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I'm in my 70s. It isn't fear of death that troubles me. I've held my husband's hand as he died, He was relieved his struggle with cancer was ending. He was not afraid of death.. fore me It is the fear of losing conspicuousness.. of senility that frightens me, I can not bear forgetfulness. .. of forgetting all the joys and pains of life, losing memory is horrific fate. Fear of losing mobility is a close second. The other thing I find painful, right now, is that my hands and eyes aren't what they used to be. I love all kinds of handcrafts. There are things I can't learn. Pillow Lace, advanced tatting and lacework. I'd love to read more, write more... create more before I die.

Sauron over here like “have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise?”

Love that you wear different outfits for whatever topic you're talking (or rather 'Tolkien') about

I am a devout Catholic, and grew up with Tolkien. We used to listen to his books on cassette tapes in the car, and take turns reading aloud at the dinner table. Thank you for so beautifully describing the themes of the Genesis story and his work. It has a special place in many Catholic hearts and I'm glad it resonates so well with others too!

Sauron corrupted the Numenoreans into evil by getting them to buy into a conspiracy theory. Just thought I'd mention that.

Ar-Pharazon just before leaving for Valinor with his fleet: "Sauron, why aren't you coming with me? Don't you want to be on hand to witness our great victory over the foes of Melkor?" Sauron: "Uh, yeah. Sure. But I have stuff to do...really important stuff. I just don't want to be a bother or try to claim even a tiny slice of YOUR glory, great king." Ar-Pharazon: "Oh, all right then. Will you please tidy away the last friends of the Valar before I'm back?" Sauron: "With pleasure, great king. Bon voyage."

Gosh I love seeing Ted Nasmith’s art, it’s so beautiful ❤ Also it just breaks my heart (positive) how he lists off, not Numenor’s evils and crimes, but all the beauty and the innocence that was sacrificed for the pride of a few

You would be the most perfect person in which to have meandering and enlightening conversations.

Fantastic presentation! As a modern English mythology, Tolkien's work also incorporates the dark age and medieval perspective of the remnants of Roman occupation. They, and the rest of the former Empire, were surrounded by great works that they had no hope of replicating, and the only explanation for the downfall from this golden age was God's judgment. There are many layers to the world Tolkien crafted, and it is always a pleasure to hear you uncover them. And it goes without saying that you are clearly a Numenorean (one of the good, non-human sacrificing ones, of course), so this topic is perfectly suited for you.

Can I just say, I've been a Christian all my life, yet I never realised the point you made about Adam and Eve needing to leave Eden so they wouldn't become immortal and therefore remain in sinful bodies forever, so well done and thank you very much for pointing that out!

The Notion Club Papers deserves to be better known - the scene where Arundel Lowdham sees a cloud behind the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford and has a pseudo-flashback to the Temple of Morgoth in Númenor is one of the most powerful bits Tolkien ever wrote.

If anyone here is an aspiring fantasy writer and wants to pay homage to Númenor then Hello Future Me made the following tips: Island Civilizations - 1. The relationship an island civilization has with the surrounding ocean will impact the questions at the heart of their culture, giving rise to different value systems. Consider how that relationship manifests in language, metaphor, and cuisine. 2. Civilizations cannot be reduced to their environments. A myriad of forces act on them and give rise to different beliefs and practices, especially in an increasingly globalized world. Think about culture as a history of who has had influence in the region. 3. Isolation is one of the more interesting elements if island worldbuilding. What distinct flora and fauna might have developed there and nowhere else, and how does this shape the culture and daily lives? 4. The island often occupies a mythic place in the cultural zeitgeist, which reflects something of those who imagine it. 5. Archipelagos facilitate a diversity of culture, decentralized politics, democratic values, and rebellion - including crime. Consider what helped and archipelago unify. 6. Island civilizations are rarely superpowers, especially global ones. The ones that tend to rely on a technological and organizational disparity, as well as dominance in ocean trade. Sometimes these manifests in a thalassocracy. Fallen Civilizations - 1. Deepen your worldbuilding by having different groups develop different cultural relationships with the fallen civilization, such as administration, revulsion, or affinity. This applies on an individual level as well. 2. We mythologize the past all the time, especially when we don’t quite understand it. Consider how the fallen civilization fits into and fosters biases, narratives, legends, and myths. 3. If your story focuses on ‘how it happened’, consider how the revelation might emotionally impact your characters to help connect the worldbuilding to your story. 4. A fallen civilization would have been built and developed under different rules and norms to the places that evolved after it. Think about how that level of tech, power, and coordination - as well as a different culture - affected where cities, trade routes, religious sites, and consequently ruins and relics might have been left. This is especially true given the environment itself can change over hundreds or even thousands of years. 5. Worldbuilding is thematic in the same way stories are. What do you want your fallen civilization to say, and how can that be built into the narrative and themes of the story told within your world? 6. Real social collapse is complicated. It often involves the depletion or loss of a vital resource, insurmountable catastrophe, insufficient response to crises, invasions, elite infighting, class conflict, economic crisis, and elite mismanagement. 7. Societies become more centralized and complex to solve problems, but eventually there are diminishing returns. At this point, entities within may find it more attractive to split off from the state, causing collapse.

