tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post3842526009002407602..comments2023-11-07T06:20:12.181-08:00Comments on Tolkien: Medieval and Modern: Language and People"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"http://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-12279574610128427102014-04-14T14:07:47.127-07:002014-04-14T14:07:47.127-07:00Thanks for the post, CCC. It’s a good read.
This ...Thanks for the post, CCC. It’s a good read.<br /><br />This idea of the taxonomy of languages, their relation of the peoples who speak them, and the nations that can be defined from those people, was—for good and very ill—one of the key ideas of the Zeitgeist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Tolkien is, in a way, very typical of his times in his profound fascination with it, but he’s utterly atypical in his creative use of it.<br /><br />I've always thought that one of the most interesting thing is that Gildor regards Frodo as an elf-friend immediately upon hearing him speaking fluent Elvish with a beautiful accent. (Paper topic: Perhaps Gildor and the Elves are French…) While Gildor may be seeing in Frodo’s mien other signs of “elf-friendliness” it seems significant that <i>entrée</i> to Elfdom is clearly denoted through the skillful use of its language.<br /><br />You might look at Tolkien’s letters for some of his explicit discussions of these issues here in the Fourth Age…<br /><br />Bill the Heliotrope"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.com