http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/respawnables/images/2/2f/Banana-gun-9818.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160204100107

:-|
*throws dog out the window for asking stupid questions* >:-|

So we have a banana-hater here? I see.
*blows on dog whistle to retrieve dog*
Also, I'd kindly like it if you didn't abuse poor Rex. He's nice and doesn't hurt anybody. HE likes bananas.
And shoes.

I'm not sure I would trust you with my cat anymore. O_o

It's ok, we can trust him with birds.
...unless that's the reason only the nest is left. o_O

What? 'Väinämöinen' doesn't just fly off your tongue? :P

There are also the traditions of Sami People in Finland. They also live in a few other countries.

"Traditional Sami religion

Traditional Sami religion was a type of polytheism. (See Sami deities.) There was some diversity due to the wide area that is Sápmi, allowing for the evolution of variations in beliefs and practices between tribes. The old beliefs are closely connected to the land, animism, and the supernatural. Sami spirituality is often characterized by pantheism, a strong emphasis on the importance of personal spirituality and its interconnectivity with one's own daily life, and a deep connection between the natural and spiritual "worlds". Among other roles, the Sami Shaman, or noaidi, enabled ritual communication with the supernatural through the use of tools such as drums, chants, and sacred objects. Some practices within the Old Sami religion included natural sacred sites such as mountains, springs, land formations, as well as man-made ones such as petroglyphs and labyrinths." - wikipedia

Also if you're interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnic_mythologies (I actually find this interesting...)

edit: wow! "J. R. R. Tolkien has highlighted the importance of Kalevala as a source for his legendarium including The Lord of the Rings."
\o/

I got up today... noticed that Serpent game. I stared at it. It stared back at me. We stared at each other for a while.
..
I gave in and bought the darn thing :)

Good Morning everybody how are you? Just came back from my Biology exam! Tomorrow is a big day for me. I have my final exam and I'm getting the results from my finals.

Good morning, lovely people of Fred!

I hope you are all having a lovely day so far?

For some reason chat has stopped organising contacts by those offline and online, it has gone back to sorting the list by last spoken to. Not that I really mind it that way, but I wonder why the change, probably just a bug.

*hugs, waves, and blueberry and coconut muffins*

Did you not know that? Tolkien took a lot of inspiration from Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythology and writings, and he was usually quite open about his inspiration and how he built on them to make his lore for the epic world of Middle Earth. He wanted to recreate the epic poems of old with his books, he longed to create a new Illiad, a new Beowulf or Kalevala. He was somewhat disappointed in how mundane writing had become in his age, that there was a lack in great epic stories as he saw it, the kind of stories he read while growing up. That is why he attempted, and succeeded quite well, in creating an epic story of his own, rich in the history of Britain and the Norse countries that share a lot of common traits and ancestry and the influence they have had on England. But he drew sources for quite a few places, some even from his experiences as an officer during the First World War. The real hero of The Lord of the Rings for example, Samwise Gamgee, is based around the English batmen (not the superhero) during the First World War, men who Tolkien considered to be far better men than the officers they served, despite the batmen being seen as inferior to many officers at the time.

Anyway, I will stop rambling. :-)

I actually picked up Kalevala recently, if you recall I was asking you about it a month or so ago. I have not yet read it, but I do look forward to doing so. Hopefully the translation will be good enough that the texts works in English.

*puts a little badge on DD*

*takes a half of both types of muffin, and glues them together with peanut butter*
*big thank you hug* Good morning :-)

Silly Agent, that are coconut and blueberry in one, not separate muffins. :-)

Is your chat not listing contacts as well, or is it just a bug on my end?

*big blood-less hug* (My doctor took sooo much. Probably a whole pint. And that is very nearly an arm full (and that is a reference to a very old English comedian that probably no one even knows of anymore)) :-)

Good Morning!

Wow, thank you very much for the backstory! :)
I remember reading something about Tolkien getting inspiration from various sources, but didn't know all that :) - Or if someone has mentioned anything else, I must have been drunk or something...

Yes, he managed quite well :)

Yeah, it would be awesome if we could stop getting all those less poetic fantasy stories for a while, and got stuff that was really poetic, and proper literature ;)
Stuff that Ursula le Guin wrote was pretty good. Should find one of her books someday. The Earthsea was quite lovely.
We should understand the value of poetry, in all of its forms... Even if it's just here and there submerged into a 'regular' story, it's part of stories. Like the songs in Lord of the Rings - they really helped me to get into the story more, and not just read as a complete outsider.

Oh, even better! *spreads some peanut butter on top of a muffin anyway* :-)

It's working okay for me right now. I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but sometimes all of my contacts are listed as offline. A page refresh or three tends to fix it in my case.

Of course I know the lovely Mr Hancock! "But this is just a smear!" ... "It may be just a smear to you, mate, but it's life and death to some poor wretch!"
(Thanks, Oogle) [/cheater] :-)

Hey there, doing pretty good.
Hope you're ok.

Well there is much more to him, but I can't remember it all properly. He was usually quite open with his inspiration, be that mythology, cultures, or even previous works by earlier authors. Many authors give credit where credit is due, I was reading a while ago about Neil Gaiman (I think it was, but I could be wrong), and how he was saying about the inspiration he took form T.H. White and his works. There is nothing wrong with taking ideas and building on them, just as long as you acknowledge that and at least try to build on the inspiration you take. Unlike a certain author of Wizard books who not only took inspiration but also just stole whole ideas as well, and gave no real credit. ;-)

There was a academic paper published a long time ago, I don't know if it was by Tolkien himself or someone else, but it listed a whole bunch of sources he used and how he had built on them. It was quite interesting, and introduced me to some lovely old authors of fantasy, poetry, early sci-fi, and many works of non-fiction. It must not have been by Tolkien who wrote it, as it also listed many other authors and their inspiration as well (other authors like C.S. Lewis). So I am guessing it was someone else cataloguing a set of authors and their works. I can't really remember it has been some time since I read the academic paper on it.

You mean you don't like all these overly politically correct or Young Adult novels we get these days? But why, it is not like they are all the same story over and over again... Oh wait. They kind of are. :-)

Is there anything you don't smother in peanut butter? o_O

I get that book quite often, but usually it lists them in order of online at the top, offline at the bottom. But today it just seems to be last spoken to at the top no matter if they are online or not. It must just be a bug at my end then. No big deal. :-)

Yay! I did not know he was known that well outside of the UK. And with it being so old many don't even remember him here. Wait... you used Google? Cheater! No muffins for you. >:-|

... Okay, you can still keep the muffin. :-)

Hello, Mr Omega.

I am doing okay, thank you. How are you today, looking forward to Friday and the weekend?

At least my sister didn't force YOU to watch the movie versions of a few of those. :l
I'm fine, always looking forward to the weekend. ;)