ALSO! Your Númenorean Queen fashion here is now my favorite and has supplanted the Lady Jessica of Arrakis outfit you wore in the Dune video. Your wardrobe, makeup, and hairstyle choices are always spot on! 🤩

I like the idea that Numenor's higest peak is chilling somewhere as a little island... I like that some of the most momentous spots of Middle Earth, that literally don't exist anymore, can still have little reminders like that. Tol Morwen being the best example.

I love that you loved Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings adaptation you’ve gone into so much research about all his works, notes, and who he was as a person, then taken the time to create all your videos to give us your insights. Plus the occasional content-appropriate outfits.

In addition to the Genesis parallels you have discussed, Ar-Pharazon's stubborn and proud persistence in the face of warning after warning looks like it's based on the Pharaoh of the Exodus story. Tolkien makes the point explicit by saying that Pharazon "hardened his heart" after landing on the shore of Valinor, just God hardened Pharaoah's heart after every disaster that struck the Egyptians.

It still astonishes me that Aragorn was in his 80's when LoTR took place.

The flood myths may have basis in fact. The native peoples of Washington State have lore of the coming of great floods. In many places in the world there were mega floods during the ice ages that profoundly changed the landscape that we see today. I think that has echoed into many cultures' stories be they Atlantis or Noah.

You would think that people would realize that the Atlantis story is fictional based simply on who wrote it: a philosopher. If it were factual, you'd think Herodotus, who is credited with inventing historiography and lived just before Plato's time, would have written about it. Great breakdown of Numenor's theming and framing, and an excellent summary of the story for folks who might be coming from Rings of Power.

From what I understand, there's 2 major schools of thought vis a vis the Great Flood Myth. 1: Flooding happens. Sometimes it's really bad. People make up stories based on history. Given enough time, every culture will experience a dramatic, extremely disruptive flood and that will inspire a mythic story about a Great Flood. 2: Ice Ages happen. Ten Thousand years ago, the Bering Straight was a land bridge connecting Alaska to Kamchatka. The British Isles were the northwesternmost bit of mainland Europe. Etc. This is because a great deal of water was tied up in the great ice sheets that impacted much of North America, Scandanavia, and many other places. While 10000 years ago is a very long time ago, we know stories get passed down for long periods of time. There are native bands who tell stories that are consistent with migrating along the coast of the ice bridge into North America. There are indigenous peoples in Australia who tell stories of a great flood that include a measurement of how much further the land stretched out towards the Great Barrier Reef - a measurement that aligns remarkably well with geological evidence. It's entirely possible that many of the Great Flood myths come from the ending of the last Ice Age. While that process was largely gradual, we do know of huge bodies of inland meltwater held in place by a failing ice sheet...then breaking through entirely and dumping absolutely enormous amounts of water into the oceans. I like the second option, it's much more interesting....but honestly the first is, by and large, more plausible for the majority of cases. Some Great Flood myths might stem from the Ice Age, but honestly I think most are just "we had a really bad flood once." I know the Great Flood Myth told by the people indigenous to where I live features the local glacier rather prominently, which suggests to me that this story at least would have been inspired by a flood of the valley more or less as it exists today, glacier and all. (I sometimes wonder how their beliefs are handling global warming - if I recall my early childhood when we were taught about the local culture (an initiative launched by my grade 4 teacher at the time, I believe), that glacier is a notable local spiritual figure of some kind, and it's steadily shrinking these days. I feel like that might have some significant theological implications.)

Spring knows them and Summer too and in Winter still are they among us, but in Autumn most of all do they come out, for Autumn is their season, fallen as they are upon the Autumn of their days.

I really appreciate the respectful treatment of biblical content from someone who doesn't entirely accept it as true.

