One of my favorite stories from the LotR movies is when they made a fake tree to have torn down on film (instead of tearing down a real one), to honor Tolkien's environmentalism.
I’ve always liked the theory that there are still Entwives around the Shire. It’s a little tin-foil-hat, but Sam talks about the walking tree in the conversation with Ted Sandyman in the Green Dragon in the first chapter, and then Treebeard asks Merry and Pippin if they’d ever seen entwives, because the shire sounds like the kind of place they would have liked.
I was born and grew up in Sussex, which is full of mature oak trees. When I moved to Ireland, my wife, who is Irish, asked what I missed most. I told her the trees, she thought me mad. However, she amazed at the sheer number and beauty of the trees when we moved back to Sussex. Last year we visited the Sequoia National Park and walked amongst those giants. At the end of the day she looked at me and said, now I understand 😊
I feel the same about the Eucalypt, Melaleuca, and Lophostemon forests where I live. They may not be as famous or majestic as European or American trees, but they will always be dear to me.
It was not only the ground being plown by artillery, it was the Nitrate in the explosives and the fallen that fertilized the massive grow of Poppies. Every Flower is indeed a fallen soldier.
When I was about five my aunt decided to plant an oak tree in her backyard. It was a 6’ sapling. My job was to spread the peat moss where directed and water it generously. She was the first point out flowers along the towpath: dog tooth violets. They were unique (not weeds) and had a name! Throughout my childhood into adult I would spend hours, even in the dead of winter, wandering through the woods absorbing the feeling of life and quiet busyness around me. In my late fifties my aunt finally moved from her home. I was astounded that the oak was so huge that my 6’ arm span could no were nearly go around its trunk! To this day, at 70, I never feel more alive than in the woods. Thank you for illuminating a connection with Tolkien’s writings that I’d not fully realized till now.
I always thought that the reason Galadriel put her power into maintaining the area for mallorns to blossom was because the mallorns, with their silver and gold colourings, reminded her of her childhood in the Undying Lands during the time of the Two Trees. Especially since at the time she couldn't go West even if she wanted to, she might've been a bit homesick and this was a small way to make Lothlorien feel like home.
If memory serves you're right. Lothlorien and, later, Hobbiton were the only places East of the Sea that had Mallorn's. Galadriel is one of few Elves that were born in the Undying Lands. After the destruction of the Ring Hobbiton, alone, had that privilege.
Please, don't apologize for technical difficulties, any more. Your channel is FANTASTIC! You're terrific as well! The time, energy you put into your channel is far better than others. I like to thank you for putting in the time in this guide. Listening how you explain all of these plants and such, is well done. I just signed for paid member to Patreon, cause of how you are in making these segments.
Tolkien talks about trees- and sometimes they talk back! if not being hasty. There is a british mystery show called 'morse' done in the early 90's and set in Oxford, filmed there too so it's a chance to show where JRR was wandering about and away from the high streets it gets green very quickly
As I watch this I cannot help but wonder if Tolkien read "Anne of Green Gables", or think that he and Lucy Maud Montgomery would have got on swimmingly, been kindred spirits. Anne was an orphan who talked to trees, and gave them names, renamed plants and things when she found them not good enough.
I have a bunch of trees growing around my house, against the foundation. They were as tall as it. I felt terrible cutting them down this year, but it had to be done. I did appreciate their beauty and natural purpose. This is making me feel even more horrible for felling them. 😭 But there are many trees that have sprouted on our “property” since we’ve moved in 11 years ago and they are protected and as long as we dwell here will continue to grow and define this little corner of the earth. Btw, the magic of Tolkien is super relatable and infectious. ✨🌳🍃✨
I grew up in a logging town in the Pacific Northwet, were most of the residents made their living either cutting down trees or sawing them into products for this growing country. But what is not as well known is the companies that survived on timber also survived on replanting the trees in and endless 40-odd year cycle. Unfortunately this lead to a kind of monoculture, made up only of the valuable Douglas Fir. However, the life cycle of the fir is long enough that it provides habitat for many other growing things and even other trees. Alder and willow and maple are still common, particularly in wetlands and areas difficult to log. Even cedar can be found in the forest. It's a working forest, and not as beautiful while being clearcut it still has a purpose and is more healthy than one might think. Further north in Canada I have seen them practicing selective logging, leaving one in every 7-10 trees to mature and provide protection for new seedlings. It's not a perfect place or a perfect situation, but I think it's better than the wholesale deforestation that was practiced in the north of the British isles. This world is vast, and there is room for many ways to live if we give it a chance.
My wife's family were timber barons during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Her dad was the fourth son of a fourth son, so we didn't end up with much of the money after they sold out in the 1960s, but we inherited a small chunk of old-growth forest with a lake in the northwest corner of Montana, where we spend a couple of weeks a year each summer. Her grandfather was the Woods Boss, who went around deciding which trees to fell. He died before I met Liz, so I never knew him, but in the days of clear-cut forestry, he was an early advocate of selective logging, aiming for a sustainable forest. I think I could have gotten along pretty well with him. And I think Tolkien would have enjoyed our part of Montana.
@@johnwalters1341 A friend of mine's Grandfather bought 80 acres of tree farm south of Olympia Washington back in the 1950's. He built a house on it, and in the 1970's started logging about 5 acres every year or so. This pays the taxes and gave him a pretty nice retirement. His Grandparents are gone now, but his Dad continues the same thing. He just turned 80. My friend intends to inherit in the next 10-15 years and do the same thing. My retirement plans are to stick a nice trailer on the property and hope he doesn't toss me out.
That is only partially true. My family is from Oregon and there are still tons of bare grassy scars all over hills decades after they were logged. Some places did replant, but many other areas were clearcut and left as is.
King's foil, definitely. I loved that Aragorn became impatient when people didn't understand why he'd be interested in a weed. He said something about old wives sometimes knowing something important. Marvelous video, Jess, as always.
In one line of the books I believe it was said (when Gandalf forgot something) that he’d been smoking too much of the hobbits weed. Which makes me think it isn’t simply tobacco. Maybe it isn’t weed weed but I think there is something more magical to it than simple nicotine.
