RINGS , S WORDS , AND MONSTERS : EXPLORING FANTASY LITERATURE COURSE GUIDE
Professor Michael D.C. Drout WHEATON COLLEGE Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature
Professor Michael D.C. Drout Wheaton College
Recorded Books ™ is a trademark of Recorded Books, LLC. All rights reserved. Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature Professor Michael D.C. Drout
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72006 by Recorded Books, LLC Cover image: Fantasy Landscape © Boris Malenkov/shutterstock.com #UT076 ISBN: 978-1-4193-8696-1 All beliefs and opinions expressed in this audio/video program and accompanying course guide are those of the author and not of Recorded Books, LLC, or its employees. Course Syllabus
Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature
About Your Professor ...... 4
Introduction ...... 5
Lecture 1 What Is Fantasy Literature?: Genre, Canon, History ...... 6
Lecture 2 Origins of Modern Fantasy ...... 10
Lecture 3 Tolkien: Life and Languages ...... 14
Lecture 4 Tolkien: The Hobbit ...... 18
Lecture 5 Tolkien: The Fellowship of the Ring ...... 22
Lecture 6 Tolkien: The Two Towers ...... 26
Lecture 7 Tolkien: The Return of the King ...... 30
Lecture 8 Tolkien: The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and Other Posthumously Published Work ...... 34
Lecture 9 Tolkien: Criticism and Theory ...... 39
Lecture 10 Imitations and Reactions: Brooks and Donaldson ...... 43
Lecture 11 Worthy Inheritors: Le Guin and Holdstock ...... 47
Lecture 12 Children’s Fantasy ...... 52
Lecture 13 Arthurian Fantasy ...... 57
Lecture 14 Magical Realism and Conclusions ...... 61
Course Materials ...... 65
3 m o c . s e g a m I C C B , r e i l l About Your Professor o C n i m a j n e B
© Michael D.C. Drout
Michael D.C. Drout is the William and Elsie Prentice Professor of English at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, where he teaches courses in Old and Middle English, medieval literature, Chaucer, fantasy, and science fiction. Professor Drout received his Ph.D. in medieval literature from Loyola University in 1997. He also holds M.A. degrees from Stanford (journalism) and the University of Missouri-Columbia (English literature) and a B.A. from Carnegie Mellon. In 2005, Professor Drout was awarded the Prentice Professorship for out - standing and innovative teaching. The Wheaton College class of 2002 award - ed him the Faculty Appreciation Award. He is editor of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beowulf and the Critics, which won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies for 2003. He is also the author of How Tradition Works: A Meme-Based Poetics of the Anglo-Saxon Tenth Century (Arizona Medieval and Renaissance Studies). Drout is one of the founding editors of the journal Tolkien Studies and is editor of The J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia (Routledge). Drout has published extensively on medieval literature, including articles on William Langland’s Piers Plowman, Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon wills, the Old English translation of the Rule of Chrodegang, the Exeter Book “wisdom poems,” and Anglo-Saxon medical texts. He has also published articles on Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books and Susan Cooper’s Dark Is Rising series of children’s fantasy novels. Drout has written an Old English grammar book, King Alfred’s Grammar, which is available for free at his website, www.michaeldrout.com. He has given lectures in England, Finland, Italy, Canada, and throughout the United States. Drout lives in Dedham, Massachusetts, with his wife Raquel D’Oyen, their daughter Rhys, and their son Mitchell.
4 Introduction The overwhelming success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films and the Harry Potter series aptly demonstrates that the fantasy genre is alive and well in the new millennium. The very names of authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Terry Brooks evoke ripe tales of heroism and the clash of good versus evil in magical, faraway lands. The rich collection of King Arthur tales have also captured the imagination of millions and res - onates with audiences to the present day. And the fantasy genre continues to evolve, with stories of magical realism begging the question of just what should be properly labeled fantasy. Should fantasy be considered serious literature, or is it merely escapism? In this course, renowned professor Michael D.C. Drout examines the roots of fantasy and explores the works that have defined the genre. Through his inci - sive analysis and deft assessment of what makes these works so very spe - cial, Drout supplies a deeper insight into beloved works and provides a better understanding of why fantasy is such a pervasive force in modern culture.
5 LECTURE ONE 6 bi el th a c r la r r wo a p He ti a h a p r r o sh th b The The The ea ea ea es, om So F Fa A Ma Fa an o p n hysi ra ave nd hysi usl e olo s n e a anta n, oul r n g g y t ima pe l l l t do nt nt k ist ism ro an e p ry y uag e it o wo b t sa gy Fa Sug Li a not he ca ca ping d as as of xami h ut j ach f rel . sem re orat ce. an s fi Jam ber g a ys d It rl nta b l l y than y y ction i l e: in pe ly i wor s at i d e t least ru wo r g tasy ter so o is is ealistc. mo . ary to A is ive ati ne ou act es ed ca exa ther sy ften l es, Bu e meti ny atu s rld ned ks gen a difcu u do t on ted no r —w of ualy fro d th t past e fr ge t Genr nde the o mine beca e eep m o re the a uses om liter at a , era mes thum co m n scien nd of nr is any t h bou Rea bu e crea rsta bo ha cr y en ntemporar lt e, a con wh n ary ly scien psychological d Im wo use th bu cast S an “I psycholg t are eat o to und wo p very t bea d upr b crits a as ding e lite kno ce ndig ile agint co t t tes lingu the rk id ventio se asy scholar f is cat en in ma rk in le no discung n’t W em exa ntra aries ra ce rs scien ficton, can g w d t s, realistic , o an hat b of egor hat . i f l on a istc nstre r, while a y any ehavior Genr it or wha would ficton, Rom and it. mples sted er ion. y fantsy. form ilu crits somet closer be Co e ical fant of s Is An th ra realist atu y. ca te rules t sio histo am ha ur quest bo ther ance the is e, historcal Fan it ficton other T with motivation al st re n sta phys L say t he ve n of we sy is th lectu im Cano ar e of write Ju a relatio d or th i fant ct in rical s tes t gre tha ef novels. whe tha e pou Works f es, sh asy wo at an s the r dge antsy tend tha can nofa ur ic usa eali ap in the n is ar own asy n al d can re ot o rd e n, of ti n noe proa ficto cover e cha nship f ( Li a on sm, sci la on Poter ficton s de usaly) note 1: rea re se ch I is genr ny genr H l a r ter in ntasy to g are se y be t l ader enc sc i ho rious and racte hat cu arcte of enr stor Richa ch lism n, def sp but elm the cut atur of rip tha to th used lture. w f re h ant ecif it.” is m Stewar almost ’s i them em can tio an ficton or n y to li the alistc same thi acro f at is t ig literau set s ict e? t ed ab mind rs eratu rd Magic, n fa other ht nts defin s in sy ve empts s to i al. out : on r be realities ntasy in th is . fidelty in Mat s (often b or the ry , se is e th e way evrything be such a a they de of an defin e thing re e the difcult. gh one same at parte n re to hews’ pro cause story. heros, re ot can scriptve, another, to is b imagn ost make examin abo that o alism. ut other to blematic are a a of (usaly) s o describ f f have landscape). su way perh any storie, tha way ut physics thes To a realistic obscenity: we sig It cesful Fantsy up work things genrs monster, about Fol is ry kind aps then equaly co tha nalig tha or think any e a fantsy, obvi futre. distn uld ge set the it and of wing and the of nov sep can n of th - - in : at It c - - - large number of works that are considered fantasy to see what they have in common. Works of Fantasy J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings defines fantasy. Other works that are obviously fantasy include Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books, Terry Brooks’s many Sword of Shannara books, Stephen R. Donaldson’s The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant , C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, T.H. White’s The Once and Future King , and Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood and Lavondyss . Some of the books on this list might be fantasy but are also in other genres. For example, at the intersection of fantasy and children’s literature you would find Tolkien’s The Hobbit , Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series, Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydian , and at least the first three of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books. There are other books in the children’s genre as well that have fantastic or otherworldly elements but aren’t always consid - ered to be in the “fantasy” genre: Alice in Wonderland or Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies or George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin . Then at the intersection of romance you might find The Once and Future King . At the intersection of fantasy and science fiction might be Robert Zelazny’s Nine Princes in Amber . If we look at all of these books, the ones that are considered by consensus to be fantasy and those that are on the margins of the genre, we see that they have in common that they are long —many are series (three, five, six, seven, or more books). They have magic—events happen that contradict the laws of mundane physics. There are often otherworldly creatures from mythology or the author’s invention—hobbits, elves, dwarves, dragons, “Old Ones,” “Cauldron Born,” wizards, talking trees. But many of these fantastic elements (particularly magic, less so creatures like elves and dwarves) are also found in works that are not usually considered to be part of the fantasy genre, the magical realist novels of authors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, and Salman Rushdie. Defenders of Fantasy But there must be something different about fantasy—is it that all fantasy writers are just poor writers, writing for money and success rather than art? If Tolkien had written as well as Rushdie, would he be a magical realist rather than the father of the fantasy genre? Some defenders of fantasy literature argue that what separates fantasy from mainstream literature, including magical realism, is the ethical and moral per - spective of fantasy. Fantasy is seen as being pro-religion, even pro-Christianity, and more in tune with “traditional values” than mainstream literature. However, it is very difficult to find any one consistent ideology in all of fantasy literature; Tolkien is different from Le Guin, who is different from Donaldson. If ideology is not the glue that holds the genre together, then perhaps the real difference is popularity. Maybe the reaction of readers to fantasy is the key: the popularity of fantasy is unsurpassed by any genre other than romance. “Fantasy is mass market,” one publisher supposedly said. “Everything else is niche.”
7 LECTURE ONE 8 tr a e fa ( Bu e m in h str Wit No p le pi in a st in n d t ment c, ts tasy e ead e l n it f h ied am an e f a o if o ver t n of tasy u fa t can o , s t of o nde he f y ntasy th t of hes m tr con im at t ying use d o the rut o pr de tr t on scio h, ad is b esiv em rn tra e t o m stor t it b he usne simp io diton co pircal- ut fit od n nce ies r e fa ern eb is r ach es ly s, nt al ir b th rn asy ap ults, a t th eing echniqu epic at s. unr also reb proa of wer In in eliab a irth. used a are s th se to ch g we is enr es moder pase It mixed ms d way, to ef shal must th nar in make to at tha d ti n althou ators, ha we ons with se. t a be lite se lo ve re an ng ratu a emd i mode s ve nevr gh flash n en int as ew ry e, fantsy tirely el p se rn back, long hyb lectuay we art a rious techniq part ridzaton, n o cou dea ew f tim is the flaws. of ld in thing. d—traion e satifyng. ues try timaely ora o shift). ral to l Perhaps and wherin tradion tradion det Thus tied Each r - l . to FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. How would you define fantasy literature? Try to write a 200-word dictionary definition. 2. What literary works would be the best examples of fantasy literature? Explain why.
Suggested Reading
Mathews, Richard. Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination . New York: Routledge, 2002.
Other Books of Interest
Clute, John, and John Grant, eds. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy . New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999. Sandner, David. Fantastic Literature: A Critical Reader . Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2004.
