[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Legolas

If you're looking to understand the author's intention, the purpose of the event in the book, it certainly can matter. It was originally posed "give me a good reason why Gandalf had to pop up out of the abyss." Whether you care personally what Tolkien thought is not the question. Looking to the author for reasoning is a good way to start. No one is supposing such statements will outweigh the evidence of the story. They supplement the evidence in the story; they bring it into perspective.

Well, Legolas does not directly name me personally, but I'll address his comments anyway as an opportunity to correct a misunderstanding that has popped up other places.

It is not that I 'don't care personally' what Tolkien thought. It is that I prefer to have authors' statements about their intentions carefully weighed against the stories they write and carefully examined in terms of when the statement was written vis a vis when the art was written, what the context is of the statement, who the recipient is of the statement. Sometimes author can misremember things, even their own work. Sometimes only years later can an author see--or be able to create--a logical framework or explanation for the artistic process. And sometimes authors as much as readers read back into their work things that weren't necessarily uppermost in their mind or even deep in the depths of their creative cauldron. This latter point seems to be the one most clearly related to some of the changes made to TH.

In short, any author's claim of intention is not an indisputable fact but a written document which needs to be thoughtfully considered before its applicability can be accepted. It isn't automatic, like a fingerprint in a court of law or forensics, even with an author such as Tolkien. And perhaps Tolkien even more than other authors, since he was such a niggler and since his stories were consciously changed in the revision.

So really what I am suggesting is the kind of analysis of writing process which davem has offerred here, something which gives us greater insight into how the story came to be in its final form. Where was that statement from Tolkien that he wanted to avoid a Fall in the Legendarium in order to avoid the appearance of parody? Maybe it was only after Tolkien saw some of the reactions of his readers that he came to understand how he wanted Gandalf's return to appear. 'Intention' is a long process.