Don't the great tales never ends?

And apparently, neither do some of the not-so-great-ones. Like the story of this favourite pendant of mine.

It started in 2014, when I made the pendant (how and why, you can read it in this post). It was really precious for me because of two reasons: I thought at this time, this was the apex of my beading "career", I 'll never be able to create something more complicated. Plus, it was special for me, because it was inspired by a tale (the story of Lúthien) which was always close to my heart. (well, in a depressed-and-rebellious-teenager period I had preferred the story of the children of Húrin to the Lay of Leithian, but that's only natural, isn't it?)

OK, back to the topic. The story continued in 2017, when I finally made a matching ring to the pendant (introduced in this post). I was really satisfied with the outcome, but then...


...while I was proudly wearing them together for the first time,  snap! the thread in the pendant broke, and it began to fall apart. I had to dismantle the whole thing cautiously in order to not loosing any beads. Seriously, it was a heartbreaking labour.
And even worse, I had to realize that I may not to remake it, because I couldn't recall any more, how it was made originally. The thread-path was so complicated, that while I was ripping it up, I wasn't able to understand and recreate it.
The situation looked rather hopeless.  Was it true, that "for the less even as for the greater there is some deed that he may accomplish but once only, and in this deed his heart shall rest"? Was maybe this pendant that once-only-deed in my life (me belonging definitely in the category of the least of the lesser...)?! A very disheartening thought.

But no, it just cannot be! -  thought I almost two years later. After all, it's just a friggin' little beaded pendant, not a magical jewel containing unsullied divine light whatsoever... So I took the beads that were since then respectfully stored in a box, and started to make a second version, which imitated closely the first one in look, but not in technique. The result: a pendant made from the beads of the original that looks almost like the original, although the thread-path is totally different (but who would tell it?)
So my special pendant was reborn, "recalled from the death", so to speak.  A very fitting end, if we consider, whose story inspired it originally :)

Could you tell the difference between the old and the new?

Rings

Three rings - but no, not that Three. At least not here. Not today. But who knows, what are hiding in my UFO-box... ;) Nevertheless these now aren't without some tolkienian allusions either - well, that's me, it can't be helped... 

But it had started in a totally different way...

I designed this element (a kind of bezelled chaton) originally as a  part of a bigger project, but I thought it would work well as a ring too. Not too big, not too small, just the perfect size :)
And these new "Iridescent Tahitian look" Swarovski imitation pearls combined with "Erinite" and "Pacific opal" crystals are really a match made in heaven - they look so lovely together!

 Of course, I wanted to try the pattern in  different colorways too, and since I've got so many coppery-reddish beads, this ring was born next. The picture doesn't really show it, but the chaton in the middle is "crystal red magma", while the bicones are "garnet". And having already some reddish pendants, this one now became a ring.

 So, here I was with these two rings, while re-reading the last chapters of The Silmarillion... and I realised how their colours, sea-green and lava-red actually mirror the fate of the last two Silmarils. It wasn't deliberate, I swear... it just happened. But after realizing it, I naturally couldn't resist making a third one...

...one in sky-blue with lots of sparkling crystals.

"And thus it came to pass that the Silmarils found their long homes: one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires of the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters."

(The Silmarillion, Chapter 24. Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath)

Sure enough, these rings are just plain, simply thingies, not really fitting to this topic in style and "grandeur", so to speak. They are just the result of a sudden idea based on a coincidence, that's all. But telling the truth, I already have plans (and purchased beads) for a more elaborate rendition of this theme...

"Grey is her raiment; and rest is her gift"

Last summer I made a matching bracelet to my soft grey pendant (it was one of my experiments with the "Freiheit"-pattern). The elements are basically the miniaturised version of the pendant - well, at least the base is proportionally downscaled (the pendant had a 12 mm focal with 8 mm beads, so I used for the bracelet 6 mm focals with 4 mm beads), but the embellishing row is almost the same in both cases.

