The Doctor, and fan behaviour

I have watched an iconic British Television show for a while now, and the name of this show is Doctor Who. It is a Television series that had its origin in 1963.
          I was sat in England when they aired the 50th anniversary episode, and the people who were there with me couldn't get a word in if they tried, not that they tried. But sitting there, watching a pivotal episode like that, felt almost like being in The Colosseum, I was suddenly a part of history. So I felt like I had to write something on this brilliant Television experience, and to address the fan behaviour, both within the show and the storyline, as well as fan behaviour and hero adoration on the outside. The actor playing The Doctor becomes a hero, and not just in England, this reaches most of the western world.
          I also feel that this is a work in progress, as I watch more and more, I will get more and more thoughts, and as I do, I will update this post. :) And a little thing, I'm not an expert, and I might say something that's wrong, or maybe I have simply misunderstood, so go easy on me. This post represent my personal opinion :) And obviously I am a fan, so I won't be able to look at this from a completely cold and scientific angle, not that I can brag on being either cold or scientific. However, I will try to remove myself as the fan from this, and look a bit at how this might look for an outsider.

I called the entry The Doctor, and fan behaviour, and the reason for this is that we have a fan mechanism at work on more levels than us as the viewer. I will, however, look at it from a quasi psychoanalytical point of view as well, in terms of some of the villains and their relationship with the doctor. Some of them are more connected to The Doctor than we might think about when we watch the weekly episode (or take seventeen during one sitting on Netflix - which is a reference to addiction and fandom btw).

The Doctor thrives in the limelight, and his companions provide him with the fame he probably deserves, having saved the planet numerous times. Only a selected few know about his existence, and these selected few become addicted to his personality, to him being constantly on the move, and to the excitement and thrills while on the move. We might suggest that they become action junkies, or doctor junkies. And we can certainly draw a line from their behaviour to the fan behaviour we see in for example teenagers and their subject of adoration, I don't want to mention the Beliebers, but I might have to. 
         Another fun fact, and completely irrelevant to this, is the fan base of my favourite band, Marillion, who have very dedicated and loyal fans, but that will be an entry on its own. 
         Getting back to the Doctor. Even though they know The Doctor, and talk to him, they are at his timetable, at his mercy. To summon him is a thing only a few could do. When he wants to contact them, he will, never the other way around (and this is also an interpretation, as both Rose, Martha and Donna manages to summon him. Even Mickey Smith and Donna's grandfather manages to summon him, but in his world he always gets surprised when someone manages to do exactly that, it baffles him. He's in charge, or so he thinks, but he really isn't...he is a madman in a box). His friends will be on the constant lookout for him when he's away, always on alert, always wanting him to come back, mourning him as a dead loved one when he's gone, always wanting him to do just one more before curtain call. I will put in a small spoiler alert, as I probably will spoil some important points, and if you haven't watched it yet, and plan to, then you probably should keep on reading, as I have many good points, but in regards of what happens in the show...maybe not? Though, I suspect you cannot keep away now :) So, spoiler...
          Rose Tyler, for example, cannot stay at home with her mother and her boyfriend, Mickey when The Doctor tempts her with cataclysmic happenings in the universe ten thousand light years away, she chooses The Doctor over the life on earth. And he mother's prediction of her future life, as an old woman sitting on some strange planet somewhere, not remembering who she is or what made her come to that point, is correct in a sense. The only difference is that Rose remains the only one of The Doctor's companions who actually ends up with The Doctor, romantically, the fact that he is a mortal version of his Timelord doppelgänger, is considered technicalities. The real Doctor would, in my opinion, have chosen Rose if he could. But all of the companions end up falling a little bit for The Doctor, even though some of them would never admit to the fact. 

But let's turn this a little bit. The Doctor himself is addicted to his friends. He needs an audience, he cannot simply save the world and not have anyone not know about it. Not even he is that noble. And when he does travel alone, he gets high on power, so he needs an audience for more reasons that just someone to awe, he needs someone to stop him.
Spoiler:
The Tenth Doctor's first episode, he says he's a man with no second chances, and at the end of his run (just before the eleventh doctor takes over), he proves this to be right. He becomes clever and dangerous. One cannot change fixed points in time, not even a timelord, but he attempts to do just that, having decided he's the closest thing there is to a God. Power corrupts, even the timelords. Look at The Master, he's fully aware he's above humanity, and instead of trying to protect, he wants to govern. And in the end, the tenth Doctor almost becomes The Master. The only thing he didn't take into account was human nature, and that snaps him out of it. Fan behaviour is well and good, but at one point we see through our heroes, and see them for what they are.
         Even a fan must admit that the first episode in the fourth series is absolutely appalling, and had they continued with episodes of that poor quality, they would have lost even their most loyal fans. So, fans are loyal as long as they get what they want. 

