Lord of the Rings - English Icon - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Fordim Hedgethistle · 04-28-2006, 07:51 AM

Only and Englishperson (who is so immersed in the place that he or she cannot 'see' it from within a different context) or someone who knows absolutely nothing about England could ever doubt the iconic status of Tolkien and his works as English with an extra-large capital E.

Bb's already pointed out the Shire but even more telling than that would be:

Social Relations: how people relate to one another and how they think about the place of the individual in society: English through and through, until you get to problematic figures like Boromir who is far more American -- a cowboy, really, with all that lone gun bravado stuff; rugged individualism.

Language: my goodness, but when you have moments of naturalistic language (i.e. not the 'high talk' of courtly or epic moments that everyone is prone to in the story, save Sam) it's like listening to my family from Sussex!

History: or, rather, the attitude toward it. The sense of a glorious past, the best parts of which must be preserved against decay. A wonderful openness to innovation and change, but a guarded one. Compare that to a more New World attitude to history: when anyone over here even knows it, we tend to regard it as dead and not nearly as important as the future.

Food: would a Frenchman have described the meals of M-E the way we have them? The imagination balks: lembaguette? cram with cranberry sauce? Bottled hare with taters-frites?

04-28-2006, 07:51 AM	#3
Fordim Hedgethistle Gibbering Gibbet Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Beyond cloud nine Posts: 1,844	Only and Englishperson (who is so immersed in the place that he or she cannot 'see' it from within a different context) or someone who knows absolutely nothing about England could ever doubt the iconic status of Tolkien and his works as English with an extra-large capital E. Bb's already pointed out the Shire but even more telling than that would be: Social Relations: how people relate to one another and how they think about the place of the individual in society: English through and through, until you get to problematic figures like Boromir who is far more American -- a cowboy, really, with all that lone gun bravado stuff; rugged individualism. Language: my goodness, but when you have moments of naturalistic language (i.e. not the 'high talk' of courtly or epic moments that everyone is prone to in the story, save Sam) it's like listening to my family from Sussex! History: or, rather, the attitude toward it. The sense of a glorious past, the best parts of which must be preserved against decay. A wonderful openness to innovation and change, but a guarded one. Compare that to a more New World attitude to history: when anyone over here even knows it, we tend to regard it as dead and not nearly as important as the future. Food: would a Frenchman have described the meals of M-E the way we have them? The imagination balks: lembaguette? cram with cranberry sauce? Bottled hare with taters-frites? __________________ Scribbling scrabbling.