The role of the different "authors" of the stories of Arda? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Nogrod · 03-01-2012, 05:32 PM

I have actually thought about this a few times but have never ventured asking about it from anyone... but after some discussion in the Will a "definitive" version of the Silmarillion ever be released? -thread I thought it would seem like a good opportunity to hear other opinions about it in a separate thread as the subject matter is not anymore the same.

So how much should one take in with the "facts" that The Red Book of Westmarch was written by Bilbo and Frodo (with a lot of elvish & dunédain input), that The Akallabêth was written by Elendil, that The Ainulindalë is a version of the creation myth the elves wrote down (am I correct in here?)?

Do we know the fictional authors for the stories of Beren and Lúthien, to the story of Húrin's children, to the Fall of Gondolin? The origins can be remebered by the elves and we can surely say they have been preserved to posterity by them, but if the elves have been the keepers of these stories, should we take that into account?

The Red Book of Westmarch written by a Hobbit... how much does he understand even if helped by a host of elves? (How much Tacitus understood his age as involved with it as he was - and what we, the posterity, will never understand because we didn't live it like he did?)

What were Elendil''s feelings toward the Númenorians and did they affect the way he reported the history of the island? Might he not be a "liittle-bit partial" a witness to it?

How much did the elves understand of the Great Song? Was it even possible for them to understand it (think fex. how hard it is for us to understand finiteness / infinity)? How did they "misunderstand" it, what was the way peculiar to them to grasp it? Would the dwarves have understood it differently if there were "records" of them telling the story? What would have been Melkor's account of it?

No. I hope I'm not contradicting myself with the last post I made in the thread about there being a definitive Silm ever. I'm not after the "real history of Arda", but only after how much we should pay heed to the fact that different stories are told by different persons / races inside Tolkien's legendarium itself?

PS. If this has been extensively discussed already before, guide me to the thread please... I'd love to hear views on this issue.

03-01-2012, 05:32 PM	#1
Nogrod Flame of the Ainulindalë Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wearing rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves in a field behaving as the wind behaves Posts: 9,308	The role of the different "authors" of the stories of Arda? I have actually thought about this a few times but have never ventured asking about it from anyone... but after some discussion in the Will a "definitive" version of the Silmarillion ever be released? -thread I thought it would seem like a good opportunity to hear other opinions about it in a separate thread as the subject matter is not anymore the same. So how much should one take in with the "facts" that The Red Book of Westmarch was written by Bilbo and Frodo (with a lot of elvish & dunédain input), that The Akallabêth was written by Elendil, that The Ainulindalë is a version of the creation myth the elves wrote down (am I correct in here?)? Do we know the fictional authors for the stories of Beren and Lúthien, to the story of Húrin's children, to the Fall of Gondolin? The origins can be remebered by the elves and we can surely say they have been preserved to posterity by them, but if the elves have been the keepers of these stories, should we take that into account? The Red Book of Westmarch written by a Hobbit... how much does he understand even if helped by a host of elves? (How much Tacitus understood his age as involved with it as he was - and what we, the posterity, will never understand because we didn't live it like he did?) What were Elendil''s feelings toward the Númenorians and did they affect the way he reported the history of the island? Might he not be a "liittle-bit partial" a witness to it? How much did the elves understand of the Great Song? Was it even possible for them to understand it (think fex. how hard it is for us to understand finiteness / infinity)? How did they "misunderstand" it, what was the way peculiar to them to grasp it? Would the dwarves have understood it differently if there were "records" of them telling the story? What would have been Melkor's account of it? No. I hope I'm not contradicting myself with the last post I made in the thread about there being a definitive Silm ever. I'm not after the "real history of Arda", but only after how much we should pay heed to the fact that different stories are told by different persons / races inside Tolkien's legendarium itself? PS. If this has been extensively discussed already before, guide me to the thread please... I'd love to hear views on this issue. __________________ Upon the hearth the fire is red Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet...