Happy Tolkien Day

So, today is Tolkien's birthday (his 127th, to be precise). A good time to dip back into his works and refresh my memory of just why I like his stuff so very much and still after so many years.

The piece that came to my mind this time is his poem "The Dragon's Visit", particularly the original ending:

. . . the moon shone through his green wings

       the night air beating

[As] he flew back over the dappled sea

       to a green dragons' meeting.

We tend to forget just how evocative Tolkien's prose (and, rarely, his verse); it's good to remind ourselves every once in a while.

--John R.


current reading: THE OTHER WIND by Le Guin (a reread, just finished) and BORN TO BE POSTHUMOUS, a biography of Edward Gorey (disappointing).
Recent viewing: YELLOW SUBMARININE (just finished; as weird as ever), THE ROOSEVELTS by Ken Burns, MARY POPPINS RETURNS.


UPDATE: corrected the date