9 Lecture 2: Origins of Modern Fantasy
The Suggested Reading for this lecture is Tom Shippey’s The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories (introduction).
t is possible to find fantastic elements in literature back to the very beginnings. The Epic of Gilgamesh has the mon - strous giant Humbaba. The works of Homer have mon - sters, magic, and the actions of the Olympian gods. Closer to home, Beowulf includes the monster Grendel, his mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. But it is not really accurate to categorize these works as part of the fantasy genre. As far as we can tell, they were just literature, whatever that might mean: the magic and the monsters and the gods are not treated by the authors as being particular - ly unexpected. We cannot say that these stories are consciously working in a fantastic genre. Victorian Roots It is more accurate to trace the roots of the fantasy genre, at least the imme - diate roots, to the nineteenth century and its flowering of popular literature of all kinds. The Victorians developed differentiated and specialized markets for different kinds of literature. Children’s literature, adventure literature (a subset of children’s literature originally, but later made explicitly for adults), and the almost stereotypically popular Victorian ghost stories all form the foundations for the twentieth-century genre of fantasy literature. Surveying the breadth of Victorian popular genres would be far beyond the scope of this lecture. Instead, let us examine some of the more significant and long-lasting works that were written in this time period and went on to influence the development of fantasy in the twentieth century. Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is often called the greatest children’s story of all (this is hyperbole). One of Carroll’s great tricks—subsequently adopted by other writers of fantasy—was his ability to roll one adventure along after another without the pauses and elaborate justifications found in much other fantastic literature. Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies also just piles one fantastic idea on top of another. George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin is nearly as fully in the children’s genre as Alice, but some developments in this book show how fantasy could cross over into other areas: the violence in Princess and the Goblin, for instance, occurs in battles and military engagements, very unlike that in, say, Grimm’s fairy tales. O
W A Fantastic Continuum T
E If we were arranging a continuum, we might put Alice in Wonderland at one R
U end: entirely a children’s book (though loved and appreciated by adults). Then T
C we could add MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin , which adds to the E L
10 fantastic elements of Alice ’s heroism, violence, and elements of boy–girl romance. At the further end, we might have H. Rider Haggard’s adventure novels, which are strongly grounded in heroism and romance but at least attempt to depict violence realistically (the fight scenes are vividly done). And Haggard, on occasion, enters into the fantastic (as does Kipling, who admired Haggard greatly). Haggard’s adventure stories were aimed at boys and men. Although Haggard was enormously influential through novels like She and King Solomon’s Mines . I want to talk about one of his less famous novels: Eric Brighteyes . In this novel, Haggard pulls together material from all of the major Old Norse sagas and weaves it into one exciting story. Tolkien himself said that it was as good or better than all other “historical fiction” treatments of the early medieval period. Eric Brighteyes is a stereotypical Nordic hero: very hand - some, very young, very strong, very brave—and rather stupid. Eric loves the sweet, kind Gudruda and is coveted by the evil Swanhild (thus adding a romance element to the adventure story). His strength and fearlessness allows him to accomplish many feats, including climbing impossibly high falls and defeating Skallagrim the berserker (a character who is only tangentially similar to his Old Norse namesake, Egil Skallagrimsson). At every turn, Eric’s heroic qualities are met by the evil magic of Swanhild, until in the end, all three lives end in tragedy. Haggard, like William Morris, was able to stitch together a great variety of fragmentary tales from the Icelandic sagas and from Icelandic and Germanic history. Haggard and Morris both showed how the northern materials need - ed to be reconfigured from their disordered medieval form into narratives that are palatable for the modern audience. They are thus the originators of a long tradition of fantasy stories that attempt to make sense of the confus - ing and incomplete narratives of the Middle Ages. Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies adapts (among other things) the Irish story of St. Brendan’s voyage to the west of west, and as such it was particu - larly interesting to Tolkien, who is just the most famous writer in a long-stand - ing British tradition of imagining a paradise far to the west of England (but not as far as America). The Water Babies begins on a very Dickensian note, telling of a young, deprived chimney sweep named Tom, who is eventually turned into a water baby and then swims through the rivers, to the sea, to the furthest west of west, where he forgives his old, evil master and brings about his conversion. Kingsley, who was a clergyman, demonstrated that a fantasy story could have strong religious ideals (his “Mother Carey” is a nickname for the Virgin Mary) and still contain fairies and magic. Some of the style of Kingsley’s book, particularly his rather bizarre and funny lists, can be found in T.H. White’s The Once and Future King , and the intrusive narrator of The Water Babies has cousins in The Hobbit and some early children’s fantasy.
The Arthurian Genre Finally, there is the wildly popular Arthurian genre. Arthurian romance has a pedigree that goes back at least until the twelfth century with Chretién de Troyes through the Breton lais and Marie de France, to Chaucer, the anony - mous author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Malory. Partly
11 LECTURE TWO 1 2 th e b c o s d i K t ta f s a h t r A b su Vi we ti h a c e r r o l o t r A t a n i d r o i s a c e b y c e m o s i t n e h a t n a Th Bo a po or evl ef ou y l p m r e d e sy ctorian gn , l ch t s e r e o t r u h r u h o n e l a i el mour t u b th che se”—th gre c n e e b re g n i p p l e s u n i t n o y s at s i emn it h t op as fl n e g n a i n a i Art t e c o a r d e at W s e d e u m a s s a l rat th we men e g an r e th n. d est hur orld d t i age r o r e r e t i l r e t i l o u o b o i t i t u o i ure , e e c s e n d h c t n i ring o t a h Nost u o e m , e r of t M ia su se fa h t m nd h t i w idea e s n m s n a of a a Wa s f o n r also p i r n id can u d nta n a e l a nost u t u t g a of t i l m t r t algi t n e m a dle c i t o a fan i s i h r t e h t n o i t n r r a n o i t a c t a r e n o i t i d a r d m a e r t s n i a f nd , e e c i n i t a e sy t o o r f e l a m e f - tha g ant I—wh be th f n i l l e t e r t n i algi— tasy oun s a h Age n o l th s t i e h t t e ch write e r u e m i o t co o s at d f ) s . f l e th Vic g sy, g ild ire de n i a m f d a s n a b o r a a . l en er id o a m g i d e p b ( ren l i r fte b I b ctly torian d f o s n , g t I t a l e r ylic t n e v t wh ects e childre s u o i v r g k c a efor of y b r A pe s i a c i g r A d n a r s i k c a is n i ’ e r t s r i v d a h s ich r u h t Wor the m con o w ople r u h t m i e e r e r u h s n o i an time litera e o p fant e u t r e m ore Age y l m a d n u o n i r e s co the h t r b i s s o p n’s twen n a i nectd n a ld , unr n a i a ( c i t e h t belivd mes f o r A M y l e mode sha t l u d : s u o i ture War , s p i r e t i l sy n war li n u and ecovra r e t i l r o l a r u h t , g n i t o ter b m r o f r e t i l ie d n a d i M g n i e s a to y s a e terd e l r u t a from e h t . s at ad o t th u t a I y rn who, r f l A n a i T r u t a childo o t of a in ure , e l d p s hes e h t centur h t s e m e t n i f o tradio .e ) d l o e r t o l p life religo e n e g t d e e r to , t a r e t i l ble a he s d n e e , by ) s e g A e h t aft l l a s n o i t a l and e t s e r Latin f e h t was r o L ant l a c i h t f o t a person works e d o World r u t a but od er y. e z i l a r k r o w r t r A n, n s r a e m i t e c i v asy d Art a m o r a m n a m o growin or n simpler to beautif o e phra r n a i r u h o n e T p i h e h t a f hurian a p s a r l a c i g s i to set whic , s o t t the W l u f w d n a h t i w the e h of e c n s ’ n o s y n u h t i w se , e c pe a r A s t c e o m r y l l a u s J.R r th ab d u a t “b riod e l e u h t e i r o t s t o l I, n a h r e h t o and mean up o c e l w ( e v d n a li subeq solutey e past , c i g a m terau wen stage f o s t n e m le e c n e i e t e l p m n a i r h f o s in t i h c i f b n o c h t .y s a t n a of s s l l y d I Tolkien, p . s epoch” p s t u o ing etr. the t fo ,y l r a l u c i t r a e er o m on r e t i l time— s i eh T ec a de r e d i s r for o f ,s e i r o t s ht i w “our r a f o bel es whic na in ar u c c a to r nt er u t a f o e the eh t the be bu s fan eh t n - - - - FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. What are the roots of the fantasy genre? 2. What nineteenth-century works influenced the development of fantasy liter - ature in the twentieth century?
Suggested Reading
Shippey, Tom. The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Other Books of Interest
Haggard, H. Rider. Eric Brighteyes: The Works of H. Rider Haggard . Rockville, MD: Wildside Press, 1999. Prickett, Stephen. Victorian Fantasy . Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2005.
