents) makes it all the better.



6 comments:

  1. In recent years I've become a great fan of Nac Mac Feegles. (if you're not familiar with them, they have a wiki page)

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    1. I had never heard of them Kelly, but am reading on them now. How interesting!

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  2. Embrace your inner geek, TB. ;)

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    1. Friend, I have not yet plumbed the depths of my geekness on this page...

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  3. This is totally out of my wheelhouse even if I did read LOTR as a youth.

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    1. Ed, Tolkien was light years ahead of any other fantasy writer of his time or really for the next 50 years, if ever. If you consider the fact that he created a cogently thought out and logical universe, with several thought out and functional languages, out of essentially myths and his mind, the depth of what he created stun the imagination. It is as if George Lucas had created not only Star Wars, but that entire universe without help from other writers.

      Somewhat sadly, with the advent of the electronic revolution, we may never see such a thing again. His son Christopher made a second career out of going through his drafts and editing them so the progression of his thought can be seen.

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