A couple of days ago I was waiting for my Uber ride home from a car dealership. I went outside to wait and sat down on a curb. Then I looked down and saw the most beautiful flowers. Only a quarter inch across and yellow like daisies. This was in the most artificial environment imaginable. The grass was sod planted a few years ago and the soil was wet in the depression where these flowers grew. Perhaps some of Frodo’s dust blew to central California and landed there.
A while ago, while walking through my local botanic garden, we ran into this volunteer guide and he showed us this native shrub which has the tiniest yellow flowers... and they are the gardens' floral emblem.
This was a beautifully done and well-researched video. Tolkien was truly a master when it came to writing about the natural world. There is such a longing in his writings to preserve the wild, untamed beauty of the English countryside. There's a love for all things wild in Tolkien's books, and he has the talent of transporting the reader into beauty of Middle Earth from the Party Tree in the Shire to the imposing Misty Mountains. Whenever I miss my second home in Scotland or England, I read the chapter "In the House of Tom Bombadil" and pretend that I'm a little hobbit lass (yes, I know it's silly) listening to Tom's storied about the flora and fauna of Middle Earth.
Well, trees are important in LotR. The Party Tree, Old Man Willow, the trees of Hollin (some of which get used to block the West-gate of Moria), the golden Mallorn of Lothlórien (one of which replaces the Party Tree after the Scouring; not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall), the trees of Fangorn Forest (whose destruction brings the Ents to decide to fight, and some which outright fight in the war in the shape of Huorns), and of course the White Tree of Gondor (which also gets a replacement). Trees are not included idly. They are integral to symbolism, the lore of Middle-earth, and often trees play roles in the plot.
There's also the most cutting, devastating, and British insult you can imagine. When Lobelia Sackville-Baggins comes to take over Bag End, "Frodo did not offer her any tea." No lash of an orc whip can cut crueller.
I've literally barely finished the trilogy (I'm up to many partings rn) for the first time after reading the hobbit when i was 8, and these videos are helping so much with understanding the wider context of middle earth so THANK YOU
You quoted from my absolutely favorite passage in Lord of the Rings, when the Fellowship reaches Cerin Amroth. It is, I think, the pinnacle of English prose. Yet, nothing happens. No plot is advanced. Instead, it is simply exposition and characterization. It never fails to bring tears to my eyes. The passage begins when Frodo's eyes are first uncovered, and continues to the end of the chapter, where Aragorn speaks, saying, "'Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth,' he said, 'and here my heart dwells ever, unless there be a light beyond the dark roads that we still must tread, you and I. Come with me!' And taking Frodo’s hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as a living man.”
Yes, that part always pricks my heart as well. There's a sense of two vastnesses coming close and touching once, then glancing away and drifting apart forever. It's eerie and haunting.
Thanks for the video. My dad had a masters degree in zoology and also loved plants and trees etc. and I guess I got that from him. I love trees too and appreciate Tolkien’s love for these. Thanks again!
Once again you have presented a lovely, thoughtful guide to Middle Earth and the world of Tolkien. Your channel is indeed one of the highlights of You Tube. Thank you.
This makes a great companion piece to your treatment of the Old Forest and Tom Bombadil. I think most writers who've attempted it can attest: Nature writing is hard! As impressed as I am with the heraldic fury with which Tolkien describes epic battles, I'm even more in awe of his ability to describe a forest.
I appreciate your dedication, and I really like this kind of "on location" video. I also always enjoy your creative take on Tolkien's songs. When I sing them in my head they always sound like a mix between a nursery rhyme and an Irish jig. And of course I have to compliment your cool tattoo too!
What a beautiful reflection of Middle-earth and Tolkien's view of it. I was a bit surprised that the original party tree and, particularly, old man willow didn't make the list. Being so close to the start of LOTR, I was sure you would start there but, alas. not to be. Thanks for the trip anyway! it was still fun and informative and you did great with the wind noise. I hardly heard it and it wasn't at all annoying!
I feel like since the party tree was replaced by such a legendary choice, just covering that one was enough. As for Old Man Willow.... he's a bit of a jerk lol he deserves the snub!
Audio is fine, good job with the editing and post-processing! Trees and a bit of wind seem very appropriate as background for a Tolkien video. (But I can understand if you think wolves and bears would be too much.)
Great video! 'Taters' is used in the mountain west/ great plains of the US so i was surprised that its not used in other areas. What are Tater tots called in other areas
This was a lovely video. My favourite plant in Tolkien's works has long been simbelmynë. It reminds me of the delicate, tiny flowers that grow in the windswept and barren places where I live. Where there is pavement, where the forest ends, and where the ocean breathes the mighty winds that shake the houses and bend the grass, is where these tiny, nameless little ground flowers grow. They're usually a peach colour, but their shape reminds me so much of simbelmynë, and their delicate beauty brings hope to desolate places. While I'm not as obsessed with plants as Tolkien was (my love is for horses), they're still very deeply important to me, and similarly tied to lots of emotion, and tied to my art. I hope to publish a couple of fantasy novels someday, and the setting they're in got its start in my childhood. That world is absolutely shaped by the golden grasslands, the stony, forested hills, and the great, rippling mountains that I loved most as a child. It's shaped by madrone trees and red millet, and the smell of mountain pine. Plants and weather are very strongly tied to my memories and my creativity, so it's always interesting to see how they've affected other works.
My favorite plant in the Tolkien world for no reason i can explain has always been the Simbelmyne. But i dearly love trees and everything that grows. And this video reminds me of why i think Tölkien should be taught at schools. By the way: I was caught off guard by your singing, but i thought it was utterly beautiful.
I was recently on holiday in England, driving aroundshowing my wife that country and my native Scotland. We managed to visit a few Tolkien associated places, including the grave and a walk near where Christopher went to school. Despite many attempts I ahve never manged to find the wooded glade where Edith dance for him, but there are many places that are so deeply middle earthen in the land. This was great stuff. Thanks.
I always thought of athelas as lemon verbena, Aloisya citriodora, a plant from South America that was imported to Europe by Spanish and Portuguese colonists. It has the long leaves and the fresh scent (therefore the name "citriodora" = scented like citrus/lemon) of athelas, but, though it's anti-inflammatory, I don't think it has anti-septic properties; but it's calming and anti-spastic and it helps the digestion.
