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olkien made this narration before The Lord of the Rings had found a publisher. He was rather disillusioned, even despairing about it's prospects, and had lost faith in his ability as a writer. He was visiting the house of a friend, and this friend had bought a fairly newfangled device: a tape recorder. After messing with it a bit, recording The Lord's Prayer (to exorcise any evil spirits in it, for Tolkien was a bit suspicious of new tech), his friend suggested that he record his favourite passage from his new book. Tolkien did so, and on replaying it, the...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Kingship in the Westlands of Middle-EarthIntroductionThis study examines the power and role of kings in the realms of Gondor and Rohan, the regions for which there is the most detailed evidence. It should be noted therefore that royal traditions in the Dunedain realms grew out of Numenorean law, whereas Rohan’s kingship was most likely based on the customs of the Northmen.In Endor royal rule was the norm where peoples were strong enough. Thus there existed, at various times, crowns in Harad, Rhun, Rohan, Dale, Arnor and Gondor. In their absence, either because the kingship had failed or the people were...

Ferthu Theoden Hal!  One tale people seldom discuss is the story of Theoden. That is, people who have read The Lord of the Rings recognize Theoden as the heroic king of Rohan who with the aid of Gandalf recovers from the evil spell Saruman's spy and surrogate, Grima Wormtongue, has woven about him. Theoden seems bent with old age when the reader first sees him, and then Gandalf works a near-miraculous recovery on the king. Theoden rides forth to do battle with his enemies and the enemies of Gondor, and he dies in glory on the Pelennor Fields.It may surprise...