Quote:
Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc
I consider myself knowing On Fairy Stories very well and basically remembering something from it all the time, even this particular part (I have always applied that one to criticise the movies  ) |
Its kind of odd to read reviews of the movies where people comment that 'Jacksons' Shire/Moria/Minas Tirith/....... (fill in the blank) was exactly/not at all as I imagined it', & are happy to accept that different people will 'see' Middle-earth in different ways, but when it comes to pronunciation of names & words people simply accept that because Jackson got in 'experts' to give cast & crew the correct pronunciations they must be accepted - I rarely if ever hear the comment 'The cast's pronunciation of 'Minas Tirith'/ Legolas/(fitb) was exactly/not at all as I imagined it'. Its almost as if some people are afraid to get it wrong (which seems to imply that reading the books is, or involves, a test of some kind, which the reader can either pass or fail).
My own position is that just as one is free to imagine (in fact, according to Tolkien quoted earlier, will both inevitably
& rightly imagine) the world of the story in their own unique way, which will bring it alive for them in a way that no illustration or dramatisation could, so they must be free to 'hear' that world as they will - for the same reason. Of course, one is limited by the text to some degree - one may pronounce 'Feanor' as Fee-an-or, Fay-an-or or Fee-nor but one would not pronounce it 'Stephen'.