how would Tolkien feel about fanfic or RPGs? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lush · 08-05-2007, 02:50 PM

I'm one of the few, the proud, the ones who said he wouldn't have cared.

However, I also think that not caring could also imply either a negative or a positive reaction.

I think he had enough going on in his life and in his head to not give the issue a great deal of conscious thought. Although surely he would have reacted in some way - in some small way, perhaps. And this reaction could take on different aspects over time - annoyance, perhaps, or amusement, or even a sense of occasional pleasure.

Writers are moody, after all.

mark12_30 · 09-14-2007, 11:17 AM

I wish there had been an entry for "depends on the quality."

Quote:

Letter 131: I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and scketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. Absurd.

The defensive ire we see in Tolkien's letters (and elsewhere) seems to me to be directed at the lack of respect for the characters and the "high, purged of the gross" character of the legendarium as a whole. I imagine he would be, or try to be, more patient with one who attempted to respect the characters and the quality of the mythology, than with folk who did not attempt either; say, the movie-adapters in Letter 210.

View Poll Results: How would the Professor feel about fanfic?
He'd like the idea that his work was being carried on by those who loved it.	19	43.18%
He would want only his son or another authorised editor to oversee all Middle-earth stories.	10	22.73%
He'd tear his hair out with rage and disgust.	10	22.73%
He wouldnt' have cared.	5	11.36%
Voters: 44. You may not vote on this poll

08-05-2007, 02:50 PM	#1
Lush Fair and Cold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: the big onion Posts: 1,770	I'm one of the few, the proud, the ones who said he wouldn't have cared. However, I also think that not caring could also imply either a negative or a positive reaction. I think he had enough going on in his life and in his head to not give the issue a great deal of conscious thought. Although surely he would have reacted in some way - in some small way, perhaps. And this reaction could take on different aspects over time - annoyance, perhaps, or amusement, or even a sense of occasional pleasure. Writers are moody, after all. __________________ ~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~