What does the sixpence = ?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

. . . .

• myth - the characters in a work are 'superior in kind both to other men and to the environment of other men' ... the 'hero is a divine being and the story about him will be myth'
• romance - characters are superior only in 'degree (not kind) to other men, and again to their environment'
• high mimesis - (tragedy or epic) - where the heroes and heroines are 'superior in degree to other men but not to natural environment'
• low mimesis - level of the classical novel - characters are on a level with us in abilities, though maybe not in social class
• irony - we see ourselves looking down on people weaker or more ignorant than us

LotR, according to Shippey, functions at all levels at different times, depending upon the purpose at a given point in the story. This gives it scope such that it can deal with issues in a way that a story written in only one of the five modes, cannot.

So think of these characters, and think about what mode(s) s/he is written at:

Gandalf
Samwise
Frodo
Saruman
Sauron
Aragorn
Boromir
Gaffer Gamgee
Tom Bombadil
Elrond
Eowyn
Faramir
Denethor
Theoden

What's the point? Maybe this is a little bit of the sixpence, and maybe this helps explain why contemporary literati simply can't get their minds around what LotR is doing.

Well, I was hoping to have time to comment on your idea about Hebrew/Classical/Germanic sources for western culture and now I have this to consider! The first idea is intriguing, especially thinking of Matthew Arnold's thesis about the two cultures, the Hebraic and the Greek. "Barbarian" cultures had much to overcome in terms of aesthetic and cultural assumptions.

But time only for a quick observation. Isn't it true that usually (although not always), irony is considered not compatible with myth or romance? I can see myth, romance and the two forms of mimesis operating at different times in LotR, but to what degree is irony represented? I'm not saying we can't find irony in it, but I wonder how much an ironic stance would impede or obstruct the mythic or heroic stance.