A Tolkien Magazine

July/August 2017 Inside This Issue

Elvish Poetry in The Lord of the Rings……………………………………….. Page 2-3 The Lion and the Witch…………….………………………..…………………….. Page 7-8 Book Review: Benita J. Prins’ Starscape……………………………………. Page 11 Cast and Crew Birthdays in July and August...…...…………………….. Page 12 Did You Know? (book)……………………………………………………………... Page 9 Did You Know? (movie)……………………………………………………………. Page 8 Did You Notice?...... Page 1 Elvish Word of the Month………………………………………………………… Page 10 Funny Pictures…………………………………………………………………………. Page 13 Gondorian Gazette…….…………………………………………………………….. Page 14 Hobbit Fun: Who Played Whom?...... …..….……………………..…... Page 5 Jokes!...... Page 1 Language Corner………………………………………………………………………. Page 1

Quote of the Month…………………………………………………………………. Page 6 Short Stories: Mordor Day………...……...... ……….....…………………….. Page 10 That Was Poetry!: Lure of the Barrowight.....……………….…………… Page 2 Tricky Trivia…………………….……………………………………………………….. Page 6 What If… ………………………………………………………………………………... Page 9 Would You Rather?...... Page 9

Would you like to be published in our magazine? Please email any submissions to [email protected] by August 16, 2017.

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Special thanks to everyone who contributed something for this month’s issue!

Image credits for this issue go to: Google images©, New Line Cinema©, Warner Bros.©, and all others to their rightful owners. A PARTY OF SPECIAL MAGNIFICENCE

We’ve been publishing The Ivy Bush since August 2012 – and that means that we’re coming up on our fifth anniversary! In celebration, we are hosting a Party of Special Mag- nificence, otherwise known as…

…A SUPER DUPER AWESOME CONTEST!

There are two categories you can enter: write a Tolkien-themed story or poem, or send us your Tolkien-themed art or cosplay. Now the exciting news—for both of these categories, we have some excellent prizes! The winner of the writing category will win a beautiful new copy of The Silmarillion, and the winner of the art category will win a multipurpose Lorien leaf that can function as a necklace, a brooch, or a cloak-pin.

The top five entries in either category will also receive a free e-book copy of Aratar, Peredhil, and Halflings, Oh My!: The Ultimate Tolkien Quiz, a book by our very own Benita Prins.

Entries open on May 1, 2017 and close on July 20, 2017, and any submissions should be emailed to [email protected]. Winners will be announced on August 1st on our website and facebook page.

Language Corner All of us grew up with nursery rhymes of one kind or another. Perhaps Elves did too!

English Quenya Mary had a little lamb, Melda piamamava Little lamb, Pityamama Little lamb, Pitymama Mary had a little lamb, Melda piamamava Its fleece was white as snow. Uerya ninque ve lossë

Did You Notice? Even though Merry and Éowyn are trying to be incognito while riding to war at Minas Ti- rith, they seem to have no problem taking off their helmets to have a heart-to-heart on the way! Surprisingly, no one alerted King Théoden—or Peter Jackson for that matter...

JOKES!

Q. How do Orcs travel? A. They Uruk-fly (Uruk-hai)!

Q. Why aren’t Ringwraiths nice? A. Because they’re Naz-cruel (Nazgûl)!

Lure of the Barrowight By David McG.

Deftly, gently, tentatively falling Reaching, covering Journey time stalling. Down the Downs Down the Downs Barrowight calling.

Mist enshrouding, path obscuring Whispering, promising So alluring. Down the Downs Down the Downs Barrowight calling.

‘Welcome Masters Gamgee, Brandybuck, and Took Especially Master Baggins, Caught now on my hook!’ Down the Downs Down the Downs Barrowight calling.

Dreamlike, corpselike, laid to rest Waiting, dreading Dark Lords guest. Down the Downs Down the Downs Barrowight calling.

No light, no hope, no voice to sing Danger is coming Put on the ring! Down the Downs Down the Downs Barrowight calling!

‘Give in, don’t fight, put down the blade Save yourself Baggins Your destiny’s made!’ Down the Downs Down the Downs Barrowight …stalling?

Screaming, fleeing, facing true light Retreating forever The Barrowight”s flight Down the Downs Down the Downs Bombadil calling!

