Tolkien: Evolutionist or Creationist? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 11-18-2003, 04:50 AM

To bring this back to Tolkien...

I'd say the Elves are not 'evolutionists'. Their natural state is backward looking - they look back to an ideal past, so any change will, to them, be 'devolution', as it is a move away from a more perfect state to a less perfect one. Flieger makes the point that they feel they are being pushed 'backwards' into the future, further & further from the place they want to be. Men, on the other hand, seem to be, psychologically at least, evolutionists, in that they see themselves as moving forward, creating a 'better' world, improving things.

11-18-2003, 04:50 AM	#1
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	To bring this back to Tolkien... I'd say the Elves are not 'evolutionists'. Their natural state is backward looking - they look back to an ideal past, so any change will, to them, be 'devolution', as it is a move away from a more perfect state to a less perfect one. Flieger makes the point that they feel they are being pushed 'backwards' into the future, further & further from the place they want to be. Men, on the other hand, seem to be, psychologically at least, evolutionists, in that they see themselves as moving forward, creating a 'better' world, improving things. __________________ “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."