Nathan Hood
@NathanCJHood
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I want to follow in their footsteps and make paths of my own.
The Kingdom of Gododdin
Joined November 2020
An important theme in LotR that arises towards the end of the book is the relationship between the heroic and the family man. Tolkien recognised that these are two polls that pull a man in different directions, as they both demand his loyalty and activity. It is seen in Sam🧵
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Something is happening here but you don't know what it is.Do you, Mr. Jones?
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Striking that while Starmer had managed to get the judicial system into action for the rioters, promising some sentencing by the end of the week, the murderer and attacker of the girls in Southport, Axel Rudakubana, won’t face trial until January 20th.
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'We were brought up to believe in this idea of progress, this idea that we are living on this increasing line where everything is getting better and better all the time, and I don't think things are really.'. 'You're a reactionary, aren't you?'. 'Yes, I am.'
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The ancient myths are true. Sea serpents and dragons roamed the world. They were slain by mighty heroes in times long forgotten.
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We could see it as the inward conflict of the Faustian nature of Western man, the desire to explore the world and gain knowledge, and the Anglo archetype of the gardener, an individual content to cultivate his plot of land into a mini-kingdom of beauty, life, and order.
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In Letter 131, Tolkien mentioned that Sam's rustic love 'is absolutely essential. and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life (breathing, eating, working, begetting) and quests, sacrifice, causes, and the 'longing for Elves', and sheer beauty.'. The end.
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UO was a kind of open bar for many people. Its ending, while inevitable, ended a space that cultivated group feeling within this little sphere. It had become a kind of common culture, a shared touchpoint for discussion and friendship.
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!!!BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!. On the 18th May I’ll be hosting King Arthur Day. A full day of videos and streams engaging with the history, legends and legacy of Arthur and the Matter of Britain. Great creators on board to explore Arthur in art, film, music, politics and religion.
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When the tree at Hadrian's Wall was cut down in malice, it felt like some terrible spirit had been unleashed into the land to cause havoc and mayhem wherever it pleased. There is a dark horror at work in Britain today. It must be confronted lest it continue unabated.
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Notice how Boghossian frames this as something that just happens in cities that he has to adapt to. If we wanted to, we could eradicate this kind of crime from London’s streets. Such behaviour isn’t inevitable and it isn’t an inherent in city life. We can make a better London.
While standing on a street corner in East London, someone drove by on a bike and ripped my phone from my hands. It fell to the ground and they drove off. Lessons learned: separate credit cards from phone, be more mindful about being on my phone in public. They did me a favor.
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But he also feels a powerful longing to be with Rosie and, in time, his children. Despite his travels to amazing realms and magical places, in the end he'd rather be with them than anyone else. And so, he feels pulled in two directions: the great expanse and the domestic.
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Tolkien is touching on a theme in St Paul's writings. In 1 Cor 7, he writes:.The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.
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Great adventures are an unmarried man's game. He who has found romantic love will want for no other, will limit himself for his beloved, is ultimately bound to an ordinary life. The kind of life that Sam knew he was destined for, which helped him to resist the Ring.
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Standing at the graveside of William Marshall, known as the greatest knight who ever lived. A fierce warrior, loyal servant, honourable to the highest degree, a leader for the English in times of war and strife. He is buried in the Temple Church, home of the Templars in London.
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But it is also a comment on the heroic and ordinary life. The Fellowship are all unmarried men. They are free to devote themselves absolutely to their mission. They can give everything they are to defeat Sauron.
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Sam first feels this tension when he gets back to the Shire. It has been taken over by Sharkey's Ruffians and he, with his three companions, are leading the resistance. But despite all this, he is desperate to see Rosie Cotton, with whom he is smitten.
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It is also a tension between friendship and romance. Frodo is Sam's friend, with an intimate bond. But, like many men, when he falls for a beautiful woman he feels it difficult to maintain his relationship with his male friends. He is drawn to give more of himself to Rosie.
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She asks him 'If you've been looking after Mr. Frodo all this while, what d'you want to leave him for, as soon as things look dangerous?'. Tolkien goes on: 'This was too much for Sam. It needed a week's answer, or none.'
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Sam was torn in two. He had been on the an epic quest with Frodo, had gone to the limit with him, had seen the Ring destroyed. He still feels that adventurous spirit within: he travels the Shire and leads the rebuild, he wants to go to Rivendell.
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Later, Frodo plans to go to Rivendell and invites Sam to take him part of the way. Sam agrees but feels that he is 'torn in two': he wants to see Rivendell again, but he realises "the only place I really want to be in is here" - with his wife and daughter.
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Frodo promises that 'you will be healed. You were meant to be solid and whole, and you will be.'. They then set off and Frodo reveals they are off to the Grey Havens, where he will leave Middle-earth. Again, Frodo tells Sam that 'you cannot always be torn in two.
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'You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.'. Frodo then kisses Sam and leaves on the ships to take him to Valinor, the land of the gods. Sam returns home and, in his hobbit hole, he declares, 'Well, I'm back'.
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Rosie felt that Sam had 'wasted a year' while working around the Shire. She wanted to marry him: and he wants to marry her. He doesn't feel that he can serve Frodo and get married. Frodo solves the problem by inviting Sam and Rosie to join him in Bag End. They marry and join.
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I’ve always felt uneasy with many ‘history’ accounts and @Sargon_of_Akkad talk last week has helped me to understand why. They see history as a list of facts to roll out and nothing more. We know and experience it as metaphor, as a tale of our origin and spirit baked in stone.
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After defeating Saruman, Sam leads the efforts to heal the Shire. He plants new trees and, with the gifts of Galadriel, renews the natural beauty of the Shire. When Frodo invites Sam to live with him at Bag End, he feels 'torn in two'.
