by M. W. Wollacott | Nov 19, 2023 | Beasts and Monsters, Fantasy, Tolkien
My childhood was filled with fantastical tales. I did not grow up on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work because by the 1980s, most of the shelves were filled with the derivatives and the knock offs. I grew up on Dragonlance and Raymond E. Feist. Yet, the primary races – the...
by M. W. Wollacott | Nov 19, 2023 | Beasts and Monsters, Fantasy, Tolkien
While arachnophobes might not agree, the Black Riders are one of the scariest things in The Lord of the Rings; particularly as they track Frodo and the Ring through the shire. There are some questions about the Black Riders, otherwise known as the Nazgûl or...
by M. W. Wollacott | Nov 19, 2023 | Beasts and Monsters, Fantasy, Tolkien
The Battle of the Five Armies has a movie named after it, but is it not immediately obvious to anyone watching it what the five armies are. We have the dwarfs – a mixture of Erebor and the Iron Hills, we have the wood elves of Mirkwood, the humans of Lake Town,...
by M. W. Wollacott | Nov 19, 2023 | Beasts and Monsters, Beowulf, Fantasy, Tolkien
Tolkien’s elves will live as long as the land of Arda exists. Those that die will wait a time in the Halls of Waiting then will be given new, identical bodies. Elves that grow weary will travel to the Undying lands to dwell until the end of time. Only an elf who gives...
by M. W. Wollacott | Jul 25, 2022 | Beasts and Monsters
In 2006, I had the great chance to tour California with a Japanese friend. We started in LA and went north up to Monterrey, San Francisco, and Sacramento. On the way back we went via Yosemite National Park and there a bear jumped in front of our car. We stared at each...
by M. W. Wollacott | Mar 7, 2022 | Beasts and Monsters, Etymology, What's in a Word
Ok, I have a thing for bears. It’s not the cuteness though it might be a childhood evolution of loving Winnie the Pooh. They are surprising human-like in some aspects, are powerful despite all the fluff, and have permeated our mythologies. So you can imagine my shock...