Tolkien's sensitivity towards nature and its true appreciation is a real gift for all the readers nowadays, when our lives are often so busy and so many people in places made of concrete and glass. Don’t worry about the wind in the background, it's quite appropriate. Btw, is that a Tolkien tatoo on your leg? Fantastic!
I like the wind sounds on the outdoor video. I think it adds authenticity, but then I loved a mix of SOYCD that had intermittent thunder added, so that's just me. My favourite tree? That would be Sam's Mallorn. Even as you read the extract tears welled in my eyes just as they had done the first time I read that passage nearly 40 years ago. The tree symbolised renewal and reinvigoration and the power of nature over everything else, given what had happened to the Party Tree, which I note you didn't have time to mention. a wonderful, thoughtful video. Thank you.
Thanks for the rundown! It's funny, but so often it is the videos where I think I should have something really useful to add, end up being the ones where I think, "Actually, she covered it pretty well for a single telling of the notions, so I'll pretty much leave it at that. Obviously, Tolkien was the big author who made it okay for modern people to love trees again, and so much of the ecology/consesrvation movement grew out of that inspiration. He also brought back to the popular mind the idea that a whole ecology/region has a personality unto itself, like a vast networked mega-creature, which had been somewhat lost as a concept as the industrial age "couldn't see the forest for the trees" and only saw the trees as fuel. People have had to relearn so much of what their ancestors accepted intuitively, and the real science has backed that up. I hope you have a great journey with your folk there -- the road goes ever on :)
Well, my favorite plant in Lord of the Rings are the Ents, and most specifically Treebeard of course. I was so enamored with Treebeard and the Ents after reading the first time, I loved walking in the woods and touching all the trees I passed, talking in a slow pace so as not to be hasty. The movies made me a very happy soul when I heard Treebeard speaking.
I had hoped you'd have recited the work Treebeard recites about the lost lands of Belerion in which he'd walked as a young Ent. And I really enjoyed the setting of the Luthien poem to the Benjamin Britten piece "That Yonge Child" - that tune really works well with those lyrics.
I've always found it interesting that hobbits seem to be living in about 1770 while most humans in Middle Earth at the time of the War of the Ring seem to have the technology and aesthetics of about the year 1400. Dwarves are also in the late middle ages, but elves, presumably because they're immortal and therefore change more slowly, seem to be living in an even older world. I think part of the reason for it is that it makes leaving the comfortable, pre-industrial but still definitely familiar and modern Shire feel like much more of a departure from ordinary life than it would if the hobbits lived in an essentially medieval world. Both the hobbits and the reader step out of the modern world back in time to a mythic past we know from stories but don't actually live in. Personally, I like the effect even though it definitely raises some questions about the Columbian exchange. A little note on coffee because I work in coffee and food history is one of my pet subjects: While it certainly wasn't common, coffee wouldn't have been completely unknown to medieval Europe. The coffee tree is native to East Africa, and coffee cherries were first consumed as a beverage steeped in water like a tea in Ethiopia in the early medieval period. Coffee caught on in the Arab world as Islam spread into North Africa, and the Turks were the first to roast the beans inside the coffee cherries and make a coffee we would recognize today not long after that. Coffee was popular across the medieval Islamic world, and so crusaders, pilgrims, merchants, and the many other Europeans who traveled to the Middle East and North Africa would have encountered it. Coffeehouses started in the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Venetian and other Italian merchants brought coffee home with them in the Renaissance, and Europe's first coffeehouse opened in Venice near the end of the 16th century. Britain certainly didn't have coffee until quite a bit later, though.
My favorite plant is Bilbo's Party Tree. A true example of the aphorism that trees are infrastructure. They're gathering places, historical monuments, symbols of community identity, and even something like family.
I love the elanor. The sunstar flower of Lorien. Aragorn saw it as a symbol of his love for Arwen. I think it's fitting that Sam's daughter Elanor became a lady-in-waiting for Arwen when she grew up. I also love when you sing the songs from LOTR. You have a lovely voice. I was wondering where you found the tunes. Christopher Lee put together an album of several of Tolkien's poems put to music, but the Lay of Luthien wasn't one of them.
I always thought of Athelas being more like horehound. It grew in our horse pastures and my mom would make a tincture and use it for decongestion and as an anti inflammatory.
I like to think I’m against a tree, trying the pipe weed of the shire as I fish in the stream not far from the The Golden Perch as I listen to you tell stories about the far of lands of Middle Earth. You have a new follower fair lady of the shire folk!
I greatly appreciate you taking time to make a point that Pipeweed is Tobacco, regardless of it also being an anachronism in The Hobbit/LOTR. Tobacco is a sacred plant, and pipe-smoking a sacred ritual for many Indigenous Turtle Islanders. While the pipe-culture of Middle Earth has far more in common with the pipe-culture of early 20th Century Europe than with ours, Tobacco is still treated reverently throughout Tolkien's works. A reverance Tobacco is often not afforded in either day-to-day 21st century life or in modern media depictions. Cigarette culture--let alone vape culture--is sooooo different.
The more I learn about Tolkiens way of thinking the more intrigued but also unkomfortabel I get. The rich Details are fascinating and you present them so well, in the other Hand, His ideas about divine right by blood to rule over others go against my principles to the extreme. The older I get the more does it seem to hinder my enjoyment of his work.
I've been writing a story and the way magic works is gonna be linked to trees and other living things. I love including nature as the friendlier and more powerful force.
