In his letter of response to William H. Auden’s praise for “Return of the King”, Tolkien states at the very end “Mine is not an imaginary world, but in the imaginary historical moment on ‘Middle-Earth’ - which is our habitation.” During class, we discussed in what modes JRRT accomplished this, and in choosing “good history” over “bad mythology” one can see the brilliance and nature in which he did so.
To recount, there are many parallels between the historical, chronological, and linguistic aspects of Middle Earth created by Tolkien and our world that would suggest his “imaginary historical moment” to be feasible. There are historical parallels through the various real-life structures integrated into his work, with Tolkien himself admitting “the essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N. W. Europe) so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified but the enchantment of distance in time.” Chronological parallels show how the temporal intervals run in similar proportions across timelines, with the recorded history of the First through Third Ages lasting about as long as early Christian historians theorized the earth to be: between six and eight thousand years old. And the languages Tolkien creates are themselves mixtures of various languages of our own world, predominantly Welsh and Finnish.
But we did not discuss what the exact implications of this parallel would be. Tolkien had made a “good history,” and thus by definition of history, his tale cannot be allegorical. Tolkien supports this fact by having always claimed his work was never allegorical in any nature. So even if this tale takes place in our real world, Earth, what truth of our reality can it offer if its historical moment is imaginary and the content is not allegory?
To answer this question, our attention should turn to the central conflict of “The Lord of the Rings” which is “not basically about Freedom though that is naturally involved. It is about God and his sole right to Divine honor. The Eldar and the Numenoreans believed in the One, the true God, and held worship of any other person in abomination.” This is a very important point, that the main conflict across this epic is a religious one: the battle between Good (Eru Illuvatar) and Evil (Morgoth/Sauron). It should be noted that Tolkien’s theological hierarchy and structure itself is very similar to Christianity more so than any other of the Norse or German source material he draws upon, creating another parallel between our time periods. This shows especially in his description of evil, claiming “In my story I do not deal with Absolute Evil. I do not think there is such a thing,” thereby emulating how even “Satan” was once “Lucifer” in his figures of Morgoth and Sauron. This religious parallel, however, fundamentally differs from all the ones, because the historical, chronological, and linguistic parallels are all tools used to make this religious parallel the point/focus of the story. While yes, Tolkien's languages began the creation of this imagined historical moment, it did not finish it. So then, if these other elements are tools to prop up our central conflict parallel, what can this conflict say through its parallels?
Rather than looking at what parallels match, those that differ will provide the answer. One of the most striking differences between those two timelines is the fact that those Impossible Evils of Morgoth and Sauron are defeated, while Satan still exists in our world (according to Tolkien's Catholic beliefs and worldview). This difference is exactly what the conflict says in its parallels (or lack thereof): that evil can be defeated by us, simple men. That’s why Tolkien made this story fundamentally human through its focus on men and the many humane properties like courage, friendship, and perseverance in the face of evil that run through it. And our tale’s nature as a faerie-tale and historic epic urges the reader to learn just that lesson so we can face the evils in our own lives. Although the following passage was written for the movies, it embodies the idea well, so it is worth quoting in full:
“It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something… That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”
In a similar conversation, we’ve discussed how Sam and Frodo converse about their still being in the same story as the ancient heroes of old, and how they carry on in this age-long quest. But if the central conflict of this tale is fundamentally about a battle of Good vs Evil grounded in Nature and the Christian religion, then in a way we have the ability to carry out that Quest in our own lives. That the battle exists in the same world as ours even at different times is the greatest parallel between our two worlds, one that bridges the good and purpose its heroes carry over to ours. Like their world, ours does have some good in it, and many fight for it every day. A Quest may sound dangerous or rare like fighting a dragon or finding a lost city for men like us. Tolkien disagrees though: “Men do go, and have, in history, gone on journeys and quests, without any intention of acting out allegories of life... Most men make some journeys.” He continues, sharing what reason to go on such a quest: “ a deliverance from the plant-like state of helpless passive software, and exercise however small of will, and Mobility - and of curiosity, without which a rational mind becomes stultified.” Curiosity specifically of that world that God (or Eru Illuvatar) has created for us, which in turn inspires that sub-creation of our own: “man, sub-creator, the refracted light / through whom is splintered from a single White / to many hues, and endlessly combined / in living shapes that move from mind to mind.” Thus, in Tolkien presenting “an imaginary historical moment on our habitation,” its differences and parallels serve as an ideal for the reader to view, and maybe use to create on their own to extinguish that evil in our world now.
-GSG
No comments:
Post a Comment