Quote:
Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin
The difference lies in the fact that toilets, agriculture and taverns that open every day are ordinary things in the ordinary world, part of the nonsubcreated substrate upon which Tolkien built his subcreation. The reader may take them as read. At the next remove, Tolkien engaged in what Shippey called calquing: adding elements of a known primary-world culture, such as the Anglo-Saxons, which invite the reader to fill in the Rohirric blank with his own knowledge or impression of the Old English.
But this can't be extended to things like Nazgul which came completely out of his head. In fact, I think the balance is very slightly tilted the other way in that the primary calque for Middle-earth is of course medieval Europe, a culture not noted for its gender equality.
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And yet
Huinesoron's "theory" (or wild speculation) concerns one of the perfectly canonical Ruling Queens of Númenor. You can't really argue that an author *wouldn't* include something if, you know, he did. I don't think Tolkien would have been violating the internal logic of his subcreation in any way by deciding to make Tar-Telperiën a Nazgûl- I just also can't see him totally forgetting to mention this interesting development if he had.
Mind you, I'm pretty sure my
Lalaith = Gothmog II theory is watertight. Clearly that one did slip the Professor's mind.