Writing Middle-Earth
"And all the days of her life are forgotten"
My goal in this paper is to argue that Tolkien's conception of his mythos as a legendary reconstruction of the lost past of our world gave depth and resonance to his tales, as well as great poignancy. By placing Middle-earth on our own planet -- distant in time but not in space -- he willingly accepted certain restraints on his sub-creation, which both gave it focus and dramatically distinguish it from most modern fantasy. Since Middle-earth is destined to become the world we see around us today, every wonder he describes is doomed to pass away and indeed is presented not so much from the delight of the thing itself but so that we may mourn its passing. In a way, the whole epic of Middle-earth, from the Ainulindalë to the Restored Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, is the world's longest line of dominos, set up with infinite care only to be knocked down: that is what it's for. Tolkien creates in order to destroy, wringing a moving elegy from his imaginary world even as he engineers its passing.
From the article "And all the days of her life are forgotten": The Lord of the rings as mythic prehistory, by John D. Rateliff, found in the book The Lord of the rings, 1954-2004: scholarship in honor of Richard E. Blackwelder, edited by Wayne G. Hammond, Christina Scull. No, that's not a tear you see. Stop staring. Go away.
My goal in this paper is to argue that Tolkien's conception of his mythos as a legendary reconstruction of the lost past of our world gave depth and resonance to his tales, as well as great poignancy. By placing Middle-earth on our own planet -- distant in time but not in space -- he willingly accepted certain restraints on his sub-creation, which both gave it focus and dramatically distinguish it from most modern fantasy. Since Middle-earth is destined to become the world we see around us today, every wonder he describes is doomed to pass away and indeed is presented not so much from the delight of the thing itself but so that we may mourn its passing. In a way, the whole epic of Middle-earth, from the Ainulindalë to the Restored Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, is the world's longest line of dominos, set up with infinite care only to be knocked down: that is what it's for. Tolkien creates in order to destroy, wringing a moving elegy from his imaginary world even as he engineers its passing.
From the article "And all the days of her life are forgotten": The Lord of the rings as mythic prehistory, by John D. Rateliff, found in the book The Lord of the rings, 1954-2004: scholarship in honor of Richard E. Blackwelder, edited by Wayne G. Hammond, Christina Scull. No, that's not a tear you see. Stop staring. Go away.