LoTR - One weekend to skew them all

Some claim that history is actually propaganda by victors - in a war, business, society or elections.  But seeing the interest the Yankees - or at least the Rednecks - have expressed in the writings of Sarah Palin and her TV shows, there may be reason to think that people have started to look beyond such official, accepted history and into the story as seen by the losers.

With such thought, I ventured out to read the (fan) sequel to the J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy named tongue-in-cheek, as ‘The Last Ring Bearer’.

To be frank and to my reading taste, LoTR, is a gripping tale but reflecting the times it was written in,

• too long winded, wearisome and quite exorbitant in its use of poems, invented language, customs and descriptions; 
• places in the story, even with the given map was confusing and mind boggling';
• it didn’t get better by watching the movies.  I still have a doubt about how many readers (apart from aficionados) actually can tell where exactly Mirkwood and Fangorn forests lie in relation to each other or to Isengard;
• the whipping boy attitude of Samwise towards Frodo and the constant depressing, wailing, ‘I am no good’ attitude of Frodo are nauseating;
• by one calculation, Gandalf rides about 700 m (~1150 km) in 6 days on Shadowfax - from Rohan to the Shire, at an average of just about 115 mpd or 190 kmpd.  Now a horse ‘can’ do that speed for one day - not for 6 days in succession, without rest; but I pity Gandalf more or rather Gandalf’s backside more, after riding for 6 continuous days.  Here is a nice analysis on LoTR travel times here [http://www.theoriginalseries.com/traveltimes.htm].
• To my mind, there was always something suspicious about Gandalf and he always will be Gandalf ‘the Grey’ to me.

So with all these reservations, it was time to try out the story from the loser’s perspective, from the view point of Sauron the Great - in reality it is the Nazgul who initiates the last ring bearer by giving him ‘his’ - Nazgul’s ring.

To cut it short, the original LoTR is summarized in a few chapters, from chapter 5 to 8, but on the last ring bearer and his time is about how

• Mordor under Sauran the VII was scientifically more advanced;
• that Mordor was expert in metallurgy, chemistry, with steam engines, no less, and was experimenting with electricity and aeronautics.
• the Palantir is actually a communication line, more like the modern hotline;
• the Galadriel’s mirror was something like spy satellite, giving the victors a huge advantage in winning the war. 
• the Mirror itself was ‘loaned’ by the wizards led by Gandalf the Grey to the Elves to keep the magical middle kingdom alive
• the Elves wish to enslave the mankind and the trolls so that the elves can be masters;
• that Aragorn becoming wise, a little a late, actually was trying to usurp the science for himself - to be used against the elves, in future;

and what not.

The story was written in 1999 by a Russian Biologist Krill Yeskov and was translated in English only late last year, in Oct 2010 by Yisroel Markov and is available for download at Markov’s LJ site [http://ymarkov.livejournal.com/270570.html].

Since Tolkien’s estate led by his son is actively threatening copyright violation on anyone who is using the Tolkien name anywhere, even on buttons, I don’t know how long that download will be left on.  So, grab your copy and read it now. 

BTW, like the original LoTR, here too the ring bearer, on completion of his mission, walks off, to disappear - not to some imagined land, but into a Monastery and what we hear are from his ‘trusted’ co-conspirator, who too, similar to the original LoTR, goes on to lead a contented life.

And if the Nazgul does appear in your dreams, next time, give it a patient hearing.  Or not - if you don’t want to be the new ring bearer.
;-P


God knows (or perhaps Nazgul knows), whether this blog is going to get hit with a copyright notice!
:-)

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