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Old 01-24-2007, 01:02 AM   #151
Hookbill the Goomba
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Hookbill the Goomba is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Hookbill the Goomba is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Hookbill the Goomba is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Hookbill the Goomba is lost in the dark paths of Moria.
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Quote:
The problem I have with the character is its 'primitiveness' & 'simplicity' (in a bad sense). The character lacks the necessary depth & complexity to sit well in the developed Legendarium
I hear you.
Perhaps the reason for Tolkien's lack of development of Eru is due to a sort of fear of getting it wrong or causing too much controvacy. To go into the character too deeply might make him too obviously an allegory of the God of the Bible and may have alienated some readers who just wanted to get down to the excitement, adventure and really wild things.
Now, the writers of the Bible seemed less interested in proving weather or not this God exists and were more interested in telling us what this God was like and who he is. The Bible is a long book and there are many aspects to the, shall we say for arguments sake, character of God. As I said, Tolkien wasn't a scholar and for every characteristic he might try to highlight, there might be an odd learned man or two to tell him how wrong he was. Polytheism is much easier to get away with on this level because, certainly in Tolkien's day, it wasn't as widely studied as Biblical theology and so to take assumptions and liberties in the characters of the Valar was much easier and less liable to be open to criticism.

Just a thought.
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