I caught a dreary head cold this week, and when I'm laying sick on my couch, I always like to rewatch the LotR trilogy to make the time pass a bit more cheerily ^^;; So the video scenes you sampled this time were fresh in my mind!
the inclusion of pipeweed, taters, and other american origin plants, always gave the hobbit world it’s own slightly more early modern british feel. i loved that about the books, but i also loved in the game shadow of mordor (and the slightly less perfect sequel) how pipeweed felt like a naturally common weed that happened to be smokeable
Re the athelas in the scenes in "The Houses of Healing," the scent of the athelas when Aragorn steeps them in water evokes different responses according to his patient. The memories evoked say something about the character and history of the patient, to wit: Faramir: "For the fragrance that came to each was like a memory of dewy mornings of unshadowed sun in some land of which the fair world in Spring is itself but a fleeting memory." Eowyn: "as the sweet influence of the herb stole about the chamber it seemed . . .a keen wind blew through the widow, and it bore no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young, as if it had not been before breathed by any living thing and came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of foam." Merry: "And when the fragrance of athelas stole through the room, like the scent of orchards, and of heather in the sunshine full of bees, suddenly Merry awoke. . ." I always loved that touch----it added to the characterization of Aragorn as a man with insight into the nature of his fellows. There is a great tree in Smith of Wooten Major, described as follows: "he saw the King's Tree springing up, tower upon tower, into the sky, and its light was like the sun at noon; and it bore at once leaves and flowers and fruits uncounted, and not one was the same as any other that grew on the Tree."
Lovely voice! I would love to hear some of Tolkien's songs and poems performed by those who can bring such words on paper to life, as it were. Not so musically inclined myself, but it would be great to hear at least in part some of what Tolkien may have been thinking when he penned those works.
Tolkien entered the Somme in july of 1916. A region which used to be blooming with greenery now a barren wasteland. Within five months his battalion and most of his friends were gone. The very air and soil was poisonous. I am sure his academic obsession with the leafy canopy and watching things grow helped him deal with witnessing real life Mordor. Like Sam.
They're far from the nicest of plants, but I've always been fond of Old Man Willow and the Old Forest in general. I love how the adventure has barely begun when we're introduced to a forest where the trees move and suddenly nature is dangerous and creepy -- and yet Old Man Willow is just a local threat with no connection to Sauron. It's also a fun bit of trivia that the Hobbits once had a "war" with the forest.
Yet another video of yours that taught me I’ve been pronouncing something wrong this whole time! (Tunieviel). By the way your singing voice is BEAUTIFUL!
Simbelmynë does exist in real! At least a flower that looks VERY sinilar to what Tolkien describes: the Wood Anemone. It is native to Europe (primarily west and northern Europe including Britain) and the Caucasus to Siberia. I firmly believe it was the Wood Anemony that inspired Tolkien for Simbelmynë. Here in Switzerland (where Tolkien drew much inspiration from) it grows in spring abundantly in shady places on forest floors and on hillsides, creating a hauntingly beautiful star flecked carpet. The image you used in your video looks absolutely identical to Wood Anemony, down to the distinct leaf shape.
Aragorn’s use of athelas to heal Frodo and others is reminiscent of the idea of the King’s Evil, scrofula, which people used to come to the king with for him to heal them with his touch
Not too long ago I watched a video entitled The Folklore of the Oak Tree and it reminded me of Tokien. I'm sure he probably knew all that folklore about plants an maybe he had it in mind as he wrote these things.
Mr. Tolkien and I have a lot in common in regard to nature and gardens. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of beautiful flowers and deep forests. Roses that were several times taller than I was. Stony hills with trees that might have gone on forever. Apples and beans and tomatoes and potatoes. I learned a profound appreciation for that which was living and growing in the Earth. Wildlife, too. I'd be hard pressed to name a favorite plant, but all of this talk of taters seems to have given me the munchies, if you follow my meaning. 🥔🥔🥔😎
Why do you gotta keep bringing up Luthien and her inspiration!? My eyes get wet every damn time! 😭 Then you follow it up with symbelmine! Now Bernard Hill's _incredible_ delivery of that scene with Gandalf springs to mind. Mine eyes! They perspire!!!
One of my favorite stories from the LotR movies is when they made a fake tree to have torn down on film (instead of tearing down a real one), to honor Tolkien's environmentalism.
That really is great to hear!
Awww that's so sweet, I didn't know that!
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Same here
I hope it wasn't made out of wood :P
I’ve always liked the theory that there are still Entwives around the Shire. It’s a little tin-foil-hat, but Sam talks about the walking tree in the conversation with Ted Sandyman in the Green Dragon in the first chapter, and then Treebeard asks Merry and Pippin if they’d ever seen entwives, because the shire sounds like the kind of place they would have liked.
I was born and grew up in Sussex, which is full of mature oak trees. When I moved to Ireland, my wife, who is Irish, asked what I missed most. I told her the trees, she thought me mad. However, she amazed at the sheer number and beauty of the trees when we moved back to Sussex. Last year we visited the Sequoia National Park and walked amongst those giants. At the end of the day she looked at me and said, now I understand 😊
Sequoia's one of my favorite places.
We have southern live oaks that I missed when I was away.
I feel the same about the Eucalypt, Melaleuca, and Lophostemon forests where I live. They may not be as famous or majestic as European or American trees, but they will always be dear to me.
@@trinefanmel
I've heard that there used to be eucalyptus trees just as tall as the tallest redwoods.
@@thethegreenmachine There's one or two that I know of at just over 70m in the same state as me, but most of them are gone now 😢
It was not only the ground being plown by artillery, it was the Nitrate in the explosives and the fallen that fertilized the massive grow of Poppies. Every Flower is indeed a fallen soldier.
When I was about five my aunt decided to plant an oak tree in her backyard. It was a 6’ sapling. My job was to spread the peat moss where directed and water it generously. She was the first point out flowers along the towpath: dog tooth violets. They were unique (not weeds) and had a name! Throughout my childhood into adult I would spend hours, even in the dead of winter, wandering through the woods absorbing the feeling of life and quiet busyness around me. In my late fifties my aunt finally moved from her home. I was astounded that the oak was so huge that my 6’ arm span could no were nearly go around its trunk! To this day, at 70, I never feel more alive than in the woods. Thank you for illuminating a connection with Tolkien’s writings that I’d not fully realized till now.
I always thought that the reason Galadriel put her power into maintaining the area for mallorns to blossom was because the mallorns, with their silver and gold colourings, reminded her of her childhood in the Undying Lands during the time of the Two Trees. Especially since at the time she couldn't go West even if she wanted to, she might've been a bit homesick and this was a small way to make Lothlorien feel like home.
