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Tolkien's Middle-earth doesn't look like Medieval Europe - Page 11

© Michael Martinez

The division of Arnor into three smaller kingdoms suggests to some people there may have been a vassaldom which became divided among the sons of Earendur, the last High King. Cardolan, at least, had a princely house like the Lords of Dol Amroth, not descended from Elendil. The last heir of this line died in the year 1407, at least 50 years after the last male descendant of Isildur from Cardolan had died. And yet, again, the evidence for feudalism, particularly medieval European feudalism, is virtually non-existent. There are no indications of personal obligations between the lords and the kings, let alone exchanges of land for service. On the contrary, Elendil and his fellow Numenorean exiles joined existing populations in both Arnor and Gondor. Unless they engaged in undocumented wars of conquest, they could not simply have usurped total authority from the local leaders. Hence the most popular arguments for interpreting Middle-earth as "medieval" are not only contradicted by Tolkien himself, but fail to provide explicit evidence where he doesn't directly refute the inferences. Many of the inferences are certainly applicable, if not textually supportable, but such applicability in no way excludes the applicability of other inferences. It is easier to show the classical influences in Tolkien than the medieval ones because he at least gave us some examples from the classics. Where he provides medieval examples Tolkien is careful to caution the reader against inferring too much (especially medievalism itself), or qualifies his sources by emphasizing the story structure rather than the culture being portrayed in the story. And that is why I look forward to Peter Jackson's interpretation with some trepidation. I believe I will enjoy these movies. I have no fears on that score. But the evidence we've seen so far implies strongly that Jackson has, despite his well-announced intentions, already departed from the original story in theme and context and there will be little of Tolkien's hand in the visible cultures. The medievalists have won this round, but sadly that only means we'll have to wait for the next attempt to see if someone will try to do it right.

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