13 LECTURE THREE 1 4 The Tol ed th ru ta re pa hi em to Gr se an mo mo Mo she dr fr Ro o T of n i fir e i k l o T t r A d a h fe Eng T T H I om n s e lg st ver i b e he he o l B ned ek r d i r Sareh i k l man r u h s o the st r To uil ti n, et ki 18 mytho i ms li gan, l a in di cul ti 3 a an Sug re terau y l r a e urn f en: ’ n e l d. on in ) i o f m l in com os 9 was ed s ’ n n r ki o p t wo T w d. skil 5, a t f h a an a en) o lu Ca aly T Fe e i k l o s rly or o , s e re g nd w t s ho A he t n Ar lo rd enc m T le. h lea cia bine of es b ks re, as city E ve br g n i tho ave olkien thr gy. n i e th w t o Bio me o i thu w po a his n p h uar ted In vin l , n ry it l r e e h ho tha r g óst( th par ast licsm is e sup h d , n i we d of y r M gr im to g 1 e h w p a p hap g O y r lan w mot T hi t h en 90 , L Rea erso a r O idle , ticu Bir m os) rfu bo aphy wa e g n a r th p olkien 18 i ad are a l e b a M y h i m, his th o ef ort ajor be he an R gr he g py . e or p mingha ys her l 96. s w ra , , ua lar e g n in Fo h ding servd lace s i eat b na al boys tal . com y re -earth T whic b m s a ’ er beau di ted ut life gs . By ges. ly eyo olkien guar r el real o T ot l, and e e r F Tolkien d was est of is elvs, y l n dia this u S not o e c s e d r F the but her, i e you in not s 1904 a f lkie ments no nd whic as or tiful, e e d l e i f f dian bets, so consider chalen fant strong mean has of e m o s t in p nev ’s she he poe nosta a t S and questio “inve the o th athol n: and can t a t S his suce World d e d n a , rphan mo ’s b is En re th , sen and e t try, Life sy ut of ar was L mot skil s r s a w t a h w th e ther hap his e beca lectu lgia e glish ger. no wel ot a e n ( a you Tolkien write t” en ct gical str ed ble f creat sful? r f s. n raise m o r r her w o Wa ret stalgi an r elatd t ostracized mo of ur young m o eturn m o r f he ain conve th wa in A e h y me t So awr re canot urn t he d co e the o r at a re life raised se Catholic th h fantsy s . l u f p l d in e G I Lan 3: of untryside r is . d p wh s i ’s to maste J.R ejoin . e also a nse) gloriu th home t r a er cont English e in to in T b rted r n a m r Humph ea o j co aisng em er y olkien gua o broth d l o much T b t his T go f o f rly he untryside the the a olkien. empor n e i k l o a his fr th n h t i w from rwok. from , gen di u o S om priest, T domin s ba M - t s e W central is. mother life is m i En es olkien ge , two er and da fa and made rey 2 ck for the a r g i m he re, glish Th e h t h h t nera ) mily, tha the Hilary tha ys, ary er s a w No Rom boys; the Ther e ant Mab co suporting di c i r f A tha Carpent felin Fath in k n a B : family em is lan Anglica and stalgi, n a l d i tion inha sem me nostalgi co s t n 1) time re. as th b m h an rega e el t d otinal a his n r o untryside er is raveld th e the otif g Tolkien’s . ) he o t is from its (whic bitans is Tolkien, s d o Catho e smal works on. Francis of and s i H f Lord to not a l g n E n i filed los de inha die in family .a c i r f A fro y l i m a f r’s the ? have Ch 2 9 8 1 the m drive f (in d evn m cut How, ,r e h t a licsm, to vilage bi of uc includ as of to urch desir of with ,d n t chil tans, its and no he . lived h the of his th r of s of if - e to - - Roman Catholicism was also intensely personal for Tolkien, but he very deliberately did not make religion explicit within his literature. His belief in Roman Catholicism also kept Tolkien from the fashionable atheism and rejec - tion of traditional morality that separated so many other twentieth-century artists from the morals, ethics, and traditions of their readers. Although The Lord of the Rings is Catholic only below the surface, the very fact that it does not reject the value system of a great many middle-class, religious readers may have contributed to its popularity and influence. Tolkien and Language Tolkien’s gift for languages also seemed to come from his mother. He was already advanced in Greek and Latin at King Edward’s School in Birmingham, and he also knew French and German. Tolkien also learned Middle and Old English and began to study the discipline of philology: the love of words. When he discovered a grammar of Gothic, an entire new world opened up for him, and he began to invent new languages based on the prin - ciples he had learned. This linguistic creation, which began long before and continued long after Tolkien’s student days at Oxford, was the foundation for everything that came along later: Tolkien invented stories to create charac - ters who could speak his languages. Tolkien created his languages not simply from his fertile imagination, but through the discipline of philology as developed throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by scholars such as Jakob Grimm (of Grimm’s Fairy Tales ), Franz Bopp, and Eduard Sievers. Germanic philology was used to describe languages based on sound patterns and sound changes—Tolkien was able to run the process in reverse and invent languages through the same processes of phonological description. Tolkien’s two major invented languages, Quenya and Sindarin , are based, respectively, on the phonology of Finnish and of Welsh. But Tolkien wrote his own grammars and invented his own vocabularies, and the languages were constantly changing. Philology and Creativity Finally, there is medieval literature, Tolkien’s academic discipline. Tolkien himself worked very hard not to separate what he called “lit” and “lang”; that is, he thought that the study of literature without the study of language was an impoverished discipline and vice versa. So Tolkien brought the sensibility of a lover of literature and a creative artist to his study of language and he brought the rigor and logic of philology to his artistic creations and literary interpretations. Tolkien studied Anglo-Saxon works such as Beowulf , Middle English works such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the works of Chaucer, and less- familiar texts in early Middle English such as Ancrene Wisse . His scholarship led him to disputed questions, some of which were impossible to resolve and which he then incorporated into his fiction: such as the meaning of the Middle English word “wodwos” (which he derived from the Old English word “wudu- wasa”). His scholarly contributions include “ Beowulf : The Monsters and the Critics,” which is the single most important essay ever written about Beowulf , and which continues to shape criticism of the poem: Tolkien argued that Beowulf was a great poem, an effective piece of literature, and he showed how the entire work hung together. 15 His essay on “ Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meidhad ” was groundbreaking: he proved that a version of Old English had still been spoken in England long after the Norman Conquest, and he did this by examining only the spelling of certain words in an obscure group of manuscripts: but he was such a good philologist that he could ferret out lost history from mere spelling variations. Problems in medieval literature are often called “cruces”—they are “tortured” passages that can be obscure or can have more than one interpretation. Tolkien would examine a crux, such as the line “eotenas ond ylfe ond orc-neas” (trolls, elves, and animated-corpses) in Beowulf , and try to develop a convinc - ing story that could explain why elves were listed among monsters supposedly spawned by Cain, when Ælfwine and Ælfred, which mean “elf-friend” and “counseled-by-elves,” were popular names among the Anglo-Saxons (why would people name their children after monsters?). From his wrestling with the cruces of medieval literature, and his solutions, Tolkien developed some of his most powerful imaginative creations. The key to understanding Tolkien is in seeing that his rigorous, dry, hard- nosed philology and wildly imaginative, free-flowing creativity were complete - ly intertwined. E E R H T E R U T C E L
16 FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. What are “cruces” in medieval literature and how did they influence Tolkien’s fantasy? 2. How did Tolkien’s love of language affect his stories?
Suggested Reading
Carpenter, Humphrey. Tolkien: A Biography . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Other Books of Interest
Drout, Michael D.C., ed. Beowulf and the Critics by J.R.R. Tolkien . Tempe, AZ: Arizona Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 2002. Hammond, Wayne G., and Christina Scull, eds. J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Turgon, ed. The Tolkien Fan’s Medieval Reader . Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Press, 2004.
17 Lecture 4: Tolkien: The Hobbit
The Suggested Reading for this lecture is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
he Hobbit was Tolkien’s first publishing success and the only book written for children that he published during his lifetime. It demonstrates the evolution of Tolkien’s style and also illustrates the nexus between children’s literature and fantasy from which Tolkien’s later work evolved. The Hobbit began as a story for Tolkien’s children and was heavily influenced by other children’s books, particularly The Marvelous Land of Snergs by E.A. Wyke-Smith, but also, perhaps, Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies . Tolkien had been working on his mythological works for over fifteen years when he wrote The Hobbit . These, later published in The Silmarillion and The History of Middle-earth , dealt with the ancient history of the elves as well as the creation of the world and the dealings of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. A Mediator Between Two Worlds Although he did not know it at the time, Tolkien’s famous first line, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” began the development of the key concept that would cause the success of The Lord of the Rings : Tolkien had created a character who could mediate between the medieval stories he loved so much and the world of his twentieth-century, middle-class readers. Bilbo Baggins, the protagonist of The Hobbit , is thoroughly bourgeois. Yet he is brought into contact with the legends of the North: dwarves, dragons, heroes, talking eagles, and a man who can change himself into a bear. Bilbo’s middle-class reaction to these creatures and peoples allows the mate - rial to be brought into the twentieth century without the difficult “high style” of the medieval texts, but also without irony. If Tolkien feels the need to com - ment on Thorin’s very legalistic reasoning, he can do so from within the story, even though Bilbo represents a sensibility that is entirely outside the medieval epic tales. The psychological development of Bilbo is also very different from that of any medieval hero. Although he lives in a world of trolls, goblins, dragons, and heroes, he is in some ways not a part of that world, being concerned with pocket handkerchiefs, hot breakfasts, and comfortable beds. He has to learn to be a hero, and even when he becomes one, he is a hero with distinctly
R practical and middle-class attitudes. U O F Class-based Analysis E R
U Class-based and Marxist analyses of literature are notoriously dull and heavy- T
C handed, but in the case of The Hobbit, they may be somewhat informative— E L
18 as long as we do not take them too seriously or push them too far. Bilbo begins as a middle-class hero (he has inherited his money, and he has a nice hobbit-hole, but he doesn’t seem to be a member of an aristocracy) who is brought into contact with the heroic world by the visit of the wizard Gandalf and the dwarves. Although Thorin and company interpret the world through an ancient and aristocratic prism (“bring our curses home to Smaug . . .”), in dealing with Bilbo they adopt the language of a commercial transaction, from the “help wanted” ad scratched on the door by Gandalf to the language of the contract letter. We can apply class-based analysis to some of the monsters in The Hobbit . The first to be encountered, the trolls, speak with lower-class accents as if they were poor laborers (although they are actually robbers). Their violence threatens Bilbo, who has been insulated from such things in his safe, middle- class life. Note also that he is just as appalled by their manners (as is the narrator) as by their physical behavior. The next set of monsters, the goblins, can also be taken as representing a lower class, but rather than poor labor - ers, they are anonymized factory workers: every goblin is interchangeable, except for the Great Goblin. They are creatures of machines and slavery. The next threat comes from untamed nature—the evil wolves, the Wargs, who threaten Bilbo and the dwarves. They are in stark contrast to the tamed nature found in Beorn’s animals. Finally, Smaug, the dragon, represents a threat to middle-class Bilbo not from below (like the laborers and animals) but from above: Smaug represents the greedy aristocracy, who, unlike the mid - dle-class, hoard their money and do not circulate it through society (which is what Bilbo eventually does, making sure that the treasure goes for the recon - struction of commercial towns). Updating Old Forms The Hobbit taught Tolkien how to use the medieval material that he so loved: the scene in which Bilbo steals the cup from Smaug comes from Beowulf , but it is mediated through both Bilbo and the narrator. Beorn and his house also come from Beowulf . Tolkien realized that by modernizing spellings, he could incorporate Old English or Old Norse words without mak - ing them too jarring for the modern reader: “Beorn,” which means both “war - rior” and “bear,”, and the “Arkenstone,” which in Old English would be the more difficult to pronounce “eorclan stan,” or “Mirkwood,” which in Old Norse is “myrk-vidr.” Tolkien brought The Hobbit into contact with his larger legendarium, but allu - sively: he mentions the three kindreds of the elves, introduces Elrond the half-elven, and has an evil Necromancer living in southern Mirkwood. This technique of simply mentioning, as if such things were already known, ele - ments of the legendarium created the sense of a vast background to the sec - ondary world that Tolkien used so effectively in The Lord of the Rings . Then there is the Ring, which at first was just a device for Tolkien to equal - ize Bilbo with the more heroic, physically powerful figures: here the Ring is just a piece of technology, but Tolkien later realized that it was the one logical link between The Hobbit and a sequel.
19 Although The Hobbit is in the end a children’s book and is far less complex than The Lord of the Rings , it does provide some very interesting theoretical puzzles. For example, the chapter “Riddles in the Dark,” as originally written in the first edition, had Gollum planning to give the Ring to Bilbo if the hobbit won the riddle contest. As Tolkien struggled to write the sequel, he realized that such a scene was incompatible with the new conception of the Ring. When the chance to revise The Hobbit came around, Tolkien rewrote the chapter into its present form. But because he knew many people would have read the original chapter, he introduces the idea, in The Lord of the Rings , that Bilbo had told a lie about the riddle game as a way of making a stronger claim to the Ring. This becomes very confusing when a reader encounters only the post-revision version of the chapter and has no idea what lie Bilbo is confessing to. Tolkien enjoyed such puzzles and possible contradictions in his work, and he did not simply revise them away but often figured out how to explain them the way a scholar would explain a variant in a medieval or ancient text. What Tolkien learned from writing The Hobbit has been adopted by subse - quent fantasy writers: elements of the children’s story can be taken up and developed in complex, sophisticated ways. The psychological journey of the protagonist is important: it is more interesting for readers when the hero is not just a Conan the Barbarian type but rather someone who can mediate between the bourgeois world of the reader and the heroic world of the tradi - tion. Finally, “vast backcloths,” a sweeping grandeur of history and tradition, can be invoked by slight—but consistent—allusions. All of these techniques were developed much further in Tolkien’s masterwork, The Lord of the Rings . R U O F E R U T C E L
20 FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. What are some of the reasons for the success of The Hobbit ? 2. How did Tolkien bridge the gap between the bourgeois world of his readers and the fantastic realm of The Hobbit ?
Suggested Reading
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1973.
