The Downfall of the Lore of the Rings - Page 8
© Michael Martinez
It's not important to ask if the Elves frolicked on the shores of Belegaer, if they enjoyed wading through the waves, or just sitting in the sun and soaking up some rays. Tolkien scholars have to figure out what word the Elves would have used to describe "sun-bathing", and why Tolkien was wrong to twist the Elven language in some fashion because he wasn't following "the rules". But the worst offenses of the critics are the treatments of The Lord of the Rings which render it into a methodical retelling of older legends. Smaug does not talk to Beowulf, he speaks with Bilbo Baggins. Morgoth imprisons Hurin on the mount, but he isn't Hera striking out at Hercules.
The study of Tolkien's works is really in its infancy because, quite frankly, the critics have been ignoring the Tolkien stories for decades. They've focused on whether Aragorn has all the qualities of a noble horse, whether the Orcs are stereotypical villains, or whether the Rohirrim were derived from the Anglo-Saxons. Do even one of these people understand what The Lord of the Rings is all about?
Tolkien said the story was about death and the search for deathlessness. But that is the simple explanation of its deeper meaning. It's a hint that guides attentive critics (of which there seem to be all too few) in the right direction. In reality, the story isn't trying to teach us about death and the search for deathlessness. It's trying to entertain us.
In reality, it's about Hobbits, and Elves, and Men...and Orcs. It's just a story about Middle-earth. Nothing more, nothing less. And that's why I like it. There are no Christ-like figures, Anglo-Saxons, or Beowulfs in Middle-earth. So I see no reason to write about them if I'm going to talk about Tolkien and Middle-earth. I just wanted to say that. And it really doesn't matter if the critics (Tolkien's or mine) get it or not.
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