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In praise of Tolkien
Jul. 15th, 2005 03:49 amThe San Diego papers are full of Comic Con news this week, and one of them printed a long, fascinating article by a local college professor named Chris Baron. Here are a few excerpts (paraphrased in places):
...that is the magic of Tolkien's work: he created a world so complex in its mythology and history, so stark in its clarity and purposes, that we are drawn to it, not just as fans who appreciate good literature or epic tales, but as citizens of a world where things are full of nature and supernature and yet, it all makes more sense. ... In the pages of Lewis and then Tolkien, I found a hope, a truth, and a faith that I couldn't understand, like waking up on a bright morning and just having that sense of knowing anything actually is possible. In the books I found a sense of joining in, that by reading, I was actually doing something, helping, transforming the world somehow. I imagine discussions breaking out over Gandalf's words in one of the last debates ... the going over of the nature of Evil in the world and what are good people supposed to do about it. Tolkien's desire to surface the ennoblement of the weak in the hobbits is an important thematic issue. There are so many others.
So while some of us go on to write our own stories and create our own worlds, others learn about faith and life and their lives are transformed, and some of us find a cape in our favorite color and learn every dialect of Elvish... just in case. Through joining in these adventures, all of us have a chance to be something in Tolkien's world other than what we are here and now, and through this journey we might find out more about who we really are in this world. Can we go too far in? Yes. But it is important to remember that Fantasy itself is not apart from reality. Tolkien writes in his essay, "On Fairy Stories," 'Fantasy does not blur the sharp outlines of the real world, for it depends on them.'
I realize that I'm not alone in Middle-earth. There are millions of others, and now through the movies, there are millions more whose lives are changed through the seasons of Tolkien's world. Just as we walk through this world in our own distinct way, Tolkien created a world that is big enough for us to walk through as citizens, as free peoples.
Tolkien's story speaks to all of us as individuals. That is its power.
...that is the magic of Tolkien's work: he created a world so complex in its mythology and history, so stark in its clarity and purposes, that we are drawn to it, not just as fans who appreciate good literature or epic tales, but as citizens of a world where things are full of nature and supernature and yet, it all makes more sense. ... In the pages of Lewis and then Tolkien, I found a hope, a truth, and a faith that I couldn't understand, like waking up on a bright morning and just having that sense of knowing anything actually is possible. In the books I found a sense of joining in, that by reading, I was actually doing something, helping, transforming the world somehow. I imagine discussions breaking out over Gandalf's words in one of the last debates ... the going over of the nature of Evil in the world and what are good people supposed to do about it. Tolkien's desire to surface the ennoblement of the weak in the hobbits is an important thematic issue. There are so many others.
So while some of us go on to write our own stories and create our own worlds, others learn about faith and life and their lives are transformed, and some of us find a cape in our favorite color and learn every dialect of Elvish... just in case. Through joining in these adventures, all of us have a chance to be something in Tolkien's world other than what we are here and now, and through this journey we might find out more about who we really are in this world. Can we go too far in? Yes. But it is important to remember that Fantasy itself is not apart from reality. Tolkien writes in his essay, "On Fairy Stories," 'Fantasy does not blur the sharp outlines of the real world, for it depends on them.'
I realize that I'm not alone in Middle-earth. There are millions of others, and now through the movies, there are millions more whose lives are changed through the seasons of Tolkien's world. Just as we walk through this world in our own distinct way, Tolkien created a world that is big enough for us to walk through as citizens, as free peoples.
Tolkien's story speaks to all of us as individuals. That is its power.
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