Other Books of Interest
Day, David. Hobbit Companion . New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2002. O'Neill, Timothy R. The Individuated Hobbit: Jung, Tolkien, and the Archetypes of Middle-Earth . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1979. Tolkien, J.R.R. The Annotated Hobbit . Ed. Douglas A. Anderson. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
21 Lecture 5: Tolkien: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Suggested Reading for this lecture is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
t took Tolkien nearly twenty years to complete the sequel to The Hobbit that his publishers asked for immediately after the children’s book became a success. Readers wanted more hobbits, but Tolkien felt constrained by the promised “happily ever after” ending of The Hobbit , so he decided that the protagonist of the sequel should be a cousin or nephew. Tolkien right away knew that Bilbo’s magic ring would link the two stories, but it took him several revisions before he figured out how the story would work. Tolkien determined that the Ring (about which, he wrote in a draft: “not very dangerous”) was in fact the most dangerous object in his Middle-earth. One Ring to Rule Them All The Ring was made by and belongs to Sauron, the Dark Lord, who is attempting to conquer all of Middle-earth. It was lost many years ago, but now it is trying to get back to its master, who is seeking it. With the Ring, the Dark Lord is effectively invincible. If the Ring were to be destroyed, the Dark Lord would fall. Furthermore (and this is the key gimmick) the Ring cannot be used for good: it is somewhat sentient, and it can turn anyone who uses it for domination into a slave of the Dark Lord. The only way to destroy it is to take it to Mount Doom in the heart of the land of Mordor and throw it into the lava. The Ring is safe with Frodo because he does not desire dominion over oth - ers, but Frodo himself is not safe, as he is being sought by the servants of the enemy. And over time, the desire that the Ring creates takes a terrible psychological toll on the bearer. Although Tolkien had worked out these key points by chapter two (after many false starts and dead ends), he still had a great deal of difficulty getting the story going and even getting his protagonists (Frodo, his servant Sam, and two other hobbit companions, Merry and Pippin) out of the Shire and into the wider world. Tolkien takes a couple hundred pages to extricate the char - acters from the Shire and the “little country” surrounding it: the Old Forest, the House of Tom Bombadil, the Barrow-downs (aspects of each of these had been invented by Tolkien in various poems that he wrote in the 1920s). But these hesitations and pauses ended up creating one of the key aesthetic effects that separates The Lord of the Rings from other fantasy: a pattern of E V
I action and rest, stress and release. Characters often do the same things F (underground journeys, visits to friendly houses, passages through marshes, E
R encounters with unexpected friends) at different points in the narrative, but U
T rather than feeling boring, the repetitions create a sense of layering: the C
E actions in the Shire and the surrounding country prefigure actions that will L
22 happen later in the wider world. This pattern violates the straight-ahead- action style of Tolkien’s sources, such as H. Rider Haggard, and it sets The Lord of the Rings apart from even its most slavish imitators.
Hobbits, Heroes, and Elves Tolkien’s other great innovation was one he took from The Hobbit and expanded: The hobbits are perfect intermediaries between the reader and the vast grandeur of Middle-earth. They experience the text for us, so that Tolkien can write in the third person but have his readers feel as if they were getting a first-person experience. The hobbits are intermediaries, and they are also the protagonists and the heroes. But they are unlikely heroes: they are small, weak, and soft (until the need is on them), fundamentally decent, but worlds apart from the typical hero. When the hobbits meet such a hero, Strider, sitting in the Prancing Pony, Tolkien creates a situation in which the hero is unrecognized and not respect - ed. He is not a modern “anti-hero”—he has no existential self-doubt; he does nothing wrong—but Strider, who is actually Aragorn, the rightful heir to two kingdoms, “looks foul and feels fair.” Because he is introduced as Strider, Aragorn never develops the distance from the readers of the narrative that most kingly or princely characters develop. It is another example of how Tolkien tames and naturalizes heroic epic by bringing it into contact with mid - dle-class attitudes and values. Strider and the hobbits are pursued through the wilderness by the Ringwraiths, the evil servants of Sauron, granted a ghostly, never-ending life, but enslaved to the rings Sauron once gave them. Frodo is stabbed by the Lord of the Ringwraiths but not killed, and eventually the companions reach Rivendell, where Frodo is healed. Then follows “The Council of Elrond,” the most notoriously difficult chapter in The Lord of the Rings . Here we learn of the history and politics of Middle- earth through complex speeches and retellings by a variety of characters. Tolkien introduces the theme of “fighting the long defeat,” a continued strug - gle in which one side really has no hope of winning but nevertheless refuses to surrender: a modification of ideas of so-called “Northern Courage” that Tolkien found in the Old English poem “The Battle of Maldon.” He also describes the beauty and sorrow of the elves, another major theme found throughout Tolkien’s works. The elves are immortal, reincarnated if they are killed, immune to all disease. Time passes at different rates for them than for mortals. But the elves become weary of the world after enough time, and either fade or travel across the sea to the Blessed Land, where they may have peace. The elves in Middle-earth, however, do not wish to leave their lands and the works of their hands—but the weariness afflicts them. For this reason, long ago, they accepted Sauron’s help in the forging of the Rings. The Three Rings of the Elves, although they were never touched by Sauron, would be controlled by the One Ring if Sauron recovered it. And if the Ring is destroyed, all the works of the Three Rings will be undone. So the quest to defeat Sauron is bitter for the elves: even if they win, they will lose their desire to remain in Middle-earth.
23 LECTURE FIVE 2 4 u G p Sa o t a w f n T r l co cl co r b n e e t t L w ca a O a d ( M b Bo t D R u t y im or o he hr he e e Gi Eve Th Ga Th In It p r u t i o e l a o ft o l se ir h o h o e an ng ven ld izard o Bal o stl ce to u n se t e e w y; ch th n th it ce e m r is el ser er om, st e mli u e teci M omir, e i ld tai d, h, mp r ed on di l e l s w En da es. e ive nt l ad no e min ntu fo óri th t a ev sa ro have o pe fe he a f of as hi ard h a , ns a cl o ai i char ri to r lf f e t nd er ts g ri ug g un th o cti the g s a t l on en, m he r entu ving oa a, l al t rha ns not Leg re th e l g bits. owship a an nd least ish com city. entia eir se At a the ( the ha like , t o l, h der ly, nd the To o e en a ks R th of n a Elvish acte tra son few d a To ps wh nt to rm vin Elro seiz e t olas; aly as me o wor ey nd the he lkie is tru de ly gr d lig pan th son t lea tha wn st B veld Da l heir lkie o take ed tem o ecid h The g oun folwe eir f or to a rs o mb ver sire ht e-h st of a lo then is co nd n’s d d is th . comp se t ne rk to re y we ran om n ecid m w of La for The b in hide o the “sige por m Glo en se uncil, wise ers im ear d is e care the a f Fe L ight de ma se f own for fro of ost apo dy th fact or ir ds po in ord Eä d par cro Sa ta at ar take ed in l Rin picts wa t te an e d stea do o b t m ke th o ken en lwa sea t im Ar Ga u re ily o f o he an acke be m, of ’s d n at Stewar s b fr wship of ints h y. pon i ta em e f rf th th th n g n y a sely e om e a s man of ion s realm k the d be ladrie autifl the ventio ra”) kes d dil, gorn; . at e th Ring—to a city e over one o fro ma for boat argue choie ; no e F p wa d eight to ver emslv. felowship, smal safety by lembas nds t The rod owerfu housed from . m ’s he Lad o Dark th , b t ny th a tha d pas Ga r, ld to of y tr l s at e orcs, plan by n, of F go e mo wields crea o uly Rin d then or o with do y a rod Hobit e comp evil. Tolki ndalf f e is the f the box betw b ld Mor nd t venig th has cs. Go of Lord of lve nth hat his l ut wn use throu g be en sen wa is e tion, comp in t Ló their th imens rol . as Redh m ndor) rest s: devlop dor, en’ F of lie Ring to anios ideas of F the an th is one the and belts ybrea —drives e ust rod ) rien’s t en rod wha , o s, ve security gh e earth s F p p time the to th star. anios. evil of def hom roce uled elowship Borm Ring G and gre pe , . orn goin be of e she t the be hat o He t reat for an the d abo elvish and ri wizar ne a ed hair. ; the for at reput outside dest l ods to nd e, Giml pas. pear y d a a the mines agr gives Mer in should the d Bo nd felowsh ut cit elf powe from Ri ag Sam gi ir suta the him: to to Sam thre his Now, so royed d romi y of gantic es the safet ver b ation. forest for ( ring Gond an uth ecoms y, thus Legola the G s of inst Th Sh city rest e them Tolkien the rful, two andlf, of cros to in Pipn e Andui; F fle, be Minas to a ey elv with ire, a lvish would rod dwarf ip, bys mad r Sau M be th or, brok long aginst fier ather gua of car a wod. m take ar te oria em nd s), va a th nrigs. and only en t Lothló s the e w y , nd mo ron’s he ry , , ’s world, rdian, ey ts and en. luabe with Tirth, a her the relas, and and one ask foiled m —an n on be as than (Arag it work th re und phial los rive onster at to must a to th Frod their e ab Misty th they over rien, the and he B dwarf few the In Mina e the er for as hearts Mount includ ab e o o gifts: h le by of orn with over an r tha romi iden, othe g B the sa ru he dire to jo in an da mo get Ring caled ro a n d alr s an t ur n a - me w this - d ys th se ing is - n re r o d ct ; - of d e g a t - FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. Why is it impossible to use the Ring for good purposes? 2. What aesthetic effects separate The Lord of the Rings from other works of fantasy?
