Afraid, are we? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

The Squatter of Amon Rûdh · 02-01-2002, 10:51 AM

Gollum isn't particularly frightening; he's on some peculiar see-saw between loathsome and pitiable. On the other hand, some people might feel a moment, just a moment, of exquisite panic if, when lost and alone in a dark place, they felt a clammy and vice-like grip about the throat and heard a hissing intake of breath... (we feeds, precious, yesss).
Thank goodness for that poor soul, one might argue, that Smeagol doesn't play with his food. Other fictional people-eaters wouldn't be so kind, for all that education can bestow.

I do think Tolkien had a nice line in gothic horror, but for me his horrors are like Wilfred Owen's sentry and mental cases(1): they don't frighten, but sadden or sicken.

Having said that, there is a concept used by Tolkien that once terrified me, although not in the context of one of his books: eternal life. This may seem odd, but to me eternity is just too big. Most people just think of it as a very long time, but the difference between infinite gulfs of time and a life-span is the same as that between a normal journey and just walking around in circles (albeit large circles). The phrase "A thousand ages in thy sight are like an evening gone"(2)is no comfort, since if time never ends, the speed of its passage is ultimately meaningless. (They're developing a "cure" for death, kids: don't take it) [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

(1) In general. Not always true, but there's something of the Great War in Gollum and Shelob nonetheless, not to mention the Nazgul.

(2) This, for anyone not familiar with nineteenth-century religious music*, is from the hymn O God, our Help in Ages Past

*Godless heathens [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

02-01-2002, 10:51 AM	#1
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh Spectre of Decay Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Bar-en-Danwedh Posts: 2,178	Gollum isn't particularly frightening; he's on some peculiar see-saw between loathsome and pitiable. On the other hand, some people might feel a moment, just a moment, of exquisite panic if, when lost and alone in a dark place, they felt a clammy and vice-like grip about the throat and heard a hissing intake of breath... (we feeds, precious, yesss). Thank goodness for that poor soul, one might argue, that Smeagol doesn't play with his food. Other fictional people-eaters wouldn't be so kind, for all that education can bestow. I do think Tolkien had a nice line in gothic horror, but for me his horrors are like Wilfred Owen's sentry and mental cases(1): they don't frighten, but sadden or sicken. Having said that, there is a concept used by Tolkien that once terrified me, although not in the context of one of his books: eternal life. This may seem odd, but to me eternity is just too big. Most people just think of it as a very long time, but the difference between infinite gulfs of time and a life-span is the same as that between a normal journey and just walking around in circles (albeit large circles). The phrase "A thousand ages in thy sight are like an evening gone"(2)is no comfort, since if time never ends, the speed of its passage is ultimately meaningless. (They're developing a "cure" for death, kids: don't take it) [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] (1) In general. Not always true, but there's something of the Great War in Gollum and Shelob nonetheless, not to mention the Nazgul. (2) This, for anyone not familiar with nineteenth-century religious music, is from the hymn O God, our Help in Ages Past* *Godless heathens [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] __________________ Man kenuva métim' andúne?