Tom 's avatar

Tom

@alas-not-me.bsky.social

251 followers 535 following 357 posts

Always heard a different drum. 'Pity, Power, and Tolkien's Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many.' Shortlisted for The Tolkien Society's Best Book Award 2024 @KentStateUPress

Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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The day I was proudest of being an American I was with a friend getting married at City Hall in NYC. The line to get to the clerk had people speaking dozens of languages and wearing the garb of the different nations they'd come from. I thought "This is what it's all about."

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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It might be an interesting study to see if one is any more reliable than the other

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Ooh

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Marius just couldn't let go. He's like the inverse of Diocletian.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Or even if they will, take one for the team.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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and an absolutely glorious person

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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ὡς ἀπόλοιτο καὶ ἄλλος, ὅτις τοιαῦτά γε ῥέζοι

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Wait for it.

www.instagram.com/reel/C82AHWT...

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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It being 3018, clearly it's those millennials.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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From a 1916 newspaper article. What a 1st sentence! The main verb does not begin to appear until 45 words in. 4 subordinate clauses come first. & it's perfectly intelligible. And I am not even going to bring up the second half of the sentence. (Sorry for the image quality.)

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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@nicholasbirns.bsky.social thinking of your ideas about Tolkien's use of history makes me wonder if there's any connection to be found with R. G. Collingwood, who was at Pembroke much of the time Tolkien was. In addition to The Idea of History, Collingwood also wrote "The Philosophy of Enchantment."

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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It makes me think of Genesis where the firmament divides the waters of the earth from the waters above the sky.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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I have also always loved the part in Bombadil's house where Goldberry sings to them and they seem to be looking down at the world from the outside and the stars seem to be in an ocean.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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I cancelled the NYT today because of this. Join the party.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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We just like to think is. Chronological snobbery.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Breaking: US Supreme Court establishes new judicial standard: Defenestrare Decisas.

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Reposted by Tom

Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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At least a couple of lawyers here in the states have gotten themselves in trouble by using ChatGPT in writing their briefs. It made up cases and case-law that didn't exist. Evidently the lawyers never checked, or assumed the judge would never do so.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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For a moment I was afraid it was going to be Toto.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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No it doesn't, though some seem to think of it as a feature, not a bug

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Good bread is one of the great things of the universe. On the other hand I had so much sourdough thrust upon me in the 8 years I lived in CA (as if no other bread existed) that it will be several lifetimes before I am willing to eat it again.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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And "Do not meddle in the affairs of balrogs. For they are wingless and quick to plummet."

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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As Kosh famously said to Túrin: "You do not understand."

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Last sentence of the paragraph and the day is done. Now I can rest and read some Vergil.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Everybody knows that it's impossible to go into battle without garum on the condiment bar in the galley.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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I once saw a tipsy Classics Professor at a party say to a child named Amanda "do you know your name is a gerundive little girl?"

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Had the q&a gone longer, I was going to ask him a question prefaced by an affirmation that I in fact knew the difference.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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I have to say that, when Tom Shippey said that he knew people with degrees in Classics who did not know the difference between a past participle and a gerundive, I was quite relieved not to be one of the people he was talking about.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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This could be the beginning of "who's on first" type conversation between Merry (Abbott) and Pippin (Costello).

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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Like all commentaries, it will say nothing about the passages where to say something is most needed and wanted.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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I want to write a commentary on the Athrabeth.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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It's interesting how much that shift underlines the whole "men are weak" message that runs through the films. In the books it's a great story told afterwards, and the message is the leadership of A, who brings living men to the Pelennor.

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Tom 's avatar Tom @alas-not-me.bsky.social
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I had a thought about Theoden and politeness, which I will be posting later.

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