Elvish Poetry in The Lord of the Rings The Elves’ calling to Varda seems to be a solace for them in the distant lands far from where their home is. The By Olga Polomoshnova hymn to their most revered Valië is what links the Elves with Valinor. As we see in The Lord of the Rings, just pro- Elvish poetry occupies a special place in Tolkien’s Leg- nouncing the name of Elbereth can work wonders and endarium. It is always instantly recognisable and differ- help in desperate need, even to those not of Elvish ent from the verse of other peoples in Middle- origin. Imagine then what power it must have over the earth. Varied in style and tone, focus and subject matter, Elvish hearts, who nurse their estel as is their custom and Elvish songs and poems always give a lot of food for empower it by remembering Varda, calling to her for thought. Their poems in The Lord of the Rings present a protection and comfort. story of their own. Nostalgia and longing are especially prominent in As the Third Age is gradually coming to its end and the dominion of Men is nearing, the Elves feel the inevitable doom of waning, should they stay in Middle-earth. This knowledge of prospective fading and, thus, the necessity to leave Middle-earth for the Undying Lands to avoid such a fate is increasingly haunting the Elves throughout the Third Age. All these leave a significant mark on the Elvish verse that we hear in The Lord of the Rings. It differs dramatically from the light-hearted and lively poems of The Hobbit, and is dominated by nostalgia, sadness and longing. When in Rivendell, Bilbo puts his finger precisely on the kind of songs and poems the Elves choose to recite in The Lord of the Rings: “He [Frodo] stood still enchanted, while the sweet sylla- bles of the Elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody. ‘It is a song to Elbereth,’ said Bilbo. Galadriel’s songs. Her Song of Eldamar is pierced with ‘They will sing that, and other songs of the Blessed sadness and desire to return to the Blessed Realm: Realm, many times tonight. Come on!’”1 (emphasis mine) “Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on While the phrase “songs of the Blessed Realm” can refer the Sea, to both – the songs which were made up in the Blessed And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree. realm or the songs dedicated to it, one thing is certain: Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone, the Elves miss the Undying Lands. Their longing for the In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion.”3 Blessed Realms is un- “One thing is derstandable. It is the Galadriel has dwelt too long in Middle-earth, so her nos- place where they be- talgia and the feeling of homesickness have reached certain: the long and will know no their peak. However, remembering that she is an exile, waning and fading, Galadriel questions a possibility for her to return home. and so will be able to It is a moment of great vulnerability and uncertainty: Elves miss the live in bliss while Arda Galadriel wants to return to Aman, but she is unsure endures. By the end of whether she can do it or not. She also understands that Undying Lands.” the Third Age the with the destruction of the One Ring the fair realm of Elves feel like wander- Lórien will not endure and will fade: “While here beyond ers in Middle-earth and not entirely at home, which the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears. / O Lórien! feels in their hymn to Elbereth: The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day; / The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away.”4 “Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear! The end of the Ring and of the Age will mean the end of O Queen beyond the Western Seas! the Elves and their realms in Middle-earth. O Light to us that wander here Amid the world of woven trees!”2 The poem we know as Namárië takes Galadriel’s longing 3