The Daleks are the Doctor’s double, only they are the same. “You would make a good Dalek” (Dalek Kahn) (episode 6 new series 1) The Dalek comes alive because of Rose’s dna, but he says he is contaminated because Rose gave the Dalek human emotions like fear. The Dalek gets an identity crisis. 
        The Doctor also suffers an identity crisis. Who am I, what am I? Doctor Who… This is the biggest question of the whole series, Doctor Who. Even though we get close to an answer, I think, and suspect that not even the Doctor knows. He has been this question for so long, that the question itself has become a part of who he is, and to let go of the question would be to not be the man he has become. In some parts of the future, Doctor means Soldier. In some parts of the future all alien forms fear the Doctor... the only ones who remain blissfully unaware of his existence, are the humans. 

        The Master is the ID, and a very big part of The Doctor. And they are the weapon. That is why the doctor never needs a weapon, because he is the weapon himself. He is a weapon that makes other people do the dirty work. And that can link back to fan behaviour. If someone are admired, people will do what they ask. And sometimes they will perform rather difficult tasks, just because the one they admire asks. This can obviously translate to real life. If a teenager's hero asked him or her to do something that objected to their moral compass, they would still (in some cases) do it, because to keep on someone's good side is more important than technicalities such as morality and wants and likes. Some take advantage of this fact. 

The eleventh Doctor, in the Praise Him, says: “I’m not a hero, I really am just a mad man in a box."

Amy Pond has an almost religious belief in The Doctor, to the point where it’s inhibiting her to properly live. She’s always waiting for The Doctor to save her.
A bit of a foreshadowing (spoiler): The Doctor predicts standing over Amy and Rory’s grave, and he will when they encounter the weeping angels in New York. 

The Doctor will continue to gather fans in front of the TV, in front of screens as such, and people will continue to write about and discuss the science behind it. People will continue to write about a fictional character as if he was real. And having been around for 50 years, he has taken on a life of his own, and I would not be surprised if the blue box appeared in my back yard x

The Tenth Muse

Good early summer to you all...

I have written a book, and it has been published... Now I encourage you all to read it. I think it is a very important story :)

http://www.bullseyeshop.nl/c-2490001/roman/

Sonnett in love

That dreadful day I thought my life would end
I lost a piece of my soul and my heart
Shattered and broken, my soul could not mend
This was the IT, our big death do us part

Then, a nice smile, a 'hi' out of the blue
How can my soul get three halves of a whole?
So strange to acknowledge, could there be two?
This new wonder is a part of my soul

Finding new courage, united and strong
In your wonderful eyes I see love's light
Souls are entwined, we're correcting the wrong
You and me, uncomplicated and right

My soul choose you, it was always us two
My sweet Trevor William, I love you

The Only Unforgivable Thing

Marillion has a song called The Only Unforgivable Thing, and it's one of my favorite songs ever. It is beautiful, sad, honest, scary and it has a sense of catharsis to it. I always end up feeling so much better after having listened to that song. They have other songs like it, Neverland probably being their most famous catharsis song. But this isn't an entry about Marillion, though they go on tour this weekend, and I'm not going to be there...a thought that keeps bringing me to my knees, but, silver lining, my soulmate has promised to come with me to the next Marillion weekend, so I'll be satisfied, though I suspect a  few green thoughts this weekend. But in true Much Ado About Shakespeare style, I'm rambling on about things that hardly is the point. My point with this entry is; what is the only unforgivable thing? Oh, yes, welcome to one of the serious entries. I'm aware I haven't posted in a while, let's just say it's been a rather busy autumn, and not only in a good way. So why, do you ask, is the first entry since summer a serious one? Well, I think it has to be, because life isn't always fun and games.

