Quote:
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Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age
Why can't it be the same for Middle-earth?
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Because it is only a
faux mythology. Sorry, but that's what it is. It was created out of the imagination of one man. A Mythology or legend is wholly different and springs from the collective mind. Tolkien, unless he had some kind of split personality disorder, was a man with only one mind.
Myth cycles are/were sacred to the peoples who wrote them down and who passed on the stories. They are religious texts in effect which have become denigrated by other religions and regimes which followed. They have been left free to muck around with as we see fit.
I have to say that Tolkien would have been horrified to think that his little story, his personal creation, would one day replace all the genuine myths and legends out there, would stomp all over the fragility of our real history. Arthur was a real person, so was Robin Hood, and Atlantis is from the collective ancient memory. They are ours, but can so easily be lost. Once we start muddying the waters - as the French did with Arthur - what
was real will so easily be lost. Not only can we lose our genuine Mythology but we could lose the coherence of Tolkien's Art too.
Someone once said in relation to Tolkien's misquoted line about
dedicating a mythology to England (not
replacing one, or
providing one, but
honouring us as a people with one he had made up) that he was wrong. What he achieved in actuality was to create a mythology for Americans. And I think that's the way it is going - you can see it in the Disneyfied Hobbit holes being built, the way a
very different type of Christian to what Tolkien was is claiming the text for themselves, the way the Beautiful People of the Elves have been latched onto...Someone may well be the brightest, most creative Tolkien expert in the world, but if they are a sunny Floridian Baptist product of a right wing meritocracy then I'm afraid they are worlds away from the mindset of a gently eccentric, Middle class, Oxford boffin living in post war austerity England.
Sorry to bust a few daydreams of RPG-ers but under all this clever talk of postmodernism blah blah lies the simple fact that if you are any good at writing and have an ounce of creativity then one day you ought to go and found your own worlds instead of copying Tolkien. Not only is that lazy but it also means the general public will continue to suffer from a dearth of genuine, decent original fiction and have to continue to put up with the derivative pap that calls itself 'postmodern'.
And there's the rub. Some people see it as legitimate fun, which it
genuinely is in its current state. But as for commercial gain or getting the ego boost of the shiny gold JRRT logo on a book with your name on it - I see that as cheap and tacky. Tolkien's might only be a faux mythology but it's as fragile as a real one.