Lord of the Rings

Einhard

So, having read The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Two Towers previously, I've just now put down The Return of the King. I enjoyed the three very much, but I enjoyed The Fellowship the most. As Rivendell was described as containing a portion of all that was good in Middle Earth, so The Fellowship hosts some small part of all that is enjoyable in the work as a whole- mystery, fear, intrigue, suspence, horror, humour, melancholy...It's all there. I was particularly struck by the sense of the ending of a era, that things would never again be as they once were. Whatever the outcome of the Quest, Middle Earth would emerge diminished. Even in the lightest moments, there was a sense of melancholic loss- the beauty and variety in which the characters rejoiced was not long for the world. I was also struck by how menacing are the forces of evil, particularly the Nazghul. The Ringwraiths of the films aren't remotely as chilling as those in The Fellowship. The image of one crawling along the ground as he followed the trail to the Brandywine River made my skin crawl.

The other two books had more problems. Of course, the positives far outweigh the negatives in my view, but I think there are areas in which the latter books are lacking compared to The Fellowship. Some of these have been iterated before: the shallowness of the evil characters- indeed the lack of any real characterisation of any evil character, save perhaps Gollum; the simplistic moral viewpoint which stems from that; the swathes of text given to lineage and describing the minutiae of the world (I liked this mostly, but can see how others might find it a drag)...

The thing however, that really affects The Two Towers and The Return of the King, is the shift in Tolkien's style of writing. He seems to have relegated the persona of the novelist, and taken firmly upon himself the mantle of the academic. This can particularly be seen in the dialogue and the personal interactions between the characters. Whereas in The Fellowship, the words are as organic and natural as the friendships they describe, they later become more stilted and archaic. I understand that Tolkien was a noted academic of the Medieval Period, and much of his inspiration came from the great works of song and literature from those eras, but in the final half of the LOTR, he risks the strangulation of plot and character with words. The friendships that emerge in these books never seem as warm and natural as previously- they are more formal and stiff. Faramir falls for Eowyn, and yet he talks to her as if he were reading lines from a Middle English script. The same style of speech is witnessed across The Two Towers and The Return of the King, and IMO, it diminishes both.

The limitations of this linguistic style is nowhere more apparent than in the farewells and goodbyes as the book draws to a close. At one point, I actually thought to myself "Jesus Christ, was Tolkien actually autistic??" There is so little emotion in the goodbyes. A few formal, stiff words of farewell, and that's it. In several instances I wasn't sure that the final farewell was over because I was expecting more to be said. Indeed, Galadriel hightailed it back to Lorien without even a murmur of farewell!! Even the final parting of Sam and Frodo lacks in this area. These were kindred spirits, as close as anyone had been since the founding of the world (to use a Tolkienism), and while there was sadness and grief, the expression of both was, IMO, lacking. Indeed, when one considers all the moments across all three books when final departure is attempted in secret, one has to surmise that Tolkien found goodbyes immensely difficult!

Anyway, don't be put off the books by this post. Taken both singly and together, the three are enjoyable, beautifully written works (for even the most archaic utterance is well worded), and well worth the effort. I just wish Tolkien the academic had more often yielded the pen of power to Tolkien the author!! :pac:

r3nu4l

A great post, well put together and thought out I love the Lord of the Rings, always have and I've read it over and over again, quite a few times.

Tolkien set out to create an entirely new mythology, drawing of course from quite a few existing mythologies. As such, the work certainly does become more and more academic as it develops. You can really see the academic inside him becoming more and more prevalent.

I really, really enjoyed the academic mythology-building text. I've probably spent as much or perhaps more time reading the indeces and appendices in the books than the books themselves. I particularly love the time he spent crafting the linguistics and etymology of the various languages.

Einhard wrote: »

A few formal, stiff words of farewell, and that's it. In several instances I wasn't sure that the final farewell was over because I was expecting more to be said. Indeed, Galadriel hightailed it back to Lorien without even a murmur of farewell!! Even the final parting of Sam and Frodo lacks in this area. These were kindred spirits, as close as anyone had been since the founding of the world (to use a Tolkienism), and while there was sadness and grief, the expression of both was, IMO, lacking. Indeed, when one considers all the moments across all three books when final departure is attempted in secret, one has to surmise that Tolkien found goodbyes immensely difficult!

Regarding the point below about Galadriel; I suspect that this was done to cement the notion of the elves as ethereal beings for whom Middle Earth is only a temporary home, given their long lifespan. I also feel that many of the stilted goodbyes were meant to be a sign of how much had changed, how 'tired' they had all become and how deeply they had been affected by what happened to them and to Middle Earth as a whole. I suspect it's a manifestation of the 'damage' done to the people of Middle Earth and to the land itself.

Of course, that's all my own personal opinion. Despite loving the works (and other works of Tolkien's), I've deliberately avoided reading any academic texts around the books

TwoGallants

Hi there Einhard,

I'm a great admirer of Tolkien but I think its important to make exceptions for him. If you're comparing his books to other novels you should stop. The Lord of the Rings isn't a standard novel, its a complete neo-archaic(*Is that a word?) mythology which aims to provide an imaginary pre-history for Europe. It is a rather simple tale of good and evil, but Tolkien was a committed Catholic. The relationships are simple and almost autistic as you say, but Tolkien is harking back to medieval and pre medieval tales of simplified romantic love. So take him on his terms. I've read Lord of the Rings 6 times and every time I read it I learn something new.

There is a great amount of subtext to his work, even if it doesn't seem that way due to the writing style. Its amazing in a lot of ways; a child can read it as a straight forward adventure story, an adult can enjoy the drama and moral clashes depicting good and evil, the academic or curious can enjoy the deeper philosophical and academic theses presented. You've got to remember that his close friend wrote the Chronicles of Narnia around the same time, so there must have been something in the air when he wrote this.

In a world of increasing convenience, where we can order a pizza from downstairs using a magical box that we type words in to, I think fantasy and mythology are becoming ever more important. I sometimes worry about children growing up, will they have fantasy lives? When I have a child, they will read Lord of the Rings as soon as they have the ability.

EoghanIRL

I have started reading LOTR and was just wondering does it explain later why the ring had no effect on Tom Bombadil or is it something obvious I don't realise?
No spoilers please if it does explain it later.

Washington Irving

EoghanIRL wrote: »

I have started reading LOTR and was just wondering does it explain later why the ring had no effect on Tom Bombadil or is it something obvious I don't realise?
No spoilers please if it does explain it later.

No, it is never revealed. Plenty of interesting theories though.

When asked about it Tolkien said that some things should remain a mystery, "especially if an explanation actually exists".

Carawaystick

Regarding the goodbyes, look at the hello's

Samwise wrote:

Well I'm Back"

EoghanIRL

Looks like he has done the same with the fate of the Entwives.
I like his style. In someways it's nice to leave some things to the reader's imagination.