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So, in time, Sam must give up his heroic drives, his devotion to mighty affairs, and focus upon his family. He must limit himself to his little kingdom. Sam mirrors Tom Bombadil. A powerful being, he won't cross the borders of his land. Nobody knows why, but he leaves a clue.
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Tom explains to the hobbits why he won't come with them on their adventure:. 'I've got things to do, my making and my singing, my talking and my walking, and my watching of the country. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting.'
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As they part he sings once more:. 'Tom's country ends here: he will not pass the borders. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting!'. Tom loves Goldberry (his wife) and the land: they are one. His acts out of love for them, and so he won't leave his realm for anything!
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Me trying not to engage with the e-girl/online right discourse
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@OGRolandRat For zoomers, this is a picture of the fictional character Derek Edward Trotter, also known as 'Del Boy', from the 1980s British TV show Only Fools and Horses.
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Despite what the movies say, men are much more romantic than women. A man will spend years chasing the love of his dreams, will run through brick walls for her, whereas many women move on quite quickly. Not a criticism of either; it is just the way things are.
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@HumzaYousaf Tbh I think the guy who stabbed and killed children is the worst of humanity, not the people who are angry that these murders happened.
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Britain is a third world country . I’m not talking about immigration . It’s the levels of mismanagement, corruption and destruction . The partisan nature of our lawmaking and enforcing bodies. The crumbling infrastructure matched with the luxury elite and absurd cultural agenda.
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Bernard Hill’s performance in the Lord of the Rings as King Theoden elevated the films, especially the Two Towers. He captured the resolve and melancholic of the Saxons. He felt like a real character with his own struggles and motivations. I hope he rests in his father’s halls.
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After months of hard work, I've started a new business: Excalibur Tours. Offering guided walks of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh exploring the Celtic History and Arthurian Legends of Scotland's Capital. Book a tour at and please follow @ToursExcalibur
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We don’t live in a realm of abstract ideals but place and history. Values have meaning when they are bound with the custom and institutions of a people. It doesn’t have functional existence beyond concrete realities. It’s why ‘British values’ are empty independent of the Brits.
There is no way to prove that Yvette Cooper's ''British Values'' are less British than Farage's. The entire discourse is just fart gas being used to obfsucate from what actually matters, and that's demographics and people.
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This has more to do with attacking pubs, night clubs and football stadiums than it does smoking. If the issue was really about health, he would just ban cigarettes outright. Instead, he wants to crush the places which facilitate a working class white culture in modern Britain.
🚨 WATCH: Keir Starmer confirms he's considering banning smoking in some outside areas . "My starting point on this is to remind everyone that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking. That's a preventable death. so yes, we are going to take decisions"
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Britain is becoming a failed state. Services struggling; resource distribution is bad. Lost control of criminality, with it spreading further. The political class is losing any shred of legitimacy. If we want peace and prosperity, justice and freedom, there must be change.
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Turning 30 today! Thinking about what’s happened in my life and one of the things I am grateful for is the many excellent people I have met here, the friends I have found, folks who push me to be a better man. So thank you my friends!
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“Ride now! Ride to Gondor!”. “Ride to ruin and the world’s ending!”. “Death!”
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English winter woodlands have a quiet and melancholic beauty
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@BenGunnEx So it couldn’t be held earlier than Jan 20th? There’s no way to speed up the process?.
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Terry Jones, member of Monty Python, discussing the Medieval Era with Terry Wogan in 1984.
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I feel like we will end up a failed state, if we’re not already there. Theft is rampant, while wrong think is punished hard. Services are breaking while initiatives are drowned in red tape. People are tired while wolves reap the gold. Hard times ahead for Britain and her children.
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When Julius Caesar invaded Britain, it seems that some tribes sided with him. They wanted to get revenge on a rival tribe and saw Roman rule as a necessary cost for destroying their local enemies. It appears that closest enemies take precedence over the invader.
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Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?. They have passed like rain on the mountains. Like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the west. Behind the hills, into shadow. How did it come to this?
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@OGRolandRat This is why I felt angry watching the coronation. He had laid upon him sacred obligations to administer justice in the realm, to protect what is good and uproot iniquity. His actions show he has abandoned his duties to God and people.
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At the core of the Arthurian legend is the wheel of fortune, the cycle of men and kingdoms, the rise, fall and rise again of a ruler, a people, a land. Arthur has returned before and he shall do so again. The sword Excalibur will rise! Justice will reign once more!.
There's a story waiting to be written about King Arthur being re-born in present-day England and setting off across our infested and blighted land to find Excalibur and drive the pestilence and filth out of the realm once more.
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The elites think that they are untouchable. They believe that, though a few fall, their power will last forever. They are wrong. The Wheel of Fortune turns for all. Nature cannot be restrained. The chains will break. The King will Return. The Wheel is turning. Are you ready?.
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The Norse/Saxon conceived of the world as a constant battle between the walled sanctuary that must be defended at every moment against the monsters pressing in to destroy hearth and hall. This is reality. More innocent children will be murdered until we step up to this truth.
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When I read The Lord of the Rings or watch Wagner's Ring Cycle, I sense that I am engaging with something more real than my everyday experiences. These and other mythological stories get to the heart of the way things are, beyond the world of sensory appearance.
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The biggest problem with conscription in modern Britain is, even if there was high recruitment, there would be little trust within units. In WW1/2, regiments drew from established communities. The men knew each other from home and work. They shared a bond - they belonged.
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What I despise about these kinds of take, beyond their ignorance, is the way they implicitly attack Tolkien’s character. Tolkien fought during WW1. He survived the Somme. It’s disgusting that a man of such courage could be accused of defeatism by a man who’s never fought.
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