What is the only unforgivable thing, and can we find it in the literature we so dearly love? Yes, without a shadow of a doubt, the literature I love, and talk about here, is full of characters faced with the choice of do or don't, the only unforgivable thing.
Aragorn takes two lifetimes to decide not to do the only unforgivable thing. He has avoided his fate long enough, and finally, at the black gates, he emerges as his true self. The true king of Gondor, Isildur's heir... and better yet, Elendil's heir, the first human king to fight Sauron.
Gollum is consumed by the only unforgivable thing, he cannot save himself. Even when Frodo "tames" him, he's still his own biggest enemy, and he is above anyone else Lord Of The Rings' tragic character, and falls under his own desire to follow his only desire. Not that following ones own desire is a bad thing, but when a desire for own gain becomes more important than, say, love and being surrounded by family and friends, then you end up losing.
Frodo almost loses that battle. Had Gollum not been there, Frodo's mind would have been lost to greed. Instead he loses a finger, which is a fair loss come to think of it. A loss I think he's happy about in hindsight. A finger for ones sanity, an easy choice, or is it?
Iago in Shakespeare's Othello is so jealous and so racist that he can't function as a normal human being. He can't enjoy his own life because a man he doesn't deem worthy has more power than himself. The only thing on his mind is to hurt the Moorish Othello. And the colour of his skin is highly important here. In his mind it is wrong that a Moor can have wealth and prosperity, and a beautiful wife as such. And, spoiler alert, he manages to ruin Othello's life, and Desdemona dies at Othello's hand. What makes a man (because this doesn't only happen in the stories of old) be so jealous of someone that he's willing to destroy both his own life and the life of the one he's envious of? Is there some kind of poetic justice I don't understand? What makes people hold on to grudge for years and years?
Some old disagreement makes the Capulets and the Montagues fight until two children dies (because Romeo and Juliet were thirteen year olds). And why should someone feel the need to decide who another person can or cannot see and love? What gives someone that kind of power? We are all in capacity of one true possession in life, our own life. We do not own anything or anyone else. So what gives people that kind of power?

I am being a bit too serious, I sense... But I think these are important questions to ask. I have just as much right to my place on this planet as Obama, or men in power (because statistics show that there are far more male leaders than female - I live in a country with a female leader, but I don't much care about her political views, she's against sharing and general human compassion, not to get political in any ways...). We should never excuse our existence, not to people in our close social groups, or to our governments. We are all children of the earth, and all of us came naked and full of prosperity into this world. A poor child in Sudan has just as much of a claim to his place on this planet as a child in wealthy Norway.

Though they manage to sort through it in the end (because it 's a comedy), both Beatrice and Benedict are victims of pride. They both know, deep down, that the other one is their other half, but they choose to bicker and quarrel for a while before finally seeing the truth. The truth is that they were born to spend their lives together, and they will only be happy once they realise said truth.
And having entered the word truth in this, we are close to something. Because what is unforgivable for one person is maybe completely okay for another person. We can also talk about truth in society vs truth inside the four walls of our homes. Some people find it perfectly acceptable to beat the crap out of spouses and children. We can argue that they have inner demons, but when is it acceptable to abuse someone else's God given body and right to dignity and life? When? No matter someone's past, what gives them the right? "I was beaten myself, so I hit people"...? Yet, people live in these conditions, sometimes a lifetime, and accept it. How so? Is that the only unforgivable thing?
Is it the only unforgivable thing to lie down in self pity, blaming the world for our own shortcomings? Sometimes we actually have to kick ourselves in the backside and get over ourselves. I'm obviously not talking about people who are ill, and need rest, love and care. But then again surfaces another dilemma, when is it up to other people to judge when enough is enough? Is that something other people can decide?
So, is the only unforgivable thing to bee a victim of the seven sins of the bible? I think we as human beings all fall short if this is the rule of the universe. I personally think it's not that easy. And lust, for one, is not only a bad thing, if you ask me. And the others can be quite handy as well, when used controlled, and not taking over ones entire being. Determining what is unforgivable is difficult.

