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The prof seems to really feel his oats when he's describing an evil setting.
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or anything noisome. Great quote, Master.
Here's another one.
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Far away, now almost due south, the mountain-walls of Mordor loomed, like a black bar of rugged clouds floating above a dangerous fog-bound sea.
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Granted it's not personification per se, but it sure does set up one's expectations for how dangerous and evil and awful the place is Gollum is leading Frodo and Sam to.
Here's another.
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Cold clammy winter still held sway in this forsaken country [the dead marshes]. The only green was the scum of livid weed on the dark greasy surfaces of the sullen waters. Dead grasses and rotting reeds loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long-forgotten summers.
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Sullen waters. My usual compound with 'sullen' is 'attitude' or 'face'. Sullen waters.
This whole scene seems to have been built for Tolkien out of his experience in the trenches of WWI; don't you think? Greasy surfaces of sullen waters. The liquid residue from internal combustion engines comes to mind, although it could just as well be the decay of the livid weed itself.
As you can tell I'm making a slow read of it this time...
[ May 12, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]