Look into the Welsh myth of Anwynn (and Faith & The Muse's album, Anwynn, Beneath The Waves). The Inca myth of Viracocha and the Mesopotamian Oannes, in addition to Deucalion's flood, are also worth the research.

For me the proto-dwarfs were the first living beings, even if they were never supposed to exist. Beat the pointy ears then, and have done ever since 😂

Liking the outfit. An image of what I imagined Tar-Miriel was

The Tuatha de Danaan and early Irish myths are woven into a prog rock album in Horslips' 1976 album "The Book of Invasions." If you are at all interested I suggest looking it up here on KZfaq. The CD is on my short cycle of listening. According to Horslips, the Tuatha de Danaan are still here, but we can't see them -- because they've gone sideways to the sun.

Jess starting beef with the History Channel 😂

I'm sorry I have to watch again, that dapper mouse with the tophat caught my attention.

35:29 OMG thank you! I was dreading this part of the video as you came to it because I wasn't sure where you would take it, but I am genuinely impressed! Too many people read that part of Genesis through the voice of the serpent and think that God is literally afraid of Adam and Eve becoming gods, too. Between that and people frequently glossing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as simply the tree of knowledge, it's no wonder people have such a poor opinion of the Bible. Thanks again, for your fantastic analysis of Tolkien and the relating texts!

In my Severe Nuclear Accident Analysis class, the most prominent computer code for analyzing the progress of a reactor accident is MELCOR. We had a brief discussion one class about if that was coincidence or intentional. It was created just after The Lord of the Rings was resurgent which probably meant a few of the original developers were aware of the Silmarillion.

Well, Jess, this is by far my favorite video of yours. You have pulled many threads together that I, who have not stopped reading Tolkien for at least 50 years, have not considered before. I must therefore conclude you are one of the Valar come among us in beautiful human form. I stand in awe of your insight and ability to weave it all together.

What an awesome exposition. I’m going to re-read Akallabêth. Right now. Wonderful!

As something of a lore-mixer, I've had the head canon for quite some time that the geological appieval and cataclysm that led to the destruction of Atlantis also led to the destruction of Numenor. This same event also destroyed lemuria as well, Though the tips of many mountains remain as the Pacific islands we know today. The highest peak of Atlantis likely remained for some time as the island of Avalon before meeting with a similar fate as Vanaheim And the now sunken kingdoms of Hyborian Shem.

Oh and btw, we have the PoV of Elendil himself in the Lost Road, an English descendant of Elendil, he travelled through space and time to the Downfall, where he took the physical form of Elendil himself. Tolkien had a truly fascinating mind and to see the point of view of Elendil is even more heartbreaking than in the silmarillion 😢

New subscriber 😊Went back through to watch all your videos and just recently caught up, love the channel!

Death, what a great gift! Thanks Illuvatar, did you keep the receipt?

Jess, I have been watching you for some time now. Many of your videos are profound and moving (and, to be honest, some not so much) but this one is amazing, easily your best yet. Thank you for it.

I particularly appreciate your costume for this episode. It very much suggests a luxurious highborn of a very military society, fitting for a numenorean noble. The gossamer collar is reminiscent of a gorget armor piece, and the chain circlet suggests the brim of a helmet and/or the edge of a chain coif headpiece. From here, even the wrap straps reaching around the to silver symbol hint at a battle-cloak coming into a sturdy clasp for campaigning far afield. This is a fashion and a society that are comfortable with (and in) military attire seen in everyday life. Even the stark blackness of the clothing then whispers "in this mine enemy will see no bloodstain, no sign of weakness or injury, and I may move under cover of shadow or night at will, just a glimmer of my presence in starlight until I am full upon them." The fact that the practical attributes of the attire are entirely decorative, sparkles and fearless flesh flashing out to face the day, are also a bold statement. One so adorned is concerned with no worldly invader, but it is the power of their cunning and perception that would make them a deadly foe in daily politics. It is the appreciation and understanding of the uses of aggression, a comfort with the process and potential for conflict, rolled up with a bold richness and perhaps at least flirtation with decadence in a well-guarded land. To any visiting ambassador or foreign dignitary, the total effect of this fashion suggests: "This is how Nature writes 'Don't mess with us'' for in each of us is deadly intent so written" upon even the most civil and ladylike of the courts. Such was the nature of Numenor at its height, when even Sauron laid down his One Ring and abandoned the throne of Middle-earth without a real fight, to come humbly as their prisoner. He may have had an insidious plan, but he also had no other option. The greatest of the Sea Peoples had come ashore, and they were none to be trifled with in their place and their day. In such a costume yourself, it is as though you are not just telling the story, but you are taking us back to relive these memories as of your own. Well done!

