this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2024
330 points (97.1% liked)

Comic Strips

12956 readers
2714 users here now

Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.

The rules are simple:

Web of links

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] WillBalls 34 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's similar to searching for consistencies amongst any mythology, which is what Tolkien was attempting to create. Tales will always change over time, and they'll always shift focus to what the teller determines is important. As focuses of a society shift, so do the focuses of its related mythology. In this way, I think Tolkien did an excellent job creating a united mythos for England in all the different versions of his legendarium. As the tales evolved, consistencies emerged elements which were formerly key, were discarded, and internal references became more commonplace than external references (see Tolkien's influences from William Morris and Icelandic, Celtic, Germanic, and Anglo Saxon epics)

[–] jordanlund 20 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That was the challenge Christopher noted in the forward to the Silmarillion. J.R.R. had started working it in 1917, and kept making changes right up until his death in 1973.

So he had 56 years worth of papers, and notes, lots of it hand written, to try to kind of reconcile into a single work.

[–] WillBalls 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's been a few years since I've read the foreword to the Silmarillion, but I'm glad I'm consistent with Christopher's analysis 😁

[–] jordanlund 10 points 1 month ago

Helps that I literally just read it the day before this post! LOL.