Go here for the greatest not all who wander are lost necklace currently available on the market and reasonably priced.

I thought that was such an odd juxtaposition—“not all who wander are lost necklace” that it seemed the usual spambot gibberish, although I’m familiar with the saying “not all who wander are lost.” But necklace? I started to wonder. Do such necklaces really exist?

And so I Googled it—and sure enough, here they are. They’re sold even on Amazon, so if you happen to be a Tolkien fan or your sweetie is and you think it’s just the thing, then here you go, you can order it through neo-neocon.

How’s that for the ability to turn a spambot into an advertising pitch for myself? Who says I’m deficient at monetizing this blog?

By the way, here’s the Tolkien poem from Lord of the Rings:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

The first line is a variant and rearrangement of the proverb “All that glitters is not gold”, known primarily from Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” resulting in a proposition bearing a completely different meaning: Aragorn is vastly more important than he looks. The second line emphasizes the importance of the Rangers, suspiciously viewed as wanderers or vagabonds by those the Rangers actually protect from evil. Lines three and four emphasize the endurance of Aragorn’s royal lineage, while five and six emphasizes its renewal. They can also be seen to represent a spark of hope during a time of despair and danger.

“A spark of hope during a time of despair and danger”—not a bad token for our times.

[NOTE: Come to think of it, wouldn’t that necklace be more thoughtful if it had a real compass and not a fake one? Found one! But alas, it lacks the quote.]