If memory serves you're right. Lothlorien and, later, Hobbiton were the only places East of the Sea that had Mallorn's. Galadriel is one of few Elves that were born in the Undying Lands. After the destruction of the Ring Hobbiton, alone, had that privilege.
Please, don't apologize for technical difficulties, any more. Your channel is FANTASTIC! You're terrific as well! The time, energy you put into your channel is far better than others. I like to thank you for putting in the time in this guide. Listening how you explain all of these plants and such, is well done. I just signed for paid member to Patreon, cause of how you are in making these segments.
I came for the lore, but was moved by the singing. So beautiful.
It's always a pleasant surprise to hear her sing!
@@sebastianevangelista4921she should record an album!
@@MasterDungeonMaster That could be cool. Personally I'd be down for her collaborating with Miracle of Sound for some Tolkien-inspired songs!
Where did you come up with that melody? It was lovely.
Not gonna lie. Despite the wind making it slightly more difficult to hear you, I enjoy the effect. A little nature ASMR. =)
I love how the plant knows Aragorn is the king. I love the soft magic in LOTR. In other stories it does not work, but on middle earth it does.
Tolkien talks about trees- and sometimes they talk back! if not being hasty.
There is a british mystery show called 'morse' done in the early 90's and set in Oxford, filmed there too so it's a chance to show where JRR was wandering about and away from the high streets it gets green very quickly
If only _Endeavour_ had featured Tolkien in an episode but that series didn't do historical cameos.
I love how you can hear the leaves rustling in the wind the whole time. It’s like the trees wanted to take part in your video!
As I watch this I cannot help but wonder if Tolkien read "Anne of Green Gables", or think that he and Lucy Maud Montgomery would have got on swimmingly, been kindred spirits.
Anne was an orphan who talked to trees, and gave them names, renamed plants and things when she found them not good enough.
I bet they'd be bosom friends
I have a bunch of trees growing around my house, against the foundation. They were as tall as it. I felt terrible cutting them down this year, but it had to be done. I did appreciate their beauty and natural purpose. This is making me feel even more horrible for felling them. 😭 But there are many trees that have sprouted on our “property” since we’ve moved in 11 years ago and they are protected and as long as we dwell here will continue to grow and define this little corner of the earth. Btw, the magic of Tolkien is super relatable and infectious. ✨🌳🍃✨
I grew up in a logging town in the Pacific Northwet, were most of the residents made their living either cutting down trees or sawing them into products for this growing country. But what is not as well known is the companies that survived on timber also survived on replanting the trees in and endless 40-odd year cycle. Unfortunately this lead to a kind of monoculture, made up only of the valuable Douglas Fir. However, the life cycle of the fir is long enough that it provides habitat for many other growing things and even other trees. Alder and willow and maple are still common, particularly in wetlands and areas difficult to log. Even cedar can be found in the forest. It's a working forest, and not as beautiful while being clearcut it still has a purpose and is more healthy than one might think. Further north in Canada I have seen them practicing selective logging, leaving one in every 7-10 trees to mature and provide protection for new seedlings. It's not a perfect place or a perfect situation, but I think it's better than the wholesale deforestation that was practiced in the north of the British isles. This world is vast, and there is room for many ways to live if we give it a chance.
My wife's family were timber barons during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Her dad was the fourth son of a fourth son, so we didn't end up with much of the money after they sold out in the 1960s, but we inherited a small chunk of old-growth forest with a lake in the northwest corner of Montana, where we spend a couple of weeks a year each summer. Her grandfather was the Woods Boss, who went around deciding which trees to fell. He died before I met Liz, so I never knew him, but in the days of clear-cut forestry, he was an early advocate of selective logging, aiming for a sustainable forest. I think I could have gotten along pretty well with him. And I think Tolkien would have enjoyed our part of Montana.
@@johnwalters1341 A friend of mine's Grandfather bought 80 acres of tree farm south of Olympia Washington back in the 1950's. He built a house on it, and in the 1970's started logging about 5 acres every year or so. This pays the taxes and gave him a pretty nice retirement. His Grandparents are gone now, but his Dad continues the same thing. He just turned 80. My friend intends to inherit in the next 10-15 years and do the same thing. My retirement plans are to stick a nice trailer on the property and hope he doesn't toss me out.
That is only partially true. My family is from Oregon and there are still tons of bare grassy scars all over hills decades after they were logged. Some places did replant, but many other areas were clearcut and left as is.
King's foil, definitely. I loved that Aragorn became impatient when people didn't understand why he'd be interested in a weed. He said something about old wives sometimes knowing something important. Marvelous video, Jess, as always.
In one line of the books I believe it was said (when Gandalf forgot something) that he’d been smoking too much of the hobbits weed. Which makes me think it isn’t simply tobacco. Maybe it isn’t weed weed but I think there is something more magical to it than simple nicotine.
A couple of days ago I was waiting for my Uber ride home from a car dealership. I went outside to wait and sat down on a curb. Then I looked down and saw the most beautiful flowers. Only a quarter inch across and yellow like daisies. This was in the most artificial environment imaginable. The grass was sod planted a few years ago and the soil was wet in the depression where these flowers grew. Perhaps some of Frodo’s dust blew to central California and landed there.
A while ago, while walking through my local botanic garden, we ran into this volunteer guide and he showed us this native shrub which has the tiniest yellow flowers... and they are the gardens' floral emblem.
This was a beautifully done and well-researched video. Tolkien was truly a master when it came to writing about the natural world. There is such a longing in his writings to preserve the wild, untamed beauty of the English countryside. There's a love for all things wild in Tolkien's books, and he has the talent of transporting the reader into beauty of Middle Earth from the Party Tree in the Shire to the imposing Misty Mountains. Whenever I miss my second home in Scotland or England, I read the chapter "In the House of Tom Bombadil" and pretend that I'm a little hobbit lass (yes, I know it's silly) listening to Tom's storied about the flora and fauna of Middle Earth.