I actually think that the only unforgivable thing is denying oneself a chance to be as good as one can. No matter the situation, country we're born in, the prospect of future we're faced with, to be anything less than we can is unforgivable. Not on a global scale, not in a society scale, not even in the scale of four walls... but on a highly personal scale. A person who use violence knows it's wrong. A person who do drugs knows it's wrong, a person who cheats on someone knows it's wrong,  a person who lies knows it's wrong... a person who kills knows it's wrong, deep down, we all know this...no matter the cause, we all know! I know this sounds a bit naive and silly, but as we have an obligation to the mutual good of our society, we also have an obligation towards ourselves. We have an obligation to be the best we that we can. And no one can do it for us. And that is, I think, the only unforgivable thing, to give in to, and blame, everything else in the world, than to look to the only one who can make the changes that needs to come.
Only YOU can change you x x

Sonnet for my beloved

Tonight it sunk in, I finally saw

I could see with your eyes for the first time

The truth was kept from me, brutal and raw

I kept it from me, it was my own crime

Tonight it made sense, those years spent in fear

Fearing the mirror, that brutal judgement

Your voice in my head, the words I can hear

Enlightenment, now I knew what you meant

You see what I never dared to believe

You see what I considered disappeared

Having lost it, I thought I had to grieve

A future of sadness I would have feared

I get it now, I can see what you see

As I can see your beauty, you see me…

Top Ten Tolkien Characters

Before I start, I just want to specify that these choices are my very subjective choices, and I'm well aware they might be on a different planet than what the general views are, and I might even have misunderstood completely what I've read and gotten things wrong. But they represent my choices nonetheless. And also, these might not be my favorite characters in six months... but at this given point in time, they are my favorites.
For me, the Tolkien universe embodies the ultimate flight from the grey everyday existence that sometimes is my life, the absolute opposite to my real. So, writing this is quite hard, as it means incredibly much to me, but here goes.
And it probably would be considered good form to give you a big spoiler alert. If you haven't read Silmarillion, The Hobbit or Lord Of The Rings, and plan to, this might not be the entry to read ;-)

And before I start, I probably should mention Frodo, and of course I like him, both him and Bilbo. They are two tormented souls, troubled by the malice of the ring. But to me this entry is about more than Lord of the Rings. This is about all the wonderful stories, and then I have to make a selection, and in the top ten, they don't make the cut.

10. Manwë
Manwë is one of the Ainur, one of the holy ones. He is one of the eternal created by Eru, or Iluvatar, at the very beginning, before there was a middle earth. Their creator gave them some chords, and then they started to sing. As they sang, Manwë's brother, Melkor, wanted to create harmonies of his own, and forced those closest to him to sing in his chosen key, so to speak. But just as the entire choir was singing in disharmony, Eru gave them new chords to fill with soul and thought. Needless to say, Melkor is the personification of evil, or was it individuality (it starts off as individuality, but ends up as malice and evil and the wish to destroy and corrupt).
Melkor's brother, Manwë, is the god of the air, and is in my interpretation the God all living creatures turn to in the name of good. You might not have heard about him before, but if you have seen the films, you will have encountered his wonderful eagles. They will follow and protect so many of the main characters to come. They were central in Gondolin, the hidden land, and they are seriously connected to Gandalf both in The Hobbit and in the final battle of the ring of power.
Manwë to me is more of an idea than a character. He is Eru's power on earth, and functions as the God in Middle Earth. He lives on the highest place in Valionr with his spouse Varda. She is the keeper of the stars.

