Images of Paradise: comparisons - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 03-21-2005, 08:49 PM

I've noticed two different definitions of [b[paradise[/b] at work in this thread. Both are worth talking about.

#1: paradise as utopian garden land, usually either bucolic or airy/elvish, as Lathriel indicates.

#2: paradise as home of those who have passed from this life to the next

I am currently more interested in #2.

In that vein, my interest in Valinor would therefore be limited to the Halls of Mandos. What's Tolkien's description for it? I don't recall any really thoroughgoing description in The Silmarillion. Is there in HoME?

It might be that we could sort of talk about Tol Eressea, since Frodo and Bilbo go there, but they're technically not dead yet. Like Men, I believe the Hobbits, when they die, leave Arda altogether, don't they? Which makes it hard to talk about LotR and #2 paradise.

What other literature depicts #2? Not, I take it, The Neverending Story.
What about Pilgrim's Progress? I have a feeling that has somewhat the same feel as Niggle and Great Divorce; and that brings to mind CSL's other paradise allegory, "Pilgrim's Regress". Anybody else read that one yet?

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03-21-2005, 08:49 PM	#8
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	I've noticed two different definitions of [b[paradise[/b] at work in this thread. Both are worth talking about. #1: paradise as utopian garden land, usually either bucolic or airy/elvish, as Lathriel indicates. #2: paradise as home of those who have passed from this life to the next I am currently more interested in #2. In that vein, my interest in Valinor would therefore be limited to the Halls of Mandos. What's Tolkien's description for it? I don't recall any really thoroughgoing description in The Silmarillion. Is there in HoME? It might be that we could sort of talk about Tol Eressea, since Frodo and Bilbo go there, but they're technically not dead yet. Like Men, I believe the Hobbits, when they die, leave Arda altogether, don't they? Which makes it hard to talk about LotR and #2 paradise. What other literature depicts #2? Not, I take it, The Neverending Story. What about Pilgrim's Progress? I have a feeling that has somewhat the same feel as Niggle and Great Divorce; and that brings to mind CSL's other paradise allegory, "Pilgrim's Regress". Anybody else read that one yet?