1 March 2010
Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Powerful line in a book
FEB 28, 2010 11:02A.M.
So I have been reading The Silmarillion. For the first time in a very long
time, I am actually enjoying it. I know, confusing, but it is true. I seem to
have a hate-love relationship with Tolkien. I find The Hobbit to be my
absolute favorite thing he has written. It is a great read, and no matter
how many times I read this book — I am up to thirty-two times — I still
smile and enjoy the read.
As for The Lord of the Rings. Well, at the risk of being labeled a heretic, I
find it a ponderous chore to read. There are parts I truly love, namely
The Fellowship of the Ring, which is a tight and taunt adventure book,
despite the amount of over writing that is there. Yet it is The Two Towers
that the story bogs down, and by the time you read The Return of the
King, I am just glad to be over with it. I have read this book as many
times as I’ve read The Hobbit — thirty-two — and each time I find myself
running hot and cold with it.
Unlike Michael Moorcock — who my friends know is probably my
favorite writer of all time — I do not agree with his view on Tolkien, and
though some of his criticism is valid, the crux of his argument is two
main points:
• A poverty of writing style
• A political criticism
These views he mentions in Epic Pooh,(British Fantasy Society, 1978), as
well as a revised version found in Wizardry & Romance. Moorcock
argues in the essay that Tolkien, as well as C.S. Lewis suffers from
Anglican Toryism. In short, the attitude expressed in the writer’s works
is an anti-technological, anti-urban stance which Moorcock sees as
ultimately misanthropic, glorification of a rural ideal. In short their
Anglican Toryism is is rooted in middle bourgeois attitudes toward
progress and political change.
1
Harsh? You bet. Do I agree? Not really. I just find Tolkien to be at times
a tad boring. Also, many forget that Tolkien is a product of education and
study, and as someone who was a linguist, his approach to bulk of his
writing is academic in scope, as well as very personal. Hell, The
Silmarillion can be viewed as not only the history of Middle Earth elves
— a biased history at that — as well as his bible for the stories he weaved
in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I feel, and have argued
many times, that The Silmarillion was not written for a general reader, or
even fans of Tolkien’s writings. It was written for Tolkien himself, and
set forth the ideas and beliefs which shaped his future writings of both
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Still, what does this have to do with the subject at hand?
When you strip Tolkien and his writing down to his core, there is a power
and beauty. He is careful in the words he uses, as well as deliberate. He
knows when to hold back, and knows when something is more effective
short, than long winded. Case in point: the breaking of the siege of
Angband.
Two parts moved me the most. The first, when Fingolfin making his way
alone to the gates of Angband, stands alone, and challenges Morgoth to
single combat. The evil Vala is then forced to come out and meet him
rather than appear cowardly. A lesser writer would spend countless
words describing the arrival of Morgoth. Tolkien goes with a very
minimalist approach, which echoes in power. My most favorite line that
Tolkien has ever written is simple and powerful. What does Tolkien write
to describe Morgoth accepting the challenge of Fingolfin, and coming to
fight him?
And Morgoth came.
Boom.
Such power and simplicity, and it works to great effect. Tolkien then goes
on to top himself, and that is in describing the battle between Morgoth
and Fingolfin. This too ready well, and once again Tolkien hits you with
sheer beauty of his writing, and this is found in the death and breaking of
Fingolfin:
Thrice he was crushed to his knees, and thrice arose again and bore up
his broken shield and stricken helm. But the earth was all rent and pitted
about him, and he stumbled and fell backward before the feet of
Morgoth; and Morgoth set his left foot upon his neck, and the weight of
it was like a fallen hill...
Great stuff. Reading The Silmarillion again, my eyes are new.
Rediscovering the beauty of Tolkien’s writing, has been one of the best
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 1 March 2010

surprises.