When I first discovered the Chronicles in 1977-78, I decided that "Lord Foul and the Ravers" would be an excellent name for a punk rock band. I now wonder: what would be the line-up if Lord Foul and the Ravers really were a band? Here is my proposal: Turiya Herem - drums Moksha Jehanumm - ...

Wayfriend, the passages you quote from LFB are from stories about the origins of Despite that are told by, respectively, Saltheart Foamfollower and Lord Tamarantha, both of whom preface the stories by describing them as "legends". By the end of The Last Chronicles, the person who knows mos...

My take is that Lord Foul began as the embodiment of the principle of cosmic perfection, and thus as not originally evil. Creation, and life, is by definition imperfect, as it is both finite and constantly changing. Perfection can never be achieved, but living beings can strive towards it, to become...

I'm currently reading The Grapes Of Wrath - surprisingly late in life.

tj4242, thanks for your work on the chart. There remains the question of who or what was possessing Joan in the early chapters of TWL. The only possibility we can definitely rule out is samadhi Sheol, who was fully occupied with possessing the na-Mhoram. [spoiler]In the light of what we know of Joan...

As Wayfriend has posted, the word, as a noun, has an archaic meaning of "contempt, scorn". See:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dicti ... sh/despite

Donaldson imports a lot of archaic English into the Chronicles, such as "roynish".

samadhi sheol possessed (that we know of): the king of doriendor corishev 1 of the 3 giant brothers of 1 birth (satansfist) the na-mhoram (gibbon & others) turiya herem possessed (that we know of): the demondim (lead 2 spawning of ur-viles & waynhim) 1 of the 3 giant brothers of 1 birth (ki...

wayfriend wrote:No. No one ponders every decision as if it has ethical consequences forever. But when the fate of the world and everyone it it hangs in the balance, don't you think that those decisions, in fact, do?

My thoughts as well.

What would have happened in Middle-Earth in the first decades of the Fourth Age. Here's one scenario. The young and middle-aged male populations of Gondor, Rohan, Dale, etc, would have been severely depleted as a result of deaths and disabling injuries incurred during the War of the Ring. Hence in t...

Here's my two cents worth on how I would like to see it done (although it won't be done this way). There are passages in Tolkien's own writings that support such a take on Sauron. Early in the Second Age Sauron is a well-meaning and supremely talented technocrat who has a grand plan for the future o...

If Covenant and Linden weren't damaged and deeply flawed people the meaning, beauty and truth of the Chronicles would be incondignly diminished.

"Covenant is a dick".

Yes. However the key to really understanding the First Chronicles is to work out why Covenant is a dick, why he thinks he kind of has to be a dick, and how in the end he transcends his dickness.

The passage in the First Chronicles in which Atiaran explains to Covenant the processes of learning and testing in the lore of Sword and Staff comes just after the notorious scene in which Covenant rapes Lena, and so I suspect that those of us reading this passage may have done so with our minds els...

The other general point I would make is that the society portrayed in the First Chronicles is anything but feudal. The Stonedownors and Woodhelvennin have no superiors in a feudal hierarchy to whom they owe either labour service or military service, and the Lords - despite their title - are not warr...

In LFB, Atiaran clearly explains to Covenant that anybody in the Land can study the disciplines of Staff and Sword, and can take the necessary tests to become a Lord. Mhoram's Lordship was therefore not hereditary. As I have posted on another thread, the fact of his parents both being Lords meant th...

This passage makes no sense. 'How far is Rivendell?' asked Merry, gazing round wearily. The world looked wild and wide from Weathertop. 'I don't know if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond the Forsaken Inn, a day's journey east of Bree,' answered Strider. 'Some say it is so far, and some...

Currently I'm reading The Limits Of Capital by David Harvey.

If you're going to be in two minds about whether to prepare Minced Dwarf or Hobbit Pie, make sure the sun isn't about to rise.

I took this photo while cycling along the Brisbane (Australia) River last year.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 0..&type=3

I have just finished reading Cixin Liu's Three Body trilogy.