Browsing the Compleat Middle-Earth Library - Page 4
© Michael Martinez
Then there is the analysis of Tolkien's sources for Middle-earth. He felt the pursuit of sources and inspirations for stories was not a desirable practice, and yet he occasionally offered explanations of where he got his ideas from. Although this area shares considerable overlap with literary criticism, it is not as fully developed as it should be. The commentators focus too much on Tolkien's obvious connections to Anglo-Saxon literature and tradition and they virtually ignore his Biblical and Greco-Roman influences. Tolkien admitted to or implied influences from Babylon, Egypt, Finland, Wales, Ireland, and other regions. The Finnish and Welsh influences are given the most attention after Anglo-Saxon, and many commentators will concede some debt to Tolkien's love of the Gothic language in an "oh, by-the-way" fashion. Much work remains to be done in uncovering Tolkien's sources and influences, and sadly it may be another generation before we see a respectable attempt to document the non-Anglo-Saxon sources.
Literary criticism offers us insights into Tolkien's own motivations and priorities (or, at least, what the commentators believe are Tolkien motivations and priorities). But it also provides a rich discussion of the applicable symbology and relevance of Middle-earth in the framework of modern thought. Tolkien was quite the philosopher, and his writings reflect his long, deep thought on many issues, especially on the issues of dehumanization and man's relationship to God. Tolkien was not a frequent allegorist, but he borrowed from the allegorical tradition wherever he felt he might broaden the reach of a character to his audience by doing so. And he wrote some allegory himself, although he professed a "cordial dislike" for it. Allegory is thought-provoking and deep, and attempts to rationalize a (frequently) limited concept. But Tolkien wanted very much to entertain his readers, and not to burden them with the necessity of unravelling allegorical symbology. Middle-earth's allegory is palpable but not pervasive. The reader can take it or leave it.
In order to study all these aspects of Middle-earth, one needs all the books I mentioned above, as well as one other: John Rateliff's as-yet unpublished History of the Hobbit (that is simply my euphemism for a book which, begun by the late Taum Santoski, has been called Mr. Baggins and other things less pleasant). The journal Vinyar Tengwar (edited by the Elven Linguistic Fellowship of the Mythopoeic Society) also occasionally includes some of Tolkien's previously unpublished essays (the most notable of which has so far been "Osanwe-kenta").
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