Oh, Tolkien [Geek-Moment of the Day]

[legoline]

The fun part about my exam is that I get to read Tolkien's essay on Beowulf. :D The essays's quite interesting, especially since it becomes plain obvious how The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit etc. weren't only influenced by Tolkien's admiration for Beowulf plot-wise, but more importantly by the general atmosphere about the poem.

Tolkien writes:

Beowulf is not an actual picture of historic Denmark or Geatland or Sweden about A.D. 500. But it is (if with certain minor defects) on a general view a self-consistent picture, a construction bearing clearly the marks of design and thought. The whole must have succeeded admirably in creating in the minds of the poet's contemporaries the illusion of surveying a past, pagan but noble and fraught with a deep significance—a past that itself had depth and reached backward into a dark antiquity of sorrow. This impression of depth is an effect and a justification of the use of episodes and allusions to old tales, mostly darker, more pagan, and desperate than the foreground.

Beowulf is not a 'primitive' poem; it is a late one, using the materials (then still plentiful) preserved from a day already changing and passing, a time that has now for ever vanished, swallowed in oblivion; using them for a new purpose, with a wider sweep of imagination, if with a less bitter and concentrated force. When new Beowulf was already antiquarian, in a good sense, and it now produces a singular effect. For it is now to us itself ancient; and yet its maker was telling of things already old and weighted with regret, and he expended his art in making keen that touch upon the heart which sorrows have that are both poignant and remote. If the funeral of Beowulf moved once like the echo of an ancient dirge, far-off and hopeless, it is to us as a memory brought over the hills, an echo of an echo.

(By the way, I love how Tolkien not only borrowed on the Anglo-Saxon fondness of wistful poetry, but also on their love for riddles. Aw, Tolkien. Bless.)

Comments

[healingmachine.livejournal.com]

I'm reading a book called Tolkien's ring, which is all about ring mythology and how people thought rings could be used in witchcraft years ago but the Catholic church stole their rituals for marriage vows, changing the meaning entirely. There's loads of information I had no idea about - like the fact that Gandalf is based on Odin, I'm sure Loki, Fenrir and Thor get mentioned further on in the book. There's a whole load of Norse mythology he used and made his own mythology out of -- not stealing the work, just using his own version that he re-wrote painstakingly with a new language, new lands and an entire group of differing species. It's incredible.

:D

[legoline.livejournal.com]

I just know that Gandalf means "staff elf" :D But that's really fascinating! There's so much pagan tradition that has lasted to this day, it's incredible! I should put that book on my wish list :D

[healingmachine.livejournal.com]

It means high elf, doesn't it? Or Master of elves? You should definitely read it. The graphics are by Alan Lee.

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Uhm, not sure actually. I tried to find the book on amazon but I couldn't :-/

Ooooh, I got Alan Lee's autograph. I met him in 2005. He's such a shy sweetheart.

[healingmachine.livejournal.com]

http://www.amazon.com/Tolkiens-Ring-David-Day/dp/1586635271/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252324737&sr=8-1

That's Tolkien's Ring by David Day on Amazon.com rather than .de for some reason?

Awww, he does seem really sweet.

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Ooooh...I actually have a book by David Day on Tolkien..wonder if it's just the German edition?

He really is :D

[healingmachine.livejournal.com]

It does refer to a lot of Ring mythology -- Germanic heroes are in there, the legend of Arthur, Siegfried, Odin under many names... you'd know it if you'd read it! It refers to Solomon's Ring also.

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see. I just checked to make sure, and mine's the Illustrated Enyclopedia. I also have his book on hobbits which is very interesting. I shall put Tolkien's Ring on my wishlist...somehow.

[healingmachine.livejournal.com]

It's a really fantastic book. Half those legends I didn't even know. Most mythology books give clipped versions of things but Siegfriend's parents had a similar sort of fate to the Children of Hurin. There are loads of parallels between the stories he explains and the Tolkien books but Tolkien puts his own spin on them then gives them... sorry, gave them complicated histories, languages, etc. His head must've been full ALL THE TIME XD

[legoline.livejournal.com]

That's really fascinating O_O I've found the book on amazon.de -- apparently they don't sell it anymore and you have to get it via marketplace. Yay amazon.

YES :D

Everytime someone complains that LOTR lacks in-depth characters and that sort of stuff I go "BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT IT IS ABOUT! IT NEVER WAS!" :D

[healingmachine.livejournal.com]

I know, I know. I normally am such a lazy reader but I was hooked on this from start to finish. I spent most of my birthday reading it :D It talks about allegorical references as well, what influenced and what didn't, and Tolkien's own views on Hitler and the Atomic Bomb!! They have letters from him to his sons!! Sorry, I'm so happy I have someone else I can geek out about this stuff to :D

Amazon is a very strange site. I bought an American copy of Lost from them and had to watch it on my PS2 or it wouldn't show in colour XD Ah, modern technology.

People complain about the lack of in-depth characters?! Um. Well, okay. Frodo was the most independant and original character of them all so whatevers. I found the explanations for the inspiration behind Eowyn, Luthien and Galadriel really amazing too. So yeah. It's very wordy but it's an incredible book. Sorry to bang on about it XD

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I'm so happy I have someone else I can geek out about this stuff to :D

Oh hon, don't worry! It feels so good to do some in-depth geeking about Tolkien again! :D I haven't done it in far too long!

Okay, then Tolkien's Ring will be purchased as soon as I have some money left. Maybe there'll be a copy of it at Forbidden Planet in London? It could happen...last time I was there they did have quite a few books on Tolkien...

People complain about the lack of in-depth characters?!
They do. The problem is, they don't see LOTR for what it is. It was never meant to be a gripping action-loaded fantasy novel. It was always meant to be like...Tolkien's own created mythology. Sort of. I mean, Beowulf wasn't very in-depth either. People complain that his writing wasn't gripping but they don't know that he just perfectly imitated the Anglo-Saxon writing, for instance.

*geeks on*