Werewolves, Vampires, and... Talking Dogs?

[dxmachina]

Read some more of the Beren and Luthien story, a.k.a. As Doriath Turns, last night. Very weird stuff. Tolkein throws a talking dog into the mix, who turns out to be the big hero of the story. Plus there are werewolves, then Sauron turns into an uber-werewolf to attack Luthien, but is defeated by the talking dog, so he then changes into a vampire and runs away. A vampire? The frell?

Tolkein also introduces the concept of trailer park trash elves, in the forms of Cletus Celegorm and Curufin. The talking dog starts out as Celegorm's hunting dog, but the dog come to realize that he's smarter than Celegorm, and so abandons him for the fair, and much more intelligent, maiden. Good choice, talking dog.

Comments

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Hombre. The talking dog is not just a talking dog! He is proto-Sam. Yes, he is a wise servant, who has to do some searching before he finds someone to whom he can be eternally faithful.

Also, Tolkien is tapping into a fair amount of myth in As Doriath Turns. (Don't read Turin Turambar -- now that is a soap opera!) The dog-fights-wolf thing is a standard trope, with the domesticated creature fighting off his wild other-self. And this also ties into another part of the Beren story! In Norse myth, Fenris the evil giant wolf agreed to be bound if, during the binding, someone would put his hand in Fenris's mouth. Tyr, the bravest, agreed, and ended up one-handed as a result. Tyr was still hella brave, and fought like a wild man, but at the big battle at the end of the world? He was really sorry not to have both hands.

And next time you are defeated in the body of a werewolf, tell me you won't flee in whatever form lets you fly away quickly! And anyway, he's got to foreshadow Sauron becoming "an evil spirit" when he flees failing Numenor, 200 pages hence. Because aint no way a person in a body escaped Numenor as it was Titanic-ing into the sea; so it had to be a spirit.

[dxmachina.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong, I like the dog. I was just surprised when he started talking. Although I don't see why, because I had no problem with eagles talking. As far as the Norse myths go, most of my knowledge of them comes from The Amazing Thor, so... I'm really much better with the Greeks. The dog fights wolf thing I got, although I was surprised when Huan won. Prophesies are always so vague. How can one tell whether or not this was the meanest, baddest wolf in Beleriand?

The vampire thing was just weird, because it just seemed so out-of-the-blue. There's never a mention of vampires that I recall anywhere in The Hobbit or LotR. As for flying, yeah, but remember that in the vampire mythology I am most familiar with, vamps don't usually fly.

Actually, one thing I was reminded of (since I've had Into the Woods playing in my car the last few days) was Rapunzel, except that Luthien gets her own damn self out of the tower.

[noumignon.livejournal.com]

remember that in the vampire mythology I am most familiar with, vamps don't usually fly.

Yeah, you know the quote:

Buffy: I looked around, but soon's they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!

Xander: They can fly?

Buffy: They can drive.

Xander: Oh.

Mostly just posting to show you I used your invite code. At first when "Noumenon" was taken I tried "noumenal one," but condensed into one word it looked like a journal for someone depressed, so I had to wait a week to change my name, and now here I am, sire!

[dxmachina.livejournal.com]

Excellent. <Burns>

I knew you had used it. When you give out a code, the system keeps track of who used it, if at all. Even friended you at the time. Let me know if you have any newbie questions.