The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Archetypes in Faerie

mark12_30 · 04-12-2003, 05:30 PM

lmp, I'm glad you posted those links. I hope to find time to meander down those old paths at some point.

In answer to your question-- yes, I think we agree as writers. I found the article on archetypes stimulating and intriguing, similar to my reaction to a rather cute, fun site called The Hero's Journey. After stumbling on that site and nosing around in it a bit, I was stunned that Bolco follows as many elements in that pattern as he does. The story is no epic, and is in essence a study in mysticism, in the same sense that Tolkien stated (letter 152) "He (Frodo) is rather a study of a hobbit broken by a burden of fear and horror-- broken down, and in the end made into something quite different." To me that shouted "Dark Night Of The Soul", and that theme grew as I wrote Bolco; I had no intentions of writing a "hero's quest"; I thought I was writing a mystical, religious work, in the style of George MacDonald. And-- what do you know-- as I look at the (almost) finished work, many of the elements of the hero's quest pop up and surprise me. I had no idea. (The whole thing started with a confused hobbit at a train station. So how did I end up with a "quest"? I'm still scratching my head over that one.)

So that has got me wondering, now, about these archetypes, and different ways of looking at stories; as lmp mentioned, no model is perfect, but I sure wouldn't have thought of applying the "quest" model to Bolco, either. It doesn't apply perfectly. But having read the "quest" model outline, now, it certainly has a much larger impact on me as a writer than it would have before I had written Bolco. In the same vein, the article on Archetypes would not have phased me, I think, if I had not been writing.

I think the thing that fascinates me so much about Tolkien, and that inspires me so much, is that he sometimes surprised even himself. The quote from the back of the Letters is the one I return to again and again: "I met a lot of things along the way that astonished me. Tom Bombadil I knew already; but I had never been to Bree. Strider sitting in the corner of the inn was a shock, and I had no more idea who he was than Frodo did. The Mines of Moria had been a mere name; and of Lothlorien no word had reached my mortal ears til I came there." (Letter 163)

I knew I wanted to write, and that quote pushed me into it; if Tolkien could write blind, not knowing who the characters were that were popping into his stories, I did not have to know, either.

But Bolco is at last winding down; the climax is written, and it is time to tie up the loose ends. The Fairy Wife I think is at last finished and polished (lindil, if you are watching, the first chapter is now posted on the downs.) So where do I go from here?

I've gone on long enough and probably strayed way off topic. I started off saying, lmp, thanks for the links!

--Helen

[ April 12, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

04-12-2003, 05:30 PM	#12
mark12_30 Stormdancer of Doom Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars Posts: 4,349	lmp, I'm glad you posted those links. I hope to find time to meander down those old paths at some point. In answer to your question-- yes, I think we agree as writers. I found the article on archetypes stimulating and intriguing, similar to my reaction to a rather cute, fun site called The Hero's Journey. After stumbling on that site and nosing around in it a bit, I was stunned that Bolco follows as many elements in that pattern as he does. The story is no epic, and is in essence a study in mysticism, in the same sense that Tolkien stated (letter 152) "He (Frodo) is rather a study of a hobbit broken by a burden of fear and horror-- broken down, and in the end made into something quite different." To me that shouted "Dark Night Of The Soul", and that theme grew as I wrote Bolco; I had no intentions of writing a "hero's quest"; I thought I was writing a mystical, religious work, in the style of George MacDonald. And-- what do you know-- as I look at the (almost) finished work, many of the elements of the hero's quest pop up and surprise me. I had no idea. (The whole thing started with a confused hobbit at a train station. So how did I end up with a "quest"? I'm still scratching my head over that one.) So that has got me wondering, now, about these archetypes, and different ways of looking at stories; as lmp mentioned, no model is perfect, but I sure wouldn't have thought of applying the "quest" model to Bolco, either. It doesn't apply perfectly. But having read the "quest" model outline, now, it certainly has a much larger impact on me as a writer than it would have before I had written Bolco. In the same vein, the article on Archetypes would not have phased me, I think, if I had not been writing. I think the thing that fascinates me so much about Tolkien, and that inspires me so much, is that he sometimes surprised even himself. The quote from the back of the Letters is the one I return to again and again: "I met a lot of things along the way that astonished me. Tom Bombadil I knew already; but I had never been to Bree. Strider sitting in the corner of the inn was a shock, and I had no more idea who he was than Frodo did. The Mines of Moria had been a mere name; and of Lothlorien no word had reached my mortal ears til I came there." (Letter 163) I knew I wanted to write, and that quote pushed me into it; if Tolkien could write blind, not knowing who the characters were that were popping into his stories, I did not have to know, either. But Bolco is at last winding down; the climax is written, and it is time to tie up the loose ends. The Fairy Wife I think is at last finished and polished (lindil, if you are watching, the first chapter is now posted on the downs.) So where do I go from here? I've gone on long enough and probably strayed way off topic. I started off saying, lmp, thanks for the links! --Helen [ April 12, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ] __________________ ...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.