Back then I had said, how the ready pendant with its soft grey colour reminded me of Este* the Gentle, "healer of hurts and weariness", one of the Valier.
When I was reading The Silmarillion for the first time, I was  a ten-years-old little bookworm, interested in mythologies and legends, so it's only natural that I was totally fascinated by the Valaquenta. It was for me a new, interesting "pantheon" to learn, after all that Greek, Roman, Norse and whatnot myths. And sure enough, I tried to find paralels, like "So, Manwe is the king, is in charge for air and wind, and has eagles. Than he is basically like Zeus/Iuppiter. But Manwe is at least nice, while Zeus was rather an a**hole..." That's how a little schoolgirl, who has never heard about comparative religion studies, interprets it XD
At this stage I found Este rather uninteresting. Grey dress, slumbering in a garden: how boring is it! - so had thought the naive, impatient young child, who preferred great heroes, beautiful maidens and majestic queens. But now the tired, stressed adult revaluates all her former opinions, and admits she was wrong all along... Aren't Este's gifts the most precious, after all? Worthier than gems and jewels, maybe even than power, valour or knowledge...


*No, I stilll don't know how to write those two dots above the letter "e", which should be used in some Elvish names. It's an awkward situation, since normally I'm a terrible combination of a grammar nazi and a book purist, and can be really fussy about orthography and respecting above all the author's intention... But this case is the only exception, sorry ^.^"

Helluin

Normally I'm not very fond of special coatings, such as AB effect. Sure, they are beautiful, but too extravagant for me. But this 'light sapphire shimmer' chaton was just too interesting... It reminded me of the star Sirius twinkling in the evening sky  (Being not well-versed in astronomy, it's almost the only star I can recognize...)
Unfortunately couldn't find bicones in the same color, so I've chosen "air blue opal 2 AB" and "aquamarine AB". Totally out of my comfort zone... but the result is kinda pretty, I think. Shiny and flashy, no doubt - but small enough for being not too flamboyant.
Oh yes, as for the name: in The Silmarillion by Tolkien, Helluin is the elvish name for the star Sirius. (hel- meaning 'ice' and 'luin' = 'blue')

Herr Nussnacker's new girlfriend

Aren't they an adorable couple? :)                       
 I like mismatched earrings, so decided to make a pretty partner for the little nutcracker instead of a twin brother (that would have been sooo boring...). Of course I wanted to make a ballerina wearing tutu and all, as if she were coming straight from the ballet.




Well, I won't say I'm absolutely satisfied with the result - but it's not too bad, either. Finding the right colours was kinda problematic, because I have a very limited palette of delicas. My first thought was white, naturally, but then there wouldn't had been enought contrast between her dress and her skin. So remained this light blue - not a bad choice, though, since in some stagings of the ballet Clara is wearing blue. But here came my next problem: I've always imagined Clara (or Marie,as she's called in the original tale) as being blonde, but I hadn't proper beads for it. So my version, if you wish, is a young ballerina, tying her black hair up in a tight bun, ready for dancing Clara's role :)

I had hardly finished it, when my sister showed me the trailer of the new Disney version, Nutcracker and the four realms (I guess, this will bethe title), which gave me a new idea: my purpleish delicas would be perfect for the Sugar-plum Fairy!

Mit dem jungen Herrn Nussknacker wünsche ich frohe Weihnachen und glückliches Neujahr für alle liebe BlogleserInnen!
Dear visitors, I wish you all merry Christmas and a happy new year - Mr. Nutcracker sends his best regards, too :)

Happy birthday, little hobbitses! :)

I started the blog more than a year ago, but haven't shown my greatest pride yet. This ought to be mended - and now is the perfect occasion for it!

Firstly,  now is the 80th anniversary of  The Hobbit - it was first published on 21. September 1937. On the other hand, as can be read in The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo and Frodo happen to have their birthday on the same day, September 22.

I was never good at knotting, I made only small friendship bracelets and thought that for a bigger piece I wouldn't have enough skill and perseverance. But when I discovered this great LotR-pattern on friendship-bracelets.net by the user frenchfry_piggy here, my fate was sealed :) It was a very-very long labour (especially because I used rather thin thread), I had almost gave it up, laid it aside for months, then started again... All in all, it took more than two years to finish it. 

