Voting is now open for The One Ring Awards for 2005. I must admit it was a lovely suprise to learn that Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson's the Lord of the Rings, in which I have a chapter, has been shortlisted for the second category, "Best Tolkien themed book published in 2005." Many thanks to those who nominated it! Voting is open to all, and the online ballot is here.
In related news, The New York Times has a lovely slideshow of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Letters from Father Christmas" illustrations. Like all of Tolkien's art, these pictures are lovely, and well worth a look.
One year for the holidays, H.P. Lovecraft wrote a "horrible message of gladness" for his friends, a parody of his own "weird fiction" as well as Edgar Allan Poe's. The result was "The Brumalian Wish," my quote of the day:
From the damnable shadows of madness,
From the corpse-ridden hollow of Weir,
Comes a horrible message of gladness,
And a ghost-guided poem of cheer -
And a gloom-spouting pupil of Poe sends the pleasantest wish of the year!
May the ghouls of the neighboring regions,
And the curse'd necrophagous things,
Lay aside their dark habits in legions,
For the bliss that Brumalia brings -
And may Druids innum'rable bless thee, as they dance on the moor's fairy-rings!
So, Galba, may pleasures attend thee
Thro' all thy bright glorious days;
May the world and the mighty commend thee,
And the cosmos resound with thy praise -
And may all future ages be brilliant with the light of thine intellect's rays!
"The Brumalian Wish," by H.P. Lovecraft (writing as "Edward John Ambrose Bierce Theobald")
In related news, The New York Times has a lovely slideshow of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Letters from Father Christmas" illustrations. Like all of Tolkien's art, these pictures are lovely, and well worth a look.
One year for the holidays, H.P. Lovecraft wrote a "horrible message of gladness" for his friends, a parody of his own "weird fiction" as well as Edgar Allan Poe's. The result was "The Brumalian Wish," my quote of the day:
From the damnable shadows of madness,
From the corpse-ridden hollow of Weir,
Comes a horrible message of gladness,
And a ghost-guided poem of cheer -
And a gloom-spouting pupil of Poe sends the pleasantest wish of the year!
May the ghouls of the neighboring regions,
And the curse'd necrophagous things,
Lay aside their dark habits in legions,
For the bliss that Brumalia brings -
And may Druids innum'rable bless thee, as they dance on the moor's fairy-rings!
So, Galba, may pleasures attend thee
Thro' all thy bright glorious days;
May the world and the mighty commend thee,
And the cosmos resound with thy praise -
And may all future ages be brilliant with the light of thine intellect's rays!
"The Brumalian Wish," by H.P. Lovecraft (writing as "Edward John Ambrose Bierce Theobald")
- Current Music:"Kinderley," The Mediaeval Baebes
Profile
eldritchhobbit- Amy H. Sturgis
- My Official Website
Comments
And congratulations on your work yet again being honored with a nomination. One more chance for me to say I voted for IVotedForMayorGamgee, lol. I admit I amused myself greatly with that last year ;)
I'm glad you liked the quote. Wikipedia has some introductory information on Lovecraft here, and there's a great page with most of his works available online here. (I particularly recommend "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" as a first taste of his writing.) Later this month I have an article coming out that suggests that what I'm calling a "Lovecraft-Tolkien connection" exists, an affinity of sorts between the questions the two contemporaries addressed in their fiction. It's an idea I'm hoping to pursue more in the future.
At any rate, thank you for your very kind response. It put a huge smile on my face! :)
Back in my retail bookstore youth I special ordered many copies of a book titled, "The Necronomicon." I am afraid I thought it was some sort of Satanic how-to book. LMAO!
Congrats on the nomination!
It would be amazing if the Post Office created a series based on those images. I know some have been made into holiday cards, and they are breathtaking.
Well said indeed! I know I would buy those cards. It sounds like a perfect entrepreneurial opportunity, don't you think? If the market will support "poison rings" full of lip gloss, why not corpse-ridden cards filled with images and verses of curse'd necrophagous things?
you're a professional social commentator, A
Wow! That sounds so much better than semi-hermit and permanent eccentric. Roflol. :)
why are people so enamoured of the saccharine? why does their flesh not crawl?
And here, my friend, is where I spewed my cocoa on the computer screen.
If I had an answer to that question, what a wise (not to mention rich) woman I would be!
;)
I guess I really need to find out more about him...
You know, I think you've managed to summarize an entire discipline's worth of dialogue about Lovecraft in this one question. I think I need to put your quote up in my office. :) Perfect!
Speaking of Lovecraft, Wikipedia has some introductory information on Lovecraft here, and there's a great page with most of his works available online here. (I particularly recommend "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" as a first taste of his writing.) Later this month I have an article coming out that suggests that what I'm calling a "Lovecraft-Tolkien connection" exists, an affinity of sorts between the questions the two contemporaries addressed in their fiction. It's an idea I'm hoping to pursue more in the future. We'll see.
At any rate, your response put a huge smile on my face. I won't look at eggnog the same way for the rest of the season! LOL!
Seriously, Howard Philips Lovecraft is an old favorite of mine. I had never seen this bit of verse. I love it.
I'm so pleased to know you love HPL, too - he's one of my absolute favorites. Glad you liked the verse!