Post by MajahTR on Jan 17, 2009 1:15:58 GMT -6
Sparrow would like to track anachronisms in FotR. Though she will be responsible for posting, she would like help in catching any that she misses.
DA
I see only one clear anachronism so far - the one DaleAnn already mentioned, from Ch. 1, regarding the dragon firework.
"The dragon passed like an express train. . ."
Sparrow
I consider the postal service in the Shire, mentioned early in chap. 1, to be anachronistic. It just doesn't fit with the tone of the rest of Middle Earth.
But then, in some ways, the whole description of the Shire is anachronistic for the rest of M.E. The Shire fells like 18th century England, but the rest feels more like the Middle Ages. (I know it all happened back in pre-history, but I mean in compartive developmental terms.)
In Book I, Chapter 9, "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony"
Merry decides to take a walk, rather than going into the common room. As he leaves the others, he says "Mind your Ps and Qs." That is an experession that originated with printers. When handsetting type, it is easy to confuse lowercase ps and qs, since they are mirror images of each other.
Since the printing press probably doesn't exist in the third age, this would be an anachronism.
Megn1
An alternate explanation for the expression is more familiar to me: I heard that it originated in English taverns. People who lost count of their consumption were easily taken advantage, so the warning was, "Mind your P's (pints) and Q's (quarts).
Sparrow
That sounds like a quite possible explanation!
Let's assume that's how the saying originated in M.E...
Megn1
DA
I see only one clear anachronism so far - the one DaleAnn already mentioned, from Ch. 1, regarding the dragon firework.
"The dragon passed like an express train. . ."
Sparrow
I consider the postal service in the Shire, mentioned early in chap. 1, to be anachronistic. It just doesn't fit with the tone of the rest of Middle Earth.
But then, in some ways, the whole description of the Shire is anachronistic for the rest of M.E. The Shire fells like 18th century England, but the rest feels more like the Middle Ages. (I know it all happened back in pre-history, but I mean in compartive developmental terms.)
In Book I, Chapter 9, "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony"
Merry decides to take a walk, rather than going into the common room. As he leaves the others, he says "Mind your Ps and Qs." That is an experession that originated with printers. When handsetting type, it is easy to confuse lowercase ps and qs, since they are mirror images of each other.
Since the printing press probably doesn't exist in the third age, this would be an anachronism.
Megn1
An alternate explanation for the expression is more familiar to me: I heard that it originated in English taverns. People who lost count of their consumption were easily taken advantage, so the warning was, "Mind your P's (pints) and Q's (quarts).
Sparrow
That sounds like a quite possible explanation!
Let's assume that's how the saying originated in M.E...
Megn1