Drigel,
I've made just 5 posts here out of 240, and it seems I'm already in hot water! I am sorry if the wording of my posts upset you but we hold different opinions on the long term fate of the Legendarium. As I said before, absolutely no one knows what is going to happen 100 or 500 years from now. You may be the one who is closer to the mark than I am. My opinion (and it is only an opinion) is that there will be people trying to retell this story. Tolkien's Legendarium, his total body of writings, is so different from most contemporary novels (even the very best of the best) that I believe its future course will also be different.
"Software engineers" for Tolkien? Five hundred years ago, printed books were just getting their start. Another five hundred years in the future and there will likely be no software engineers. Very few people in the year 1500 could have predicted the computer and the internet, and I think we also can not predict the shape of things over such a long span of time.
I am not the only one who feels this way. I recently attended a session which involved grad and undergrad students and one scholar from a nearby univerisity who had publshed several books investigating the medieval sources and connections of the Legendarium. There was a great deal of discussion on the earlier tradition of Arthurian literature, and whether Middle-earth could eventually evolve down a similar path, given modern modes of dissemination of stories. Like the present forum, the participants couldn't totally agree but there was a serious and respectful hearing given to the views on both sides.
Regarding the nature of this site, there is no fanfiction here. There is a separate older BD site which was used for fanfiction. It lies virtually dormant. Less than five pieces have been added there in the past year. There are RPGs on the main site. The RPG sections used to be quite active but for a variety of reasons (Werewolf games, mods who've pulled back a bit, fewer new posters) it is quieter of late. A few stories plod quietly forward. If you count up recent posts, most of the activity lies in Books (and Mirth). This is a Books site in origin and at its heart. I do not see that changing, nor do I want it to change.
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I think that if there is a general "sagadarium", that JRRT created, it's the genre of modern fantasy. It's out there. You should try it. Writing it, I mean. It's tough, Ill warn you. You can spend years and years studying, perfecting, honing your mind to become an author of fiction or fantasy. Or, you can spend years and years on the internet being a JRRT monkey. woo hooo grab the twinkies....
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There were authors writing fantasy like Morris and MacDonald long before Tolkien. However, he certainly sparked more creativity in the field. And most contemporary fantasy writers owe an enormous debt to Tolkien. Fantasy is not one thing -- there are so many types and forms that it is difficult to generalize, and this would take a very different thread. My only problem is your last sentence. You can't assume anyone who takes the opposite side in this argument is a "JRRT monkey".
(Ouch, that hurts!) Just for the record, I have never written a fanfiction in my life, and I am no fantasy writer. I've spent plenty of time with RPGs but those are a different creature, and it is all for fun. However, I do have "serious stuff" in print in history and library science so I am hoping that disqualifies me from the heinous sin of being a "JRRT monkey".