and nostalgia even further. Also referred to as Galadriel’s dle-earth: the Elves seem almost alien in the world lament, it is full of melancholy and sadness: “ar sindanó- where the Men are increasingly dominant and tales of riello caita mornië / i falmalinnar imbë met, ar hísië / un- the past are dismissed as mere myths. túpa Calaciryo míri oialë / Sí vanwa ná, Rómelli vanwa, Valimar!”5 The song causes sadness in Frodo’s heart in The song that looks into the future, though not deprived spite of being beautiful: it brings him no comfort. The of a certain sadness and melancholy too, is the song of words of the verse remain graven in his heart, though the Sea by Legolas. It is full of longing for the place where the Hobbit did not entirely understand them with the he has never been to but would very much like to go: song being in Quenya. For our days are ending and our years failing. I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing. Tolkien’s using the ancient Elvish tongue no longer spo- Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling, ken in Middle-earth, but which is still used in the Blessed Realm, emphasises an important point. First, it reminds Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling, In Eressëa, in Elvenhome that no man can discover, us of Galadriel’s background: born in Aman, it was the 6 language she learnt to speak long ago, and for her Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever! Quenya is the reminder of her home, her past and more blissful days. Moreover, the use of Quenya hints at the depths of Elvish culture and digs even deeper into the past of Arda bringing out an almost dead language, also known as Elven Latin. Thus from the Third Age Tolkien reaches out to the Elder Days, to the Blessed Realm and shows how much time has passed since the world was born and how much the Elves belong to those days of old rather than the Third Age. It is also the reason why the Elvish songs in The Lord of The song speaks of the fate of the Elves who will soon all the Rings are chiefly about the past. The Elves are not depart from Middle-earth forever and leave it in the power of Men. In many ways it echoes Galadriel’s words really concerned with the present days anymore: for the about the waning of the Elvish realms and the Elves sail- fair folk they are nearly over. They mostly sing about the heroes and places of the past, like the song of Amroth ing away. Verlyn Flieger notes that it also links to Sam’s words in the very beginning of the book about the Elves and Nimrodel or composed by the Elves and sung by 7 Aragorn the tale of Beren and Lúthien. The Elves choose going West. The fair folk leave never to return and take to remember the valiant deeds of their people, battles a significant layer of culture and traditions with them, they won and stories they were part of. They cherish and their poetry in The Lord of the Rings is reflected their past and feel strong connection with it, thus de- in Sam’s words: taching themselves from “‘They are sailing, sailing, sailing over the Sea, they are “The Elves cherish the present of Middle- going into the West and leaving us.’”8 earth. their past, feel a Footnotes: Morever, the topics the Elves touch upon in their 1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, pg. 312 (HarperCollins) strong connection 2 songs are not generally Ibid. pg. 105 3 Ibid. pg. 489 with it…” known in the Great Lands. 4 Ibid. pg. 490 For most dwellers of Mid- 5 Ibid. pg. 497- and out of a grey country darkness lies on the foaming dle-earth of the Third Age all the names and events the waves between us, and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for ever. Elves mention in their poems are vestiges of the past or Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar! (ibid.) 6 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, pg. 280-281 (HarperCollins) something unknown from a distant land, fantastic tales 7 Michael D. C. Drout – J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and to be told by the fireside. Faramir finds it hard to believe Critical Assessment; Taylor & Francis Group, LLC; 2007 that Galadriel really lives in the Golden Wood, while 8 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, pg. 497 (HarperCollins) Théoden marvels at the Ents having considered them no more than a myth. If characters are that surprised by fantastic things around them, no wonder that the Elvish ta- Check out Olga’s blog for more great Tolkien les present a distant and unreal world to them. Thus we see a gap between the Elves and other dwellers of Mid- essays at middleearthreflections.com! 4

Hobbit Fun Who Played Whom? Fill in the blanks with the character that each actor played! Answers below.

Answers (written back- 5. Salogel 11. Esiwmas 17. Nywoe wards): 6. Leirdalag 12. Rimaraf 18. Yrrem 1. Odorf 7. Remoe 13. Namuras 19. Nedoeht 2. Ilmig 8. Fladnag 14. Rohtened 20. Nrogara 3. Newra 9. Oblib 15. Dnorle 4. Rimorob 10. Nippip 16. Nrobelec 5

Quote Of The

Month

“...I will not walk backwards through life...” -J.R.R. Tolkien

Tricky Trivia

1. What did the tower of Minas Morgul used to be called long ago? 2. What colour was the host of orcs from Mordor wearing? 3. What does Frodo hold instead of the Ring when being tempted by the Wraith-king? 4. What comes after the Straight Stair? 5. In what position did Gollum find Sam and Frodo? 6. What did Frodo use to shine a light on Shelob? 7. What blocked the exit of Shelob’s tunnel? 8. Who was Shelob’s ancestor? 9. Who stops Sam from warning Frodo of Shelob sneaking up behind him? 10. What mistake did Gollum make before trying to strangle Sam?

Answers can be found in chapters “The Stairs of Cirith Ungol” and “Shelob’s Lair” in The Two Towers.

The Lion and the Witch when it is frozen. The Witch does not only freeze Narnia literally by covering it with snow, but she freezes the nat- By I. Salogel ural order of its seasons as well.

