misbehavingmaiar: The Cats of Mordor– RivkaZ 2017 “I fear that to me Siamese cats belong
misbehavingmaiar: The Cats of Mordor– RivkaZ 2017 “I fear that to me Siamese cats belong to the fauna of Mordor, but you need not tell the cat breeder that.“― J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 219 “Moon-Diamond Cats”, the emissary called them; one of seventeen types of auspicious cat that could bring prosperity and luck to their keepers. Six breeding pairs, and one litter of kittens (born during the long voyage over the Encircling Sea), had come on the trading convoy of a great king from lands far to the south east of Harad– a gift to the Lord of Mordor and its vassal states. “I am more accustomed by far to the company of wolves, but these creatures also are to my liking,” said the Lord of Mordor, and promised they would be treated with utmost hospitality, and that for however many generations the cats chose to make their home in his kingdom, they would be welcome. Gold and iron and scrolls of lore were given in return, many times the weight of the lissome beasts they bought. From then on, cats would live in the grand palaces of Umbar, and as guardians in the Temple of the Giver of Freedom, and even in Barad-dûr at the foot of Sauron himself, for they delighted him. And so it was, even after the eastern empire fell, and rose for a time in shadow, and fell once more, the cats of Mordor, who live still in the crumbling gardens at Umbar and run feral in the port cities of South Gondor, have ink-dipped points, and a diamond stain over the bright moons of their eyes. -- source link
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