Love your Numenorian Lady cosplay. You definitely are descended from Numenorian nobility ☺️

Tolkien's 'ineluctable Wave' appears both in Faramir's dream in the LOTR book and as a recounting by Eowyn to Aragron in the movie LOTR. Thank you Jess for such excellent explanation and retelling of Tolkien mythos!

God bless you 🙏😇😇😇 respect for your work lady Jess ❤

Really glad your delving into these lore's and discussing them :)

You’re lovely, your voice, knowledge, cosplay and depth of understanding. Wonder and enchantment indeed. Thank you

It was a distinctly English view of a Medieval parallel fantasy, in the way the Witcher books create a distinct parallel fantasy viewpoint via its Polish author. The varieties of 'medieval fantasy' based on what 'medieval' means in the culture of the author is endlessly fascinating

Excellent video, i like how u tell us stories in a calm way☺️ hope your channel keeps growing

Jess you are such a wealth of knowledge and I love how you compare and contrast Tolkien's work with the Greek myths and stories. If Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens ever need help you could definitely fit in. Or heaven forbid if the Amazon storytellers ever want to get any part of their story correct they could definitely use your help! 😁

The story of Númenor fascinates me so much. I love that Rings of Power is bringing it to life (even with a condensed timeline). The show got me very interested in the Númenor story, even though I had read it before each time I've read the Silmarillion. So then of course I bought The Fall of Númenor when it came out, and devoured it (despite the lengthy genealogies, ha ha -- kinda like the book of Matthew in the Bible). But I loved hearing your take on where the story originated from and the various elements of other stories and myths Tolkien pulled from. Of course I knew about the Atlantis myth, but it was interesting to hear of the other stories, and I was fascinated by how it does very much parallel those particular Bible scenes. Well done, Jess, and I wish you the best as you experiment with doing this full-time this summer. I've been watching your videos for awhile now, so it's time to hop on over to Patreon and give you some monetary support...

God bless you and your work lady Jess ❤

I have to give you props, this is was really good, thanks!

I truly appreciate the way you bring different threads together to illustrate and understand the influences and deeper meanings of Tolkien’s work. Thank you so much!

Ten thousand views on the dot. I’m sorry to the next guy, who won’t be able to experience such satisfaction.

This is a great video, as always. Love the outfit. You put a lot of effort into all this, and I want you to know we see and appreciate it!😊

First off, slay. Serving Miriel, but also makes me think you could pull off a sick Morwen of Dor-Lómin. Second, I love this longer format with narrative first, then analysis. Keep doing what you're doing, Jess!

Beautifully done as ever Jess, thank you. I have to admit that I groaned when I got to the last sentence. Atalante. Cheesy!

I have to say this! You are an amazing storyteller in the way you use words as well as your body language and facial expressions and sometimes simply your eyes! They are filled with such enthusiasm and curiosity that one can’t help but feel enamored with your tales. And somehow everything you say sounds and feels like an extension of Tolkiens own words. I’m absolutely amazed! ❤

I wish you continued success, your channel has done remarkably well from my perspective

Thank you, Jess. ❤❤

A really interesting analysis, thank you!

As always one of my favorite parts of my week.

A goblet! Nice touch.

I think an interesting difference between Sauron’s temptation and the Biblical temptation in Genesis is that the people of Numenor were already starting to be divided among themselves before Sauron came (and they, in fact, brought him in) whereas the serpent in the Bible is presented as the primary instigator who came to Adam and Eve on his own.

Jess style going insane again😍 if my fantasy book is ever adapted, i would want you in the costume department💜

Here's to Pharazon and Co., now in their 6th (7th?) Age of Time Out in the Caverns of the Forgotten, wherever that cave now resides. They got what they wanted in spades. Soooooo much time to think about all the decisions that led them to their confinement in the dark. The endless circles of pride, accusations, and recrimination, the depression and regret, the wounded overweening pride; it 's a lot to swallow. Only the pretender Lord of the West and his pals know what the bile of six ages of bitterness, regret, and resentment can do to the tongue and the mouth. On the other note... If you introduce an alternative hypothesis into humanity, some of us are bound to choose H1 over H0. Just as if humans can, they will, not stopping to consider if they should. Humans are all about that greener grass.