The Hobbit-bracelet has a totally different tale. In December 2012 I was terribly (and looking back, I must say a bit unjustifiedly) excited about the oncoming Hobbit movie, so when finding this pattern by Baya, I decided to made a bracelet to wear in the cinema. Time was pressing though, only a week was left, but I hoped, it will be enough. It could have been a good idea... when we ignore the fact, that it was already exam period at the university. You can imagine the situation... But finally, I made it! I passed the dreaded exam and finished the bracelet just before the movie :)

Sure, that was ages ago... at least it seems so for me. I've already forgotten all the definitions and formulas I had learned for that exam, but my feelings for Tolkien's writings are the same :)

Moonlight, starshine... Again? Yes, why not?!

...but now from another aspect :) Apparently I'm in a "moony" phase right now XD

I've already wrote a quite long post about my favourite pendant ("by light of moon and ray of star"). Of course it's not a perfect piece, but I really like it, so I decided to make a matching ring too.

White flowers, moonlight, shimmering stars...
Btw, did you realise that this story was born 100 years ago? ;)

The first try...

I wasn't satisfied with the first version of the ring, because it didn't go well enough with the pendant - although the materials were the same, the shape was too different...

...and the final version

So I then tried to replicate the pendant in a smaller size - keeping the form, but using smaller beads. Fortunately I had got some 3 mm crystal moonlight bicones (they had been bought actually for another project, but nevermind), so I could make a miniaturised version of the pendant, which was small enough for wearing as a ring - even if a very big ring :)

Und weiter geht's...

Da das blaue so gut gelungen ist, habe ich natürlich auch zu meinem kupferfarbigen Anhänger ein passendes Armbändchen gemacht. Diese Rundperlen haben ja so eine angenehme Textur, ich wollte eigentlich immer ein Armband aus sie machen, nur ein passendes Muster fehlte mir bisher.

Au, erst jetzt fällt mir ein, dass gerade dieses auf meinem rechten Handgelenk zu tragen war nicht die beste Entscheidung... :'(
(Wie schon erzählt habe, dieses Bild von Jenny Dolfen hat mich eigentlich darauf inspiriert, etwas kuperfarbiges zu fädeln. Und ja, Maedhros ist gerade einer der coolen aber tragischen einhändigen Helden... Guckt mal nur dieses Bild: https://goldseven.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/there-will-be-blood-painting/ )

Kupferfarbe / rézszín

 (Magyar változat a hajtás után)
Ein bisschen zu spät, aber hier ist der voriges mal ausgelassene Anhänger. Seine Farbkombination hat nämlich eine Geschichte, die lang genug ist, um in einen selbständigen Beitrag zu erklären.
Wie beginnt aber diese Geschichte?
Vielleicht so, dass ich Kupferfarbe früher gar nicht gemocht habe, und nie verwendet habe. Einmal habe ich aber manche kupferfarbigen Rundperlen gekauft, die dann jahrelang nur in meinem Kasten herumgelegen sind...
Oder sollte ich eher damit angefangen, wie ich die wunderbare Aquarell-Illustrationen von Jenny Dolfen entdeckt habe (Jennys Seite: https://goldseven.wordpress.com/), von denen ich seitdem fasziniert bin - eigentlich von ihren allen Werken, aber ganz besonders von seinen Tolkien-Illustrationen. Einerseits weil sie sehr schöne Bilder sind, andererseits finde ich ihre respektvolle Einstellung zu den Quellen sehr sympatisch. Sie gibt die Atmosphere, die Charaktere sehr gut wieder - oft habe ich durch ihre Werke realisert, dass Figuren, die ich früheruninteressant oder sogar unsympatisch gefunden habe, wahre tragische Helden sein können. Zum Beispiel habe ich an die Söhne von Feanor nicht als Individualitäten gedacht, jetzt aber... klar, die drei C's kann noch immer nicht leiden, aber Maedhros...
Und da treffen sich die zwei Fäden der Geschichte: da ich dieses Bild über ihn gesehen habe, habe sofort daran gedacht "ich will sofort etwas kupferfarbenes fädeln, wo sind jene Perlen?" Sie waren natürlich zu Hause, im Gegensatz zu mir. Und als ich endlich heimgekehrt habe, kam das folgende Problem, nämlich, dass ich keine Rocailles in passender Farbe hatte. Nur nach einem monatlangen Jagd habe ich endlich diese "luster indian red" (oder wie sie auch heißt) gefunden. Und was das Rivoli betrifft: tja, das ist gerade "Crystal Red Magma"... Klar, passt gut zu der Kupferfarbe, aber wenn wir das Verhängnis von Maedhros beachten (dazu gibt es auch ein Bild von Jenny Dolfen: It ends in flame) , kann diese Wahl vielleicht ein bisschen morbid scheinen... :/ Die Bicones sind übrigens "Garnet", wenn es auch vom Bild leider nicht zu erkennen ist. Aber glaubt mir, im Leben sieht es gut aus ;)

