The Translator Conceit

[Lalwendë]

Well if the conceit is so central to our acceptance of Middle Earth as something real, then considering many of us enter Middle Earth with The Hobbit, which does not have that, is it so necessary?

Originally Posted by LMP

conceit: an elaborate or strained metaphor (other definitions don't fit our context)

This definition doesn't really fit does it? It's more applicable to poetry, particularly to the Metaphysical poets, which was what I had been thinking all along in the back of my mind but couldn't quite place! The idea of there being a translator is certainly elaborate, but it is in no way strained; in fact it is very subtly used.