Tolkien & the Great War - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 11-11-2003, 04:02 AM

Estelyn, there's a link to a review through ToRN.

I don't want to push the one-to-one correlations too far, so I think mythologising is better than allegorising. I think with Tolkien we have a young man who did see 'through enchanted eyes' - his childhood, his religion - 'bells & smells' & the Latin Mass, the myths & fairy tales he loved - all these things lead him to see, experience & think about the world in mythic terms. Those years up to, during & after the war shaped his vision. I think now that a great deal of his Legendarium is those years seen through enchanted eyes - perhaps much more than any of us realised.

11-11-2003, 04:02 AM	#7
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Estelyn, there's a link to a review through ToRN. I don't want to push the one-to-one correlations too far, so I think mythologising is better than allegorising. I think with Tolkien we have a young man who did see 'through enchanted eyes' - his childhood, his religion - 'bells & smells' & the Latin Mass, the myths & fairy tales he loved - all these things lead him to see, experience & think about the world in mythic terms. Those years up to, during & after the war shaped his vision. I think now that a great deal of his Legendarium is those years seen through enchanted eyes - perhaps much more than any of us realised. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."