Öjevind Lång
Matthew Bladen
long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
Öjevind and I first started posting to alt.fan.tolkien at about the same
time in early 1999, and I quickly came to enjoy his often impish sense
of humour and his great breadth of knowledge. Online, he often came
across as a much younger man, and I remember being surprised to discover
that he was 50 years old. He had been a mainstay of these groups ever
since.
I came to know him better, as did many others, through his participation
on the TEUNC mailing list, IRC chatroom, and in real life gatherings. At
times he could be infuriating, but he was a deeply learned, erudite and
above all lovable man, full of joie de vivre in spite of the obstacles
that fate saw fit to place in his way. He was passionate: about what he
hated, sometimes, but more often and more movingly about what he loved.
Öjevind had a tremendous capacity for love, as those closest to him came
to know. It's hard to conceive of such a burning force being
extinguished.
I met Öjevind four times, in Oxford in 2000 and 2007, in Copenhagen and
Lund in 2001, and most recently in Washington DC in 2009. By this point
he was perceptibly less robust than he had been, although at the time no
one knew what was wrong. He was as voluble, interesting and fiery in
person as he was in text, and it was a pleasure and a privilege to have
met him and to have been a guest in his home.
My heartfelt condolences go to his family and friends, among whom I know
that many of you will feel honoured to count yourselves.
We shall not look upon his like again.
Matthew Bladen
Steve Morrison
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
> was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
Sixty-three is too young an age to die. My condolences also to his
survivors.
Goodbye, Öjevind.
Troels Forchhammer
Matthew Bladen <trib...@gmail.com> spoke these staves:
>
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind
> Lång, long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away
> earlier today. He was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some
> time.
It is indeed, as you say, hard to believe. That Öjevind's voice shall
no longer be heard here . . .
Words fail me. This is a sad day in the history of AFT and RABT.
--
Troels Forchhammer
Valid e-mail is <troelsfo(a)gmail.com>
Please put [AFT], [RABT] or 'Tolkien' in subject.
Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the
world, and beyond them is more than memory, Farewell!
Steve Hayes
>It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
>long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
>was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
Sad news. Thanks for letting us know.
--
Steve Hayes
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/litmain.htm
http://www.goodreads.com/hayesstw
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius
O. Sharp
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that ?jevind L?ng,
...I've been sitting here mute at the keyboard, trying to think of what to
say about this. "Fare well, my friend" doesn't begin to express it, nor
mentioning his boundless humor, bizarre Balrog poetry or stunning Sherlock
Holmes in Middle-earth vignettes. I don't even know where to start. The
only thing I can think to say is that the next world's gain is our loss.
Dammit, Ojevind, I already miss you.
------------------------------------------------------------------
o...@panix.com "In sorrow we must go, but not in despair.
Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of
the world, and beyond them is more than memory.
Farewell!"
-Aragorn
Steuard Jensen
wrote:
> Matthew Bladen <trib...@gmail.com> writes:
>> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that ?jevind L?ng,
>> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today.
Thank you very much for letting us know. Ojevind was a wonderful
friend, and one of the few people from the groups that I've met in
person: he welcomed Kim and me into his home and made us a lovely
lunch in a spur of the moment day trip while we were visiting my
cousins in Sweden. I've always felt a special bond with him from our
time in the E-text cabal, too.
Like O., I really don't know what to say beyond that. I'll miss you
greatly, Ojevind; it's hard to imagine not having you here.
> o...@panix.com "In sorrow we must go, but not in despair.
> Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of
> the world, and beyond them is more than memory.
> Farewell!"
> -Aragorn
I just posted that quote yesterday for my friend Mike whose brother
had died. (Mike was the one who first taught me the Tengwar, among
other things.) I had no idea that I'd need it again so soon. I wish I
were Carl or David so I could say something moving in Quenya.
Steuard Jensen
Stan Brown
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Tolkien FAQs: http://Tolkien.slimy.com (Steuard Jensen's site)
Tolkien letters FAQ:
http://mysite.verizon.net/aznirb/mtr/lettersfaq.html
FAQ of the Rings: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm
Encyclopedia of Arda: http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/default.htm
more FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm
Bill O'Meally
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today.
