In chapter 3 Roverandom’s adventures take a new turn. He gets a chance to explore the place on the Moon none has seen before. As a final stage of his stay there, it gives him a very interesting perspective and shows the dark side of the Moon, in both meanings of the word “dark”.
In chapter 2 of Roverandom the enchanted Rover embarks on the first leg of his journey and travels to the Moon. The chapter is full of new experiences and meetings for Rover, as well as mythological and folkloric references.
It is interesting how a dwelling place often matches the personality of its dweller. It is very often that an inhabitant imparts their own character to the place they live in, so the place becomes very much like the person that inhabits it. Once we look at Farmer Maggot and his farm, we see how well the similarities between the house and the dweller show. The Farmer is as perfect for Bamfurlong as Bamfurlong is perfect for him.
Rover’s adventures begin one day when he plays with his yellow ball outside and bites a wizard for taking the ball, which is not to the dog’s liking. The animal’s misfortune is that he has not got the slightest idea that the man is a wizard because “if Rover had not been so busy barking at the ball, he might have noticed the blue feather stuck in the back of the green hat, and then he would have suspected that the man was a wizard, as any other sensible little dog would; but he never saw the feather at all” (Roverandom, p. 41-42). Being really annoyed, the wizard turns Rover into a toy dog and his life turns upside down.
Roverandom is a children’s story by J. R. R. Tolkien, covering the travels and adventures of the dog named Rover, turned into a toy. Belonging to the collection of Tolkien’s shorter pieces of fiction and unrelated to Middle-earth, the story is a delightful read with many traditionally Tolkienian traits.
The topic of death is one of the most important pillars that Tolkien’s mythology is supported by. He used different approaches to explore death in his writings, careful to show various aspects of this delicate topic. Escape from death as a notion was one of the most important purposes of fantasy and fairy-tales in Tolkien’s view. He calls it the Great Escape in On Fairy-Stories. “Fairy-stories provide many examples and modes of this—which might be called the genuine escapist, or (I would say) fugitive spirit” (1), Tolkien writes. But this perspective, this need for the Great Escape, is human. What if we walk in Elvish shoes for a while and look at death from their point of view?
Eala Earendel engla beorhtast
Ofer middangeard monnum sended
How very often we can be inspired by a small thing only — small, yet significant in a way that we could never have fathomed. Small things have a way of hiding a vast background behind them which comes alive only under certain circumstances. Looking now at the great world sub-created by J. R. R. Tolkien it can be hard to believe that it was only one world that ignited his imagination and set him on the path of forming it. It was earendel. Read more
Being the person who sub-created a vast and detailed literary world, J. R. R. Tolkien felt sympathetic with those who made things, too, whether the results were the creations of their hands or minds. However, as a sub-creator Tolkien was very well aware of the pitfalls of being one, the worst of them — becoming unhealthy attached to one’s work. The Professor clearly shows in his books that remaining humble is one of the key aspects of not falling victim to the work of one’s hands or mind. A perfect example of such an attitude is Aulë. Read more
Fëanor the Spirit of Fire was the most gifted of all the Elves in linguistic lore. He could use language so well that his speeches affected those who heard them and inspired them to do different, though not always sensible, things. Thus, being gifted with words and able to use them potently, Finwë’s eldest son was also exceptionally good at insulting others. Read more