Suggested Reading
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
Other Books of Interest
Rosebury, Brian. Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon . London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Shippey, Tom. J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Zimbardo, Rose A., and Neil D. Isaacs, eds. Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
25 LECTURE SIX 2 6 o o b r D a t i e The Two h e w t P p th T T su L t h cr C d d b dea ru he he e T A To A Th rc ec ton ve er n e n o i u o o h o ip hat oin ompli s ird e p he b ra ft er ist a e r ces e o e lk e s a so pin lace d. l e nart au n sti d my s k co god kie ie n -p e go te Lo se Sug s w of g Tow th Two Fel ma n no is of Bu tu se , n for th erson ho an th rn n rva in r th ey me r whose fusion the omn ca d ha a t e edemp t ed t e l y tr , -wizard co he g d owship Boro mbigu e m ive i captu of ers th t br e nt ica Legol tin see To es d be nt, m n two Rig mplicat aint by f e iscien W th e or to s, ain to o o ted g wer te . ak i tran f to mni mir f of hite sa or an nam h de in Bar t tion Mer red S d ous. e as, we he R - ch ng t in ifer tr od u s cr aur gen fe of Rea gon d the velop scient sfigur t in g was Thing begins es ad ar r ificing Coun : a form, ry know, Me St e and of “b pa th th th t cts th what o on, ent Th era s lin i e-b Da -dû b ding s r r e f e oks o a th ce . cte rt th e e e rry a eg Cir nd r in ear ed of e w Up R Rin e y Gim rk tio hopin sub na cil, ad views moral r. -pa g orth the d in ins rs. t himself b B poin ith and irony, wo t T with fe P if fe re nt in ,” he ns Lo oks rrator a gs to f , g oromir p ol or ipp but l struc r li a lo ws hi p But lot. two new with point some t Ungol, se rd. k t th nd no o re g decid t as owers str Pippin. ien: th th in, of person f of is ts who ader inst ting ten In re be Tolkien e Thus uct Ba o is linked a ag evil. S: set po in t, and n up view, f L trie ader of death T cause way trilog ar ra ti ve e si ead T whic lectu e rad- e ain in he Sarum tha at has he ct may kno vie o re T th d of ( Her n, then Tolkien we he olki st wh s, ur at th to to Two dûr, (To is w to and al th ou g , complexits y Two ws. re of and now Tolkien e the e un T e ich the of was do an be en’ are Arago have was a becom olkien en an, 6: lkien po in ts to Bor we is li g fina the he d Tower In y ke orcs. s with Ortha F symet od To d turne Frod fo J.R org a t c rod basi very o the see hat The h o also ble two an und mo ncial rn for mir wer is f di th e e her anized F way Th e of n Thus o (br s tres ambiguous). nc, wizard it c st d rodo a , Tolkien’s to ot Two closely is somewh , s in co and vi ew who was not p t na rr at iv e riva T and co ry. Tolk iefly) o o recogni leave lot im Fe ll ow sh th o olkien plays ther e mplicates evil, nstrai f ach he was of e Even prisoned, enviso Tower l Sam. the struce or has only fo r alow ien’s and who a and Sauron gan tied dies fantsy bod Merry tho at volum up interest story terribly th e ze be been , published the is ts. ing s difernt was izng he Gimli, ip e ugh to gins a The , at this gi ve n fi rs t the we of Howevr, The second of the tile , h and into e). could himself peace an slain write the opes, once he Sarum th e the wrong, wrong interlac in get plot. ti d then hobbits: me Lord of in six Pippin is intro the Dar an Ri ng rs, six- by a as be th th i th and no To i tag n to a to e k e and of rd - - the but the n t , , a - g behind, even to help Frodo—although his is the real quest. At this point, Tolkien illustrates personal loyalty and decency overcoming geopolitical con - cerns: although Frodo’s capture would end in the enslavement of the world, the three hunters cannot leave Merry and Pippin to be tormented by the orcs. This approach illustrates Tolkien’s consistent rejection of the idea that the end justifies the means, and it shows him at his least modern and most traditional. The section also introduces the idea of doing the right thing without any real hope: the orcs are very far ahead, they are armed, and they are many. Yet Aragorn and company pursue them, and in the end it is for the best, though from a tactical point of view it was a terrible decision. Merry and Pippin suffer through a terrible journey with the orcs, but they learn of divisions within the ranks of the enemy: the orcs of Saruman despise the orcs of Mordor, and vice versa, and both want the hobbits for the reward that they will bring. The hobbits are able to leverage this division to bring about their escape, in concert with an attack upon the orcs by the Riders of Rohan. The hobbits run into Fangorn forest after a Mordor-orc, Grishnákh, attempts to run away with them, but is killed in doing so. In Fangorn, the hob - bits meet Treebeard, an ent, or tree-shepherd, and one of Tolkien’s most beloved creations. Treebeard becomes fond of the hobbits, and their news (about Saruman’s orcs) causes the old ent (he is the most ancient living crea - ture in Middle-earth) to attempt to rally his people to attack Isengard, the stronghold of Saruman. Saruman, meanwhile, is readying an attack against Rohan, whose riders have met Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. They borrow horses from the riders and promise to return them to the King of Rohan, but first they follow the trail of the orcs to Fangorn forest, where they find the tracks of Merry and Pippin. Seeking the two hobbits, they encounter an old man in the forest who is, in fact, Gandalf, brought back from death after his encounter with the Balrog. He is now “Gandalf the White” and is ready to help to lead the battles against Saruman and Sauron. Medieval Influence In The Two Towers, Tolkien begins to bring additional heroic cultures and civ - ilizations into his story, most importantly the Rohirrim, who speak Old English and are modeled in many ways on the Anglo-Saxons. Although Beowulf had been a strong influence on The Hobbit , Tolkien’s medieval sources had been, up to this point, less influential on The Lord of the Rings , but with the Rohirrim he begins to bring his own scholarly materials into his story. Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli go to Edoras (an Old English word that means “the courts”), where they meet King Theoden (his name is an Old English word for “king”). There they find that Theoden has been manipulated and weakened by his advisor, Gríma Wormtongue, and that he blames Gandalf for bringing bad news. Gandalf heals Theoden and convinces the king to lead his warriors to a battle at the ancient stronghold of Helm’s Deep, where a large battle is fought and, with the help of the ents, Rohan has the victory. The riders then go to Saruman’s fortress at Isengard, where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are reunited with Merry and Pippin. Gandalf casts Saruman from the order of the wizards and breaks his staff, and at that
27 LECTURE SIX 2 8 th h le ta tu th e Th Go a M th a Fr h Nú Fa wa ti Fr th to m b h Ri a ca Fr b o Ta in h M ch p fr m Go Fr Go On Go Th Th Th fi im vil sk lm ol et ad nd ut f ad al o a g e ke or r i ovi id omen a r o o o n cat s l) ol th Go e e o m r k me y r l d a od t,” we ” do ami do do g. lum e e is se ost dle- up ns en doe gu . ugh en l l l ogicaly is s s ntír conq ose e a b Lo th i e th u u u She th n io of po r n xp re e S g ) The lf nor s, the h m m m on e l, to e i an l at th d en mp r, n e ea rd l by n r in a imse an l t, my” s obe l i Go ation i ep or er the while s ocked s, t a way i nt m’s ar at l l guid of n he to Mo the d uest Golum ead ead is ea F no G rns tem of or y Rin sting d an ie osible. in t th in and rod whic lum wer. S o rím Fr he the so me der ns, nts, nced t. S is city is lf rdo f f the com , am d cont ha est ship bro s s es to h g, od t am view G G bo hat G ptin o, of on a is a slep En cent et the Fr out : actor the rsh r a olum and Go to and b ho of th b Ring p a evn Worm und Fr plex a M o e a act od and ring ut discu the Go ut “hig thr em alnt re g a is ent nd wn e nd sid r bits od id hob the lu of th ral fter eg majo wo r alf alf to a les in oug in yo lu dle- t en o y s by who m’s ry e m comp h” hro a the an in Fr De ain min few u , tho f rds t fuli , bits ton a th ír, Rin gr fa m, is u o Go nd or o an Bor in od bu h The ra d shift a r o ear f en scen a ugh ct es t gua the slepin e ugh se a gre d, he the ut o ersta wh gue the d plays d al ha who mo Sam ce gwraith rash lum tha t in bstacle uter omir tha only devic th. th Sa takes cret M one the of s was rden to ethr rd. at hero Lo gr of to the o ment Ring. e e , towe arshe, he to n f m the nds direct eats -gen no ha swe the rd pro clif- o into q his lead m hero Fro But par and a entr g tha f F uest distr ar acent d w s. s nyoe en Golum him or of whic r a rives r: or mise maze for to od later tifac. ars tune the years spe do. erat hang nd Saru a On G ance, io t the lyzed. a th Fro wh ha of he no ust Sauro o fan by secrt an olum se n to e capt discover to psycholg nt and , s the t his uated o h not is do lin Rin d els, To ers vilan? man’s d whe ls of tasy goin ride ’s th er Pip gr with hel m ing st G imposb to the Go e ey of lkie He eat own he ther the any n’s Stairs il gs Sam, awy. to olum’s say in in pin p “ mount n th awy f Frod lu Shel lite rem art. Fr rom a the be . hob take Frod n of ch liter o e miltar to bear bro re servan More years m od rcs A nearly story, sa . ratu autifly Black tha ical ase Gon th Mord who of Ring. wit o bit ob, ke is ature. Think ken afr id mber ain o at le to the p in fin was s und Cirth , given y hin urpo y i e, to tha g dor. Saru s be he Minas “ trackin a t, d are or . inte pas have after I or h (a Gate betra rtue Ring, on one Pipn is T gian wept hur ils Fr cause erstan a n alive, elvish s kn in is he se. and g Her whetr rpetiv ca od’s man story, an Ung “th op blue ls ows of he Petr Fr of the next ys cro the cl Tirth of ptured g y and e after tic a od destroying the ose the osed ds Bilb so but ol, ta other of al problem Mord lore. sed an crysta we orcs, e of Ring bo spider- a kes yes to the Jackson’ , what he broken Golum Emyn nd d to most de o question taken link I a or dy, the me Minas by Sauron nother wrote to F (and or, being Sauron, ad, the the help Sam identcal but huge not l is armi Sam magi citade globe Go crea t wher psy inflct o Muil, Sam r by the the finds s f tha iver now lum in for - - of - l - - FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. How does Tolkien complicate the plot in The Two Towers ? 2. How does Tolkien examine the idea of stories within stories?
Suggested Reading
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
Other Books of Interest
Burns, Marjorie. Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. Croft, Janet Brennan. War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien . New York: Praeger Publishers, 2004.
29 LECTURE SEVEN 3 0 The t G b ti th N h i i th M s a t t at b ma f u se f An b a m ng n he hi s, or ea he Bu Bu On D Th M ona um as ch l e n e cti az on ack t e e er o r The em pt s ene t fo d come g e d vice r l G ons e ie ty—on th t t gr ea t ersco wa ho ry e gû l ry Ki mo do defied re o-S th an d Sug lly ev ev at on vin D at ). soph sai rs ng. e l rr r, hor , Lo h a ns a th e do h s She of t axon s th ior es. g b elp rk o nd n n toops . ls wh eroi g w to rd attle th e e victor r. e es a Den cre a with -wo e istcaed Lo order swept ap pa ren t the bu rn o e The Pip fter defea t ca of info T fel destroys s c he ted s rd he a ee ha esq fiel man, m n the l (or te to Ste w this y oden rm th fl thor d send ve omen s in ar d, hi ms elf city ho w ying Rea if be uire cont t the , e up a fer al rive. Rin o ar o the o nd he f lt Pa of he “e fore , cult mo ard irs f n T hou gh ver de at h e an is en t th s ding kill. the is To lk i (with he ol uca ra be gs of t roi ts ro th ra T t he come n his e Ro deled in d ces ki t ol thrown com st of eir ow ism, wo . ast, le th (s c an d Theo re rive St e Lord Bu ta sho É Ki k f hir e ing en cult la n Gon dor a f of i Merry’s owyn eward ancesto stroph th t betw or en: ng bet se boo k rmies her e t e mes, Lor Actio a rim r. and to hi tha rt, at le o he tr ea ts Fa ra mir lso den, t par of th n s But he tha t we res: fr the d combat T one can t arrive so n Joan is om is s the brings swoops hav he co of en ba e” its en ns Co L of agin of and ted, hindered it the h battle lectu Tol rs, e tha n th e the tl be his with of elp Retur ct is Gond al ive . e the Nazgûl d rsai The tinues Rohan an d e of efns kie n the at bee n ur King t the Arag and ) pr ob lem sen he st Nazgûl between woul forth h of re cultre Arc. the e a d orse disguised do Lor d Min th e or. Goths) awn n Pi pp in f Rohan horn 7: foc uses gr of ath er is his To orn, wn of by ple nty by and d of Lord s an eat as The Umbar as J.R tr ium ph and lki have Rohan, of failng to examin Éowyn, th s s lea to Éowyn other of the leadin e deal Go T o of the , of of su mm ons , e br n of te two ne i ve an mortally pr id e ba rit of on Kin as Bo i e Ro Rohan rrorize ndor. Rome ben s the h, s R ak d Tolk and sed World and fig hting person of o able rom ir difer ing s g the an a the han is Gon g f and the tion the Nazgûl. an d the man forma th e d one lo seizd ien’s lost, its sub ject gate , of the Pip to king wounded, coming an dor, osely Ga nd alf it thi siege Wa and o men Da de nt gre and and M f is (and use of d ng lity pin as men two sp ai r rk r idle-arth ’s cermoni of The Gondr. in a at the F It I s their one on of bat tles niece, Lo rd , ara mir, a and higer and of archetype: their the entrs T is go gate carrying sep unexpct he flet and souther only to Return war . am on g the worth and po monster) city, ship. r are pr ev Ret urn arte itu parle an d b pani w Me with in tradi a ro th goe s a rly ho s . the nd l— not e en t ke the n o r of - c r f - y n - edly or the fleet with black sails turning out to be Aragorn, or the death of the Lord of the Nazgûl, the defenders of the West know that they are still doomed if the Ring cannot be destroyed. In “The Last Debate,” the Captains of the West resolve to risk all to distract Sauron from Frodo’s presence—they will assault Mordor even though they have no hope of winning. Sauron toys with the Captains of the West by showing them Frodo’s mithril coat and Sam’s sword, but book 5 ends with repetition and variation from The Hobbit : “The Eagles are coming!” This demonstrates quite explicitly part of Tolkien’s technique: it is repetition, yet Pippin himself notes the variation (“But that was Bilbo’s tale . . .”). Tolkien invokes cyclic time in parallel with progres - sive time (see also the Mirkwood spiders/Shelob, the goblin caves/Moria, Mirkwood/the Old Forest/Fangorn). In book 6, Sam must rescue Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol. Sam real - izes that he cannot use the Ring without Sauron detecting him, but the two competing tribes of orcs slaughter each other almost completely. Thus he is able to enter the tower and rescue his master. But Shagrat the orc escapes with the mithril coat, Sam’s sword, and Frodo’s cloak. It is these items that Sauron has shown to Denethor, not merely the fleet of the Corsairs of Umbar, that have driven the steward mad: he was certain that Sauron had captured the Ring, but Tolkien does not make this explicit at any stage, a trick that makes the reader experience Denethor’s madness the same way Pippin does. The Return Journey Frodo and Sam travel across Mordor, a journey characterized by hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. Finally, th ey arrive at Mount Doom and begin to climb. Frodo says he can see nothing and remember nothing, except the image of the Ring like a wheel of fire. Gollum, who had betrayed them to Shelob, attacks them on the slopes of Mount Doom: this attack rouses Frodo, and he continues to the Sammath Naur, the Chambers of Fire. Sam intends to kill Gollum, but he finds that he cannot. He follows Frodo up the mountain. But in the Chambers of Fire, Frodo is unable to do what he came to do. Gollum, however, attacks Frodo, bites off the finger with the Ring, and then falls into the abyss, destroying the Ring. Gollum thus ends up saving the world from Sauron. But Gollum is only there because of Frodo’s mercy. So Frodo has succeeded by putting himself in the right place and continuing to show mercy to Gollum. The large-scale drama of the epic concludes in marriage, as a traditional epic does. Aragorn and Arwen (Elrond’s daughter and Galadriel’s grand- daughter) are united, mixing the various separate lines of the human-elvish crossbreeding that Tolkien had set up in The Silmarillion (Arwen is in fact Aragorn’s first cousin many, many times removed). The traditional “falling action” pattern of the return journey and the tying up of loose ends is interrupted by the hobbits returning to find the Shire dam - aged by Saruman. They must lead a revolt so that hobbits can once again have freedom.
