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Does Barliman Have a Beard? And Other Important Fannish Issues - Page 9

© Michael Martinez

Nonetheless, a discussion of The Silmarillion leads almost inevitably to a discussion of The History of Middle-earth. I am often amazed at how people sometimes have no problem taking material from The Book of Lost Tales (composed in the years 1917-25, before Tolkien ever conceived of Hobbits) and mixing it with material from Unfinished Tales (written in the years after Tolkien published The Lord of the Rings). Of course, Tolkien never warned us NOT to mix sources like that. It all came from the same lifetime. That should be sufficient, right? And I haven't quite figured out the rules for using those four History of Middle-earth volumes which deal with how The Lord of the Rings was written. Apparently, it's okay to cite any passage in the early texts which contradicts or differs greatly from the "official", published version that J.R.R. Tolkien approved -- as proof that any given passage is actually ambiguous. After all, Tolkien wrote the same passage two different ways, clearly that means he couldn't make up his mind, right? They really should have published all versions of the text at the same time. That would have made the principle of picking and choosing authoritative texts much more acceptable. I'm not saying it would be any easier, mind you. There are two words which appear often in fan discussions: "interpretation" and "ambiguous". Anything Tolkien writes is your interpretation if it happens to disagree with or (worse!) disprove what the other person says. And any passage which you use to show that someone else hasn't been checking the text is "ambiguous" and therefore proves nothing at all (or, better yet, proves their point, too). So, anyone who wants to master the art of Tolkien debate must understand these basic concepts: the other guy is a sophist, all his citations from Tolkien are just his interpretation, and he never cites anything but ambiguous passages anyway. Use them to prove your own point no matter how little of it relates to anything Tolkien actually wrote anyway. Or, better yet, take a poll. And if you don't like the way the answers fall, be quick to point out that it's just a poll. Hence, the fact thousands of people believe Balrogs have wings and only a few hundred believe they don't doesn't mean the book says the Balrog of Moria is winged. It means that most people just don't see how ambiguous the passage really is. Okay, a Balrog wings reference from Michael Martinez is bound to send villains cursing and twitching into the cold. Fair maidens, take heed lest you find yourselves tied to the railroad tracks once again. Let's assume, for the sake of discussion, that the word "wings" is never mentioned in "The Bridge of Khazad-dum".

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