9. Thorin Oakenshield
Thorin Oakenshield is one of the most bad ass characters in the world. He is stubborn like a true dwarf, he is full of knowledge, he is full of hatred and devouring emotions, but he is also able to repent and find a certain absolution, with the help of a hobbit (obviously). And though I'm mostly talking about the books in this entry, to overlook the epic movies of Peter Jackson would be close to idiocy, so the hotness of Richard Armitage helps a lot when I pick my ten favorite characters from Middle Earth. Now all that remains is to send my positive vibes to New Zealand, and lovingly force Peter Jackson to give Silmarillion a go as well :-) (though I feel I might not get that particular wish granted as it is one big task to take on) But getting slightly off track here. I wanted to add a little detail about the dwarves. In the prophecy Eru made, he saw the elves as the firstborn. And in a utopia version of all things, people do as they are told, and don't go on mucking things up by thinking on their own. But Aulë does just that, mucking things up. He's slightly inferior to Manwë and his ocean lord brother, Ulmo, being caught up in creating things. He is described in the book as a little bit simple, if that's fair.  He is a smith, and at one point he got tired of waiting for the firstborns, and fashioned them from his own mind, out of stone. This resulted in the dwarves, and they were awakened before the children of the stars, and for a brief second Eru wanted Aulë to destroy them as a punishment for the disobedient behaviour, but he took pity on them and sent them back to sleep. But the fact that Aulë created the dwarves on his own, meant that they didn't have the full understanding of the mechanics of the world, they would forever more have only Aulë's perspective, and this serves as a fair explanation to why they are as stubborn as they are.
So why is it that I like Thorin so much? He is a stubborn and proud being. He forces men and elves to go to war over something as ordinary as gold. He refuses to see even Gandalf's point. But then in the end, he listens to a small hobbit, and fights for the freedom of the good side in the last battle. He redeems himself completely, and dies a hero. He represents everything I look for in a good literary character. He is troubled because of his history, he is kind, but he hides his kind side to a more harsh and determined disposition. He is a leader, but it's sometimes difficult to follow his lead, as he doesn't always know where he's going. He gets lost in his own selfishness, but his good heart and his deeply hidden reason wins in the end... To write a character one would love, yet want to shake a bit along the way, and cry for hours when dies, now that takes talent.

8. Lúthien
The elven princess who fell in love with a human. The story of Beren and Lúthien is probably my favorite story from Silmarillion. It describes true love and what you would do if true love is in your heart. Also, and this is so heartbrakingly beautiful that it brings a tear to my eye, on Tolkien's tomb stone he and his wife are the real life Beren and Lùthien.
What always fascinated me about Lúthien was her bravery. She is not afraid to walk into hell to save her loved one. She does so against advice from her family, and she does so almost all alone. A big dog called Huan helps her out. Beren, you see, has been sent by Thingol, Lúthien's kingly father, to fetch one of the stolen Silmarils from Morgoth's crown. And because he loves Lúthien so endlessly, he does what he is told, and is of course captured. But the thing is, the silmarils have been cursed, and as soon as someone desires them, they are in for trouble.
But Lúthien is one of the most powerful of the Noldo there are. Her voice is magic, and with her magical singing voice she fights none other than Sauron, and she defeats him. But they still have to get the Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth, and they manage this at great cost. And throughout the whole ordeal what saves them, Beren and Lúthien, is their pure and deep love.
I remember reading this story for the first time, and I just completely cried my eyes out. Not because I was sad, there was another element present. It is a sad story, but it has a cathartic feel to it, and that's why I didn't feel sad first and foremost, but overwhelmed. And this doesn't change just because I have read it many times since. The element of something larger than life is always present in the most precious of love stories ever written. It even challenges Romeo and Juliet.

7. Arwen
From the first time I read Lord Of The Rings I loved Arwen. She holds some of the same eternal and elusive features as Lúthien, and the story of the elven princess falling in love with a mortal man is repeated with Arwen when she falls in love with Aragorn. These two love stories are love stories as they should always be, where the two lovers are so deeply in love with the other person that the love is of an eternal and life changing character. And though the story of Arwen and Aragorn is a bit shorter in the book than in the films, it is all there in the appendix. We can read how Arwen chooses a mortal life, and how she goes into the empty forrest of Lothlorien when Aragorn dies, and lies down by the trees of her grandmother, Galadriel, to sleep because all the other elves have left for Valinor. She chooses an eternity in solitude for a few mortal years with Aragorn.
Arwen as a character is interesting. The brilliant story from the book, how she travels from Rivendell with a banner showing Aragorn he should be king is a fantastic twist to the story, and it should have been a part of the films. Because she never falls ill and almost dies as long as the ring endures, not in the books anyway. She is Elrond's daughter, she is Eärendil's grand daughter, she is incredibly powerful, she is Arwen Undomiel, the evning star.

