tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post2156555559382788072..comments2023-11-07T06:20:12.181-08:00Comments on Tolkien: Medieval and Modern: The Balance of Nature and Industry, Why Trees Can Be Bad Sometimes"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"http://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-32736943649284343932017-05-22T09:54:17.518-07:002017-05-22T09:54:17.518-07:00In response to both your post and Professor Fulton...In response to both your post and Professor Fulton-Brown’s comment, I never really interpreted anything natural within the story to be “evil” per se. It always seemed to me more that trees and other natural entities were simply independent, and if they took actions against our protagonists that it wasn’t necessarily a result of evil intentions but more looking out for their own self-interests. In the example of Old Man Willow trying to eat the hobbits and influencing the rest of the Old Forest to be hostile to human/hobbit travellers, to me this never seemed so much an indication that he was evil, just that he was deeply mistrustful of and had a lot of anger towards civilization. Putting yourself in the shoes (or I guess roots) of an ancient tree of the Old Forest, he has presumably seen, over the many long years, thousands and thousands of his friends killed by those who were claiming their actions were done in the name of “progress” or “civilization.” You have to remember that the Old Forest and Fangorn were once connected, and so it seems to me that the malice in Old Man Willow is more akin to the malice that the Ents feel toward Saruman cutting down their friends than the evil exhibited by Sauron trying to dominate all of the people in Middle Earth. ABShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11471286405712945153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-77107959420544298562017-05-21T13:53:43.036-07:002017-05-21T13:53:43.036-07:00Nicely observed that "Nature" left to it...Nicely observed that "Nature" left to itself in Tolkien tends to the evil--think, for example, of Old Man Willow as well or the Huorns with dark hearts whom the Ents cannot reach. This fits with Augustine's understanding of Evil as a deprivation of Good: it is proper to Iluvatar's children to participate in sub creation. Indeed, as you show, it is necessary for the good of creation that they should! RLFB"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-74829737044764616372017-05-19T11:08:57.551-07:002017-05-19T11:08:57.551-07:00Sorry, it's YCSorry, it's YCYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00532871172262871864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-70397401451307245022017-05-19T10:11:53.973-07:002017-05-19T10:11:53.973-07:00Name or initials?Name or initials?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340002157728895236noreply@blogger.com