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Originally Posted by Bethberry
But to assume that the Sea is always and ever a trope of profound spiritual meaning which everyone longs for is to prioritise the English cultural experience as the universal model. What is the sea, for example, in the desert cultures of Africa? What is the sea in the aboriginal mythologies of the Native Peoples of North America? In East Indian culture?
My point isn't so much to disprove davem's point but to suggest, modestly, that the values which The Sea plays in Tolkien are not necessarily values which are easily read by people of other cultures. Nor should we glibly assume that Tolkien's The Sea is in fact The Truth.
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I have to begin by saying that it's not just England, but also the other British nations - The Sea has far more significance to someone in Aberdeen or Belfast than it does to someone in Birmingham. But yes the notion of The Sea is a deeply ingrained one in British people (as the guy on the documentary series The Coast reminds us at the end of each episode, in Britain you are never more than 72 miles from the sea
).
I would argue that the concept of The Sea is a strong one for many more cultures than just the British; some of the greatest explorers and mariners were Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek, Scandinavian and Italian. People from the Americas themselves have a strong fascination with The Sea, as demonstrated in Moby Dick. The Japanese (another Island nation admittedly) also share this fascination.
But I agree that as a concept it is not Universal. But it is not the only concept in Tolkien's work which attracts, it is just one among many. I would argue that the stronger draw is the idea of the journey, the adventure. This
is something Universal. Tales of journeys occur in every culture, together with the trials that are met along the way, so here is something which all cultures can appreciate in Tolkien's work, and the idea of the journey is the backbone of the story.