Wow, you just brought back memories of Classics, Oedipus the King was one of the tragedies we studied. Great video.

Thanks! Now I finally know the full story. Beautifully told!

"He [Sauron] was forces to surrender." I think this was a trick, Sauron quite willingly followed the Numenorians.

Thank you young Lady! That was a very nice video and as you told the story I was quickly drawn to the Holy Bible. Being raised a Christian reading the Kings James version. Thanks again and the best of luck on your summer off from work. Looking forward to the content your coming up with. CSL hint hint

Very well done and a perfect fashion choice to tell this story.

Brilliant episode! The one thing that concerns me about this and other Tolkien dynastic stories is that he repeatedly has kingdoms fall because there isn't a boy to take over, and girls just can't run stuff right or even pick their own boyfriend, apparently. Once the kingdom gets turned over to a female, doom is fast approaching in that generation -- and this in spite of the fact that the best and mightiest rulers of his own precious England were women in order: Elizabeth, Victoria, and (albeit after his prime time) Elizabeth II, all of whom raised the UK to new heights of world prestige in various ways, after a series of dudes had basically, practically run it down the drain. Furthermore, in Tolkien's world, the rare really powerful women who can act to direct events MUST be angels or faerie queens, inhuman and almost unreal, and still their greatest acts of intervention are inevitably to enable the journey/quest of some dude, acting indirectly or as moral support at best. They provide secret forest shelter, protect (meaning mostly sit on and don't make much practical use of) a magical item/realm, and hand out freaking travel biscuits, ffs. It's all just an assumption lurking in the background, a product of his era and religion, and contrary to historical facts in so many ways. As I've said elsewhere, "I detest Tolkien's theology as much as I adore his storytelling skills. Unfortunately, the two are not seperable after the fact." Anyway, you asked about other real historical events that may have fed into the background of Numenor. One is the Minoan culture of the bronze-age Mediterranean (and I think we have to see the Numenoreans as essentially mediterranean in origin, NOT norse, for several reasons). The Minoans were a dominant trading, crafting, and military culture of the eastern Med bronze age, but as much as they were advanced and powerful, they were also matriarchally governed, and their cultures was demolished by a huge volcanic eruption and tsunami of their capitol island. Another historical thread that could be paralelled with Numenorean empire were the Sea Peoples who precipitated the "Bronze Age Collapse" of 1176 bce. They were early greek islanders who raided the eastern Med extensively, almost undoubtedly the source of the story of the fall of Troy, and the fathers of the Philistines in the Levant region who challenged the rise of the hebrew kingdoms. Between their fleets dominating the coasts of the kingdom of men (like the Corsairs of Umbar in Middle-earth did), and the fact that they disrupted trade routes to Asia, along with some of the usual plagues & climate issues, these "Black Numenorean" equivalents resulted in a region-wide collapse of international commerce & civilization. Only the Egyptian heartland managed to hold them off, but were still cut off from crucial techno-trade to the east for generations. Another thread in DEEP mythos history, a thread still wrapped in debate, is the multi-fragment comet impact and catastrophic drainage of Lake Agassiz (the Agassiz Event, ca. 12,800 years ago) that started the Younger Dryas period. This is the ultimate "ancient high culture lost" episode in the evolution of mythos, and it has since been influenced and fringed with so many later and local disaster events/strories as to be but an echo or a shadow of its original horror and glory. There are huge & complex series of effects that lurk at the base of many of the oldest recorded cultures, although some like the Indus Valley and Aboriginal stories do remember earlier events of high peoples in early days. What you can find easily on the subject with the obvious top search results today is mostly a lot of hot air pop culture bullshit debates, but there is serious science and history behind it.

This channel is amazing

I ran into a book at one point called "The Flaming Door", published by Eleanor Merry in 1936, which is almost entirely about the Atlantis myth and the parallels it has in various cultures and mythologies. Aside from mentioning Arthurian legend, she also points out the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Egyptian Amenti, passages of Plutarch, and the Welsh Triads - all of these have in common a land beyond the sea, beyond the West, beyond the setting of the sun, and figuratively beyond death itself. And the curious bit that caught my attention particularly is that they all grant a prominence to the number seven, and particularly to the constellation of the Big Dipper/Ursa Major with its seven stars. I'm not sure Tolkien would have ever ran into this work but it's interesting regardless that he brought this element of seven stars into his own Atlantis analogue.

What a magnificent story!

only the best for you on your stepping away from the day job to pursue your bliss.