Well, trees are important in LotR. The Party Tree, Old Man Willow, the trees of Hollin (some of which get used to block the West-gate of Moria), the golden Mallorn of Lothlórien (one of which replaces the Party Tree after the Scouring; not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall), the trees of Fangorn Forest (whose destruction brings the Ents to decide to fight, and some which outright fight in the war in the shape of Huorns), and of course the White Tree of Gondor (which also gets a replacement).
Trees are not included idly. They are integral to symbolism, the lore of Middle-earth, and often trees play roles in the plot.
I always just loved that Aragorn healed Frodo with tea 😅
All Brits know that a good cup of tea solves every problem.
so very English lol
Gotta have that tea, man!
The drawing of athelas looks much like tea (but the flower shape is not all all like tea, and is like comfrey). I would also nominate clove.
There's also the most cutting, devastating, and British insult you can imagine. When Lobelia Sackville-Baggins comes to take over Bag End, "Frodo did not offer her any tea." No lash of an orc whip can cut crueller.
You're my favorite Tolkien-lotr creator
This might be my favorite of your videos yet. Felt like a breath of fresh air
Same for me!
I've literally barely finished the trilogy (I'm up to many partings rn) for the first time after reading the hobbit when i was 8, and these videos are helping so much with understanding the wider context of middle earth so THANK YOU
You quoted from my absolutely favorite passage in Lord of the Rings, when the Fellowship reaches Cerin Amroth. It is, I think, the pinnacle of English prose. Yet, nothing happens. No plot is advanced. Instead, it is simply exposition and characterization.
It never fails to bring tears to my eyes. The passage begins when Frodo's eyes are first uncovered, and continues to the end of the chapter, where Aragorn speaks, saying, "'Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth,' he said, 'and here my heart dwells ever, unless there be a light beyond the dark roads that we still must tread, you and I. Come with me!' And taking Frodo’s hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as a living man.”
Yes, that part always pricks my heart as well. There's a sense of two vastnesses coming close and touching once, then glancing away and drifting apart forever. It's eerie and haunting.
Thanks for the video. My dad had a masters degree in zoology and also loved plants and trees etc. and I guess I got that from him. I love trees too and appreciate Tolkien’s love for these. Thanks again!
Once again you have presented a lovely, thoughtful guide to Middle Earth and the world of Tolkien. Your channel is indeed one of the highlights of You Tube. Thank you.
This makes a great companion piece to your treatment of the Old Forest and Tom Bombadil. I think most writers who've attempted it can attest: Nature writing is hard! As impressed as I am with the heraldic fury with which Tolkien describes epic battles, I'm even more in awe of his ability to describe a forest.
I appreciate your dedication, and I really like this kind of "on location" video. I also always enjoy your creative take on Tolkien's songs. When I sing them in my head they always sound like a mix between a nursery rhyme and an Irish jig. And of course I have to compliment your cool tattoo too!
This channel gets better and better im just shocked that there are people out there who produce such high quality videos. I love your channel
I am currently on holiday in a little Italian town on the edge of the woods. This video couldn't have popped up at a better time.
Another great video Jess. Thanks for the upload. My favorite tree is Niggle's.
Hemlock, cow parsley, Queen Anne's Lace and hogweed are all in the same family, along with carrots & parsnips.
I'm sorry you had such hard time with the wind, the outdoor aesthetic is very refreshing and such a great video to film in the woods.
I was NOT expecting that beautiful singing! Amazing topic and amazing talent 💚
Same. But Jess is a lady of many talents.
You're a lovely singer 🎶🎙💚 I deeply appreciate Your authenticity & time invested into making these videos.
Jess you're the coolest youtuber!
She has become my personal favorite over the past few months.
Thanks so much!!
Thank you for singing the song! It was fantastic to experience it as it should be!
What a beautiful reflection of Middle-earth and Tolkien's view of it.
I was a bit surprised that the original party tree and, particularly, old man willow didn't make the list. Being so close to the start of LOTR, I was sure you would start there but, alas. not to be. Thanks for the trip anyway! it was still fun and informative and you did great with the wind noise. I hardly heard it and it wasn't at all annoying!
I feel like since the party tree was replaced by such a legendary choice, just covering that one was enough. As for Old Man Willow.... he's a bit of a jerk lol he deserves the snub!
Very insightful. I never considered the food or drink in his work.
Very much enjoyed the video. The singing as well. Lovely voice.
When J.R.R.'s idealism bumps into the reality of landscape design/planning
Audio is fine, good job with the editing and post-processing! Trees and a bit of wind seem very appropriate as background for a Tolkien video. (But I can understand if you think wolves and bears would be too much.)
Great video!
'Taters' is used in the mountain west/ great plains of the US so i was surprised that its not used in other areas.
What are Tater tots called in other areas
Flora of Middle-Earth: Plants of J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium is a wonderfully informative book. Thank you for mentioning it. great video
Thanks for being you, Jess. Your vids always brighten my day ^_^
This was a lovely video. My favourite plant in Tolkien's works has long been simbelmynë. It reminds me of the delicate, tiny flowers that grow in the windswept and barren places where I live. Where there is pavement, where the forest ends, and where the ocean breathes the mighty winds that shake the houses and bend the grass, is where these tiny, nameless little ground flowers grow. They're usually a peach colour, but their shape reminds me so much of simbelmynë, and their delicate beauty brings hope to desolate places.
While I'm not as obsessed with plants as Tolkien was (my love is for horses), they're still very deeply important to me, and similarly tied to lots of emotion, and tied to my art. I hope to publish a couple of fantasy novels someday, and the setting they're in got its start in my childhood. That world is absolutely shaped by the golden grasslands, the stony, forested hills, and the great, rippling mountains that I loved most as a child. It's shaped by madrone trees and red millet, and the smell of mountain pine. Plants and weather are very strongly tied to my memories and my creativity, so it's always interesting to see how they've affected other works.
My favorite plant in the Tolkien world for no reason i can explain has always been the Simbelmyne. But i dearly love trees and everything that grows. And this video reminds me of why i think Tölkien should be taught at schools. By the way: I was caught off guard by your singing, but i thought it was utterly beautiful.
Actually, the seedling of Nimloth was planted in Minas Ithil, and the tree was transplanted in Minas Anor.