PS: was die versprochene Anleitung betrifft - sie ist praktisch fertig, ich habe aber Angst davor, dass es noch viele Fehler (sachliche oder sprachliche) enthält, möchte deshalb noch nicht publizieren. Falls jemand Interesse hatte, kann aber ruhig an mich wenden! (oder wenn jemand vielleicht Lust hatte, die Anleitung ausprobieren und "lektorieren", wäre ich sehr dankbar! Oder sollte ich eher nicht um einen so großen Gefallen bitten? :/ )

Varietas delectat ;)

Hogy lássátok, nem csak Tolkien-olvasással telt a gyerekkorom - volt Harry Potter is :) / Now you can see that I spent my childhood not excessively with Tolkien-reading  - there was Harry Potter too, of course...

 Szegény kis cikesz-fülbevalók eléggé nyomszikák lettek, őszintén szólva lusta voltam referenciaképet keresni (tévézés közben készültek), azért remélem, felismerhetők... Mindegy, kellően lökött fülbevalók, szóval szeretem őket :) Még akkor is, ha nagyon kopik ez az arany bevonat :/ (Ez vajon normális? Vagy lehet, hogy a parfüm okozza?)


Poor little golden snitches look rather clumsy - telling the truth I was too lazy for searching reference pics (I made them while was watching TV), nevertheless I hope they are recognizable... Anyway, they are earrings silly enough for me, so I like them :)

PS. a címkéknél a 'saját ötlet' úgy értendő, hogy gyöngyből fűzött cikeszt még nem láttam korábban... Simán lehet, hogy más is kitalált már hasonlót, csak én nem tudok róla. *magyarázom a bizonyítványom*


The tag 'own idea' was meant so that I have never seen beaded snitch (realized with peyote stitch)  before... obviously it can be that other beaders have also had similar ideas, but I didn't know of them...

"by light of moon and ray of star"

Minden ékszernek van története. Egyeseknek hosszú és drámai: rablásról, gyilkosságról, lázadásról, bosszúról, háborúról, kétségbeesésről - de hűségről, bátorságról, önfeláldozásról, szerelemről és reményről is. Másoknak hosszú, de hétköznapi: gyöngyösboltok kínálatáról és fűzésproblémákról - de az ihletről is, melyet adhat egy verssor, egy regény, egy festmény, bármi...
Ennek a medálnak a története értelemszerűen a második kategóriába tartozik :)

Tizedik szülinapomra kaptam meg A szilmarilokat - akkor persze nem igazán értem fel ésszel... Ami viszont nagyon megfogott benne, az Lúthien és Beren története volt - egy magában is kerek, szép történet, mondjam azt, hogy tündérmese? (inkább nem mondom, mert annál nyilván több...)

