The Autobiographical Tolkien - 'Leaf by Niggle'...

[narfforc]

After many years of exploration, he found himself back on familiar roads. he knew this place, it was engraved into his mind. Stopping for a rest, he placed his back against the trunk of a big tree. Looking into the distance, he could see the mountains that he had so recently traveled. It seemed to him that he had spent too long exploring every inch of them, and had forgotten why he set out in the first place. Having rested, he resumed his journey back to the place he was seeking. Sometime later he crested a rise in the path, the sight that greeted him was not what he had been expecting. In front of him was a massive tree, yet most of it was hidden by a wall. In the wall was a small door, with a sign saying keep out. He was very angry, the reason he had made the tree, was for everyone to see it. Where there should have been saplings growing from the roots, someone had viciously tore them up. He had given the tree to everyone, but someone had claimed it for their own. He walked up to the door and saw that it was locked, a huge padlock barred the way. However he was not just anyone, this was his world and no barrier could stay his mighty hand. He touched the door and it splintered. Through the gap he walked. What confronted him was a group of Gollums, all linking arms around the tree and chanting "mine, mine, mine". He wept then to see what his kin had become.

[HerenIstarion]

What is to follow seems relevant, so here it comes:

When Earth's Last Picture is Painted
by Rudyard Kipling

When earth's last picture is painted,
and the tubes are twisted and dried,
When the oldest colors have faded,
and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest. And Faith, we shall need it;
to lie down for an aeon or two,
Till the master of all good workmen
shall set us to work anew!

And those that were good will be happy;
they shall sit in a golden chair.
They shall splash at a ten league canvas
with brushes of comets' hair.
They shall find real saints to draw from;
Magdalene, Peter, and Paul.
They shall work for an age at a sitting
and never be tired at all!

And only the Master shall praise us,
and only the Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money;
and no one shall work for fame;
But each for the joy of the working,
and each, on his separate star,
Shall draw the things as he sees them
for the God of things as they are!

I'm not outright Kipling fan, and some of his poetry does not ring true at all to me, but this one verse is worthy of attention. For one, it's final half-stanza is currently my sig For two, though some of the verse be a bit highly coloured (what 'golden chair', my precious?) it seems to express same hope (though Kipling pretends it is not hope but confidence, I still tend to believe he puts a brave face on half-feared hopes) with which Leaf by Niggle is soaked. Just that Tolkien's is a way more personal, not depicting some general 'good chaps', but himself

What have I dragged all of this in for? I'm not quite sure, I've said it seemed relevant. Do of it what you will

cheers

[Kuruharan]

That's interesting. I'd thought about this poem in connection to Leaf as well.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I've dug up this old thread to research for a lecture I'd like to give at the next German Tolkien seminar coming spring. As I started and named the thread, I feel entitled to use the title (sorry, pun unintentional, but can't find a good substitute for either word) for my paper. I'm not yet sure whether I will be quoting some of the posts here, but I would like to ask in advance whether the members involved in the discussion allow me to use it as part of the "leaf-mould" for my topic. When I have it worked out in detail, I will contact those individuals whose words I would like to use verbatim.

Thanks in advance!

[Tinuviel of Denton]

Goodness, I must be the only one who reads these things as just stories. I just like to read them, and mayhap imagine being part of them.

[ June 09, 2003: Message edited by: Tinuviel of Denton ]

[Guinevere]

Well, Tinuviel, that's after all what Tolkien wrote his stories for: to be enjoyed , not to be analyzed!

from letter 181:

I hope you have enjoyed The Lord of the Rings? Enjoyed is the key-word. For it was written to amuse (in the highest sense): to be readable.

But:

But of course, if one sets out to address adults, they will not be pleased, excited or moved unless the whole, or the incidents, seem to be about something worth considering: there must be some relevance to the "human situation". So something of the teller's own reflections and "values" will inevitably get worked in. This is not the same as allegory.

[Bêthberry]

If I may offer a few observations here...

I think we often have a tendency to set up a false opposition between "enjoy" and "analyze". Enjoyment need not be a passing bit of fun, but can involve reflection and thoughtful consideration after the reading is done. Analysis can include the happy sense of fulfilment after one has come to a fuller or more satisfying understanding of why something was good to read.

Tolkien's "amused in the highest sense" is likely a significant phrase here. His essay, "On Fairy Stories" would be a good complement here, if we were interested in articulating more specifically what Tolkien's expectations for 'reading' or 'readable' are.

[The X Phial]

This false dichotomy is, sadly, encouraged through formal education. I have always been the type of person who reads beyond the surface with little trouble and who enjoys discussing the things I have read, even if only between the lines. As a student, however, I was taught that if I enjoyed reading a book then I probably wasn't learning anything. I remember telling a literature teacher that I very much liked the story of "Tale of Two Cities." She responded that my liking it was irrelevent and I should focus on understanding it. Thankfully, my love of reading and story was well entrenched by that time.

I agree that "On Fairy Stories" is an excellent companion to reading "Leaf by Niggle." Their pairing togther in "Tree and Leaf" seems almost to have been haphazard when one reads the Letters, but in reality they both shed a lot of light on Tolkien's views of art, story, and the value of meaning versus fun.

When I read "Leaf" the first time I didn't see Tolkien as Niggle simply because Niggle is alone, and I have always thought of Tolkien as being involved with his family. If anything, I would say the farmer and the artist are, instead, two sides of the same personality, the fanciful and the practical. This is why they can only create their "heaven" together. Obviously, however, there is a strong element of grace in the story, and that has always struck me as the most important aspect.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

One sentence in Smith got me thinking about Christopher as Ned again - I mentioned earlier in this discussion that I think he was the main inspiration for Smith's son. The sentence is:

You look like a giant, Dad.

Now, one who knows a trade well can best recognize skill, even genius, in another person of that trade. Ned and his father share the same trade, and reading Tolkien's biography (a different one than I had read so far) in the last weeks made me newly aware that Christopher followed in his father's footsteps (though he could not fill his shoes!) and was also an Oxford professor.

Ned later says:

...there is much you can teach me yet...

- and is the one who speaks with his father of the bereavement of giving up the star. Christopher shared his father's dreams more than anyone else, at least late in Tolkien's life, and he was the one child consulted by JRRT about the development of LotR and later, the Silmarillion.

I'm not trying to milk the story to get more out of it than is in it, but thinking about Christopher brought me back to Ned more than once. Perhaps someone else has additional thoughts about these autobiographical aspects and we can revive the discussion again - I know Smith has been mentioned on another thread several times recently.

[mark12_30]

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