I was recently on holiday in England, driving aroundshowing my wife that country and my native Scotland. We managed to visit a few Tolkien associated places, including the grave and a walk near where Christopher went to school. Despite many attempts I ahve never manged to find the wooded glade where Edith dance for him, but there are many places that are so deeply middle earthen in the land. This was great stuff. Thanks.
The sounds of insects in the background are a nice touch (and totally worth the wind noise!) - also, nice tattoo 👌
I don't know which is prettier, you or the trees. Great video!
1:55 In fact, Athelas was later classified as an invasive species and that's why it's no longer around.
I always thought of athelas as lemon verbena, Aloisya citriodora, a plant from South America that was imported to Europe by Spanish and Portuguese colonists. It has the long leaves and the fresh scent (therefore the name "citriodora" = scented like citrus/lemon) of athelas, but, though it's anti-inflammatory, I don't think it has anti-septic properties; but it's calming and anti-spastic and it helps the digestion.
Athalas could also be lavender, which also fits in both the medicinal properties as well as the fragrance.
That's a great point!
Tolkien's sensitivity towards nature and its true appreciation is a real gift for all the readers nowadays, when our lives are often so busy and so many people in places made of concrete and glass.
Don’t worry about the wind in the background, it's quite appropriate. Btw, is that a Tolkien tatoo on your leg? Fantastic!
Thanks for making my Fridays more insightful. ❤
I like the wind sounds on the outdoor video. I think it adds authenticity, but then I loved a mix of SOYCD that had intermittent thunder added, so that's just me. My favourite tree? That would be Sam's Mallorn. Even as you read the extract tears welled in my eyes just as they had done the first time I read that passage nearly 40 years ago. The tree symbolised renewal and reinvigoration and the power of nature over everything else, given what had happened to the Party Tree, which I note you didn't have time to mention. a wonderful, thoughtful video. Thank you.
Guys... i think... i might be crazy, but i think Jess REALLY likes Tolkien!
I don't know, I think we need a couple more years worth of great videos before we can be sure. Must not be hasty.
Thanks for the rundown! It's funny, but so often it is the videos where I think I should have something really useful to add, end up being the ones where I think, "Actually, she covered it pretty well for a single telling of the notions, so I'll pretty much leave it at that.
Obviously, Tolkien was the big author who made it okay for modern people to love trees again, and so much of the ecology/consesrvation movement grew out of that inspiration. He also brought back to the popular mind the idea that a whole ecology/region has a personality unto itself, like a vast networked mega-creature, which had been somewhat lost as a concept as the industrial age "couldn't see the forest for the trees" and only saw the trees as fuel. People have had to relearn so much of what their ancestors accepted intuitively, and the real science has backed that up.
I hope you have a great journey with your folk there -- the road goes ever on :)
@jess of the shire That Benjamin Britten melody hit me. Thanks 😊
Well, my favorite plant in Lord of the Rings are the Ents, and most specifically Treebeard of course. I was so enamored with Treebeard and the Ents after reading the first time, I loved walking in the woods and touching all the trees I passed, talking in a slow pace so as not to be hasty. The movies made me a very happy soul when I heard Treebeard speaking.
I had hoped you'd have recited the work Treebeard recites about the lost lands of Belerion in which he'd walked as a young Ent. And I really enjoyed the setting of the Luthien poem to the Benjamin Britten piece "That Yonge Child" - that tune really works well with those lyrics.
Nice tat. That's real dedication. lol. Love your work. Thx.
I've always found it interesting that hobbits seem to be living in about 1770 while most humans in Middle Earth at the time of the War of the Ring seem to have the technology and aesthetics of about the year 1400. Dwarves are also in the late middle ages, but elves, presumably because they're immortal and therefore change more slowly, seem to be living in an even older world. I think part of the reason for it is that it makes leaving the comfortable, pre-industrial but still definitely familiar and modern Shire feel like much more of a departure from ordinary life than it would if the hobbits lived in an essentially medieval world. Both the hobbits and the reader step out of the modern world back in time to a mythic past we know from stories but don't actually live in. Personally, I like the effect even though it definitely raises some questions about the Columbian exchange.
A little note on coffee because I work in coffee and food history is one of my pet subjects:
While it certainly wasn't common, coffee wouldn't have been completely unknown to medieval Europe. The coffee tree is native to East Africa, and coffee cherries were first consumed as a beverage steeped in water like a tea in Ethiopia in the early medieval period. Coffee caught on in the Arab world as Islam spread into North Africa, and the Turks were the first to roast the beans inside the coffee cherries and make a coffee we would recognize today not long after that. Coffee was popular across the medieval Islamic world, and so crusaders, pilgrims, merchants, and the many other Europeans who traveled to the Middle East and North Africa would have encountered it. Coffeehouses started in the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Venetian and other Italian merchants brought coffee home with them in the Renaissance, and Europe's first coffeehouse opened in Venice near the end of the 16th century. Britain certainly didn't have coffee until quite a bit later, though.
I didn't expect this video to be so moving 🥲
My favorite plant is Bilbo's Party Tree. A true example of the aphorism that trees are infrastructure. They're gathering places, historical monuments, symbols of community identity, and even something like family.
2:22 Nice, that must be where the inspiration for the pokemon Comfey comes from.
The what?
SO MANY TREES!!!
I am Groot!! (my thoughtful insightful contribution to the discussion, when I saw the thumbnai!)
Beautiful video, beautiful story, beautiful voice ❤️
I love the elanor. The sunstar flower of Lorien. Aragorn saw it as a symbol of his love for Arwen. I think it's fitting that Sam's daughter Elanor became a lady-in-waiting for Arwen when she grew up.
I also love when you sing the songs from LOTR. You have a lovely voice. I was wondering where you found the tunes. Christopher Lee put together an album of several of Tolkien's poems put to music, but the Lay of Luthien wasn't one of them.
thank you for my next rabbithole :D
I always thought of Athelas being more like horehound. It grew in our horse pastures and my mom would make a tincture and use it for decongestion and as an anti inflammatory.
I like to think I’m against a tree, trying the pipe weed of the shire as I fish in the stream not far from the The Golden Perch as I listen to you tell stories about the far of lands of Middle Earth. You have a new follower fair lady of the shire folk!
