The Capturing of Myth

[davem]

*********** to anyone who reads the following *************
This was written in response a post which Bethberry has just removed, but is intending to to reinstate. I have included all of her important points in my quotes, though.

Originally Posted by Bb

Does that make us witches or something? ....Why do you think Tolkien omitted the darker aspects of mythologies?

(Is Bethberry trying to get davem to break his vow of secrecy - 'To Know, To Dare, To Will & To Keep Silent', reveal the sacred secrets & bring the wrath of the Sisters at the Back of the North Wind down on himself? )

There are certain 'mythic' images & symbvols which can't be used freely.RJ Stewart gives some images relating to the Goddess in her 'dark' aspect-

Black Crows flying over White Ice.
A flowering Broom plant within a cloud of fire.
The cry of an owl within which is the voice of a young girl.

We could add to that the image of ravens feeding on the corpse of a slain warrior.

None of those images could fit comfortably within Tolkien's mythology. If Tolkien had tried to fit them in there he would have been forced to take the mythology in a different direction, change its mood completely, or they would have stuck out like sore thumbs. This is because some images & symbols communicate particular ideas & psychic 'experiences', & cannot simply be taken by a writer & used as he or she wishes. The 'darker' aspects of northern myth communicated through these images weren't something Tolkien wanted to go into - for various reasons.

Of course, he did make use of numerous 'pagan' themes & images, some (the ones he felt comfortable with) he did take up 'straight' into his mythology - the wise old man, the once & future King, etc. Others he would use in his own, 'non-traditional' way, but some were difficult to make use of - the figure of Odin appears, but with his 'good' qualities given to Gandalf, & his 'bad' qualities shared among Saruman & Sauron.

So, its not just a matter of excising certain things so as not to upset the children & frighten the horses, its more a matter of wanting to retain some degree of control over what is communicated to the reader, & over what the reader is put in touch with, & how he or she is affected.

Of course, if you don't believe there is any objective, underlying 'reality' beyond the one we experience in our waking lives, then none of that will make sense.

(Now, who felt they'd been given a 'glimpse' of something by my first comment about 'sacred vows' & 'the Sisters at the Back of the North Wind'? - see how certain images affect you & can spark off that sense of something half glimpsed?)