When I left off, Morgoth’s plan was just getting into motion. It’s probably worth it to look at Morgoth for a second, and explain who he was (beyond ‘Tolkien for Satan,’ which is a great capsule but leaves some unanswered … Continue reading →
We were talking about the first elven migrations across the sea to Valinor. The Vanyar and the Noldor rode on the magic island from Middle Earth to the Undying Lands, from Endor to Aman. The Teleri trailed along behind, and missed … Continue reading →
When last we left, the Vala Oromë was inviting the elves to migrate, en masse, to his homeland in the uttermost West. “It’s not that we don’t want to. I mean, you’re great, with your superpowers and your crazy stories … Continue reading →
To start with I need to define the problem, or else I’m going to end up recounting the whole of not only the Silmarillion but also Unfinished Tales and the Book of Lost Tales and probably Leaf by Niggle while … Continue reading →
Okay for starters there’s this guy Hurin and he’s pretty cool and he goes off to war with his buddies the elves against Morgoth, and it doesn’t work out and Hurin ends up in chains before Morgoth and Morgoth is … Continue reading →
So, wow! Clio sure was something, huh guy? It starts off with Herodotus’s extremely digressive story of Croesus, King of the Lydians, and how he invented “invading Hellenic territory” as a practice. Then it moves into Herodotus’s extremely digressive account … Continue reading →
In the morning Operation SITTING DUCK sprang into action! In what I consider a totally blown opportunity for a stunning ironic reversal, Croesus’s plan worked perfectly! Remember, Croesus told Cyrus to basically let his army get outflanked in unknown territory … Continue reading →
Short one today. So Cyrus hands over Croesus, his prisoner-vizier, to his son. His son is Cambyses, about whom we’ll have a fair bit to say, but not for a while. “Go rule the Persian Empire until I get back, … Continue reading →
Having conquered the crazy rich, awesome city-state of Babylon, Cyrus’s next move was to march his army up towards the Black Sea and fight the Massagetai. The Massagetai were some people, who were in a place. They liked milk. It’s … Continue reading →
As I hinted before, Cyrus invaded Babylon through careful application of a clever trick. Back in Nitocris’s time, when she was doing all of her earthworking and wallmaking, she diverted the Euphrates river (which ran right through/under Babylon, in a … Continue reading →