6. Pippin
Peregrin Took is one of the characters in The Lord Of The Rings that remain true and pure throughout the story. He is the little rascal that doesn't always get things right. But his heart is always in the right place. Gandalf goes through both the book and the films calling him "A Fool Of A Took", but I have a strong feeling Gandalf really likes the little troublemaker, and that every time he tells him off, it is done from a fatherly loving point of view. I think Gandalf might have an even softer spot for Pippin than for any of the other hobbits, but being old and sometimes grumpy, it's expressed through a slight annoyance.
So, Pippin, he ends up one of the tallest hobbits in the Shire from drinking the water in Fangorn Forrest, and the taller you are as a hobbit, the higher the social status. Having faced mortal peril and basically saved Middle Earth as well is probably helping the social status thing. Pippin comes home to The Shire a changed hobbit, and not only physically. He has seen horrors no one has seen, and he stood his ground. He almost lost his best friend at the slopes of Pelennor, but the hobbits all live to fight another day. And though everything changes for them when they return to The Shire, having to chase Saruman and Grima Wormtongue out of Bag End and The Shire (yes, to those of you who didn't read the book, Saruman doesn't die like he does in the film...he's an Istari wizard, he's a demigod...), he keeps his pure and childlike mind to the very end.

5. Aragorn
The true heir to the throne of Arnor and Gondor. The white tree of the Dúnedain will only come alive when a true Numenorian sits on the throne.
The ring Aragorn is wearing on his finger used to belong to Beren, who got it from the house of Finarfin, just a little fun fact.
Aragorn was raised in Rivendell by the half elf Elrond, son of Eärendil the mariner...and in Rivendell he meets the love of his life, the elven princess, Arwen Undomiel, the evening star. As her grandfather is the elven kind's most beloved star, she is, by her birth alone, a beacon of light in Aragorn's life. But Elrond will not allow a marriage between the two until Aragorn dares to ascend the throne. He does so after having fought in the second war of the ring.
Aragorn is the ultimate hero. Noble, troubled, brave, and most of all, incredibly loyal. One might think that all these trades makes a hero one dimensional, but it doesn't. He's one of the most interesting characters in the history of literature. He's brought up in the world of elves, he fears the blood of his forefathers, he is known as a ranger, Strider, he knows the way of nature and herbs, he's bi-lingual, and speak the language of the elves, he's the man that the fellowship trusts when Gandalf isn't there...but he's also the one they trust when Gandalf is there. He has been hiding for Sauron for a long time, but after the battle at Helms Deep, he makes his presence known to the enemy, and as the Numenorians were the ones who fought Sauron in the first war of the ring, Sauron actually fears Aragorn. And he doesn't faint from the strain of making his presence known, as he does in the film, he stands tall, and grows stronger and stronger as the story goes towards its last fight by the black gate.

4. Gandalf
Gandalf is one of the Istari. A demigod with powers far greater than presented in the films. He is a maian spirit, and has been on Middle Earth since the very beginning. His names are many. His first name was Olórin, and he lived in the gardens of Lórien, the master of dreams, in the Undying Lands. After a while he was chosen to be one of the five Istari wizards. As an Istari he is forbidden to make it known he is a maiar spirit. The Istari were placed on Middle-Eart as a protection to the great evil growing, in the time when Morgoth and Sauron joined forces. Gandalf is second in command in the Istari order. One white, Saruman, one grey, Gandalf, one brown, Radagast and two blue, Alatar and Pallando. On Middle Earth, he is known as Gandalf the Grey, Mithrandir to the elves, Tharkûn to the dwarves, Incánus to the Haradrim, The Grey Pilgrim, and in the end, Gandalf The White.
He is the protector of one of the elven rings, Narya, the ring of fire. The three elven rings are protected by Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond, and that is probably why the three of them manage to withstand the power of Sauron's ring.
Gandalf is a complex character, and that is why I love him. He is one of the eternals, and he remains true to himself until he once again is allowed back to The Undying Lands, at the end of the second war of the ring.
Gandalf has always fascinated me. He is witty, he is pragmatic and practical. He has a lot of love for the little people, and by that I don't mean the hobbits, but the seemingly insignificant participants of any story. He would in a modern story be the one who saw the silent child in the schoolyard, he would be the one who picked up on injustice and cruelty, and he would not chicken out if he got a chance to right wrongs.

