The Nazis & a Mytholgy for England

[davem]

First of all, I hope Aiwendil will forgive me for posting a PM I sent to him. Its really part of a 'debate' we've been having regarding Tolkien's changed attitude to the Legendarium during & after WW2. This is the post:

There's clearly a lot to be learned about Tolkien's mind set in the post LotR period, but untill we get the rest of the Letters & his diaries - if we ever do - we can only speculate.

There is a change in what Tolkien wants to do with the Legendarium. Certainly, after ww2 the Northern myths which had inspired him could no longer be considered entirely 'innocent', as Tolkien had seen what could be done with them - positively by himself, & negatively by the Nazis. So he seems to be driven to ground them in a scientific explanation & in Christian theology - which is what I consider the Athrabeth in particular to be. The hope it offers is a Christain hope. Middle earth is no longer a pagan world, its is now sufficiently 'safe' & Christian. He is clearly reacting to something.

But he can't have it both ways, & a pagan Middle earth seems to fade into the background. It becomes more medieval - pagan themes survive in another form, but he still seems unsatisfied, & needs to move it further & further away from its roots. Certainly, in letter 45 he condemns the Nazis for 'Ruining, perverting, misapplying, & making forever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, & tried to present in its true light.'

'Forever accursed' is not a light accusation, & I think we have to accept that Tolkien's own relationship to Northern myth was adversely affected to a great degree. I can't help feeling that if 'his crest fell' regarding creating a mythology for England it was then. He had seen what national mythologies could produce. It was no longer an 'innocent' aim - & we've seen how Tolkien's work has been appropriated by neo Nazi groups.

So the Legendarium becomes a sub creation 'only', with no intended relation to the primary world. In a way this liberates him - he no longer has to tie it in precisely to the ancient sources - but it becomes 'art for art's sake' - it can have no relationship to the primary world - hence, I feel, the difference between the first & second forewords to LotR, & the strident denials of 'allegory' in the second. He began by desperately wanting to be England's Lonrot, to give his country back its lost mythology, & ends by simply wanting to 'write a really long tale'.

When did his desire change, & why? Yet, it was the desire to create a mythology for England, which would inspire his own people to rediscover their 'true' nature, which was the driving force behind his 'career'. When he no longer feels able to do that, because its no longer 'safe' to do that, he loses momentum. The whole thing becomes 'a secret vice', something done for its own sake, & so why struggle, why drive himself to complete it? Effectively from then on he 'plays' at it, dreams of what it could have been, tries to make it as beautiful as he can, while making sure it cannot get out of hand & be 'Ruined, perverted, misapplied, & made forever accursed'.

As I said, something must have effected that change in his desire. He may have produced a great deal after LotR - far more than most other writers would, but what is lost is the motivation that originally inspired him, the new motivation may have kept him going in his creative endevours, but it wasn't as strong, because he realised he would never (should never?) achieve his original goal.

WW2 probably deprived a great many artists of their desire to change the world - at least in a major way. The prime diference between the pre- & post-LotR period is the war that intervened, & LotR reflects this - the early drafts are full of hope & optimism - an adventure for hobbits searching for more dragon gold - but as the horrors of the war become clearer Tolkien responds & produces a tale of loss & renunciation - of myth, of the past & its atavistic pull towards nationhood, blood & soil. Its not an 'allegory' of the war, but its certainly a response to it & a product of it.

Which is my reading, anyway

So, does anyone have any thoughts? Was Tolkien's change of heart, & discarding of his desire to provide a 'mythology for England' due to the Nazi's use of Northern Myth?