Tea at Trianon: The One Ring And The Undying Lands

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

The One Ring And The Undying Lands

From GameRant:

However, this suggestion is also debunked, as there are dark and evil creatures who lie within the sea, who may find the ring and deliver it to the dark lord himself. And as can be seen when the ring betrayed Isildur, one of the Gondorian kings upon whom the Argonath are based, and made its way first into the sea, and then down the great river into the hands of Deagol the Stoor hobbit, and then Smeagol (aka Gollum), the ring cannot be trusted not to make its own way out of the sea and into the hands of the enemy.

Lord of the Rings fans worldwide have often asked why the giant eagles of Middle Earth didn’t simply fly the ring to Mordor themselves and drop it in the fire. However, these creatures are Maia, ancient spirits, and therefore are not inclined to interfere in the affairs of men, and even if they were so, they wouldn’t put themselves in close proximity to the ring and its alluring voice, in case they too were sucked in and twisted by its power. So the audience then turned to asking: why didn’t they hide the ring in the Undying Lands of the west, where Sauron could never reach it? The answer has to do in part with the lore of the Grey Havens, and in part with Tolkien’s own beliefs.
Tolkien was raised by a Catholic priest after his mother died tragically young from diabetes, and so he has a strong sense of religion. The undying lands, then, can be interpreted as a sacred place, akin to heaven. This in part explains why the ring could never go there, it would be like unleashing a great evil upon the sanctity of paradise, and would tarnish not only the sacred memory of those who dwell there but also the lands themselves. This is the second part of the answer, for in the Undying Lands there are many pure and beautiful things, including plants with healing powers, ancient and powerful magics, and the secrets to immortality, such as those included in the making of the elven Lembas bread. The ring is too dangerous a commodity even for the Undying Lands. (Read more.)