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Lalwendë · 11-04-2004, 02:52 PM

Just had a quick look through 'Letters' and I couldn't immediately spot anything abut the Tower of Babel. But, surely Tolkien would have found the tale to have resulted in something good, seeing as he was a philologist? It does have similarities to the story of the downfall of Numenor - men getting 'above themselves', trying to get too close to something which they ought to remain apart from, and the result of this excess being divine intervention in the form of destruction. But the result of the Tower of Babel was that all men spoke many different languages, surely something Tolkien would approve of?

I've always thought of the image of the 'tower' as being something drawn more from medieval legend and onwards, but maybe someone can prove me wrong?

About Helm's Deep, my father told me an interesting story. Apparently there is or was a fortress in the India/Pakistan region which is constructed along identical lines. He read about this a long time ago but could not recall exactly where the fortress was. If any 'Downers know of this, it might be interesting to compare the two.

11-04-2004, 02:52 PM	#10
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	Just had a quick look through 'Letters' and I couldn't immediately spot anything abut the Tower of Babel. But, surely Tolkien would have found the tale to have resulted in something good, seeing as he was a philologist? It does have similarities to the story of the downfall of Numenor - men getting 'above themselves', trying to get too close to something which they ought to remain apart from, and the result of this excess being divine intervention in the form of destruction. But the result of the Tower of Babel was that all men spoke many different languages, surely something Tolkien would approve of? I've always thought of the image of the 'tower' as being something drawn more from medieval legend and onwards, but maybe someone can prove me wrong? About Helm's Deep, my father told me an interesting story. Apparently there is or was a fortress in the India/Pakistan region which is constructed along identical lines. He read about this a long time ago but could not recall exactly where the fortress was. If any 'Downers know of this, it might be interesting to compare the two. __________________ Gordon's alive!