There are many interesting ideas here, but the post that caught my eye and tugged a bit at my heart was that of Amarya SilverBranch. Amarya, you are an extraordinary young woman and I, who am many years your senior, would be proud and pleased if my own daughter turns out to be as thoughtful as you are.
I do agree with Gandalf the Grey that humility was part of Tolkien's personality in a very basic way. On the one hand, Tolkien could be incredibly stubborn about what he perceived as the truth. Yet, at the same time, he did not want to take himself too seriously, or set himself upon a high place which he felt he did not deserve.
I also sense he was an intensely private person. His writings, his legends, were like private jewels which he feared to put out before the public because it was almost like baring a piece of his own soul. This seems to have been particularly true of some of the material in the Silmarillion, and I almost wonder if this is one of the many reasons he could never bring himself to "complete" it. For how can anyone complete the portrayal of their own inner self before their personal story ends?
In the same way perhaps, he would draw back when sending out a letter like the one above. For perhaps it was making a piece of himself public which he inherently felt was a bit private.
There are many places in the Letters where Tolkien's words bespeak both humility and reserve as if he almost downplayed those undrlying ideas which were at the core of his writing. The best known passage, I think, is when he spoke of the structure, form, and purpose of the legendarium:
Quote:
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Do not laugh! But once upon a time (my crest has long since fallen) I had a mind to make a large body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story--the larger founded on the lesser in contact with the earth, the lesser drawing splendour from the vast backcloths which I would dedicate simply to: to England; to my country.....I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. Absurd.
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Do not laugh? Absurd? I think not, Professor Tolkien.
I don't think in his wildest dreams Tolkien ever considered that so many outside his native counry would read these tales. It is amazing how many readers, who have never lived in England or studied its history and literature, still respond intellectually and emotionally to the legendarium. I was fortunate enough to work and study in England for some time and the stories of the Shire and hobbits came alive for me when I fell in love with the English countryside. But when I look at this board, and see the different countries that people are from, I know that the pull goes far beyond that!
sharon, the 7th age hobbit