What a loss. I will miss both his off-the-wall wit and his deep wisdom.
--
Bill O'Meally
"Wise Fool" -- Gandalf, _The Two Towers_
(The Wise will remove 'se' to reach me. The Foolish will not!)
Taemon
Can't seem to say anything else. Maybe later. I had no idea. What happened?
Taemon
when I started to post, which must have been about a decade ago. His warm
personality made him one of my favourite persons here, even though he and I
never spoke beyond the scope of discussion here. He is one of those people
that make you feel safe just being around them. He was also screamingly
funny.
I wish his family and friends much strength in dealing with this loss. This
distant virtual acquantaince is going to mope around for a bit.
Group hug,
T.
Conrad Dunkerson
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today.
Terrible news.
Öjevind's warm spirit on zany irreverence were a large part of what made
these newsgroups a community rather than just a collection of people
talking at each other. Like many others, I will miss him.
--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ne...@netfront.net ---
Glenn Holliday
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
Oh, no.
We just heard from him last month ... and then he was silent longer
than usual.
"I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall not now
be ashamed." - Theoden
--
Glenn Holliday holl...@acm.org
TT Arvind
> We shall not look upon his like again.
Deyr fé,
deyja frændr,
deyr sjalfr it sama,
en orðstírr
deyr aldregi,
hveim er sér góðan getr.
Goodbye, Öjevind. You leave behind many good memories of your
thoughtful wisdom and light-hearted humour. It will be a long while
before I can pick up a book on the Sufis again.
--
Arvind
Noel Q. von Schneiffel
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
> was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
Google Groups only today started working again. I don't know how long
it will last this time, so just a quick post.
This is indeed devastating news. Öjevind was a good friend. He was one
of these people who seemed to always have been around. And then
suddenly he isn't.
He had been in and out of hospitals for the past year, so his health
was definitely getting worse; but still this came as a major and
unexpected shock.
I miss him.
Noel
Count Menelvagor
i keep asking if he's really gone. even though he was already unwell
when i last saw him, it's still hard to believe. we met in the same
doomed portugal moot, where morgil and i visited him in a hospital in
coimbra, and afterwards we shared a day with him in lisbon. he was as
lively and amusing as ever. i was hoping to meet him in lund next
year, but it was not to be.
i'll never forget the weird games we used to play and the build-on
stories we used to tell.
i thought of the "beyond the walls of this world" quote as well.
requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux tua luceat super eum.
requiescat in pace.
Banazir
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all thatÖjevindLång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
> was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
Namárië, Öje. It was a privilege to correspond with you and I shall
miss your tremendous wit.
Condolences and prayers to his family and loved ones.
--
William H, Hsu
sean_q
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today.
This is sad news indeed, though he and I never met in person.
I never knew his likeness, nor the sound of his voice. Only his words
in text form did I know. Yet ever he seemed a gentleman, and I was
always glad of his replies to my comments in particular.
Lately I reviewed some of those words in the Google archive.
It was hard to believe that their author was no longer
at his keyboard. He may have passed on, but the writings
he left behind still live.
Farewell and sleep in peace.
SQ
Clams Canino
"Troels Forchhammer" <Tro...@ThisIsFake.invalid> wrote in message news:Xns9F3BD196...@130.133.4.11...
> It is indeed, as you say, hard to believe. That Öjevind's voice shall
> no longer be heard here . . .
>
> Words fail me. This is a sad day in the history of AFT and RABT.
Indeed it is!! A great loss to this group. :(
-W
Michael Ikeda
news:TtKdnW4BZ-4y7dnT...@earthlink.com:
>
> "Troels Forchhammer" <Tro...@ThisIsFake.invalid> wrote in
> message news:Xns9F3BD196...@130.133.4.11...
>
>> It is indeed, as you say, hard to believe. That �jevind's voice
>> shall no longer be heard here . . .
>>
>> Words fail me. This is a sad day in the history of AFT and
>> RABT.
>
> Indeed it is!! A great loss to this group. :(
>
Yes. Very much so.
