What would the books be like if Tolkien had lived in this age.

[Lyra Greenleaf]

I think the only change would be a little political correctness that would be insisted upon by the publishers; Black Numenoreans and the like.

(It's strange (or maybe not) that PJ didn't take this into account. A lot of my friends were upset that the men going through the gates of Mordor looked Arabic, i.e. Muslim.)

Tolkien would most likely have justified what he wrote ( I think he did) by saying that it was simply the point of view of the Hobbits, representing Dark Ages Britons. I read somewhere that the West represented mystery and a land you couldn't get to because of the hugeness of the Atlantic Ocean. The North was simply coldness. The East was the way of danger because of Viking Raids, and South was the land of the great Empires- depending on your time period Greek, Roman, Byzantine. The Romans especially were former masters of England like the Kings of Gondor and Arnor used to rule the Shire. Apart from that it was a simple fact that other people may have been seen as Heathens, barbarians or whatever. Anyway, my point was that I doubt Tolkien would have been willing to change his masterpiece to such an extent, though it might have been hard to get it published. In fact I think a lot of what Tolkien wrote would have been difficult to get past todays publishers. ("You want me to publish a book about how cities are bad? About waist high little men? Are you kidding me?") It's a horrible thought, but we might never have got LOTR AT ALL. Aaargh!

So here's a question: Would Tolkien have compromised his vision to get published?

[ May 25, 2003: Message edited by: Lyra Greenleaf ]