[Child of the 7th Age]

The elder myths were oral tales which were then collected and written down. Who is to say that whatever lies ahead for this planet, the reverse cannot happen, that written tales come to have life as oral tales. That scenario may or may not depend upon the eradication of books and reading, but even now it is amazing to hear what tales be retold and reshivered around summer campfires in my part of the world.

Yes, Bêthberry, thanks. That was the basic mindset behind my post. The advent of new technologies and methods of dissemination for both stories and music is already making old paradigms obsolete. This is true not only in relation to Tolkien but for other authors and composers as well. I am not sure what the future will hold but I don't think it's wise to shut the door and deny the reality of further change. I can't say with one hundred percent certainty that the Legendarium will be regarded in the same light as the Arthurian tales are today, but I think there is a strong possibility this will happen.

In any case, I am uncomfortable with looking at things purely from the vantage of 2007, and saying that our present framework is set in stone and will never change. The one consistency over time is change. Five hundred years ago, books were uncommon; today we have mass market paperbacks and people sharing their creations and thoughts on the internet. While I have no precise idea what tomorrow will bring, I do see a general trend that is already in progress: the freer dissemination and spread of ideas and stories. This not only affects the reader; it also affects the author and the way stories are created, spread, and retold.

In terms of retelling or expanding on the Legendarium, I would prefer to focus on Tolkien's own behavior during his lifetime rather than second guessing his words after his death. The change I'm describing had already started in the sixties when appreciative fans regularly published fanfiction stories in the zines of local Tolkien groups, at least within the U.S.. (I am less familiar with what happened in Britain.) JRRT was certainly aware of that fact. Interviews with the author and other family members (especially Priscilla) appeared in the very same issues of journals that contained new Middle-earth stories. These stories were generally written by people who were more than "casual fans"; the authors were individuals like Vera Chapman who cared about Middle-earth and who spun stories very much in keeping with the values and ideas expressed in the Legendarium (or the portion of the Legendarium that was publically known at that time). Some of these folk (like Chapman) did go on to create their own published fantasy novels. These same people attended annual conferences and meetings and shared stories in small group sessions. In all those years, I can not recall a single instance when JRRT complained about what these people were doing.

Today we have millions of folk around the world who call themselves fans of Middle-earth. Back then, it was different. Fan groups were small and intimate; many had personal ties with the author. I know at least two people from college who wrote Tolkien and received courteous replies. If at any time in these years, Tolkien would have objected to fanfiction stories (as Anne Rice, for example, has done), the local societies would have pulled back and never published any additional stories. They respected Tolkien too much to go against his wishes. But that never happened because no complaint was ever made by JRRT or any other family member.

JRRT did howl about the way professional screenwriters proposed to treat Lord of the Rings; he disliked what they were doing to his characters and plot. His attitude towards what was happening on campuses in the U.s. and in local Tolkien groups was quite gentle. He was baffled and amused by the craziness: activities such as donning costumes, writing fanfiction and songs, mimicking hobbit behavior, distributing Middle-earth buttons and taking Middle-earth names. But, although JRRT considered such intense involvement with the Legendarium as rather odd, he did not express anger or take a strictly dogmatic position. He even proposed a scheme for doling out names for conference attendees: every delegate should be called by the name of a particular community in the Shire.

Over the years, with the explosion of the fan base, the proliferation of fanfics (including ones that would have made JRRT groan), and the fact that major bucks are definitely at stake, the situation is no longer this fluid or friendly. The Estate has understandably taken a more conservative stance. Things have become institutionalized. There's nothing wrong with this. It's needed. But we should remember there was a time when things were different, and we can't assume that the future will be an exact replica of what exists in 2007. Needs, techologies and perspectives probably will change in ways I can't even imagine.

Plus, I still can not get over the fact that Tolkien himself felt that he was "subcreating" a world. He used the word mythology to describe his own writing. My gut feeling is that there are many points of similarity between bodies of myth/legend like the Illiad, Beowulf, and the Arthurian tales and what Tolkien produced. Beowulf is certainly not based on any significant historical fact, but who would deny that the story has become part of the legends of the western world? And it has been told and retold by other minds. Ninety percent of what is in the Odyssey and Illiad is sheer fantasy despite the tiny grain of historical fact that lies at the center. Given the passage of 500 years, I don't think we'll see a huge distinction between these works and what Tolkien did.

And if you deny that Tolkien was producing "written myth", then how do you account for the Kalevala and the author's own attitude towards the modern rendition of that work? Tolkien was certainly inspired by these tales. He considered the modern telling to be a form of myth. The modern telling went far beyond the original tales almost to the point of transforming them. Moreover, Tolkien himself wrote a "fanfiction" based on the tale of Kullervo. Eventually, those themes and ideas came peaking through in his own rendition of the Children of Hurin. Just how different is that? Tolkien drew upon faerie paradigms as well as character names, northern attitudes, and even plot twists that originated in Norse and Germanic legends. He took these one step further and subcreated another world. I see this as one step in a continuing process that does not stop, and eventually other voices and other retellings will be heard....perhaps 500 years from now...long after anyone here is around.