Some of the vivid imagery I get from the first page begins to remind me of a time lapse camera. As ignore someone set a camera there for a long period of time and got footage of the life power of this once lush land that turned into a desolate wasteland that is void of life and happy colors. Now it is a land of grays and washed out earth tones that create a sense of depression in the viewer. Than not too much later there is a massive fire that engulfs all the land. So since everything has dried up and begun to wither away, the screen, which is where I envision the existence of the images in my head, is now lit up brightly with vibrant reds, oranges, yellows and tinges of blue on the tips to signify a bright powerful flame that encompasses a vast area. The next thing I see is a line of trumpets creating a path gore they are standing on either side with their trumpets raised and the flag hanging far below. They are blasting for the return of the king almost like in the end scene of the third installment of the Lord Of the Rings series. The king returns and all are fearful for they know their misdeeds. Then the next part of darkness is almost like a thick blanket of a deep dense fog that covers the ensure land and slowly reps over a mountain side to begin to enshroud the town. Now the next part is exactly like the battle scene from the third installment of The Lord Of The Rings. The battle scene where the army of The undead swarm over the battlefield and slowly decimate the opposing army in a fast and overpowering manner. Its almost as if this is sort of parallel to the book of Joel. Another reason to back it up is that there is a passage that talks about the armies that come front the different cardinal directions and fight in a battle scene where the army of the supernatural, which is the undead, come and wipe out. This is almost mind boggling to come across such a cool parallel in something that I found boring the first time I read it. But now I am able to see the action unfold and relayed it to something I am deeply fond of. The Lord of The Rings.
I like your comparison here. I read all three of the LOTR books three times when I was an adolescent. The films were so successful--artistically and economically--largely because of the imagery, especially including the grand sweeping pans over massive and breathtaking landscapes in New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteYour connection between Joel and LOTR is apt for another reason as well; as a Christian, Tolkien would certainly have been familiar with Joel specifically and the prophetic patterns more broadly.
I am drawn in Joel in particular to the tree images. And, of course, trees--especially talking trees--are an important part of LOTR.
You being a fellow fan of LOTR makes me appreciate you as a teacher more.
ReplyDelete