[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I must agree with Kalessin, firstly that Leaf by Niggle is an excellent short story and secondly that the autobiographical allegory approach can be detrimental to our understanding of the work.

Obviously Niggle's huge painting can be seen as the sprawling mythology of the Lost Tales, Silmarillion and so forth; we can see Parish as an allegory of Edith Tolkien or any number of others, and we can speculate however we will about other characters, such as Mrs. Parish and Councillor Tompkins, but we can also see them as just what they appear to be. Perhaps the painting is just a painting and maybe Parish and Tompkins sprang from Tolkien's imagination without ever existing in his real life. This is not to say that there was no autobiographical intent in the story, but that there are themes that, whilst they are obviously very applicable to Tolkien himself, are equally relevant to the rest of us: the ephemeral nature of posterity; the frustrations of invention; the idea that art is something that needs no purpose and the importance of looking after others are all obvious examples.

I prefer to see Leaf by Niggle as an exploration of Tolkien's feelings about art, sub-creation, people and God. Niggle is always being judged by those around him and being found wanting as often as not, but his vision is considered important enough by a higher authority, represented by the two Voices, to become "Niggle's Parish", a most successful introduction to the new country in which he finds himself. Here we see Niggle, like Pygmalion, finding the fruits of his imagination made physical reality, even while at home the records he had made of them are destroyed. We see the various opinions of posterity, expressed by the Councillors, and above all we see justice. Niggle is cured of his personal failings in a purgatorial Workhouse before being allowed to inhabit the paradisiacal world that lies beyond, yet all of the judgements passed on him at his strange destination are entirely fair, with no taint of self-interest or jealousy about them, and making no reference to his standing in society or his contributions thereto.

To my mind, then, Niggle is the sub-creator, attempting through his imagination to realise a divine vision, which can only truly exist by the hand of the creator, but he is also the man, who must face divine judgement for his whole life and not his art alone. In the end it is Niggle's bicycle ride in the rain on Parish's behalf that weighs most heavily with those deciding his fate. He is also an endearing character in a well-conceived and well-written short story, which is how I most like to regard this little tale.

[ January 21, 2003: Message edited by: Squatter of Amon Rudh ]