The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Literary Devices & such for Revised Silmarillion

***Mithadan*** · 09-12-2000, 02:18 PM

<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Haunting Spirit
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Literary devices

Sorry it took so long to repond. My "real" life has been very hectic recently. I am taking the liberty of addressing some of your suggestions from the other Canon thread.

Two issues impact upon any work which we might conduct here. First, how do we distinguish between what JRRT rejected and what he omitted due to compression of the tales? Second, how do we deal with "experimental" matters where JRRT expressed an intent to make changes without clear indication of what he wanted the final product to look like, particularly where the changes would conflict directly with what was previously written?

Examples of the first issue would be The Fall of Gondolin from BoLT 2 and The Lay of Leithien from Lays of Beleriand. Both have great merit and provide a great deal of detail absent from the Silm. However, Gondolin was written in the early 1920s and contains a lot of material that doesn't fit with later conceptions such as metal dragons inhabited by spirits and filled with orcs. Leithien may pose fewer problems, particularly the portions that were rewritten by JRRT later in his life.

Examples of the second issue include the origin of orcs and JRRT's desire to revise the Trees mythology by incorporating a round earth and the sun and moon into ea's creation. JRRT appears to have decided that orcs did not come from elves, a facially simple change, but problematic because orcs pre-date the coming of men in the Silm. Maybe men popped up an age earlier (Feanor would have thrown a major fit). But to deal with this issue is to rewrite, not to annotate and clarify. The round earth issue is much worse. The rewrite would cover the making of the stars, the Trees, the coming of elves, Utumno, the pillars and Angband with possibly the Akallabeth thrown in as well. Do we have the right to tinker to this extent and still use the term "canon"?

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09-12-2000, 02:18 PM	#9
*Mithadan* Spirit of Mist Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Tol Eressea Posts: 3,397	<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Haunting Spirit Posts: 0</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE> Literary devices Sorry it took so long to repond. My "real" life has been very hectic recently. I am taking the liberty of addressing some of your suggestions from the other Canon thread. Two issues impact upon any work which we might conduct here. First, how do we distinguish between what JRRT rejected and what he omitted due to compression of the tales? Second, how do we deal with "experimental" matters where JRRT expressed an intent to make changes without clear indication of what he wanted the final product to look like, particularly where the changes would conflict directly with what was previously written? Examples of the first issue would be The Fall of Gondolin from BoLT 2 and The Lay of Leithien from Lays of Beleriand. Both have great merit and provide a great deal of detail absent from the Silm. However, Gondolin was written in the early 1920s and contains a lot of material that doesn't fit with later conceptions such as metal dragons inhabited by spirits and filled with orcs. Leithien may pose fewer problems, particularly the portions that were rewritten by JRRT later in his life. Examples of the second issue include the origin of orcs and JRRT's desire to revise the Trees mythology by incorporating a round earth and the sun and moon into ea's creation. JRRT appears to have decided that orcs did not come from elves, a facially simple change, but problematic because orcs pre-date the coming of men in the Silm. Maybe men popped up an age earlier (Feanor would have thrown a major fit). But to deal with this issue is to rewrite, not to annotate and clarify. The round earth issue is much worse. The rewrite would cover the making of the stars, the Trees, the coming of elves, Utumno, the pillars and Angband with possibly the Akallabeth thrown in as well. Do we have the right to tinker to this extent and still use the term "canon"? </p> __________________ Beleriand, Beleriand, the borders of the Elven-land.