[Eurytus]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I'm not saying Tolkien was perfect but the expression "Lo!" could easily translate to "Damn!" if i understood its meaning correctly. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Unfortunately I do not have my copy of the book with me so I will be unable to furnish the correct quote but here is my problem with it. Now apart from Lo being very antiquated language (and before you say but it’s meant to be, Book 1 and to an extent Book 2 got along without it fine) my main problem with it is this.<P>It is overused and doing so creates a very false impression. Indeed it is one of the reasons I mentioned the comparison to Shakespearean actors ‘emoting’ on stage. Now there is nothing wrong with Shakespeare, but the language used in Shakespeare is so used because it is written for a play. There are limits to what you can show in a play so often the actors will have to describe what is happening. They will say things like “see how our foes turn tail and run, weak at the knees with fear”. Now that is not Shakespeare (you will no doubt have noticed) but the principle behind it applies to the use of Lo in LOTR.<P>There is a specific example towards the end of Book 5 when Aragorn uses the word “Lo” several times in just a couple of paragraphs. He is basically describing events on the battle field or some-such, I forget the exact specifics. But what is important here is that he is describing something that is happening to the reader. Now in situations like this the old adage holds true. “Don’t tell me, show me.” The story is far more engaging when you are right there enmeshed in the story. When you have a character start describing what is happening right in front of them it takes you out of viewing the story from their eyes and plonks you down watching a Shakespearean play.<P>Such instances take away from the story in my opnion.<P>And as to Bombadil’s house being more interesting than Aragorn’s motivation. Well I guess that’s why Bombadil has not been included in either film version or the radio version. Most people who adapt these stories know that what engages an audience is not what landscapes the characters are walking through but what they feel and why. What motivates them, makes them take the risks they take, make the wrong decisions they take.<P>That is where LOTR’s weak point lies.