April 20, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 17: Queen Galadriel

Q is for — Queen Galadriel from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion

Descended from Elven Kings, the fair Galadriel was one of the greatest and most powerful of all the Elves in Middle-earth. She and her husband, Lord Celeborn, ruled the forest realm of Lothlorien, and they aided Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship of the Ring on their journey to destroy the One Ring. Galadriel wears one of the three Elven rings of power, Nenya, the Ring of Water.

Her daughter, Celebrian, married Lord Elrond, ruler of the Elven House of Rivendell, making Arwen Evenstar her granddaughter.

I admire Galadriel’s courage and quiet strength, her wisdom and grace. She, along with Gandalf, maintained vigilance against the return of Sauron and stood strong in the face of Sauron’s evil. When tempted by the power of the One Ring, she was one of the very few to resist its lure.

Though her character did not appear in The Hobbit book, Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies included her in scenes of the White Council and the battle of Dol Guldur. Purists may beg to differ, but I enjoyed the added scenes and the historical depth they brought to the story.

Photo Credit: LOTR Wikia

Photo Credit: pixshark.com

April 2, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 2: Bard the Bowman

B is for — Bard the Bowman from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit

No list of my favorites would be complete without at least one Tolkien character. (I had three last year.) 🙂

Of all the characters in The Hobbit, I found Bard one of the most heroic. When Smaug wreaks havoc on Laketown, Bard alone faces down the terrifying dragon and kills him with his black arrow. He is courageous, fair-minded, and compassionate and does his best to help his fellow townspeople regroup after the destruction of their town.

I love Luke Evans’ portrayal of Bard in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies — the way he loves his children, how he stands up for what he believes, and how he helps the Dwarves against his better judgment because he can’t ignore those in need. I feel for him every time someone brings up his ancestor whose missed shots long ago failed to kill Smaug, as if it were Bard’s fault and he who should be ashamed. The confrontation between Bard and Smaug at the beginning of Battle of the Five Armies was, for me, the highlight of the whole movie. That and Bard’s interactions with the hilarious Alfred.

After the battle, Bard oversees the rebuilding of the city of Dale. As a descendant of the Lords of Dale, Bard eventually becomes King of that city and returns the city and its people to prosperity once more. I wish the real world had more leaders like Bard.

Photo Credit: http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Bard

Photo Credit: http://moviepilot.com

April 23, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: Fictional Favorites, Day 20

T is for — TinTin, from The Adventures of TinTin by Belgian cartoonist Herge

I’d never heard of TinTin until my family and I saw the Steven Spielberg / Peter Jackson movie The Adventures of TinTin that hit theaters in 2011. Such a wonderful blend of action and comedy! We enjoyed it immensely. Afterward, we hit the library and looked up the books on which the movie was based and discovered a new favorite author. Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, under the pseudonym of Herge, had written over twenty comic-book-style books relating the many adventures of TinTin and his faithful dog, Snowy.

TinTin, a young Belgian reporter, investigates news stories all over the world, and, along with Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, and the bumbling detective duo, Thomson and Thompson, heroically takes down the villains. The books were written from the 1930s through the 1970s, and though they are exciting and funny, they aren’t always politically correct, so be warned if you read them.

The Spielberg / Jackson movie was based on three of Herge’s books: The Secret of the Unicorn (1943), Red Rackham’s Treasure (1944), and The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941). A sequel to the TinTin movie, The Adventures of TinTin: Prisoners of the Sun, is due out in 2016. I can’t wait to see it.