tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post376120388383328820..comments2023-11-07T06:20:12.181-08:00Comments on Tolkien: Medieval and Modern: What Language Speaks"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"http://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-11189484992771074132017-04-26T09:26:01.208-07:002017-04-26T09:26:01.208-07:00-- Santi Ruiz-- Santi Ruiz"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-56566506995445663392017-04-26T09:25:49.109-07:002017-04-26T09:25:49.109-07:00I think you make a great point about the difficult...I think you make a great point about the difficulty of taking Tolkien at his word on the objective value of certain languages - it doesn't seem like he's drawn the argument out fully himself. I had a similar concern regarding his hard push-back on readers who try to draw connections between English words and words in Tolkien (lizard root / Sauron etc). On the one hand, he has a philologist's natural interest in explaining his own writing process and correcting misconceptions about his creative vision. On the other, though, he says things like (about "Moriah") "Internally, there is no conceivable connexion between the mining of Dwarves, and the story of Abraham. I utterly repudiate any such significances and symbolisms." This seems to ignore that people will always naturally form different connections in stories – Tolkien wants people to encounter his story in similar ways once it’s out in the world, and it seems to be a losing endeavor. It’s especially interesting because Tolkien is so clear-minded on how languages change over time, and about their human quality. He’s not wrong to correct readers on his own process, but to criticize them for sketching their mental picture of the story and its connections their own way seems an overstep."Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-79323046442601641062017-04-24T13:51:27.299-07:002017-04-24T13:51:27.299-07:00"Inherent" is a tricky concept! I think ..."Inherent" is a tricky concept! I think you get to where I was hoping we would: at the historicity of language as it grows and changes with cultures (and vice versa). I suppose the meta-question is, what is the relationship between aesthetic pleasure and one's embeddedness in culture/history. People are quite capable of enjoying languages and other artifacts of cultures they do not know the history of--which I think was Tolkien's point about "cellar doors" (the root of my example with "Lord of the Rings"). But if history is inherent in culture, and language is inherent in culture, at least this tells us something about the culture of the people speaking the language. Including their names. RLFB"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.com