31 LECTURE SEVEN 3 2 o a lo Sh g th r th th th li a e a r Fa m sp The co th ea eca Eve On n f ckno oi mp rs, rch s, or e a e r i ks ng, id sm: o o ces ir n t r d the ble e e ugho e e ers, g l pi etyp the i Pr n if t Th th an f i cri a ie w tu bu to can s ra t a the se rs. i e nd h l ce d e d fter l edg no ti re ugh ating and er e t be ut f cism in a Lo t si, t pet d emp his a be hes o nd p a T nalysi men the hea t f rd lan is eac l he the , it wit Fre saved scen lacon but e io a wit e alwys of d, nlar led, suce gainst r Lor sim h n t s me edo h t of I Tolkien he for m be the e ged th d ic var or ila . the ean the a com ink Alt m o Ring Frod sful “ s or rite disc var Wel, ha f iaton, To y in Fro ho the ing y ter a py e wou lkien iaton, s of was s adultho usion o s ugh more . Sco do ible in Rings to simlar in I’m T the ld his endi he the and its M very is man uring p n back” pre ev id use rep origna rice ot tha ro of od, macr of dle-a Bilb g y to vio b clear n John ful t of ts the e o re tha tion and his the in f is us o g ocsm aders in d t T l, he rante und a iscuon g rth: hob he char tha a suce childre Campb some aing way the line ction has Shire Lord erg t bits he re d (includ acters a are childo of lt e also sful has i have houg makes ound s n’s terna etr g el’s and simplcty of rowing a ver would the liter very e had ing kep nal t y mpower ableu Hero l t to jour he life. the difer ature the Ring m life pay to ev strong be into dea yself neys doing ring Sam a with lose secondary with en . to s nd for nts . th ed F m with ) bears t se or or a hea ’s of have a the the th in the are the Jung turiy—hs many Thou em fights retun Sar the a Tolkien rtbeaking fredom Shire same n then elvs tried ian uman, m action sand wer read with icro to so in to the as - - FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. What is interesting about Éowyn’s defeat of the Lord of the Nazgûl? 2. How is the “happy ending” tempered at the conclusion of The Return of the King ? 3. Who is the real hero of The Lord of the Rings ? Frodo? Aragorn? Sam? Gandalf? Gollum? Why is this question difficult to answer?
Suggested Reading
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
Other Books of Interest
Dickerson, Matthew. Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings . Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2003. Garth, John. Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. Petty, Anne C. Tolkien in the Land of Heroes . Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Press, 2003.
33 LECTURE EIGHT 3 l 4 t l o o a Sa b w o t t o Si a H T b h t b w t T T i r T o b T The The e ish ha ra he he he Th Th Th th r ti e n u n e i e s e he he ’ n e i k l o ’ n e i k l o n e i k l o o o o ft s d l n cause mari e sly d li fo k o d xon ul bi rks t e o er, ed ev u u e own g , f , publ kn i il r ti re retica he orde L d O Sug Si s, s, e o p i l p on to n r e p ed h o t re o r a in lo be osth lmar l a C rd t a f if der wle fact cr he lt th or s s i visng , u p i th nd, ok on i nd cation hro , s m nve hou r, g with 19 we it alth eat e y “ “ at rea of l ose es e L n o c this b dg e umo but is p , a 7. of lo ilo The e h s i l nicle r a Tolkien vent The ro the alth ar t gh ted oug e g d? n a ng no e T co , ted d an , n i t n th blems e co if olk ad of of Christo usly e h t n . m u i r a d n ot n a t I ntr oug Rin T Lo s e oth b d int g n i u . we h . Silma Rea , s l a urse m not apt he histo efo sin The t u of ien Wor he n i f n U th adicto rd erp edia Oth n e o L r e r o r h C F e r t sed gs er. h o v - e v l e w pu migh wer e er t s r i gle, in stor Th re ding for r c s e d s a o , : n a f Tolkien d r . d re th orm ries g, Lo ph rilon d e d blished f ks I Th t s i Th e r a r e w But c e ted e he to e h s i e th d h at ting r re ” g A wer o ies r er t co and y r ns e h p o Lo ave er e d a d e P f loking s e v e er not the ader f an T com e n o i t p i a m th e h t e or o ob hern o S Tolkien a l c Rin rd d olkien of and sh o fa s p a s i d f gre m u l roug ilma f o d ad s is folwed g n i v l had vio thu T no r e t ha style th th r ntasy works of r o m The ould s g n i R pletd lan gs a se l a e i k l o T d d i M also e atly , s is f e ve of usly lacu l a i t t ing t fixed mo h fo L ril he r e Ring gua writen t n i o p lo n d e t s i H may d n a lectu e r c To Silm th of r , ha s a art s a w be lion, ng ct e throug t t a e - e l usly . nae. mater d n a r prove R crea o i t a e e h he e a nriches eadr r o f , n T lkie the s e S ur y r o in s what tex read es. d e befor n a l p he e gr not arilon com re ive gs s a w c i l b u p proble and m o r f yes e r e v Unf T n. eat te h t ma h t r Icelan Pub ” . n s. f o t a Lord 8: e h ia , Ch is n e have s d First, ou a and migh l a re first, e e l . ny o aut inshed his d i M w o h many a n i f o h c S n i J.R the for ristophe t r a m l i S Th u B chal f to spone lish T e h t n o i t a e w o l l o f r a e y m ta th of he o o dic T hor e death read t - e l d ha ke y l l th f f t ap the e e h th alusion in b i s s e c c a f f i d n e h w lengi e the ma th be Silmar s r a l e Silma s b at ve read d e p p in wh f o e o i l l i n ourge t r a e r o t s i H Tolk pics two roved a l t n e r e ing e h s i l b u lace , terial Tale W cale ten, , d The r Rings sto Th his , r e t T or in at e v a h T n ork ers e h t e h t a h rilon olkien th ilon , e de s ries ien’s 1973 or o literay , own ch s, seri ois d e h t Silmar y , e l e p o t s i r h C rde we Hobit To t a h c i h w tha this d r o L cade e h enco , o b evn the d ron f o later and c e c a p he i lkien o h hob d e l l a as r n d n e g e l n i : would wa , k o do , y l r a e e l d d i M apers ord should his olgicay it The tradion ci r t n e c - t i b b was s f o unterd of 7 7 9 1 ilon history, it ubts, , s was e m u c o d The betw d e work o er. and its, made was father publish re h e h t e h t liter f d e t i read s ge l contiu t s o m l a , a e - , On a Ang is f o the notig ary- the sg n i R da e r t s p with al to fixe - alie ub we o T r to yb t n h n th t eh in - n lo ed he h a t - e e d - d - n - a d , , - A Real Mythology A Hungarian scholar named Gergely Nagy has figured out that it is the con - tradictions, gaps, borrowings, misremembered quotations, snatches of poetry incorporated into prose, and changing names that in fact gives Tolkien’s work the effect of real “mythology.” Nagy has shown that The Silmarillion “feels” like myth exactly because it presupposes (and to some degree creates) a great chain of reading, of texts behind texts. This is an important insight not only into the mind of Tolkien but into the aesthetic and emotional effects fan - tasy literature can produce. The Silmarillion itself is the story of Middle-earth from its creation by Eru, “The One,” through its shaping by the Valar, “the Powers,” archangel-like beings, to the fall of the most powerful of the Valar, Melkor, who becomes Morgoth, the first Dark Lord and the original master of Sauron. The focus through most of the book is on the elves, the eldest of the “children of Eru” (men are the younger) and their fruitless, hopeless war to regain the jewels known as the Silmarils from Morgoth. Before the creation of the Sun and Moon, light in Middle-earth came from the Two Trees in Valinor, the blessed home of the Valar. One tree is silver and the other golden. Fëanor, the greatest of the elves, fashions three jewels that contain the blended light of the two trees. Morgoth, the Dark Lord, who has hoodwinked the Valar and the Elves into thinking that he has reformed, covets the jewels, and, enlisting the aid of a gigantic evil spider, Ungoliant, he attacks Valinor, kills the two trees, and seizes the Silmarils. Feanor and his sons swear revenge on Morgoth and lead an army of elves from Valinor back to Middle-earth (from whence they had originally come). But in his arrogance and haste, he alienates the Valar and then leads a kinslaying against other elves in order to take their ships from them and sail back to Middle-earth. In Middle-earth, the elves enter into a long war against Morgoth, and there the elves create fair realms and works of beauty that are then destroyed in the wars. Three Stories There are three major stories within this larger narrative: of Beren and Lúthien, of Túrin, and of Eärendil. Beren is a mortal man who falls in love with Lúthien, the daughter of Thingol, the king of the grey elves, and his wife Melian, an angelic being. Lúthien is the most beautiful elf who has ever lived. Thingol the king, hoping to rid him - self of Beren but unwilling to kill him personally, says that Beren may marry Lúthien if he can bring Thingol a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. Beren takes up the quest, and after many adventures, he and Lúthien manage to enter into Morgoth’s fortress, where Lúthien’s song causes the Dark Lord to fall into sleep. Beren cuts one Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown, but then, when he tries to get another, the knife breaks and Morgoth begins to wake. Beren and Lúthien are waylaid by a gigantic wolf, but Beren thrusts the Silmaril into his face. The wolf bites off Beren’s hand and goes mad from the burning of the Silmaril. Eventually, Beren and Lúthien return to Thingol, and he accepts Beren as son-in-law. The wolf also attacks, and in slaying the wolf and regaining the Silmaril, Beren is killed. Lúthien then lets herself die and pleads
