LOTR and your Weltanschauung

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

As an artist, I'm very interested in thinking about what effect or impact my work can have on other people. What is possible beyond mere entertainment?

Hasn't the role of art has always been questioned as pure or sole delight" Isn't there some old saying about "to inform and delight"? I seem to recall that phrase.

Originally Posted by Mr. Underhill

I can't even answer those questions definitively for myself, let alone for some hypothetical group of readers.

Let me ask you this: at what age did you first read Tolkien? What impact, if any, do you think he had on your Weltanschauung? I'm also interested in the replies of people who say, no, no book has affected or is likely to significantly affect my worldview, if that's your experience.

I'm quite the same way, and actually wouldn't want to create some sort of hierarchy of 'most influential' etc. (I really dislike those kinds of polls "Best Book of the Century". Wouldn't want to see superlatives become a 'one ring' I guess.)

I didn't first read Tolkien as a teen, though. I must say that his thoughts about fantasy have certainly given me much pause for thought.

EDIT: Well, I'm not sure if it is kosher to copy a post in this way, but I just read Lal's statement on Fordim's, "Are you a better person?" thread and thought it really pertained as well to Mr. U's interest, so here's a link to Lal's Weltanschauung .

[Lalwendë]

Well, seeing as Bethberry copied in my post and Mr Underhill is asking - I underwent a gradual change after first reading Tolkien, wanting to learn more about myth, legend, basically anything remotely 'magical' (in the descriptive sense ). So about three years later I found that the faith I thought was strong, was actually not strong and that it didn't fit me properly. I do not know what Tolkien would think if he knew a reader had actually lost their faith from reading his work - though I'm sure I was not the first.

The odd thing is that I simply did not register all the Christian morality and even imagery in Tolkien's work until many years later. It wasn't that I just thought his books were 'dead cool' (though of course they are ) but that the magical elements swept me away.

Is losing/changing your religion significant? It didn't seem so at the time as nobody really minded. Possibly Tolkien started it off in me, he certainly got me more interested in archaeology and pre-history and what we now term 'new-age' stuff, but maybe I was predisposed to that in the first place?

Judging by my fondness for His Dark Materials and Harry Potter, I reckon I'd have loved Tolkien just as much if I discovered his work in adulthood, but I'm glad I did find those books when I was young as I've had more time to enjoy them.

[Thinlómien]

I've been influenced by Tolkien from a six-year-old, so I really cannot tell, what is Tolkien's influence, and what is from me, or somewhere else... But it's clearly influenced something, but I don't know what, in fact. Perhaps it has made me think that nothing/no one is evil at the beginning, or that nothing is pure evil.