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[page 10] _DAINIS BISENIEKS_, 1033 Pomona, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103 The first thing that deserves comment is Dave Hall's letter. By and large, I agree with it. -/so do I./- Look: _LoR_ is the book I have read more times than any other. It is, as they say, not a book but a world, and I have not been able to resist filling in details out of my knowledge of something I'm fond of. "The Watcher in the Water and Others" (I Palantir 3) was more of a put-on, an exercise in style. But my interest in the coinage of the ancient world (reawakened by a prolonged stay in Israel) led me to consider the coins mentioned here and there in the books and to invent credible (I hope) details: who coined them, when, where, etc. The results are scheduled to appear in NIEKAS. No doubt when I see my article there I will not be happy with it; and I'll be tempted to improve on it. But, by and large, I would make no radical changes. I believe that's the way it would really have been. That is the kind of writing of which I approve: a labor of love founded on knowledge. The chemistry of _hithlain_ has been added to my stock of knowledge about middle Earth. But the notion that the Brown Lands are the result of any sort of atomic weapon - no. That is one of the things I do not wish explained. All that anyone could do is transfer a vague idea of modern science and the jargon of science fiction to Middle Earth, where it does not belong. For another example...one of the things that I shall never want to know is the atomic number of _mithril_. Is the difference clear? If anyone, out of a knowledge of his craft or hobby, can illuminate some obscure corner of Middle Earth, then and only then will I be grateful for his contribution. -/ Most of the above paragraph refers to an article which appeared in I Palantir, for those who don't know. <*> I approve of and agree with your purist attitudes; I wish I could conform to them. But when you're a fanzine publisher and a Tolkien fan, naturally you publish a Tolkien fanzine. And since not everyone can write as well as Doc Wair or Marion Bradley, so much of any such fanzine is bound to be of a less imaginative nature. I try to obtain as much creative material for Entmoot as possible, but it's hard. /- [page 11] Yes, and I also approve the few genuinely witty verses of the Orcs' Marching Song. Most of the others are too, well, orkish for my taste. I have written a verse to incorporate a dreadful pun that came to me: Wormtongue he rode up, but he didn't stay to sup, In the flood he soaked his coat and pants; Hobbits stayed and ate, and I heard them loudly state That it wouldn't be a picnic without ents. And that leaves me feeling that I've shot my bolt. -/Ouch! That's great; easily good enough to be included in the official version of the song. By the "few genuinely witty verses" I presume you're referring to Dickensheet's and this beats any of his. Again, for the uninitiated, the Orcs' Marching Song is a song based on the tune to the Jesse James song, with about 14 different verses by various fans, sung whenever fans meet. I won't reprint it; it's been reprinted too many times./- About so much of the material in ENTMOOT and other zines I have deep misgivings. I don't believe the verses can ever rise above the level of pastiche. I have yet to see a convincing portrait of any of the people in the story; that needs competent artists, first of all. _National Review_ Ap. 20, '65 had some well-drawn hobbits to go with a two-page review of TREE AND LEAF, but they looked too elfin. Skinny. I cannot help feeling that Hannes Bok could have illustrated _LoR_ in a way that would violate nobody's private vision. I can just see Bok's version of the pûkel-men... you know, the characteristic texture of his rocks. The other night I dreamed, and in color too, of finding at a bock sale an _old_ first edition of TOM BOMBADIL illustrated by him. The elvish script game I have not yet begun to play. I am secretly wondering when tne demand will be great enough to justify the publication of BASIC INTRODUCTORY ELVISH? It might even replace Esperanto, whaddaya think? I would learn Elvish, really, with perhaps more devotion than I gave to Hebrew (until I went to Israel). The spirit of the songs of Rohan will be found, in my opinion, in many of the Hebrew songs on "Songs of the Exodus" by Hillel and the Sons of Galilee. No connection, none whatsoever, with the movie. Unfortunately, the record (Kapp KL-1174) is no longer available. -/the songs that _were_ connected to the movie could also be applied to _LoR_, in my opinion./- Elvish song? I vote for the singing of Theodore Alevizos on "Songs of Greece" (Tradition TLP 1037) and another, now unavailable record. Please, all you fans, go out and buy this record! I want to create a demand for Alevizos. While you're at it, pick up a recording of Leos Janacek's "Sinfonietta" or his Slavonic Mass, both available on several recordings. It is music completely without schmaltz - there, that's the best thing I can briefly say about it.