Mike Scott Rohan
I haven't been on this group in ages, but Matthew very thoughtfully
tracked me down and sent the sad news. Oje was a man of great
intellect, vast knowledge, real wisdom, amazing linguistic ability and
as hilariously creative a loony as ever breathed -- and most certainly
a good man, and an old friend. We only kept in touch intermittently,
but he seemed never to change or diminish. Deb and I will miss him,
but the space he'll leave in the groups will be enormous.
Cheers (as a toast to Oje),
Mike
olof...@yahoo.se
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
> was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
>
Öjevind's death - it was far too early. It warms my heart that he had
so many friends in this group. I knew that he was very active here and
met some of you in real life. My english isn't as good as my
brother's, but I share his love for Tolkien, as do others of the
family.
Mr Olof Lång, Stockholm
Ben Myring
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
> was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
>
> Öjevind and I first started posting to alt.fan.tolkien at about the same
> time in early 1999, and I quickly came to enjoy his often impish sense
> of humour and his great breadth of knowledge. Online, he often came
> across as a much younger man, and I remember being surprised to discover
> that he was 50 years old. He had been a mainstay of these groups ever
> since.
I have not posted here for many years, indeed it's been over a decade
since I posted regularly. But it is here that I met Öjevind, a man
who I have known throughout my adult life, and who had more influence
on me that I could ever admit to him. Now I shall regret that
omission for the rest of my days. I've been searching for the right
words all week, and they still escape me. This must do: Farewell
Uncle OJ. I hope you knew how much you'd be missed.
Arkady
Clams Canino
<olof...@yahoo.se> wrote in message news:b6c0dfe8-e17d-4bd2...@a12g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
I just wish to thank you all for condolences concerning my brother
so many friends in this group. I knew that he was very active here and
met some of you in real life. My english isn't as good as my
brother's, but I share his love for Tolkien, as do others of the
family.
______________________________________________
My condolences on your loss. Your brother was an anchor here, and will be missed.
Your English seems to be of good quality to me, surely good enough to participate here.
It's my opinion that the group would be made all the better by having a Lang around here.
-W
Matthew Bladen
Axelssons Begravningsbyrå
Getingevägen 1
S-222 41 Lund
Sweden
The funeral will be held on the 26th of August.
--
Matthew
Ertugrul iNANC
post of yours.
I'm really sorry for your loss. I didn't know him beyond a name in a
newsgroup but his posts were worth reading.
Requiescat in pace aeterna
Ertugrul iNANC
long enough to get to know him as well as he deserved.
"Matthew Bladen" <trib...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.28aa37131...@news.ox.ac.uk...
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that �jevind L�ng,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
> was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
>
> �jevind and I first started posting to alt.fan.tolkien at about the same
> time in early 1999, and I quickly came to enjoy his often impish sense
> of humour and his great breadth of knowledge. Online, he often came
> across as a much younger man, and I remember being surprised to discover
> that he was 50 years old. He had been a mainstay of these groups ever
> since.
>
> I came to know him better, as did many others, through his participation
> on the TEUNC mailing list, IRC chatroom, and in real life gatherings. At
> times he could be infuriating, but he was a deeply learned, erudite and
> above all lovable man, full of joie de vivre in spite of the obstacles
> that fate saw fit to place in his way. He was passionate: about what he
> hated, sometimes, but more often and more movingly about what he loved.
> �jevind had a tremendous capacity for love, as those closest to him came
> to know. It's hard to conceive of such a burning force being
> extinguished.
>
> I met �jevind four times, in Oxford in 2000 and 2007, in Copenhagen and
Morgoth's Curse
wrote:
>It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
>long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
>was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
>
>I came to know him better, as did many others, through his participation
>on the TEUNC mailing list, IRC chatroom, and in real life gatherings. At
>times he could be infuriating, but he was a deeply learned, erudite and
>above all lovable man, full of joie de vivre in spite of the obstacles
>that fate saw fit to place in his way. He was passionate: about what he
>hated, sometimes, but more often and more movingly about what he loved.
>Öjevind had a tremendous capacity for love, as those closest to him came
>to know. It's hard to conceive of such a burning force being
>extinguished.
