http://desicritics.org/2007/06/12/042334.php
Quote:
|
Mythmaking is normally a product of the relentless march of history, when the passage of hundreds of years rubs and rubs against a tale until it has the warm, glowing veneer of antiquity. Time shapes a tale's language, giving it the ring of proclamatory truth; time shapes its texture, adding further strands of plot and character; time shapes its appeal, stretching it to include elements that, at the risk of over-simplification, can only be called universally human.
|
Now, Tolkien did not create a 'myth' in this sense. What he did was, through his familiarity with myth, create the illusion of 'myth'. His work reads like myth, but it is art, illusion, fantasy.
In order for the Legendarium to become a true myth it would have to be taken up by an entire people, adapted, modified, & made in to something 'other'. It may provide the seed for a new myth, but it would not be the myth, & half a millenia from now the 'Tree' would be as different from the seed as an oak is from an acorn. The point is none of us would recognise that tree, & none of those who knew the tree would recognise the seed.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sauron the White
So then, to honor the intentions of JRRT, I can take what he has created and use the medium of drama to add to it?
Is this a correct assumption based on the words of JRRT?
Quote:
|
"But once upon a time (my crest has long since fallen) I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story....I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. "
|
|
And do you understand the context of those words? Are you really Milton Waldman of Collins - was that letter addressed to you?
Firstly, Tolkien states that though that may have been his original intention, 'his crest had since fallen' - ie - he recognises that such a project is no longer an option. And why? What happened to cause that crest fallen state? My suggestion would be that what happened was WWI & its aftermath. Read John Garth's book 'Tolkien & the Great War', & look at the dreams of the TCBS for a 'moral regeneration' of England, their hope to become a new 'Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood'.
In short, 'other minds & hands' does not necessarily mean you, me, or FRR Bloggs. These 'other minds & hands' - even if Tolkien hadn't completely given up hope of finding them (which the statement in the letter seems to imply) may have referred to specific individuals - Christopher Tolkien for example. In short, you don't have the right to decide who those 'minds & hands' belong to - only Tolkien did, & he's gone. There's no way that that statement can be taken to imply a free-for-all.
Look, a wealthy man may declare that he intends to leave his fortune to 'the needy'. That would not justify you turning up at the reading of the will & demanding some cash because you're in need yourself. You may well be needy, but you are not necessarily among the 'needy' the man meant. What we know is that in his will JRRT gave only ONE mind & hand the right to take up his work & continue it, & that mind & hand belonged to his son Christopher. I'm certain that JRRT was intelligent enough to realise that he could have placed his work in the public domain & authorised a free-for-all if he'd wanted to.