Painfully obvious observation here, but evil and darkness.
Quote:
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Tolkien had a mission to give England its own mythology
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Now for a vague observation/question of sorts.
I’m not entirely certain how Tolkien’s work fulfilled the role of providing a mythology for England. I’ve never really been able to see a strong connection between the tales and some feeling of primordial “Englishness.” Yes, I know the hobbits are sort of English, but the stories are so much more than them. Any theories on this?
It may be that my sense of history is too strong that I can’t suspend it. The fundamental problem with developing a mythology for “England” is that the “English” all came from someplace else and
knew they had come from someplace else. Of course, Tolkien referred to his desire as “absurd.” (Letter 130)