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Do you remember how Frodo lit up Shelob's lair with the light of distant Eärendil, drawing out the elven phial given to him by Galadriel, with the light of the far-off Evening Star trapped inside it, pointing the way to the shores of the Undying Lands?

Do you remember how Frodo lit up Shelob's lair with the light of distant Eärendil, drawing out the elven phial given to him by Galadriel, with the light of the far-off Evening Star trapped inside it, pointing the way to the shores of the Undying Lands? It was, all in all, a most symbolic moment of the Legendarium.

And so, this Wednesday NASA announced the discovery of the oldest star ever seen, and named it Earendel. As Tolkien wrote: "May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out." I think each of us must learn to find such a light in the gathering darkness.

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Do you remember how Frodo lit up Shelob's lair with the light of distant Eärendil, drawing out the elven phial given to him by Galadriel, with the light of the far-off Evening Star trapped inside it, pointing the way to the shores of the Undying Lands?

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s