The Capturing of Myth

[Bêthberry]

Lalwende wrote:

I think that by and large this is true, there are many echoes in Tolkien from English mythology and folklore, but there are some elements which do not appear, the darker, less 'wholesome' aspects.

davem wrote:

For instance ravens, which have very dark connotations in Northern myth, associated with battlefields & the Dark Goddess & with Odin himself, yet this primal image & symbol of 'northerness' only makes a brief appearance in the Hobbit & not at all in the Sil or LotR - it seems that there were some symbols Tolkien felt it was as well to leave 'sleeping'!

(I think Lalwende may understand what i'm getting at here, even if no-one else does!)

Well, I think I understand as well. Does that make us witches or something?

I wonder here if Tolkien was not consciously doing something similar to what happened with the modern editions of fairy tales. Certainly Red Riding Hood and Cinderella are nothing these days to what they are in the original versions. Did this represent a sense that the fairy tales were the province of children and so should be censored of any dark frightening fears? Such an attitude is wrong on both counts, I think. (reasons forthcoming if you wish, but I hesitate to steer off -topic)

Why do you think Tolkien omitted the darker aspects of mythologies?