Quote:
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Originally Posted by HerenIstarion
A) Tolkien's world is Tolkien's entirely
B) Any writing of Tolkien's is canon
C) No other writing is canon
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About half a year ago i read 'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy
It is a book about Russia in the time of Alexander the Great and Napolean Bonaparte (sp?). Reading this book (comprised of 15 books) gave me the distinct impretion that most of what we learn about the french revolution is taken from french sources and that when looking at russian sources and french sources a more accurate account could be established.
At times in the book Tolstoy seems only to be stating historical events and not telling a story, and in these times (usually a chapter or 2 long) the facts are stated with such a "this is fact" tone that i got the feeling that Tolstoy had studied almost all of the sources relating to this event and come to a conclusion based on the consistancy and reliability of sources. (and all of the "facts" have footnotes referring to which source has been used). Although i do not know the history of Tolstoy's life, near the end of the book he writes on the nature of historians and the study of history that i can only assume that he himself was a learned historian.
Now the point of saying that is this... There never will be and never was a completely true account of all the events in the French Revolution but Tolstoy undertook indepth studies to establish an account that is IMO almost as close to the truth as we might ever get. And yet even after the book is written (in the books epilogue) Tolstoy does not claim that he knows the truth).
Now if we consider Tolkien's writings as sources, and apply Tolstoy's attitude, we will be able to, with indepth studies, establish an account that is almost as close to the truth about ME as we will ever get. But we will never have a completely true account and can never claim to have established one.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by HerenIstarion
A) Tolkien's world is Tolkien's entirely
B) Any writing of Tolkien's is canon
C) No other writing is canon
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In response:
A: This statement can not be falsified, Tolkien wrote the books didn't he
B: Tolkien was the only true witness of ME, and his writings on it are the only sources of ME we have. Nobody else could see into Tolkien's mind and witness ME.
C: No other writings are sources, they are deductions of sources.
therefore if "canon" is considered to be "a reliable source of ME" then i agree with HerenIstarion completely in these 3 maxims.
hope that helps