Home » Reading & Literature » J.R.R. Tolkien » Tolkien's Time Machine: When Literary Worlds Collide - Page 9

Tolkien's Time Machine: When Literary Worlds Collide - Page 9

© Michael Martinez

Faramir's words to Frodo may be another example of that double intent or applicability. As Tolkien's fictitious literary tradition became more like modern literature, modern literature (through The Lord of the Rings) became more like his fictitious literary tradition. In other words, Tolkien's imaginary Anglo-Saxon literature evolved into an imaginary English literature. In Tolkien's imaginary past, Shakespeare's English literature might not have been so disappointing. The Lord of the Rings is therefore what a philologist might recognize as an "asterisk-book". Shippey devotes many pages to explaining philology and its historical roots, but let it suffice to say that philology is the study of language and history. The philologist, at least one like Tolkien, cannot understand a word without understanding its history, and in understanding a word he understands the history with which the word is associated. One example of this outlook is Tolkien's reaction to a lecture his son Christopher gave. Shippey quotes Tolkien's excited comment about the apparent derivation of the name "Attila" from the Gothic word "atta" (father). "Attila" means "Little Father", and apparently implies that his Gothic warriors were very devoted to him. Many Goths did indeed serve in Attila's army. Historians have never fully agreed upon why, and the Tolkien explanation seems as good as any: Attila delivered the goods to his soldiers, and they didn't care who was a Hun and who was a Goth. In reconstructing the languages of our past, and therefore providing some insights into our past, philologists devise what are referred to as "asterisk-words". These are words which the philologists conclude must have existed at some time, and perhaps have evolved into new words. They are denoted in word-lists and dictionaries with an asterisk (*) placed at the front. Anyone who has read Tolkien's "Etymologies" knows he scattered many asterisk-words throughout his invented languages. He didn't presume to know everything possible about Elvish languages, but left it for others to see what he had discovered and to follow in his footsteps. At least, in an imaginary tradition of philology it must be so. So, The Lord of the Rings is an asterisk-book. It is Tolkien's example of how the Anglo-Saxon literary tradition might have evolved. Although they are usually devised in an attempt to look further back, asterisk-words may be devised from known or postulated roots in an effort to extend our knowledge about poorly documented languages. In the same way, Tolkien brought Old English literature forward, leap-frogging across a thousand years by looking at the evolution of literary motifs and drawing upon sources from across the ages.

The copyright of the article Tolkien's Time Machine: When Literary Worlds Collide - Page 9 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish Tolkien's Time Machine: When Literary Worlds Collide - Page 9 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.