I should add my voice to the chorus of lamentation that greeted
this news except that it is not true. Ojevind is not dead--far from
it. The truth is that none of us are truly individuals. We are a
part of everyone that we meet and encounter--everyone that we spend
time with, everyone that we work with and everyone that we share with.
Ojevind Lang is as much a part of me as he is of Troels Forchhammer,
Steuard Jensen, Conrad Dunkerson, Laurie Forbes and all others who
were blessed with the good fortune to exchange thoughts, hopes, fears
and even insults with Ojevind. Ojevind is thus still very much alive
even as we interact with our family and friends.
>My heartfelt condolences go to his family and friends, among whom I know
>that many of you will feel honoured to count yourselves.
The only consolation that I can offer is the certainty that
Ojevind has been reunited with the Softrat and is even now doubtless
enjoying a pint of lager with Professor Tolkien and arguing about
Scandinavian languages.
>
>We shall not look upon his like again.
Indeed. It is a marvelous tribute to Ojevind that he is and will
remain the all-time poster in the Tolkien newsgroups with 10,227
messages.
Morgoth's Curse
kristi...@gmail.com
<morgothscurse2...@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 8 Aug 2011 19:11:01 +0100, Matthew Bladen <tribi...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> >long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
> >was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
This is terrible tidings for us, though it cannot be compared to
sorrow felt by Öjevinds loved ones.
I will always remember Öjevind for his outrageously funny parodies of
almost everything, always given a Tolkien-twist.
> Ojevind is thus still very much alive
> even as we interact with our family and friends.
Some say, that you are not truly dead as long as you and your work is
remembered. Öjevind and his work will be remembered for long.
> The only consolation that I can offer is the certainty that
> Ojevind has been reunited with the Softrat and is even now doubtless
> enjoying a pint of lager with Professor Tolkien and arguing about
> Scandinavian languages.
A picture of the professor, the Softrat and Öjevind sitting in the
heavenly version of The Eagle and Child fills my mind. It's a good
one.
Though I never knew Öjevind well enough to call him a friend, I will
say this: Goodbye, may we meet beyond this life, and there we shall
become friends.
Regards,
Kristian
Laurie Forbes
> Group hug,
> T.
Oh, that felt good, Taemon! And what a lovely tribute. OK, remember that
naughty-yet-fitting webpage you found when the softrat died? Well, don't
look for another one, but you should know that Öjevind found it very funny.
He just didn't think he should come right out and publicly confess it!
Öjevind enjoyed many things, but one of his favorite activities was posting
in these two newsgroups. In turn, he enriched the groups in so many ways. He
was a valuable, even passionate, contributor to any on-topic discussion he
participated in, as well as with related subjects such as mythology,
linguistics and history. And he put no less effort into his posts whenever
the topic went completely astray, with no sign of Tolkien anywhere!
He also had a great deal of fun writing and posting his semi-topical poems,
songs and stories. He wasn't seeking applause, though. As much as serious
discussions, he valued and nurtured the social aspects of the groups. He was
one of the first each time to welcome newcomers, and he enjoyed answering
questions and sharing information. He was delighted when lots of people
would join a discussion, which happened most often with the lurker-luring
"safe" topics started by him or others: the "Birthday" threads and the
"Where are you from?" threads, the "What's your favorite character or
passage?" threads and the "What should I read next?" threads.
On his own, he would drop all kinds of things in the groups, hoping
something would catch fire; and he was supportive of others' efforts. There
didn't seem to be any way to predict when this "fire" would happen and when
it wouldn't, but he was never discouraged for long. And sometimes the
results were glorious. Among his favorites was "Smog on the Barrow Downs" --
a build-on story -- which he was reminiscing about just recently.
