Mythic Unities in The Lord of the Rings

[littlemanpoet]

Quite right, Kuruharan.

Actually, my purpose in using all three terms (myth, legend, & fairy-tale) is for the sake of inclusivity and overlap. It's quite hard to pin down definitions of myth, especially. Tolkien comes close to defining fairy tale in On Fairy Stories, and I'd have to say that I use that as my basis for the one term. In the P.J. movie, the Galadriel character narrates the opening prologue, and at one point she says that history has turned to legend, and legend to myth. That seems like the usual transition. One of the fundamental aspects of the transition is distance in time. Another seems to be the untrustworthiness of the facts of the story.

However, since Tolkien, a more positive idea of myth has come into usage, especially among those who are fans of Tolkien. It names, for example, the story of Jesus of Nazareth, and all the events leading up to it, a myth, only in this case (as Tolkien - and I - would say), a true myth. What about the Christian story is mythical? Plenty. Incarnation. Miracles. The resurrection from the dead. But in this one case it claim historicity. In the same sense, the LotR story partakes of myth. Many strange things happen that are not explainable scientifically, but the events have an element of historicity that Tolkien intentionally put in the story.

Based on that, here are some definitions, from Webster's:

Myth:

1a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice. 3 a a person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence b: an ill-founded belief held uncritically especially by an interested group 4 the whole body of myths.

For our purposes, I would dispense with 3b but incorporate the rest of them. That which I describe in terms of the Christian myth falls under the rubric of 1

Legend:

1 a: a story coming down from the past; especially one popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable b: a body of such stories <a place in the legend of the frontier> c: a popular myth of recent origin d: a person or thing that inspires legends

There are other definitions of legend having to do with inscriptions and captions, but we know that's outside our scope. As you see, it's no longer quite historical, but not yet myth.

Fairy-tale:
1. From Webster's:

adj:a characteristic of or suitable to a fairy tale; especially marked by unusual grace or beautynoun:1a narrative of adventures involving fantastic forces and beings (as fairies, wizards, and goblins) - called also fairy story 2: a made-up story usually designed to mislead.

We can dispense with 2. Notice that Webster's seems to be accounting for Tolkien's seminal treatise!

2. From Tolkien's On Fairy-Stories: To summarize, Tolkien said that Webster's 1 is too narrow to cover actual usage, while 2 is hopelessly vast. Tolkien rejects supernatural as causing more problems than it solves. In the end he says,

Most good "fairy-stories" are about the adventures of men in the Perilous Realm or upon its shadowy marches. ... The definition of fairy-story .... does not depend on any definition or historical account of elf or fairy, but upon the nature of Faërie: the Perilous Realm itself, and the air that blows in that country. I will not attempt to define that, nor to describe it directly. It cannot be done.

If the master refused to define fairy-story, who am I to make the attempt? At least he has pointed us in the right direction.