|
The way I see it, Tolkien's Legendarium is one big myth - the 'Arda myth' - of which The Hobbit is but a piece. It reminds me more of folkloric recount than a myth, but is nonetheless an integral (if somewhat distinct) piece of the Arda Myth. To draw a rather crude analogy, I would say that The Hobbit is akin to Barliman Butterbur's role in Middle-earth: one would not think of him as being related in any way to such grave, 'mythical' figures as Gandalf, Aragorn, or Frodo; yet he is, in his own way, an important part of the events of the War of the Ring in which those three partook.
It may be true that it does not fit Lewis's definition of myth (a definition which I happen to mostly agree with), and is arguably a far cry from it - but in it's own way, because of its mythical allusions and importance in the history of Arda, The Hobbit is transcendent of Lewis's definiton; it is a fantastical tale within a grander myth.
__________________
"This miserable drizzling afternoon I have been reading up old military lecture-notes again:- and getting bored with them after an hour and a half. I have done some touches to my nonsense fairy language - to its improvement."
|