The 'Ring' and the remnants of the West

Asia Times ^ | January 11, 2003 | By Spengler

[f.Christian]

"Those who hold America in contempt for its lack of refinement (this writer always has held the term "American culture" to be an oxymoron) should think carefully about this conclusion. From their founding on Christmas Day 800 AD, when Charlemagne accepted the crown of the revived Roman Empire, the institutions of the West have been formed in response to external threat. The Holy Roman Empire of the High Middle Ages, Tolkien's conscious model for the Kingdom of Gondor, arose in response to the incursions of Arabs in the south, Vikings in the north, and Magyars in the West. Boorish and gruff as the new American Empire might seem, it is an . . . anti-empire - - - populated by reluctant heroes who want nothing more than to till their fields and mind their homes, much like Tolkien's Hobbits. Under pressure, though, it will respond with a fierceness and cohesion that will surprise its adversaries."

" // "Orcs of the world: Take . . . note (( orig article // site )) - - - and beware." // "

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[sonofron]

"They were called to Valinor by Manwë and the other Valar ages earlier. They weren't supposed to be in Middle Earth. Those that were there, the Moriquendi and the Noldor, were disobeying the Valar."

the call by the valar to the elves to come to valinor was an invitation, not a command. there were elves who never went to valinor, the avari and some of the talari(sp?), also known as dark elves. these elves were not "doomed". the noldor went to valinor, and later left and they were doomed by the valar because their reasons were flawed.

[f.Christian]

Try . . . this (( link )) !

[537 Votes]

Wagner's dictum that the sources of Western civilization had failed was not only entirely correct, but also numbingly obvious

In 1945, 'failed' Western civilization defeated Nazi Germany. In 1991, 'failed' Western civilization defeated the Soviet Union. And somewhere in there, we also went to the Moon.

You pessimists just don't know what to do with yourselves.

[f.Christian]

flag the troops---onward - - - CHARGE // fire ! ! !

[William Wallace]

Great article. Thanks.

[LadyDoc]

bump

[BlueLancer]

I'll see your bump and raise you another one ...

New lamps for old ... new lamps for old ...

[SkyPilot]

Awesome--BUMP.

[MrConfettiMan]

ring ping

[T-Bird45]

Bump and thanks for bringing this back -- missed it the first time. Especially good reading after having seen ROTK. The comments above have great insights and background I have not gotten from the books, mostly because I have not been able to plod through The Silmarillon for the myth behind the story. I took the "going into the West" by the Elves as allegory for death. Wrong, as usual for me.

[ecurbh]

Ring Ping!!

There and Back Again: The Journeys of Flat Frodo

Anyone wishing to be added to or removed from the Ring-Ping list, please don't hesitate to let me know.

[MrConfettiMan]

fyi

[NutCrackerBoy]

In another thread, I found myself using Gollum as the personification of the socialist antiwar crowd. Tolkien's work has definitely become a pop culture referebce of meaning.

[Maigret]

My computer boots up in the morning to "Ride of the Valkyrie" and shuts down to Mozart's "Der Holle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen" (Queen of the Night, "The Magic Flute)performed by Kiri Te Kanawa.

I LOVE it, pray tell how does one get ones computer to do such things?

[BlueLancer]

First, you need to save the music or sounds that you want to play during particular events during your computer-use to your hard drive. Then go to . In SOUNDS AND MULTIMEDIA, scroll down through the "Sound Events" to "Exit Windows". Hi-lite "exit windows" and then "browse" to the folder in which you saved your music that you want to play when you exit windows. Double-click on that music and it will show up in the "name" window. Click "apply" and it will meld itself to that event. Do the same for "Start windows" .. or any other event that you want a particular sound/music file to play when you hit that event.

[Maigret]

Many thanks!

[Elliott Jackalope]

"It's probably no coincidence that my co-workers look at me a little strangely."

Maybe they saw your tagline?

[Forgiven_Sinner]

So, LadyDoc, how did you find this article? Did you just see ROTK and search FR for Tolkien?

Re-reading it after a year, it is still apt for ROTK and the victory of the men of the West over the Easterlings and the Harridrim. (Insert your favorite defeated terrorist group here).

Spengler doesn't always get it right, but stirring up the fat hobbits of the US is definitely bad for orcs.