The Downfall of the Lore of the Rings: An elusive enigma

» Herisson - An elusive enigma

I think that the reason why the Lord of the Rings is such a bone of contention among various critics is that it is something of an enigma. It defies expectations. It may draw from Homeric epics, but Homeric epics don't have Samwise Gamgee relishing herbs and stewed rabbit in the middle of heroic quests. It may contain strains of a bygone, rural England, but such places aren't interrupted by the strangely majestic Aragorn. Neither does the Lord of the Rings conform to the rules of one particular class of literature. Millions of people enjoy it, yet in place of the sex and gore that editors demand, it has poetry and sub-Shakespearean language. In the same way, it is not a typical 'Great Literary Work'. It doesn't expound on the themes of evil and deathlessness in the way that readers may expect. When I read the Lord of the Rings as simple brain candy, I am confronted with wry comments and insightful characterisations. When I attempt to read the Lord of the Rings as a Great Literary Work, I am confounded by bath songs and springle-rings.
To classify the Lord of the Rings as being only entertainment or as being a Great Literary Work would be to force it to abide by rules alien, in part, to it. It isn't completely like anything else. You should appreciate its beauty and its strange wisdom when you come across them, but don't tear the book apart in an attempt to understand it: you can't.

-- posted by Herisson