Was Tolkien an environmentalist?
 

In TTT, the Ents lead and army of trees to attack Orthank. Is he (tolkein) opposing deforestation, or is this just another bit of his anti-technology? [img]smilies/confused.gif[/img]

You should have posted this to Books II. Next time read the instructions, pal! Anyway I don't know, maybe. He was sad when a tree got felled near his home, also he was sad about industrialism, as he writes in 'On Fairy-Stories'. A bit like Sam seeing the Shire marred.

How very "Christian" of you, Niphredil. (See "Well, gosh!" thread in Novices and Newcomers)

-rêd

Niphredil, I am confused. I don't recall what the parameters are regarding what goes into Books I & II. Am going to go surf the FAQ and see.
Tolkien was definitely pro-tree, but I think classifying him as an environmentalist is not the correct label. Maybe more of a conservationist.

[ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: Aralaithiel ]

The rule that new topics should be started in Books I only is a relict from the old ezBoard days (that more than two thirds of our members can't even remember). So start new topics wherever you want, basicall. Merging the tow Books fora back together is something which we will do in the future, but it is not urgent anyway.

Thank you, Sharku for enlightening me! I feel much better now! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

You all worry me, has no one here read the tolkien biography by Humphrey Carpenter?! It is a great biography and cleary states Tolkien's great love of nature, and his great sadness at it's destruction. He is quoted as saying "There goes the last piece of unspoiled land" each time he saw a new road or building being built in an untouched piece of nature.

[img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] Sorry, Beren87! I can't say that I have read that, but I will add it to my "must read" list!

I'm not sure envirolmentalist is the right word. Naturalist? Definitely. I think that Tolkien felt that trees have their own spirituality, that, if the situation arose they could uproot themselves and walk the earth. Tolkien had an opinion about how trees see time, which i think is valid. Trees live a very long time, so the minutes must pass slow for them. I think Tolkien felt it was important to add something about the power of nature in his tales.

I don't think Tolkien was an environmentalist, I think maybe he just liked nature. Or trees. Or maybe he was just trying to write a really good trilogy called The Lord of the Rings.