Mojo, The Bard, & Me

So, underneath the belly of their steeds,

That stain’d their fetlocks in his smoking blood,

The noble gentleman gave up the ghost. 

-Richard

King Henry The Sixth Part III           Act II, scene iii, line 20

This scene is taking place on the fringes of a battle. Richard is talking to Warwick and describing how he just saw the latter’s brother being killed by Clifford. He gave up the ghost. It sounds like there’s more than one person dying because he mentions their steeds, but he’s just talking about Warwick’s brother. At least, I think he is. And I don’t know who Warwick’s brother is. There are just way too many names in these history plays.

It’s a pretty interesting mental image, though. The guy is lying on the ground, presumably his horse is still standing over him, and this dying fellow’s blood is all over the bottom of the horse’s legs. Or maybe he’s underneath the belly of the horse that has fallen on him, like to Theoden on the Pelannor Fields. It could be just one more little thing that Tolkien borrowed from Will. I’ll have to go read that Tolkien passage again, won’t I.  

'To me! To me!' cried Theoden. 'Up Eorlingas! Fear no darkness!' But Snowmane wild with terror stood up on high, fighting with the air, and then with a great scream he crashed upon his side: a black dart had pierced him. The king fell beneath him.

That’s from chapter 6 of The Return Of The King. No question in that scenario; the horse fell on the king. I think I’d prefer to think of Warwick’s brother’s horse falling and lying on top of him as well. That is, if you don’t mind. Though, to be honest, I think the lines seem to be saying that the horse is still standing. Anyway, Tolkien's lines don’t really give any indication of being borrowed from Will. So at least we know that.

I can't really think of any way that these pics go with today's Totally Random lines, but I'm using them anyway.

I went for a walk today after lunch because it was a really beautiful day out. So I was walking by this abandoned, burnt-out factory. It was Winchester Repeating Arms at one time, but it's been empty for thirty or forty years. It's not much to look at. As I was walking I noticed something red stuck in that rusty fencing you see there, so I looked closer.

 

It says The search for love continues even in the face of great odds. 

So on the edifice of this wreck of a building we find this message of hope. I think it's pretty interesting, and now that I re-read today's Totally Random lines, maybe there is some correlation. 

What do you think?