Quote:
Originally Posted by ArathornJax
I want to share one thing on Frodo and the Cow Jumped Over the Moon. I think it is ok for Ian Holm not to have 'sung' the song. I think that of the many wonderful characteristics of Frodo, he may not have been able to carry a tune.
|
True... I think it would have been better for him to have recited the verses... Still, unlike the film, at least it is there!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArathornJax
As the Nazgul attacked, I realized today that their noise reminded me of a snake hiss, or even a cat hiss. Maybe some Cryptozoologist would love to decipher that sound, (any hints on what it is?), but I think it is very appropriate because it does remind me of a creature who is bold and treacherous, using every means to hunt it's prey. Not sure that is what you meant, but it is what comes into my mind. It reminds me of a big cat hiss like a mountain lion, and since the Nazgul to this point seem to use cunning, their senses like smell to hunt, it might be a good connection. I imagine their actions to be almost cat like as well, bold and swift, strong and silent.
|
An interesting interpretation of the sound. If I remember rightly and my memory may well be faulty, the actors playing the Nazgul
exhaled at the microphone and this sound was then 'treated' radiophonically.
My recollection is hazy, but I think that our reasoning was that the name of 'Elbereth' was what repelled the Witch King, since the knives were not those taken from the Barrows...
Except, of course, if you follow the argument put forward on this forum that the Tom Bombadil/Barrow-Downs incidents
COULD have occurred but are simply
not reported, then they may, indeed, have had those blades!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArathornJax
The journey to Rivendale was quick for me today. I need to re-listen because I thought that the part where the travellers discover Bilbo's trolls was missing. I could be wrong as I am really tired today but would love to hear if anyone else missed it? I like that part in the book and in adaptations because it links The Hobbit to the FOTR.
|
No, the trolls were omitted. Sorry. I remember being envious when I first saw the Trollshaws figures created for the Jackson film and thinking that he's done something visually that we hadn't done... But in the end, I believe, we had to wait for the extended version to see them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArathornJax
Brian, I haven't added my two cents, but I want to thank you so much on a personal level for the adaptation. I love and enjoy listening to it once or twice a year and it makes a commute enjoyable...
...More importantly, the adaptation got my kids using their imaginations to see things in their minds, and this carried over to their reading (into their play and thus into their lives). As a result, besides becoming critical thinkers, they are very, very creative. So thanks again for all your efforts. None of us never know when something we do will have an impact on someone so many years later!
|
Wow...
You (and everyone on this forum) are terribly kind... And now I'm going to share a small confession with you all...
For several years after
TLOTR, I used to get very frustrated about being described and introduced to people as "The man who did the radio
Lord of the Rings..." It was especially irksome when reviewers referred to it when writing about whatever my current project was...
I was employed to write the 'narrative' on Jeff Wayne's long-forgotten concept album,
Spartacus, on the strength of
LOTR... I was allowed to dramatise C S Lewis' 'Chronicles of Narnia' and, later, Mervyn Peake's
Titus Groan and
Gormenghast for radio because of it (and won a Sony radio Award for the Peake plays) but I was
still described as "The man who....." And I resented it like H***!
Nowadays, when I can't get a single project on radio and most people in the BBC have never heard of me and haven't the faintest idea what I have done, I am rather more humble!
I have learned - as well need to do - that, for the most part in life, we do not know what effect our work or deeds have in the wider world --- which is, perhaps, the best arrangement for things!
Like Tolkien's Niggle we may aim to create the most beautiful painting of a tree imaginable, but if we are remembered for even a single leaf then that is an achievement - a
blessing - for which the artist should be very grateful... And, believe me, I am!