Öjevind was an immovable anti-winger, a staunch defender of certain
less-attractive characters, and always very irritated with my favorite,
Pippin. ("But he's such a brat!") However, we did agree on one character:
while understanding the criticism about his inclusion, both of us remained
charmed and moved by Tom Bombadil, which leads me to this excerpt from a
2008 e-mail exchange:
Öjevind:
I think one of the loveliest passages in LotR is: "They heard of the Great
Barrows, and the green mounds, and the stone-rings upon the hills and in the
hollows among the hills. Sheep were bleating in flocks. Green walls and
white walls rose. There were fortresses on the heights. Kings of little
kingdoms fought together, and the young Sun shone like fire on the red metal
of their new and greedy swords. There was victory and defeat; and towers
fell, fortresses were burned, and flames went up into the sky. Gold was
piled on the biers of dead kings and queens; and mounds covered them, and
the stone doors were shut; and the grass grew over all. Sheep walked for a
while biting the grass, but soon the hills were empty again."
Haunting, isn't it? And clearly, those were people living in the Bronze Age.
"Kings of little kingdoms fought together, and the young Sun shone like fire
on the red metal of their new and greedy swords." That haunted me even as a
child, when I read it in a Swedish translation.
Laurie:
That's one of my favorites, as well. And it's followed up and connected so
movingly on the Barrow-Downs by: "He (Bombadil) chose for himself from the
pile a brooch set with blue stones, many-shaded like flax-flowers or the
wings of blue butterflies. He looked long at it, as if stirred by some
memory, shaking his head, and saying at last: 'Here is a pretty toy for Tom
and for his lady! Fair was she who long ago wore this on her shoulder.
Goldberry shall wear it now, and we will not forget her!' "
_____________________________
And we won't forget you, Öjevind. Everyone, join me in a chorus of "My
Balrog (F)Lies Over the Ocean," and if someone shows up here and asks about
wings, don't point him to the FAQ. Think of Öjevind, welcome him in, and
talk about it.
--
Laurie Forbes
Taemon
>> "Taemon" wrote in message
>> news:4e415bb8$0$5946$bf49...@news.tele2.nl...
> I am very sad and quite upset about this. �jevind was a pillar of
> this group when I started to post, which must have been about a decade
> ago. His
> warm personality made him one of my favourite persons here, even
> though he and I never spoke beyond the scope of discussion here. He
> is one of those people that make you feel safe just being around
> them. He was also screamingly funny.
>
> I wish his family and friends much strength in dealing with this
> loss. This distant virtual acquantaince is going to mope around for a bit.
>
>> Group hug,
>> T.
>
> Oh, that felt good, Taemon! And what a lovely tribute.
Thank you :-)
> OK, remember that naughty-yet-fitting webpage you found when the softrat
> died? Well, don't look for another one, but you should know that �jevind
> found it very funny. He just didn't think he should come right out
> and publicly confess it!
Ha! Well, it wasn't me finding that webpage, but I vividly remember it...
<shudder>.
> And we won't forget you, �jevind. Everyone, join me in a chorus of
> "My Balrog (F)Lies Over the Ocean," and if someone shows up here and
> asks about wings, don't point him to the FAQ. Think of �jevind,
> welcome him in, and talk about it.
/me sings loudly
T.
Pseudonymus al-Faqha'ter III
> > "Taemon" wrote in messagenews:4e415bb8$0$5946$bf49...@news.tele2.nl...
Oh, this is a lovely tribute as well! It's a pity Dr. Lång was evil;
but maybe he found redemption and realized before the end that
MORAMBAR was right about everything.
And: we have also lost Horus Engels. It's a sad time for us all.
chrisk...@hotmail.com
> It is with great sorrow that I must inform you all that Öjevind Lång,
> long-time regular poster to these groups, passed away earlier today. He
> was 63 years old, and had been unwell for some time.
This is very sad news (many thanks to Troels for passing on the news
to me recently).
My condolences to his family and friends.
Like some others here, I haven't followed the groups or posted for
some time, but I remember Öjevind and his posts well. When I heard the
news, I went and read through some of the posts he made here over the
years, of which there were many, and it brought home to me the truth
of the tributes people have made here. Many of his posts are still a
delight to read.
Farewell Öjevind. You will be missed.
Christopher
andy.co...@googlemail.com
newsgroup access, I've long since fallen away from regularly
contributing here, but for the years when I was regularly present
here, Öjevind's good humour, welcome and pleasant commentary was a key
feature of these newsgroups.
My condolences to his family and friends. He will be sorely missed.
--
Andy Cooke