I have so many favourite books that I do not remember The second thing to consider is the way that the Witch them all. But some books are my favourite favourites. punishes people. She does not kill or torture them like These books can stand out for a variety of reasons: some regular villains do, she turns them into statues. Stone- have incredible plotlines, some have characters that nev- cold statues. Once again, the spell that she casts freezes er leave one’s mind, some have just stuck with me since her victims in time, preventing them from continuing in childhood. The very best books have all three. And one of their natural way, from moving and growing and living. those books is C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Stone is very important to the Witch as well. Much of her Wardrobe. claim to power comes from the Stone Table, and even her knife seemed to be “made of stone, not of steel.”1 As is fairly common “If she is an evil knowledge, The Lion, And finally, the Witch freezes peoples’ hearts. The most the Witch and the obvious example of this is with Edmund. For the entire character, why does Wardrobe is often first half of the book, Edmund doesn’t feel any remorse hailed for it’s great for anything. He lets Lucy down instead of siding with her Lewis symbolize the theme of good that Narnia exists, he refuses to apologize once he is against evil, Aslan found out, and he is willing to sell all of his siblings to the Witch with white?” against the White enemy. His heart is nearly as cold as the White Witch’s is. Witch, and ultimately But then, of course, Aslan brings warmth. the allegorical parallel of God against Satan. But Lewis’ genius goes far beyond mere allegory – he is a master of symbolism, and as such, it is worth taking a closer look at how he characterizes such good and evil. The White Witch is somewhat of an oxymoron at first. White is supposed to be the good colour, and black the bad. White represents cleanliness and purity and life while black represents dirtiness and corruptness and death. This is the classic theme that permeates most of fantasy literature. So why does Lewis make the White Witch…well…white? The answer is fairly simple – she is frozen. Rather than having a rotting soul, the White Witch’s soul has become colder and colder until there is no warmth of any sort left in her. Often villains have sadistic and cor- rupted characters; they will taunt and mock and laugh at their enemies. But the White Witch has none of that. She is only cruel, evil, and vindictive. Cold and ice do not mock or laugh. They are merciless and unfeeling. But this theme of freezing is more important to the White Witch than just affecting herself. This is immediately evident in the fact that she has cursed Narnia with an eternal Winter. Of course there is never Christmas, because Christmas stands for fellowship and warmth and hot food and love, all things that the Witch stands against. Lewis is not arguing that Winter itself is bad either – only bad when it is not followed by Spring. Only bad when it is put on pause. Only bad, one could say,

Aslan brings first Christmas, and then Spring. He begins to melt the world that the White Witch has created, and 1 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis, un-freeze time so that the seasons may run normally HarperCollins (1978), pg. 155 again. He breathes his warm lion breath onto the stone statues and they come back to life, finally able to exist 2 Ibid, pg. 117 naturally again. And as the winter begins to thaw and the 3 White Witch turns to stone the little tea party in the Ibid, pg. 163 woods, Edmund “for the first time in this story felt sorry 4 Ibid, pg. 79 for someone besides himself.”[2] His heart begins to thaw as well. The great Stone Ta- “If she is an evil ble represents perhaps the epitome of character, why does the White Witch’s Lewis symbolize the power. It is upon this table that she kills Witch with white?” Aslan and tries to strip him of every- thing he represents. However, even this is undone in the end, and when Aslan returns to life, he cracks the stone in half. The Witch knew the Deep Magic from the dawn of time. But there was a “magic deeper still which she did not know,” and when this magic was acted out, “the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.”[3] Lewis has set up The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe so that it is not White triumphing over Black, but rather Gold triumphing over White. As Mr. Beaver’s rhyme says: “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”4

Did You Know?

The costuming in The Lord of the Rings is pretty amazing, but there is more than just pure skill in- volved—creativity plays a huge part as well. For in- stance, Sauron’s helmet in the prologue to The Fellowship of the Ring is intended to resemble the shape of a horse’s skull.

Would You Rather...

1. ...ride Shadowfax OR an Eagle? 2. ...be a Fell Beast OR the Witch King? 3. ...visit Minas Tirith OR Edoras? 4. ...drink Miruvor OR Rohirric mead? 5. ...fight a cave troll OR the Goblin King?

What If… …Boromir was the Ring bearer? …Gandalf succumbed to temptation? …the Eagles were evil?

Did You Know?

When Tolkien was young, he was forbidden by his guardian to have any contact with his love interest, Edith, until he was 21. As soon as Tolkien turned 21 he wrote to Edith, but she informed him that during their period of silence she had gotten engaged! Tolkien wasted no time and went straight to the house where Edith was staying. Soon afterwards, she broke off her engage- ment and married Tolkien instead. He must have been a charmer!

Mordor Day By Aragorn Elessar

Every single Mordor-Creature in Middle-Earth himself would turn the switch that turned off his looked forward to one certain day. This day was eye and then come down out of his tower and say not the day they marched out of Minas-Morgul “Howdy” to the Orcs, and then the Dark Lord and with the Witch-King at the head of his army to at- the Orcs would climb onto their Mordor-Bikes and tack Minas Tirith, nor was it the day that they race to the tower of Cirith Ungol. There, they would go to their deaths. The day they looked for- would attend a fair with a huge Orcish midway and ward to was known as Mordor-Day, Mordor’s eat man-meat and drink for a long time. After that, Birthday. Sadly, every year this birthday always they would have Sauron cut a huge man-meat cake came on a Thursday. The Orcs always disliked that and eat all of it. After that they would go on rides arrangement because on Thursday the Orcs of until midnight and then go back to their homes and Mordor had to deliver the Mordor newspaper. This go to sleep. newspaper was called The Barad-dûr Daily News. The Mordor newspaper had to be delivered all the way to Edoras, so the Orcs always preferred to start delivering the newspaper at about 1 AM and they always had dreadful arguments about which Orc should ride with the Witch-King to Théoden’s halls and deliver the paper to him. The Orcs always hated this job because at that time, the Rohirrim were extremely fierce, and always killed the Orc before he had even delivered the paper. (This was Wormtongue’s counsel.) The reason the Orcs loved Mordor-Day so much was that Sauron