Aztán teltek az évek, olvastam sok mindent, más történetek és szereplők nőttek a szívemhez. De amikor témát kellett választani kiselőadáshoz az ELTE-s Tolkien-szemináriumon, valahogy mégiscsak ezt választottam. Így aztán szép sorjában végigolvastam a történet minden változatát a HoME különböző köteteiből, és persze hónapokra ez kötötte le minden gondolatomat. Biztos nagyon idegesítő lehettem, ahogy unos-untalan gonosz macskákról, farkasokról, bürökvirágokról, a tündék és emberek sorsának különbözőségéről, vagy pláne Celegorm hajszínéről szóló értekezésekbe fogtam ^.^" És naná, hogy meglátva a boltban ezeket a crystal moonlight, illetve white opal bicone-okat, az a bizonyos fehér ernyős virágok borította holdfényes doriathi tisztás jutott eszembe, ahol Beren megpillantotta Lúthient. Be is vásároltam ezekből a gyöngyökből, hogy fűzzek valami finom, csipkés-virágos ékszert, de otthon elbizonytalanodtam: nem lesz-e túlságosan menyasszonyos az összhatás (ami nem lenne baj, csak éppen nem tudnám mikor viselni) Ekkor akadt a kezembe ez a régebben vásárolt csillagos égboltra emlékeztető kék kő - és rögtön ez a rész jutott eszembe:

"És szemébe nézett Beren,
Át az árnyas haj sátorán,
S a csillagos égi elem
Tükörképét láthatta ott" (J. R. R. Tolkien: A Gyűrűk Ura, 11. fejezet, Réz Ádám fordítása)
(Az eredeti szövegben "the trembling starlight of the skies / He saw there mirrored shimmering" - az még jobban passzol hozzá). Így hát megvoltak az alapanyagok, amelyek szerintem tökéletesen illettek ehhez a jelenethez :) Hogy mit sikerült kihozni belőle, az már más kérdés... De hát annak a lánynak az emlékét, aki "mily szép volt, szó nem mondja el"* , az én suta két kezem munkája nyilván nem is tudja visszaidézni :)


*J. R. R. Tolkien: A Szilmarilok, 19. fejezet (ha jól emlékszem, a verset Ferencz Győző fordította)

Every jewel has its own story. Some of them are long and epic: about theft, murder, rebellion, vengeance, war and despair - but also about loyalty, valour, self-sacrifice, love and hope.

Others are long and average: about buying new beads and beading problems - but also about inspiration that can be provided by a poem, a novel, a painting etc...

The story of this pendant is of the second category, of course :)

My family gave me The Silmarillion on my tenth birthday. I couln't get the story in its completeness at this time, but the tale of Lúthien and Beren really captured my attention - a beautiful story, shall I maybe say 'fairytale'? (No, I won't, it's more than that) Then time passed, I read other things, other stories and characters grew close to me. But when we had to choose a theme for a presentation in the Tolkien-seminar at the university, I chose this theme at once. So I began to read all versions of the story (from the volumes of The History of Middle-Earth), and got on everybody's nerves by blabbering about evil cats, werewolves, hemlock-flowers, the different fate of elves and men, or Celegorm's hair colour ^.^" And naturally seeing this crystal moonlight and white opal bicones, my first thought was that moonlit glade with its white hemlock-umbels, where Beren saw Lúthien for the first time. So I bought some of this beads in order to create a delicate, flowery beadwork, but it would have been too wedding-like (thus unwearable for me) Fortunately I found this "starry sky"-looking blue gemstone, and  this verses came inmediately to my mind:

"As Beren looked into her eyes

Within the shadows of her hair,
The trembling starlight of the skies

He saw there mirrored shimmering." (J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings, Ch. 11.)

So I've got the beads perfectly (in my humble opinion) matching to that scene - what the result is, an other question... But well, the memory of her loveliness, who was "more fair than mortal tongue can tell"* can't be evoked by my two clumsy hands' work... :)

*J. R. R. Tolkien: The Silmarillion, Ch. 19.

"Tűnt, halovány arany nyomán" / "To seek the pale enchanted gold"

Van, hogy az embernek megragad a fejében egy kifejezés, mondattöredék, és napokig nem tud szabadulni tőle. Valahogy így voltam ezzel a "tűnt, halovány arany"-nyal (nem tudom, az újabb Hobbit-fordításban hogy hangzik, én még a régi, Szobotka-félét olvastam - abban a verseket Tótfalusi István fordította, ha jól emlékszem) Akárhogy is, igazán illik hozzá ez a "golden shadow" nevezetű Swarovski-szín, nem? :)
Sometimes you can't get rid of a word stuck in your head... So was I with this "pale enchanted gold" - and this "golden shadow" Swarovski rivoli really fits to it, don't you think? :)