You make excellent videos about a subject I've been enthralled by for several decades. I hope you can keep up the good work and make a steady income from your KZfaq channel.

Thanks!

Surely Sauron knew that the Valar weren’t going to take the invasion from numenor lying down why throw away such a powerful vassal he’d spent years influencing

absolutely slaying today in that outfit

Tolkien's message was clear. The more people deny Eru and embrace Melkor, the more they fear death. The more people obtain material wealth and comfort, the more they fear death. But those who embrace Eru and reject Melkor do not fear death, and they are called the Faithful. Sound familiar?

Great video again. Great costume too. Good luck with full time YT. Best wishes.

Death is such a mighty gift, far better than the human immortality! It's a bitter gift to receive, for a Numenórean at least.. Just imagine if all the cruelties of Numenor appeared in RoP? Slavery, colonialism, devastating felling of trees, huge sacking of cities, torture of civilians, human sacrifice... so on and so forth...

I hope you do more research on Atlantis. There are so many other neat places to find information on the topic than the History Channel. Love your channel :)

You always have such cool outfits

FULL TIME YOU TUBER!!! YAY!!!!

30:31 Some modern humans also like to believe that there may be technological salvation bestowed from an extra-terrestrial source.

Great vid!

Great video. I think Atlantis and other similar myths have such sway is because of our longing for wanting to live in Golden Age, because obviously no matter when or where you are born, there was always something better in another when and where. Love your costume. Keep up the good work.

Once more a wonderful video. Enjoy your time, replenish your batteries and till later. Cheers 😍

Worst disaster of Númenor: No more dancing bears😢.

Since this video was focused on "The Akallabêth", if Jess (or anyone else) would like to revisit the island of Númenor, I highly recommend you read 3 of the pieces in "Unfinished Tales": "A Description of the Island of Númenor", "Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife", and "The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor." Only "Aldarion and Erendis" is a proper narrative story, in some ways similar to chivalric romances, and true to the title of the book it is sadly an unfinished tale. But what is there is wonderful and sad and leaves you wondering where the story would have gone if Tolkien had indeed finished it.

Avalonë was also a name for the Elvish lands just offshore of Valinor, IIRC.

Well done.

Brilliant as usual. Good luck with your dive into 'full time Middle Earth scholar' and whatever else you choose to sink you teeth into!

Before I even listen to this I want to say I've been waiting for this post. OK, I'm starting the video now.

A great video. Thank you. A look at Hy Brasil in Irish mythology is worth analysis as well.

Atlantis is arguably the paradigmatic example of an advanced/blessed civilisation laid low by its own hubris; and it's an open question whether it merely exemplifies a recurring didactic trope or a more penetrating metaphysical commentary on the human condition (not that those are mutually exclusive). In any event, your video, as always, is excellent; I would contend that Númenor, being comparatively (far) more realised than Atlantis, and being contextualised within the rich and nuanced complex of Tolkien's legendarium, readily lends itself to a deeper, metaphysically-inclined reading. Moreover, its catastrophic end contributes to the overarching Edainic "eucatastrophe" that finds its dénouement in Aragorn/Elessar.

Great Video, good luck with the fulltime KZfaq idea.

The new FURIOSA movie is a very interesting as a chop suey of myth, (Which is no surprise, George Miller is absolutely obsessed with the concept of oral tradition, and many people appreciate the Mad Max series is not concerned with consistent lore but is a real throwback to the whimsy of how legends were actually told) drawing from the Illiad, the Edda, even real life history, filtered through a petrolium age. (In fact, the three fortresses really feel like the domains of the three brother Gods, but with what we consider neccesseties in the post-industrial world) There is another yarn that combines the Fall of Camelot, Atlantis, and Noah's Ark, and has a slight connection with Lord of the Rings (Both were the first movies to make a billion worldwide), and that is TITANIC. It has the star-crossed lovers, the elite being brought down by their own hubris, and a big-ass boat and loads people drowing. And interesting is, like many classic myths, weaves the fictional and the historical in one tapestry, filtered though 20th century secular values like economic populism and women's liberation

I also see a clear parallel with the Biblical history of the Kings of Israel and Judah. The Israelites, having been given the Promised Land, flourish under the prosperous rule of David and his son Solomon the wise. But because of Solomon's later folly, and his son Rehoboam's pride, the kingdom is divided and descends by degrees into greater and greater depravity, till the Lord sends foreign armies to sweep them away into captivity.

You so deserve to have weekends again!