(no subject)

[abigailbrady]

covenant ticket arrived today - which is cutting it a bit close. tomorrow gig, then friday up to sheffield for batfink!

started reading the Kalevala (in English translation), which has been kindly lent to me by cyniborg.

this is the Finnish "national epic", which when read in 1911/1912 by a kid called Ronald from the fringes of Birmingham, caused him to say "we've got to get ourselves one of these" and then a few years later to write one, in some cases just lifting things wholesale (compare Túrin with Kullervo.) i started to write a filk about Túrin once, which is not quite of the same level of inspiration, but hey.

Comments

[ikklebabyj.livejournal.com]

yAY, SEE YOU TOMORROW AT THE GIG BABE
XX


*bloody caps lock, argh1!*

[thatmakesmemad.livejournal.com]

the main link between The Lord of the Rings and the Kalevala is Tom Bombadil and the poetic style of his speach which is more evident in "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" (note Turin appears in the silmarillion which can be considered to pilfer from the bible with that whole tedious creation myth which makes the beginning hard to get through). The main difference might be considered to be the lack of christian references in the lord of the rings since it was written from scratch and not corrupted over the years by do gooding purveyors of middle eastern mythology. See the mabinogion for similar corruption by the church.
Another consideration is that its an epic poem so not so easy to read

[imagnocean.livejournal.com]

I went to school with JRR Tolkien's great-grandaughter, Ruth.

She was very cool... and amazingly clever. :)

[elfbiter.livejournal.com]

Which translation is that? According to Ian Watson, Keith Bosley's translation (which the Oxford World's Classics edition uses) would be more tolerable to read to the English-speakers althought it does not preserve the original poetic syntax.

[spindr.livejournal.com]

Heya.
Are you still going to Fink?
I'm sadly not at my stomping best but might pop along for a drink - I'll text you or something.

I have to warn you Batfink has been a bit disapponting the last couple of times I've been - they've changed the venue and it's, well, a bit rubbish now...so don't expect to much and you *might not* be disappointed. ;)