I greatly appreciate you taking time to make a point that Pipeweed is Tobacco, regardless of it also being an anachronism in The Hobbit/LOTR.
Tobacco is a sacred plant, and pipe-smoking a sacred ritual for many Indigenous Turtle Islanders. While the pipe-culture of Middle Earth has far more in common with the pipe-culture of early 20th Century Europe than with ours, Tobacco is still treated reverently throughout Tolkien's works. A reverance Tobacco is often not afforded in either day-to-day 21st century life or in modern media depictions. Cigarette culture--let alone vape culture--is sooooo different.
The more I learn about Tolkiens way of thinking the more intrigued but also unkomfortabel I get. The rich Details are fascinating and you present them so well, in the other Hand, His ideas about divine right by blood to rule over others go against my principles to the extreme. The older I get the more does it seem to hinder my enjoyment of his work.
I've been writing a story and the way magic works is gonna be linked to trees and other living things. I love including nature as the friendlier and more powerful force.
you have a beautiful singing voice
I caught a dreary head cold this week, and when I'm laying sick on my couch, I always like to rewatch the LotR trilogy to make the time pass a bit more cheerily ^^;; So the video scenes you sampled this time were fresh in my mind!
Why did this video make me cry 😭❤
the inclusion of pipeweed, taters, and other american origin plants, always gave the hobbit world it’s own slightly more early modern british feel. i loved that about the books, but i also loved in the game shadow of mordor (and the slightly less perfect sequel) how pipeweed felt like a naturally common weed that happened to be smokeable
Re the athelas in the scenes in "The Houses of Healing," the scent of the athelas when Aragorn steeps them in water evokes different responses according to his patient. The memories evoked say something about the character and history of the patient, to wit:
Faramir: "For the fragrance that came to each was like a memory of dewy mornings of unshadowed sun in some land of which the fair world in Spring is itself but a fleeting memory."
Eowyn: "as the sweet influence of the herb stole about the chamber it seemed . . .a keen wind blew through the widow, and it bore no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young, as if it had not been before breathed by any living thing and came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of foam."
Merry: "And when the fragrance of athelas stole through the room, like the scent of orchards, and of heather in the sunshine full of bees, suddenly Merry awoke. . ."
I always loved that touch----it added to the characterization of Aragorn as a man with insight into the nature of his fellows.
There is a great tree in Smith of Wooten Major, described as follows: "he saw the King's Tree springing up, tower upon tower, into the sky, and its light was like the sun at noon; and it bore at once leaves and flowers and fruits uncounted, and not one was the same as any other that grew on the Tree."
My one year old was entranced by your singing voice. 😊
Lovely voice! I would love to hear some of Tolkien's songs and poems performed by those who can bring such words on paper to life, as it were. Not so musically inclined myself, but it would be great to hear at least in part some of what Tolkien may have been thinking when he penned those works.
Delightful. Thank you for sharing.
This was great. And we had the joy of another song!
Your singing is so nice! 😊
Hobbits are dietary Americans.
One breakfast is not enough.
Don't forget about Elevensies either..... essential for a growing Hobbit lad!
Tolkien entered the Somme in july of 1916. A region which used to be blooming with greenery now a barren wasteland.
Within five months his battalion and most of his friends were gone. The very air and soil was poisonous.
I am sure his academic obsession with the leafy canopy and watching things grow helped him deal with witnessing real life Mordor.
Like Sam.
They're far from the nicest of plants, but I've always been fond of Old Man Willow and the Old Forest in general. I love how the adventure has barely begun when we're introduced to a forest where the trees move and suddenly nature is dangerous and creepy -- and yet Old Man Willow is just a local threat with no connection to Sauron. It's also a fun bit of trivia that the Hobbits once had a "war" with the forest.
Quickbeam and Old man Willow. Please discuss these characters. They are my faves.
You look your hobbityness when you do your outdoor videos. Well researched as always. I hope you enjoy your well deserved vacation.
Yet another video of yours that taught me I’ve been pronouncing something wrong this whole time! (Tunieviel). By the way your singing voice is BEAUTIFUL!
Pronunciation is such a tricky thing! And Thank you so much!
@@Jess_of_the_Shire yw!
Simbelmynë does exist in real! At least a flower that looks VERY sinilar to what Tolkien describes: the Wood Anemone. It is native to Europe (primarily west and northern Europe including Britain) and the Caucasus to Siberia. I firmly believe it was the Wood Anemony that inspired Tolkien for Simbelmynë. Here in Switzerland (where Tolkien drew much inspiration from) it grows in spring abundantly in shady places on forest floors and on hillsides, creating a hauntingly beautiful star flecked carpet. The image you used in your video looks absolutely identical to Wood Anemony, down to the distinct leaf shape.
Aragorn’s use of athelas to heal Frodo and others is reminiscent of the idea of the King’s Evil, scrofula, which people used to come to the king with for him to heal them with his touch
Not too long ago I watched a video entitled The Folklore of the Oak Tree and it reminded me of Tokien. I'm sure he probably knew all that folklore about plants an maybe he had it in mind as he wrote these things.
Kudos for the PSA!
Elinor ... i even created a needlepoint project but hmgot stuck on how to imagine this. Would love to see someone's creation of this enigmatic flower.
Mr. Tolkien and I have a lot in common in regard to nature and gardens. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of beautiful flowers and deep forests. Roses that were several times taller than I was. Stony hills with trees that might have gone on forever. Apples and beans and tomatoes and potatoes. I learned a profound appreciation for that which was living and growing in the Earth. Wildlife, too. I'd be hard pressed to name a favorite plant, but all of this talk of taters seems to have given me the munchies, if you follow my meaning. 🥔🥔🥔😎
That's what I love about Rolemaster. How first aid, and magic herbs and potions not just healers.
Why do you gotta keep bringing up Luthien and her inspiration!? My eyes get wet every damn time! 😭
Then you follow it up with symbelmine! Now Bernard Hill's _incredible_ delivery of that scene with Gandalf springs to mind.
Mine eyes! They perspire!!!
Great Video, The sound quality is good.