3. Fëanor
Fëanor is the fiery elven smith that took the living light from the trees of Valinor and forged them into three out of this world gems, called the Silmarils. Their light is of such power that they have to be locked inside a cave. But of course Morgoth desires the stones, as all creatures on Middle Earth and in Valinor.
Fëanor had a fire within him that could not be harnessed, and he might have come across as proud and angry, dangerous even, but his intentions were good and he put these into the creation of the stones.
But he was a craftsman of high power. The first thing he made were the Elven-gems, crystals filled with starlight. He also made the Palantíri, the seeing stones. But it was the forging of the Silmarils that changed the whole history of both Eldamar (Valinor) and Middle Earth. The desire to own them became so overwhelming to everyone, Fëanor included, that they became The Ring Of Power times a million.
Morgoth (previously named Melkor, but the Silmarils burned his face and he lost his beauty, and was given a new name) managed to steal the Silmarils, and Fëanor as a retaliation led the elves loyal to him across Helcraxe to Middle Earth in pursuit of Morgoth and his army of orcs. But Fëanor was in the end slain by the Balrog called Gothmog.
Later, the war of the Silmarils would rage for centuries. It ended only when all the gems were lost. Only one remained, and it was placed on the forehead of Eärendil, the mariner, who sails the evening sky as the brightest star.

2. Sam
How can one go in detail about one of the most heroic characters in the history of literature? Samwise Gamgee, the gardener. Frodo would not have survived for long had it not been for Sam.
Sam is briefly a ring bearer, and for this he is allowed to enter Valinor in the end, where he reunites with his master, his companion, his friend.
In the films I feel that the relationship between the two is a bit characteristic, and it might be ridiculed. But in my mind, both book and film are showing two best friends, and their love is that of brothers. Sam starts out as the little brother, but he makes a promise to Gildor, the elf (not Gandalf as in the film), to look after Frodo, and he stays true to his promise to the bitter end. He is the personification of loyalty, and also of unconditional love. The bond between Frodo and Sam can resemble that of soldiers in war. Some might say they have a gay relationship, but I think it's more of a brotherly relationship. Frodo is the slight senior character, but through the journey he realises that he would have perished without Sam. The thing is that the Ring is weighing him down, altering his personality, so he isn't able to show Sam just how much he appreciate his help. but he leaves Bag End to Sam.
When the eagles save them out of Mordor, he remains, true and pure. One might argue he's a bit two dimensional, but I think the story would have been far darker and more hopeless without his part. And I cannot remember ever being more moved in my whole cinematic life than when Sam picks Frodo up and carries him the last bit. That shines for me, with the help of the beautiful music, the lighting, the angling, everything, as the point of the whole trilogy.

1. Eärendil
The mariner.... Middle Earth's most beloved star...
It's hard to decide why I love Eärendil so much, he is a bit of a troublemaker, but he is a very lovely and determined troublemaker. And his heart holds so much love for his family and his kin, making him one of the most loyal characters from the stories.
Half man, half elf, and the biggest dragon slayer Middle Earth ever saw. Eärendil is the father of Elrond, and Elrond's twin brother Elros. By Manwë the family, Eärendil, Elwing, Elrond and Elros were allowed to choose their own fate. Elros chose that of a mortal, but with the life span of five centuries. Elrond, as we know, chose to be an elf. Eärendil and Elwing chose to be judged as elves, as they had to be punished for entering the undying lands uninvited. And when ever they enter Aman, The Undying Lands, Valinor, and walk up to Taniquetil where Manwë sits, I get chills all over. And managing the task of entering the holy land with no invitation is quite the accomplishment.  It might sound like a punishment, but for Eärendil, sailing his ship, the Vigilot, across the evening sky forever, becoming the flame of the west, the Evening Star... "I give you the light of Eärendil, our most beloved star".


My referencing literature for this entry has been:

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Lord Of The Rings
Jackson, The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, The Return Of The King, The Hobbit (An Unexpected Journey)
David Day,  Tolkien, The Illustrated Encyclopedia

Summer bliss

Again I find myself in a busy summer situation, where every thought of writing and creating just slips away in wet sand, salty waves, and sunny thoughts.
My mind wanders to the lovely land of bright fairytale islands where butterfly boats float on the sea as a shattered rainbow on the sparkling evening water
My dreams are sitting on a sandy beach surrounded by velvet air, disappearing in the words and strength of his beautiful mind.
Every thought of getting lost in my own words and tales are left in the pages of summer stories and imaginary worlds of love and wonder.
Every idea is stored for the autumn, while the now discovers the self all a new.
Every longing feeling of love is stretching across water to my lovely England where I left my heart.