Elvish Word of the Month Naeth

(N-EYE-th) Grief

Book Review: Many people complain about so called “Christian fan- Benita J. Prins’ Starscape tasy”, claiming it to be overly ‘preachy’ and ‘too good’. Not so with Starscape. As a devout Catholic By Bridget MacMillan herself, Prins grew tired of these views, and of novels that do, in fact, live up to the consensus. As she was Starscape, by 18 year old Benita J. Prins of Thorndale, writing, she made it her mission to infuse some of her Ontario, is a gripping Christian fantasy story, suitable Christian ideology into the writing, but was careful to for all ages. avoid situations where her work could become like The story opens on Ringard and Pluriel, two brothers the stereotypes so prevalent in today's society. The in the world of Militer. Their mission is to destroy the result was a beautiful little book, infused with virtues reign of the evil Jalavak, but to do so, the brothers held by most people of today’s society, virtues such and their two companions must recover the lost as loyalty and hope, with the ability to be fully appre- Sword of the Star, a thing of legends, which is said to ciated by a wide range of people. have fallen from the heavens and is the only thing which can wound Jalavak. However, legend also says that this sword is guarded by a terrible and fierce dragon, but this is a minor obstacle in their journey, Benita J. Prins is the founder of The Ivy Bush: A as it is also said that Jalavak cannot die until the Star Tolkien Magazine, and has published several books. falls from the sky, and how can this be possible? The author of this review, Bridget MacMillan, is also an artist, and her painting is featured on the cover of Despite all odds, the company sets forth through Mili- the book. Get your own paperback copy of Starscape ter to recover this ancient weapon. Through their from Amazon here! journeys, the company battles against good and evil, uniting with several individuals of very different back- grounds, from indentured servant Eloderay, mentally unwell Gonor, and the mysterious Royaleisia. Miss Prins began Starscape when she was only 13 years old. At the time of the first draft, the novella was little more than “glorified fanfiction” based on Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. However, a year later, the manuscript reemerged, undergoing several edits and plot changes. Eventually, it became less and less like Tolkien’s masterpiece, taking on a song of its own, which some have called the “song of Royaleisia.” The book was self published in 2015, and has received nothing but positive reviews since then. As one reads Starscape, one is immediately stuck by the diverse age range than can read and enjoy the book. Starscape is full of the elements of the thrilling adventure stories that are so loved by the younger generation, yet is easily appreciated by older people as well in the deep and philosophical elements, such as moral implications of good and evil, which are brought to light by the masterful wielding of the plot and rich and in depth language.

Cast and Crew Birthdays in July

July 1: Dominic Keating (Galion) turns 55 July 1: Liv Tyler (Arwen) turns 40 July 16: Calum Gittins (Haleth) turns 31 July 18: Sarah McLeod (Rosie) turns 46 July 19: Benedict Cumberbatch (Smaug/Necromancer) turns 41

Cast and Crew Birthdays in August

August 1: Cameron Rhodes (Farmer Maggot) turns 50 August 3: Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel) turns 38 August 20: Alan Lee (artist) turns 70 August 20: John Noble (Denethor) turns 69 August 20: Sylvester McCoy (Radagast) turns 74 August 21: John Howe (artist) turns 60 August 22: Richard Armitage (Thorin) turns 46 August 24: Stephen Fry (Master of Laketown) turns 60 August 28: Billy Boyd (Pippin) turns 49

The Gondorian Gazette Latest news from the Eagles? Most recent shenanigans from the Shire? We bring you all the newest and most exciting stories about goings on in the Tolkien fandom

Beren and Lúthien: The long-awaited Tale of Beren and Lúthien is now available in bookstores! Published 100 years after Tolkien first wrote about the lovers, this book is a collection of every ver- sion of the story.

Gollum reading Trump tweets: Whether you support Trump or not, a recent trending video of Andy Serkis reading the president’s tweets in Gollum’s voice on The Late Show Stephen Colbert is hi- larious. Watch it here.

Smelebration: In honour of Benedict Cumberbatch’s birthday in July, Weta Workshop is running a gargantuan sale on some of their Smaug merchandise. To find the discounted products, go to we- tanz.com and search for “Smaug”. (Not all the results I turned up were actually Smaug-related, so do check that they’re part of the sale!) The offer ends on August 1 at 10 am, New Zealand time.