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Originally Posted by davem
Yet CT seems desirous that his father's creation be seen, & treated, not as a mythology, but as a literary work.
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This is hardly surprising given that CT is an academic, a
literary academic and more than anyone must have been aware of the amusement bordering on scorn with which his father's work was treated by colleagues in his lifetime and the literati since.
While I desperately wanted Middle Earth to be real when I was 12, now I can't help thinking that to treat it as a mythology primarily is to demean Tolkien's achievement in creating what seems plausible as a mythology, what seems plausible as a world.
For myself, I don't have a problem with the scholarly works - and in most bookshops you are unlikely to find many on the shelf so I don't think they are going to daunt that many people.
I own all of HoME and have gained great pleasure from some of it ( I like knowing what Elf marriage rites were and the names of Imrahil's children ) other parts I haven't even looked at yet. People will find their own level.
I enjoy some fanfic and RPG but I wouldn't want any "authorised". And HoME is a great resource for those of us who want to RPG with respect to the integrity of Tolkien's creation. Personally I am very glad that CT inclination or duty turned him to editing his fathers notes rather than using them to create "new" stories. THe only caveat is that there must be so much he "knows" through conversations etc but hasn't included in HoME due to lack of documentation. I just hope that he has recorded it somewhere....
I do find it a little ironic that having been embarrassed by my love of Tolkien during my degree that it is cause for compalint that JRRT is being taken TOO seriously by the scholars.
The companion
is wonderful by the way...