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Old 10-31-2004, 03:51 PM   #42
Imladris
Tears of the Phoenix
 
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Tolkien

Quote:
is there an object in the text itself that we could define as the "eucatastrophe inducer" for lack of a better term (i.e. if we reserve "eucatastrophe" itself for the event between the book and the reader)?
Yes, the glimpse of joy, the glimpse Evangelium. In other words, the ultimate Myth -- the Christian story. That's how Tolkien defines it I believe.

Quote:
This is interesting. I had always considered the compromise between mythology and theology to be one of the strong points of the Silmarillion, that which elevates it above both the purely mythological (i.e. ancient) and the purely theological (i.e., in this case, Christian). I suppose one person's profound satisfaction is another's insatiable frustration.
I find no joy in the Christian/Silmarillion story, thus this glimpse of "joy" is not an euctastrophe for me I suppose. I love the way that Tolkien weaved mythology and theology together. The fact that he did that, though, doesn not make the ending of this story a eucatastrophy, but a doom with no hope.

Of course, as I believe that Bethberry touched on, we may not know Tolkien's true feelings, as the book was not finished before his death.
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