Observations on Lord of the Rings

I decided, on a whim the other day, that I was going to watch "Return of the King" because it's my favorite of the three LOTR films and I was kind of in an epic mood. Don't ask.

Anyway, I made two rather interesting observations. One is that, during the Two Towers, Eowyn sings a lament for her cousin, Theodred, a list of the kings that have gone before him into death. One of the lines, the only one I ever remember, is "Frecan, Folcan," a reference to Freca and Folca, both of whom were kings in Rohan. The -n ending on the end is an inflection that deliniates what part of speech the name is functioning as. Rohirric is an inflected language, much like Latin or, of course, Old English, which is what Tolkien based both the langauge and culture of the Rohirrim after.

Of course, I knew that already, but my linguistics class (Thank you, Ozzie Mayers and Melvyn Bragg and The History of English) didn't make it apparent until now.

The second is much more movie-oriented -- during the siege of Minas Tirith, Pippin pulls Gandalf aside and says...

PIPPIN
I didn't think it would end this way.

GANDALF
End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One that we all must take. The gray rain curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it.

PIPPIN
What, Gandalf? See what?

GANDALF
White shores. And beyond, the far green country, under a swift sunrise.

You know where else they have white shores and beyond a far green country?

The White Cliffs of Dover. See, there's the white shores and if you keep going over the little island they're attached to, there's another little island that a lot of people have taken to calling the Emerald Isle on account of its green-ness.

Funny, innit, how these things happen? Gandalf has just given us a vision of England as Valinor.

You're a sneaky one, PJ, I'll give you that.