The Capturing of Myth

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by davem (quoting Tolkien)

However good in themselves, illustrations do little good to fairy-stories. The radical distinction between all art (including drama) that offers a visible presentation & true literature is that it imposes one visible form.

True, although Tolkien's works have been so enthusiastically adopted as a subject by illustrators throughout the years that we have numerous interpretations, rather than one visible form. Of course, they are still presented according to the artist's particular "taste or fancy". But I am sure that I am not alone in finding that certain illustrations capture perfectly (or almost perfectly) my own pre-conceived images. Other illustrations don't work for me at all.

And so it is with the films. There is much in them which captures my own pre-conceived ideas, particularly in the imagery but also in some of the dramatic moments. And, I am sure that others will feel the same, although the precise moments may differ. They are, therefore, clearly tapping into something. The question is whether, in these moments, they are simply tapping accurately into Tolkien's works, or whether they are tapping into something deeper. I suspect that it is the former.