Tea at Trianon: Who Is Galadriel’s Brother?

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

Monday, September 12, 2022

Who Is Galadriel’s Brother?

I am enjoying The Rings of Power and plan to review Season 1 once I see all of it. From ScreenRant:

Galadriel's brother receives an extended cameo in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 1 - here's everything you need to know about Finrod Felagund. Amazon's long-awaited TV show set during J.R.R. Tolkien's Second Age begins with a flashback to happier times. A young Galadriel lives in the blessed realm of Valinor during the Years of the Trees, making boats and getting bullied by other elf children (ok, not that happy). Getting into a scrap she absolutely would've won had it continued, Galadriel is pulled away by her big brother, Finrod Felagund.
Played by Will Fletcher, Finrod imparts a slice of sibling wisdom upon his little sister, but when war against the fallen Vala Morgoth breaks out, Finrod goes a-hunting for the villain's top lieutenant, Sauron. As Galadriel tells it, Sauron outmaneuvered Finrod and struck the first blow. His corpse was recovered following the War of Wrath, now bearing deep claw marks and Sauron's personal mark. Morfydd Clark's Galadriel takes her brother's blade and inherits his will, developing a burning desire to vanquish Sauron herself. (Read more.)