eucatastrophe

Then Ilúvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that he smiled ; and he lifted up his left hand, and a new theme began amid the storm, like and yet unlike to the former theme, and it gathered power and had new beauty. But the discord of Melkor rose in uproar and contended with it, and again there was a war of sound more violent than before, until many of the Ainur were dismayed and sang no longer, and Melkor had the mastery. Then again Iluvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that his countenance was stern; and he lifted up his right hand, and behold ! a third theme grew amid the confusion, and it was unlike the others. For it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of gentle sounds in delicate melodies ; but it could not be quenced, and it took to itself power and profundity. And it seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the seat of Ilúvatar, and they were utterly at variance. The one was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came. The other had now achieved a unity of its own ; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated ; and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes, but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern.

In the midst of this strife, whereat the halls of Ilúvatar shook and a tremor ran out into the silences yet unmoved, Ilúvatar arose a third time, and his face was terrible to behold. Then he raised up both his hands, and in one chord, deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, piercing as the light of the eye of Ilúvatar, the Music ceased.

Ainulindalë
J.R.R. Tolkien

I have decided that if I can ever write a paragraph that captures half of the idgethud* of the above quotation I could, (this is where I am supposed to say, "die a happy man" but that's usually a sign of foolishness or at least giving into stupid idioms) well, I don't know, be fatter. (?)

That was my presentation of How to Lose Your Audience in an Asterisk, a Paranthetical Comment, a Made-up Word, and an Act of Randomness. [bows]

I often refer to the Ainulindalë as the one part of The Silmarillion people should try and read, regardless of whether they like fantasy, The Lord of the Rings, or much of anything. Of course then I attempt to string them along and say the next section gives you the origin of two major characters of The Lord of the Rings and another minor character, (and with some easy conjecture a third major character) but that generally requires a person to have some degree of interest in Tolkien's more famous work. The Ainulindalë however is Tolkien's creation story for the world of his making. It is powerful and vivid, and, using a word that I try not to use lightly, beautiful. It is also short, which is part of the reason for its recommendation. However I just have to come to grips with the fact that most people just don't care for fictional mythologies.

I've had to sit through many a person slander The Silmarillion as boring and terrible, (usually the same people who think The Lord of the Rings books should have been adapted from the movies rather than vice versa) while I just sit and grind my teeth. I can understand people getting bored with it actually, and I don't fault them for it. I don't consider myself a better reader for having completed it ... a few times. Heck, its usually the mark of an über-geek to have even touched the book, t'would be kinda strange to pride myself on it. However its still a sharp pain when another person finds disdain for the book rather than respect. Anyways, as always I've given more reasons for not reading it then making a brave attempt. I guess I'm just a poor ambassador for the marvels of a great book. Actually by now, my audience has probably stopped reading what I write. This is usually where in a school paper I would have inserted "are you actually reading this?", which would rarely be answered. I could probably write ... [unplugs the cord]


*idgethud- (pronounced: idgethood) a word depicting the use of the audiences' imagination in coming up with a proper fulfillment of the sentence in which it finds its usage, generally a product of the speaker's inability to come up with a word due to laziness or utter stupidity.
Example: in the above usage one could place "cat food" in the stead of idgethud, thereby reading "... captures half of the cat food of the above quotation..." if the audience sees it as a proper fulfillment of the speaker's intention, which in this case may explain the bizarre usage of the word "fatter".