Why do you read HoME?

[Inziladun]

One thing that has stood in my way regarding reading the whole HOME series, is a uneasiness in knowing too much about how the sausage is made, so to speak.

I wonder if enough inside info on the shifting conceptions and ideas Tolkien had for the lengendarium might in time rub off some of the magic of the stories themselves. I know that for a lot of people, that's simply a non-issue. But I think back on a certain movie, where the late, great Robin Williams dismisses an English textbook's author's attempts to rate the quality of poetry but analyzing its rhyme and meter rather than emotional impact. Perhaps that's an imperfect comparison, but it almost feels like the same thing.

[Pitchwife]

Apart from the wealth of new information and background details which Belegorn mentioned, I think the main appeal of HoME for me is the chance to watch a great creative mind working on and reworking a complex subject matter throughout his life, every stage showing qualities which were lost or yet undeveloped in others. From the primitive mythology of BoLT with its unchecked and sometimes tongue-in-cheek joy of invention to the metaphysical depth of the late essays in Morgoth's Ring and War of the Jewels, every phase has its unique charm, and it's great that Christopher Tolkien has made them all available for us to study and appreciate.

(As for the matter of Robbie Williams and literature textbooks vs Walt Whitman, much as I love Dead Poets Society I can't help feeling that the dichotomy it presents there is bogus. Rhyme and metre are only dull if you fail to realize their function in delivering the impact, emotional or other, and pure emotional content without a convincing form has no punch. For me, a poem or novel doesn't lose its appeal by studying how it does its job, I'd rather say I learn to appreciate it on an additional level.)

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

One thing that has stood in my way regarding reading the whole HOME series, is a uneasiness in knowing too much about how the sausage is made, so to speak.
I wonder if enough inside info on the shifting conceptions and ideas Tolkien had for the lengendarium might in time rub off some of the magic of the stories themselves. I know that for a lot of people, that's simply a non-issue. But I think back on a certain movie, where the late, great Robin Williams dismisses an English textbook's author's attempts to rate the quality of poetry but analyzing its rhyme and meter rather than emotional impact. Perhaps that's an imperfect comparison, but it almost feels like the same thing.

On the contrary, being a cook I wanted to know the recipe.

But then, I loved The Silmarillion perhaps more than LotR or The Hobbit. The ancient tales and the eccentric rhythms of Tolkien's "High English" attracted me much like reading Bulfinch's Mythology drew me to the Mabinogi, the Eddas and Le Mort d'Arthur when I was very young. I find the language entrancing and the arcanity of the wording and grammar lends an authenticity to the fiction.

So delving into HoMe was a linguist's labor of love. To appreciate Tolkien is to know that every word has been mulled over and accepted or rejected based on its etymologic significance. To see the building blocks of world creation is fascinating in and of itself, of course, but the added insight into the Istari and various other pieces of archaeological information gleaned while digging through the skeleton of the mythos proved very rewarding.

In regards to how "Robin Williams dismisses an English textbook's author's attempts to rate the quality of poetry but analyzing its rhyme and meter rather than emotional impact", I can only say that I am in utter awe of Shakespeare's ability to create divine and superbly impactful dialogue in iambic pentameter. It is a thing of beauty and incredibly hard to do with such sublimity.