I was going to revive this relic and gem of a thread:
'Canonicity': The Book or the Reader?, but then I got to thinking how over my time on this forum my own canon, and thoughts about it have changed quite dramatically. Then in other threads, there has been a few discussions about canon, so I feel like it will be a good topic to ask how has your thoughts about canon changed over the years? Or maybe it hasn't changed at all?
As a teenager and young adult first getting enchanted into the "Lore", I had a strict, or what you might call a Hobbitish view of canon:
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"...they liked to have books filled with things that they already knew, set out fair and square with no contradictions"~Prologue to Lord of the Rings
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Everything had to be neat, clean, categorized and explained; absolutely no contradictions. As I started reading more than The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit however, trying to come up with "no contradictions" canon, was I daresay impossible. I think it actually soured my experience, and "broke the enchantment" (to refer to another thread from the days of old).
Interestingly, it was actually an interview Leonard Nimoy did (oh I think it was 7-8 years ago) talking about Star Trek fans and the remake of the Star Trek movies that were coming out that changed my views on Tolkien's canon. Leonard Nimoy said:
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“Canon is only important to certain people because they have to cling to their knowledge of the minutiae, open your mind! Be a ‘Star Trek’ fan and open your mind and say, ‘Where does Star Trek want to take me now’"
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I thought Mr. Nimoy's words were completely fitting for the Star Trek universe. Even though that is a different world, why can't the same question apply? "Where does Tolkien want to take me now?"
I would say I've done a complete 180. If "Hobbitish canon" is the "no contradictions view" what would be the opposite? Perhaps, "fan canon?" Because I'm in the "whatever you personally get out of the story that leads you to enjoy it as much as I have" camp. 15 years ago I probably never thought I would change this much, but my "enchantment" has been glued together again. I find it funny that it was actually a quote from a brilliant Star Trek actor that revived my enjoyment of Tolkien.
I have to attribute it to how my "Hobbitish" impulse eventually restricted my enjoyment. Anyone else go through this over the years or change how they balance canon with their own personal fan-canon?