All made up? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 03-31-2003, 02:51 AM

OK, allegory was a bad choice of word. It was a shorthand. What I meant was, an attempt to communicate a specific viewpoint on religion/philosophy, or explore specific themes - love, sacrifice, time, mortality, etc.
Was the visitor implying more than that?, That somehow Tolkien had tapped into 'something' else? And was Tolkien resonding to that, ie, saying yes, you're right, I didn't invent it, cobble it together, from bits & pieces, I was in touch with something else. One problem I have is that the whole world of Middle Earth is too 'coherent', it doesn't feel 'made up'. That, it seems to me, was what the visitor was saying.
What Tolkien himself was saying seems to me even more curious, that he was 'alarmed' by the idea. For that reason, I don't think Tolkien was implying that he considered it was just a 'rehash' of the myths & legends he was so familiar with.

Morsul the Dark · 08-28-2004, 01:35 PM

yes I have always thought Middle-Earth was far too...detailed perhaps?

lines of kings histories of legends languages written languages. culturesw fully developped.

but most importantly Tolkien did not know the full tale to some of the charactors he did not know what happened to the entwives or the blue wizards...if Tolkien fully created this world wouldnt he have known?

Quote:

One problem I have is that the whole world of Middle Earth is too 'coherent', it doesn't feel 'made up'

this has bothered me as well...

Lush · 08-28-2004, 05:46 PM

The supreme coherence could just be a sign of an exceptional talent for immersing the reader completely in the events of the story. When I first read LotR, I would feel all weird when the phone would ring or some alarm would go off, bringing me back to my room, my house, my planet, my life. This is good writing, divine inspiration, probably (if you believe in that sort of thing), with its purposes, but was it actually portraying some sort of reality that would be tangible to our physical form? Probably not. If that's the case, I'd have to be seriously worried, because I experienced a similar immersion when I read and re-read Lolita.

03-31-2003, 02:51 AM	#1
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	OK, allegory was a bad choice of word. It was a shorthand. What I meant was, an attempt to communicate a specific viewpoint on religion/philosophy, or explore specific themes - love, sacrifice, time, mortality, etc. Was the visitor implying more than that?, That somehow Tolkien had tapped into 'something' else? And was Tolkien resonding to that, ie, saying yes, you're right, I didn't invent it, cobble it together, from bits & pieces, I was in touch with something else. One problem I have is that the whole world of Middle Earth is too 'coherent', it doesn't feel 'made up'. That, it seems to me, was what the visitor was saying. What Tolkien himself was saying seems to me even more curious, that he was 'alarmed' by the idea. For that reason, I don't think Tolkien was implying that he considered it was just a 'rehash' of the myths & legends he was so familiar with. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."

08-28-2004, 05:46 PM	#3
Lush Fair and Cold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: the big onion Posts: 1,770	The supreme coherence could just be a sign of an exceptional talent for immersing the reader completely in the events of the story. When I first read LotR, I would feel all weird when the phone would ring or some alarm would go off, bringing me back to my room, my house, my planet, my life. This is good writing, divine inspiration, probably (if you believe in that sort of thing), with its purposes, but was it actually portraying some sort of reality that would be tangible to our physical form? Probably not. If that's the case, I'd have to be seriously worried, because I experienced a similar immersion when I read and re-read Lolita. __________________ ~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~