Bibliomancy...Tolkien style

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

For Sam still stood upon his feet, and dropping his own sword, with both hands he held the elven-blade point upward, fending off that ghastly roof; and so Shelob, with the driving force of her own cruel will, with strength greater than a warrior’s hand, thrust herself upon a bitter spike. –TTT

My, this reminds me of Ealasaide’s story of dispatching spiders in her hall with a sword!

But other things do spring to mind as well. One must hold on to the higher things, greater than one’s self in order to overcome the crushing weight and strength of the worst of the world. Those higher things I imagine as being ideals, beauty, art or things that point sharply to the nature of Eru and his unsullied vision for Arda.

Or it might simply mean I should not suffer spiders to thrive in my house, lest they eventually overwhelm us, with ghastly designs of hanging us like so many hams from the ceiling. *shudder*

Of course I have frequently been feeling as though I have been trying to unravel spider webs at work this summer. I wonder who would represent Shelob there. The Marketing Department perhaps? I must remember to see if I can procure an elven blade through the Boise Cascade or Granger catalogs!