Comments | eykar: Notes on The Hobbit

eykar

Notes on The Hobbit - Durin's Day Part I

Jul 12, 2006 10:35

Durin’s Day ( Read more... )

Comments 3

Re: Durin's Day slender_sail February 12 2007, 15:28:19 UTC

Hi there. Hope you don't mind if I comment on this entry? My friend calls this day "C Moon" (I think it's something to do with a Paul McCartney song). I would have put that down to "Crescent" Moon but then I remembered that "the moon lies" - thus when it is a C, it is waning as opposed to waxing (D-moon). I'd like to make sure that one could actually calculate this for a modern age? Earendil would have to come into it, wouldn't it (him)?

Re: Durin's Day eykar February 12 2007, 15:46:26 UTC

Of course I don't mind comments. I ran out of time for this LJ months ago but intend to come back to it. The books still intrigue me.
I am not sure what it is you wonder whether one could calculate. The cycles of the moon are very regular and the dates and times of both C and D moonrises and moonsets are available on line in many places. More interesting is the question of where along the horizon the moon sets relative to the sun, which varies from place to place and has to be gained by observation.
I am not sure why Earendil would have to come into the cycles of the Moon in Arda, since the Sun and the Moon predate him. The Valar set the path of the Moon long before they made Earendil sailor of the sky.

Re: Durin's Day slender_sail February 13 2007, 09:34:41 UTC

Well, Thorin was it?- makes reference to "skill" in calculating calendars. Obviously we have the skill, but we're not in the same world. Yes, M-e is our Earth in an invented time/geography, but it has always struck me, how the world of Numenor (albeit "flat") looks much closer to what we know (except the Americas). This is in keeping with the idea about alignment with the Straight Road, an alignment which was lost. There's also the procession of equinoxes, and a lot of questions about the Earth's axis and magnetic poles ( ... )