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Elena from Elena Square Eyes stopped by my U Challenge blog to comment. She mentioned that for V on HER blog she’d done one of my favorite actors — Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings’ King Aragorn fame. (Be still my

But I wanted to piggy-back on her post and show her some pictures. You see Viggo is one of those actors I really respect. And the guy is SO multi-talented I can barely stand it. In 2002 when he released his book Coincidence of Memory (which contains both poetry and artwork), my friend Jen Chow from L.A. stopped by his book signing and picked me up a copy as a surprise for Christmas. OML!!! I was totally over the moon!

She said to me on the phone that day:  “He looked at your name (she had asked him to make it out to Calensariel) and said, ‘That’s Elivish, isn’t it? What does it mean?” When she told him he said he thought it was beautiful. I couldn’t stop thinking all day that King Aragorn had spoken MY name! An Elvish name no one else would ever have! Lordy what a trip… (Yes, I was FAR too old to be having a mega-crush melt-down at 51!)

I asked Elena to stop by so I could show her some pictures. I’m very proud of this book. Getting it from Jen meant the world to me.

“Coincidence of Memory”
Viggo Mortensen
2002

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It says: “And yes, my dear, Viggo did indeed say “Calensariel.” He looked at the name for a few seconds as if to confirm that it was Elivish and he pronounced it perfectly. He spoke it in that hushed tone of his, half voiced, half whispered. He then looked up at me and asked what it meant.”Maiden of the Green Stone.” I answered. “Very beautiful,” he replied, as he bent his head to write it down. Did I not recount this to you before? Shame on me! 🙂 (from an email from Jen…she’s quite a tease 😀 )

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I thought I was going to swoon to death on the spot when I opened it! 😀 It holds pride of place in my library still. namárië  means “Be well” in Elvish.)

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I have to include at least one poem from the book. It was untitled, written in 1991, long before LOTR. Made me wonder what his life was like at the time…

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UNTITLED  By Viggo Mortensen

oceans take our secrets
what we don’t want to see or smell anymore.
we feel anonymous
we feel clean
when we throw our past away.
it will wash we think.
it will sink
it will drift far from this shore.
it will disappear.
maybe the fish will eat our words
maybe lost or spurned loves
will help deep sea feathery green plants grow.

Now and again
i find myself walking on the wet, hard packed sand
looking for tears and exotic messages
in the creeping reaching water
that just missed touching my toes.
sometimes there’s something clear and obvious
like a fingernail or a plastic bag
though ill never know for sure
who threw them away.
once i found a wedding ring
uncovered by the receding tide.
i didn’t touch it.
i was already married.

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I could so relate…
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Aragorn’s speech at the Black Gates… Still makes me shiver. 🙂

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Picture Source:
Viggo Mortensen — CELEBS PLACE
King Aragorn — www.fanpop.com
Coincidence of Memory book — personal