Of Tolkien, Hobbits and Myth

J.R.R. Tolkien has been back in the news somewhat. Apparently, Christopher Tolkien has edited a new set of writings to further honor (cash in on) his father's memory. Since J.R.R. Tolkien passed away back in 1973, he's published more posthumously than most authors have done during full lifetimes. Still, one must be grateful that this current book apparently won't be a rehash of Middle-Earth notes in the margin, doodles and scribbles. The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun will appeal to the hermit-like, stodgy linguist in all of us. Elizabeth Hand of the Washington Post sums it up as follows:

The two poems, "The Lay of the Volsungs" and "The Lay of Gudrun," are modern English treatments of legends drawn from the Old Norse Poetic Edda and the Icelandic Volsunga Saga, dating roughly from the 13th century. Readers might be familiar with these tales from casual readings in Norse myth or from Wagner's "Ring" Cycle, which drew on the same source material: There are magic rings, warrior maidens, dragons, doomed lovers, betrayals and much head-cleaving.

For some, this description sound terribly boring and stunningly exciting at the same time. As for those of us who have grown up with Tolkien, loved everything from Farmer Giles of Ham to the Lays of Beleriand, we'll probably end up getting it anyway. It will be one of those books that many will buy, few will read all the way through. Those who will read the book thoroughly will either be those genuinely interested in the scholarship of Nordic saga and the connection between Tolkien's creative impulse to produce his seminal Middle-Earth chronicles and the history of the English language as a whole, or this guy on the right.



Meanwhile, in the realm of anti-magic, scientists are still debating the nature of these smaller humanoids dubbed "hobbits", though judging by the image, they don't resemble the pudgy little Edwardian country squires from Tolkien's books. National Geographic goes in-depth with an article about the possible foot-speed of these little men whose remains were first found on the Indonesian island of Flores.

Apparently, they may have been poor runners with an odd gait. No word if these "hobbits" were chain-smoking alcoholics whose males were unusually intimate with each other.

The View "Debates" Evolution

Can anyone think of a less qualified group of people to do justice to a public debate on the subject of Evolution versus Intelligent Design? For that matter, why do we still have this ridiculous debate at all?

So, from what I saw posted on the Huffington Post, the always shrill Joy Behar takes on Sherri Shepherd and Elizabeth Hasselbeck (together, the living proof that ignorance and outright stupidity is not determined by skin color). They all yell and yell and yell, and somewhere, I realize, fissures in space-time are opening up due to the dissonant racket. Perhaps the Bible-thumping ladies of the View were just trying to do their very best to bring about the Rapture or something. In this fracas, Joy Behar was the harpied voice of reason, either unwilling to bring together the easier salient points to stymie her so-called opponents or unable because she's not that into science herself.

Here's an example of how to insult a fundamentalist blonde (or black chick for that matter): Evolutionary Biology is science reinforced by observable phenomena and lab experiments, and Creationism is Religion, a thing that requires belief without any kind of proof. Arguing that Creationism undercuts Evolutionary Biology is like saying Math doesn't work because my Leprechaun told me so. You can't prove my Leprechaun doesn't exist, thus you must abandon your reasoned and rational approach to science and give equal air time to my stories about little green men and their pots of gold.

By all means, teach creation stories and myths in school...as a social studies class. And don't forget to give equal time to all the creation stories still believed today by Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans, etc. Also, make sure you can fund this despite the funding crunch in which many schools find themselves.

Oh, and here's how the Earth truly came to be: