Are you Satisfied?

[Mister Underhill]

No way, no way am I satisfied. Ah, to anticipate the release of a new Middle-earth novel, to read the Professor's slyly humorous foreword while I stand in line to buy it, to promise myself to savor it -- only a chapter, two at most, a day -- then greedily devour it over a lazy weekend, these are joys most devoutly to be wished. Rereading Tolkien for the fiftieth time and appreciating all his nuance is all well and good, but there's nothing like being swept off your feet and ravished for the first time by a book like LotR. That's where it's really at. I could definitely wish that Tolkien had had a little bit more Stephen King in his makeup.

But I guess it's a bit of a catch-22. His obsessive working and reworking of a relatively small number of core stories is what made them great. I for one wouldn't mind seeing pros take cracks at new Middle-earth stories, as I mentioned in a thread on copyright somewhere around here. Poor efforts could be safely ignored without tarnishing Tolkien's core legendarium, while good ones would be like a welcome new visit with a cherished old friend.

I wish there were more stories.

[piosenniel]

I wish there were more stories . . .

Me, too! I long for the announcement that in a battered old trunk, hidden away in some dusty attic, old manuscripts will be found.

Shameless plug here for a favored Barrow-Downs writer:

Having enjoyed Mithadan's "Tales from Tol Eressëa" (the first of which is HERE ), I'd like to see him lend his skills to reworking/completing the unfinished Fourth Age story - The New Shadow.

Just a wish . . .

[Cailín]

My, some people are greedy indeed. More stories? I’m only just starting the Silmarillion and thus have many stories to enjoy still. I’m feeling a bit lost as it is.

Honestly, I don’t think more is really necessary. Tolkien provided me at least with ample material to muse over for a very long time. If there were more, I would fear to lose myself completely in his already complex and elaborate world. Partly, I agree with Mr. Underhill, there is nothing like reading a book for the very first time (especially Lord of the Rings and this is for me an only too recent memory) and discussing and analyzing will never be as wonderful as just sitting down with a book and allowing yourself to be drawn into a whole new world. On the other hand, there is nothing quite so disappointing as quantity over quality in literature. It’s good to leave some things to imagination.

Besides, if another secret and hidden manuscript does turn up, you would still be in the same position after finishing that. All things must come to an end eventually.

(maybe The New Shadow Tolkien started writing then abandoned because he wasn't happy with it?)

Well, if he was not happy with it, we probably would not be either. Maybe someone else will continue writing the history of Middle Earth in the future. Though I normally dislike comparisons, if you consider that Tolkien was really an historian (okay, so he invented a whole world and history, but the old Irish monks basically did the same), it is only natural someone would take over at a certain point. Of course, it would never be the same. But it would certainly be interesting. ^^

[davem]

There are still some unpublished stories/poems by Tolkien. We haven't yet seen The Fall of Arthur, The New Volsungasaga, or his translation of Beowulf. The recently published Smith Essay contains a wonderful backstory about Smith's grandfather, Rider.

His name was Rider, indicating that he was not a member or practiser of one of the chief'crafts'. The Riders were interested in horses and their livelihood was obtained, in addition to the training of horses and horse-doctoring, by acting as the equivalents of a local post and carrier service. They would take messages or letters of urgency and sometimes convey packages to other villages and homesteads, especially those at a distance, often returning with similar errands. This part of their work especially suited Rob, his father's youngest son. He took largely after his mother, a Piper of Wootton Minor, and was restless and adventurous. He began errand-riding when he was little more than fifteen. He soon became known for the speed and accuracy with which he would take messages or perform errands, and for his reluctance to return and report. After a time he ceased to live in Wootton Major, and only returned there at irregular intervals as suited him; he became a 'traveller', a man of no fixed abode or livelihood. During this time though there were many rumours current nothing was really known about his journeys and adventures, until one day he came back, apparently provided with money and certainly with a wife. She was a young and beautiful woman called Rose, one of the Sangsters of Walton a distant village beyond Wootton Minor. She was much his junior, for by that time he must have been at least thirty-five....

And if you want to know what happened next you'll have to buy the book...

[Lush]

There is a great longing to see some form of continuation of the main plot lines in LotR that comes over me on a regular basis. Some of these characters seem like good friends after all this time. And who could resist another adventure with friends?

These feelings are not born of any rational assessment of Tolkien's works, however, which makes me think that what I'm really longing for is that time I first sat down and read the book; how overwhelmed and excited I was, both by the events in the narrative and events going on around me, what a happy and confusing time it was for me, what great fun I had along the way.

Perhaps satisfaction is the wrong word for what I'm seeking. It's something more along the lines of reassurance; the idea that all things I love will continue to live on in one form or another.

[The 1,000 Reader]

I'm perfectly satisfied. In fact, I'm happy that Tolkien stopped writing the New Shadow.

[yavanna II]

hehe...

I've reread the Sil, and I just saw something like the Great End wherein Melkor would be released and Turin would sorta avenge himself... ooh, I'd give a lot to have a dose of that one....

i dunno, whatever story I read, I just can't seem to get enough!

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Lush

These feelings are not born of any rational assessment of Tolkien's works, however, which makes me think that what I'm really longing for is that time I first sat down and read the book; how overwhelmed and excited I was, both by the events in the narrative and events going on around me, what a happy and confusing time it was for me, what great fun I had along the way.

Perhaps satisfaction is the wrong word for what I'm seeking. It's something more along the lines of reassurance; the idea that all things I love will continue to live on in one form or another.

I think Lush, as so often, is on to something important here, that Tolkien has tapped into an essential element of the reading experience. Reading helps children, teens, adults, experience things which need to be experienced, but often cannot in our world. We need for our psychic development/health situations of abandonment, solitude, fear, to negotiate our way. We need the forest, the Tardis, the Quest, something bigger on the inside than the outside.

Tolkien gives us preeminently the experience of story and it is that experience which is essential to the human condition.