35 LECTURE EIGHT 3 6 Go wh p To ch Th vin ti Nú b a e Nú g b a th Wi h Si Fë e L ( th a th e a Gl a th wo o th fa o o th b Ve Also Th Th o le ri s lve re ro id er lf út p st nd f ut f ef a e e e e m a ve lm a ange n -p n a th lki e th a o ces me me r n a t h n t o at w sel nus). ur e e st can fo of g il ea go fi tal the no s. dor o ry aril ri ie , re t e Be h hid Va e y. are , nal rewa he th Eär Túr f r nc hi w e h i n’ nor nor o f n a e a rs r i n N n t sm mo e t e ost th Tú re lar f h s m re in his l d re ha he s ate n e g, l Be (a of an úme l V Th en a ju faith ves en in in e end lig Mid to In th n ea o , s a link st alr rin al rd l, as nd p s dgm lay a t d T and ga re kin V e desir e wil lon he ht an stor ut mpt ns t M h rta cit not úr of (I mar he alr piec nor for A il n child). an S ful e a e a so in dril). to idle- g o int do le- in rn ger have y nds nciet f sto O ilm l, the an ent be b disco pr i st y f def d r se to sen fight e, ano to an rying or the e ld st rein o also th is Tu wn for is iso d come ar m ry the ir art a. sail a at th e eat t d u of day e He En of in “The ea urn ra ev Lú en ilon lo Al da the set p nte ne wa At carn th in e Be Silm vers h e She ack her Tolkie mbar o Mid al ar he glish an rth we th scap a g eir sky, la Mo ma to ys, fo r f in of n s re of r r cide to mies t jea ie mixed b a r nt o La d the oes rev , kinslayg in a d is aril th m Valinor M n Valino ack g his g is th rg since ries n Mid Eär war ted is but guard impr le-a to ainst uar to e lous e ore nd poem id thus to th sho is n’s ha oth. tu dra stor he ntaly t g dle-a of r, incest, of more e live, endil he to b rned tra elvs Lút dianshp erm d of and le-ar Elwin elvish egnat tra w e Akalbêt sin myt men, rth: r she gons. Morg of i r creat Eären Morg y) Númen s gedy s downfal the un ecovr th r t hien and gic. o eturn kin but able the the kilng of holgy eir a conq is ope into rth, in les they wre to was nd g, he in th Gift” g in an the and Tol ord Based Tú se Lúth r is th. in etrn dil’ g evil p th. ealm. n the Nú g ed. it to and of making st a or, kils as uest. d th h h, int ki are rin th wa t wil d, s a er son bird is he ms awrd are T menor pen e hu the It ey en’s tha power i e gran ship, Eventua ertwind wher e god t terna olkien al E rfae he the is e to siter f him n man e Arag rom evnig be on He nds lwing, a t The of etra the world nd life and o a m re ca de story ent daug the Valr self. ed r T ust hap a th l and pleads efr fr pture be does (lea elvs. als the orn’s of y úrin life of by blod fou hints he (sh her e ie e i flies r to de ly, world e neath who becom and Morg nd, the F th with of sla Yet nders with ding he cor from world. e y to oic m star i hter are ce feat who nish e truly the for ancesto lan ). to th ha at ytholg ying T co elvs the ma befor with rtain rupts Eru, is Túrin the ma e oth’s When he . glo men mo s Eär to the a d, the of nvicg Sa the bar le wea downfa gic of los die, ev pro tale n, Glaur bed Nú th ads m bu ve Bern st the uro k the mselv e end sea the gain and, the Valr eir ind t ortal. ory curse was y: r Tuor shado rs. ring d phesy t the menora ather n her the the , n, of evntua Silmar ing the il One, to the m reds so do realms ung, (this l of on is but in Valr Kulervo, th the , it, and so bring me and only of and They s star tha and army on wy wor e struck than m), sublima tha throws his ns the of the mory, but is elvs great one co ns sea ly d elvs. one on fo t peo m of of an and, a ship. y live on of n r en the - his - - - These stories all demonstrate Tolkien’s incredible imaginative gifts, but they have never been as widely read and loved as The Lord of the Rings . It is not so much that there are no cute, furry-footed hobbits, but that the essential mediating effect of the hobbits is absent. The Silmarillion , Unfinished Tales, and The History of Middle-earth do not utilize the modern conventions that Tolkien adopted for The Lord of the Rings . They relate events at a distant remove from most of the actions of the protagonists, thus failing to provide the reader with an effective interface between the invented medieval world and the modern. But the value of The Silmarillion (apart from its own intrinsic value, which appeals greatly to some, myself included) is that it shows the process by which pseudo-myth may be created and also demonstrates that the great success of The Lord of the Rings is not due only to creativity but also to Tolkien’s blending of the medieval and the modern, using the full range of modern narrative techniques to make the old material more palatable to the modern audience.
37 LECTURE EIGHT 3 8 To Fl Ch Fl To 1 2 Other Sugest Question . . ie ie D R Th In Wh lki lki a ger, ger, el ev. nce, e e e w a n, n, Re H ha t ed Bo V V ist is J. J. y, Ja t erlyn. erlyn, . R. R. ory or th oks K d ne, 19 R. R. der e ent, Re 8. of value ed. Un T S and of sho ading he M OH plin finshe id I To nter Silma uld Car dle- : F of ter lkie Kent OR The ed To l earth est d n F. rilon GR lkie Light T the Stae Hoste Silm a E . le n’s Ne Mediva ATE . s: : arilon New Lo Universty wor The w ter, R gos York: ks Yo UN Lo eds. ? list and be rk: How st DERSTANIG G . L re Tolkien Ho New renwo Pres, Lan ore ad? do ughto guae of es Yor ’s 20 Midle- od t n he k: Leg M Pr Rou in b ifln, . es, ok endarium Tolkien’s earth tled crea 2 2 04. g 0. . e, New te : 203. Wor Esay “myth”? Yor ld . k: on Lecture 9: Tolkien: Criticism and Theory
The Suggested Reading for this lecture is Tom Shippey’s The Road to Middle-earth.
olkien is so massively influential in fantasy literature because he not only wrote the most successful fantasy of all time, but because he was also a penetrating critic and deep-thinking scholar. Tolkien and Beowulf Tolkien’s most influential piece of scholarship is his 1936 British Academy lecture, “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” This lecture is credited with forever changing Beowulf scholarship: before Tolkien, the story goes, scholars did not recognize Beowulf as an effective poem, only as a storehouse of oth - erwise-lost knowledge about the Germanic North. After Tolkien, it was recog - nized that Beowulf was a great poem and that the monsters (Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon) were an essential part of the poem, not a childish embarrassment. First of all, this is not quite true, as there were plenty of critics before Tolkien who thought Beowulf was a great poem. Secondly, it would seem to apply more to the history of Old English scholarship than to fantasy literature. But, in fact, Tolkien’s words about Beowulf have been widely influential beyond Anglo-Saxon studies. One of the key poems in the English canon was a great work of art, a work worthy of being compared to the works of Homer and Virgil, and this poem had at its center, Tolkien argued, an inter - est in monsters. No longer could monsters or the fantastic be dismissed by calling them childish. This argument has been used, sometimes successfully, by critics of fantasy literature, who argue that the presence of monsters, wiz - ards, or hobbits does not necessarily relegate a text to inferior status. The actual argument of “The Monsters and the Critics” hinges on the “allego - ry of the tower,” in which Tolkien writes: A man inherited a field in which was an accumulation of old stone, part of an older hall. Of the old stone some had already been used in build - ing the house in which he actually lived, not far from the old house of his fathers. Of the rest he took some and built a tower. But his friends coming perceived at once (without troubling to climb the steps) that these stones had formerly belonged to a more ancient building. So they pushed the tower over, with no little labor, in order to look for hid - den carvings and inscriptions, or to discover whence the man’s distant forefathers had obtained their building material. Some suspecting a deposit of coal under the soil began to dig for it, and forgot even the stones. They all said: “This tower is most interesting.” But they also said (after pushing it over): ‘What a muddle it is in!’ And even the man’s own descendants, who might have been expected to consider
39 LECTURE NINE 4 0 h h i g d h t ca o a G cr a l e h a E s m l th ti th ti A E f b t t l l a a a st t a it er cs it it o he an ha hi he “ T Th To ve on s oo nd e ut way a u r e u u n s say r p l n n e e ngl On od oki so or e e or i e e ol ti l s, s m velop m g d p gl is gl is ly rat rat Tol t t ha o p t f w at a cs, e l at u n i hl asy li Ol d Vi k the cre cri e ow el the ki kie p es ). not an an e it pl u o n ed t inter h o-Sax re Fa oe m to vo he man ure. ure: y k en ’ l ss a d t rtio “f ai ma g from h h ow! at kien ti a ce Th “O il l re e in gs y s n atio u myself l c o rea ce a r ate cabu cr o s Ol En l to i he ar r! ed , be pon ig it ry- s f . rta fun do he ( r” i n.” ny is n ut y, wh pr s wh re era itcs the th Hi e Wh Un ht “T d Ima ’s o a ro i to a is n lize en gl i d fi “ F Sto on a ets id inly sp T th er to nd a No e dam lm add an de fe a had o write s an d gh t, Bu hat o airy- lso of arg a la the po tur the sh ol t c for ea wh y idea Ge onsib “ r nd ag d gine ost cr os s wh the in ar d ry ries” Th e S ea k rthern po ac co mp a t t im di stula is e. he ress tun i po e um an ich influe clu man t sc ho la rs h ent en h hi fr e, be M re th u sea. Beo rma Sto rs or with o t d et ry te d ag as om difcult end any s sea id d d of ate t in de no h ent h as Ho me ies ility. al who hem su bt ly o dev s m s me in n ov er ries, is ave con , it, inf nic es. wulf ne t co by le To gi vi ng ntial the t ency wi an d, wh he . ea ar id ly, a o “T h o using , he and twis n and lu Critcs bo fte the ura ea Su t E y e ny in g lkien’s think siten ca ha N ch in va di ng h Bu ” lops ich m e “On ar “se co mi ng fr om ng li sh top to poe e worlds ip , of ut, o ar gu es whic n nced r ou Tolkien , bsequent n ised r th us ge” ve of estor e rth, t the man Ba b Fae as up exp piec conda to Beowu not th al th ou gh thes al so tside ut wer of t, a Fair los the the taken es sa y, like tt l an e nd toward investga vie it ar now a th secon t be so tt ed , rie not lica st ud tha e his retu n e is and the shou in of gument e idea y-Stories” Vi ki ng s, esa th at is la nd sl au gh say turns th w, of ( this of ry of im po rt an can s hear qu lin old t te l f only Be or ht no th , ower e po f antsy lost. ie s, up rn), tower critics point M lit de wor A al ked in at te mp ts oted dary o t l Be or ht n it a y of em, d he al d roma ngl eratu pictur ston ld has d To nizes aro a te m men as more to is te re d be tha near ld” a The t sh i on .” ho o-Saxn to lo se s entir wa a s o th lkie of the in worlds. no t th th e becau h second und k es t a litera g by ntic re Beow ows is and e m use? ave the e e En gl is h e y Beowulf iven is near ly whole and s n’s frien En gl is h urm ot h a In e o ju h workings tha pa rt ic ul a misunder m to ma in la nd crits. of so ntiwar i ev n xceding many th e i m vie Be st arg idea m sub-cr an not how th is ure, se ch an cha th e the ulf ly t subeq p He al ha d ds ary ch to To or stud or ht he lm ’ w ca or ry ument li ve s had : is , evr o accepted ad va nt ag e. their arcte po em , le . ta nt of bu “ who ba tt le fi el d. of lkie t prima had Tolkien’s n he f cr but dispu h He le ad er approach. ge world re ad som This eation its rl y ies nge e be itc ild n thems stod rself of ben y in ly of n’s ostalg stone cr it ic al te ch ni is has publi no works re le va nt pu stud ent as ewha ap a fa be difcult or de r ry who hi s ted ale to o to in such istc s p tha sh ntasy. noseica Be or ht no th atop s plied cause a oem world a So n, ” a also t by auth wh ic h ens creat y cation me n his gory thought s poin ia, mu ch ble lves. ca l seri the h t In pe rc ep ti on s of Be or ht no th mu of are a is to as crits, incoher an the longi argument, to ors Mythop hi s to to natur shaped fant to co nt ri bu the cre ts. ha ve tower st creatd to of could an of writen the od th e Tolkie his thor fa nt as y folw, histor Ol d lo towe die”: po em of ated wh om pro Some and his best shifted al al sy l old a al l k o lo li te ra a - n - o b wn oe fo gi n r ow d y, crit - a ve it t, e by , o b r i - of s ia f is y r s - - “On Fairy-Stories” attempts to rehabilitate the idea of “Faerie” not as a place of twee little tiny fairies but, as it is depicted in the Middle English poem Sir Orfeo, which Tolkien edited and translated, a place of surpassing strange - ness, beauty, and terror. Tolkien’s elves, particularly in the early versions of his “Legendarium,” have a lot in common with the dangerous fairies of Sir Orfeo; Tolkien points out in “On Fairy-Stories” that “fairies,” or “elves,” are otherworldly, powerful, dangerous, and very much desired. Tolkien argues that fantasy can and should produce “arresting strangeness” and that its effects, when done well, are “recovery, escape, and consolation.” Tolkien’s work has consistently been judged by these three criteria by critics (particularly the Christian critics) who have taken up Tolkien’s own evaluative system to judge his work. Escapism Tolkien says that escape is one of the main functions of fantasy literature, and that this is not a bad thing at all: escape from prison or from ugliness or from sorrow is, after all, a worthy desire. But fantasy literature has often been criticized for being escapist: with the pleasure that it gives it distracts people from the world in which they live. There is a distinct and unpleasant whiff of some of the more repellent elements of Marxism-Leninism in this critique, the idea that any relief from misery is a bad thing because it postpones the anger that will lead to revolution. Criticism of escapism can also be linked to the ideas of Henry James, who did so much to shape modern ideas of literature and realism: for James, liter - ature should produce the illusion of reality, so that nothing should be allowed in literature that could not happen in real life. Even though linguistic analysis has shown that realistic literature is just as subject to conventions and pat - terns as any fantasy, the idea that the best literature is “real” is deeply embedded in many forms of contemporary criticism. Tolkien disagrees that realism is the primary aim of literature. Instead, some literature has the purpose of creating joy in the minds of readers; the moment when this joy is created is one of “eucatastrophe” (good catastrophe). An effective fairy story “does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe , of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium , giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.” Although Tolkien notes that “Tragedy is the true form of Drama,” he asserts that the opposite is true of fantasy: the consolation of the happy ending is essential to good fantasy. That fantasy literature is filled with happy endings—though in the best, most moving fantasy, like that of Tolkien himself, Le Guin and Holdstock, there is a very high price paid for that happiness—is a key distinction that separates fantasy from mainstream literature. The happy ending as an element of works with great emotional power and aesthetic quality is one of the most important contributions of fantasy to the wider world of literature.
41 FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. Why is Tolkien so influential in fantasy literature? 2. How can Tolkien’s ideas in “On Fairy-Stories” be applied to his literary works?
Suggested Reading
Shippey, Tom. The Road to Middle-earth . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
Other Books of Interest
Chance, Jane. Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader . Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2004. Curry, Patrick. Defending Middle-earth: Tolkien: Myth and Modernity . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Flieger, Verlyn. A Question of Time: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Road to Faerie . Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1997. E N I N E R U T C E L
42 Lecture 10: Imitations and Reactions: Brooks and Donaldson
The Suggested Readings for this lecture are Terry Brooks’s The Sword of Shannara and Stephen Donaldson’s The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever.
he success of The Lord of the Rings and the figure of its author, “The Professor,” has cast a very, very long shad - ow across all fantasy literature written since the 1960s. Every writer in the genre has to somehow deal with Tolkien. This is what Harold Bloom calls an “anxiety of influence,” which he locates in the figures of the Romantic poets, each struggling to at once pay homage to previous masters, to fit into the tradition, but at the same time to be new and original. Tolkien’s Shadow Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, authors tried either to imitate Tolkien or to escape from his shadow. Certainly not the best, but perhaps one of the most representative, is Terry Brooks, whose 1977 The Sword of Shannara is almost an exact copy of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, both in major plot devices and minor detail (it lacks only a volcano). There are pseudo-hobbits (Shea and Flick Ohmsford, unfamiliar with the wider world), a wizard (Allanon), heroic men (Balinor and Menion Leah), a gruff dwarf (Hendel), and two elf-brothers (Durin and Dayle). There is an evil dark lord (the Warlock Lord) with evil, black-cloaked minions (the Skull Bearers), and so forth. The gimmick in the story is that the Sword of Shannara is the only weapon that can defeat the Warlock Lord, and Shea is the only surviving heir of Shannara (he has some elvish blood). For all its derivative nature, there are some flashes of originality in the book. The idea that the Sword of Shannara can destroy the Warlock Lord because it forces him to face the truth about himself is very clever (though the philo - sophical problem could be developed at much greater length), and the char - acters who later enter into the story, particularly Keltset the great rock troll, are far less imitative. And once Brooks had written the Tolkien out of his sys - tem, some of the later Shannara books, such as The Elfstones of Shannara, developed original ideas such as the Elcrys, a tree that protects the world from demons and which was created by an elf maiden willing to be perma - nently transformed into the magical tree . Brooks is seen as having opened the floodgates for imitations of Tolkien, although this seems to have been true only with regard to publishers—writ - ers, by their own admission, had been writing fantasy, Tolkienian and other - wise, on their own. But the success of Shannara , especially given the fact that its writing was pedestrian and generic, began the fantasy mass market. Brooks was not able to take Tolkien’s step and create a completely separate secondary world: his was set in a future after a technological annihilation.
43 LECTURE TEN 4 4 sa co wr m sta su To b in Se we so e th a o “ b in is r wh h th fi str ta wh h h h ( p d It wi h th ca e Tho tr Ste de up he Bu Th Th In n o ver cte bsol y s ea ow is er li om er ver i ve or r ck e n a th n in i cri ul ces me d l, Al e lki e mit tes a o i i the en t, t spi t o. o ch phen th n: e, er e l t ks, am, l Ri e nody. io i i tri eprosy) d nte ke m l pa r ing i , i yt s ice ha n e fi e of t to nat des sev Ber e et La t e n, is lo ic p A ce ns n n’ o Frod h ime a te h hin sa d th h ns th i ra my s hi s gs d rea n T lmo a s pa ar use o ar r e s, a nd th i ” i with ful. twen withn d i ic e at n on. ly er ve ur pite he k ek le ven ultima losp very Do g lang Fr nd Cov d t e th . se s at rale rea An h e L W ou is l r o b B st l Mid since i en to ath m im it e and clunky . lear s the wo Half- T l s, Ch naldso e wo y His ut dam Do her on can n Lor d He Do tieh t p he s an ted se im uag thus ena self m ch com o h flawed hical re a art er r h ron te Dona C rld der as . naldso eald wor ld, ne Wh uch cond naldso y le is r d not e wind sur bea a lin ha o Th hyme age te ia dev as tha -cen es, p n nem f -ea edia lso vena d with icle Fou e a o own la la Tho a ower n’s e ly guistca rm t ite lds nd. e rect f wor to fo ws like be nd up thr uty ldson’ a n ver ary “t rth ow Do L tha re h s in if tur tely ie l lo n’s Go mea he n The e ma rts ac and n’s linke , er it: ea nt A or b t ks, in of sane sit in wit the oun in y xtr s ping he na in wo Tolkien (a was y ody n t inst w o, ’s g ld in t Tolkien Land s a secon r sem d are th T Do es d in ficton h upon orld lthoug T ldson’ eason. ly nig t su re Chr rds and is Despir, char d homas cr Covena o Covena ebt and Co oth e olkien’s sic. fre with ead a b and an naldso by “mar eator ch t h a or the e qu o eing char th ,” onicles is vena of mean er nd to beau misap ’ “ru dary e -vers mod ar une s con histo the e ite a h Co of specialzd cter ian than sanity ach spirt, the Lord wo s Tolkien, Lot Th p heald termin inous”) Co ed” acter ivn Coven the of an nt owers d th vena stanly xplained resto wo tifuly els t wo rds, is ifern t world ’s ricaly. hlórien what Land alows e who venat other the is i he s, is g of s oriel by savior lyin poe lack rld, w “ weak rld, back of Ath far in a les who the olgy ork. T the ration is . ant wor Morg t withn modern of g sek, re homa and pu the He . he try as ev doe refu t is but or mor rabe in of Witho wo Don alized bear fr or , me the incar do case l in re ld was F the of ike om say h th is th ns sing is lin La n flais or oth, s si despi rds C e Rivend e of es the en vers. e anigs. roug s th the Mid so aldson in n guistc n no Land ovenat er nd, th Fr sa reap in him like Tolkien’s. f Coven g ut evr at fe terd antsy of n American F image like e a al ation, t the od they prima bad ys of the t ot fr Lan inrod h o te t ha le he L lam lepro he , lin le om al pear its and the ast stu b kn for as of The -earth conte ng al “ro first g l, trad eliv co or d, to tha Dona his rapes mean b ant Da ent ow und Ce Lothlórien death, tha dy for is ackground he ah y of ynish” tradi but of Whit pa sy. nsitecy toge re explo Sa for big Da rk iton world. nce own The not ltic us ali fusing it h ho rath an t th rtialy eniabl man . Humpty-D Andr m ldson ealth But Covenat’s t he , him: Lords, In makes tion. in rk gest a e ng e ther e w d to a to a in re d of a er of youn flaws L creation nd Gold, (wh the his Lord self-dic h to nd Tolkiena ha and and eth,” in the wh Slavic The A ad thems the artisc main the , than to One as an flaw, also so use s ich ve the sev later, bears Land, beauty. resu o of world g , Tolkien lost a learn Narni d as be of we anciet a has and we decay Lor Tolkien woman a the reluc vitaly. is - magi it) a would writes ring ho auty. to the rely l char and a - with cor an d pty ly get of ec n as lost w o of - - ’s - - - - tion that are central to Christianity. Donaldson imagines how healing could occur without divine intervention (though Covenant does in the end meet the Creator): his symbol of the White Gold, at once not pure but leading to cleansing, and his images of health and disease investigate potent themes that Tolkien had neglected. Shannara and Covenant, then, expanded the types of characters and situa - tions that fantasy would handle even as they labored in the shadow of Tolkien without ever matching him in aesthetic terms. To avoid the anxiety of influence, and the somewhat baleful influence of Tolkien’s shadow, writers would have to find ways to create fantasy that were not continually engaged with The Lord of the Rings , either in imitation of it (Brooks) or in reaction to it (Donaldson).
45 FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. What is meant by Harold Bloom’s “anxiety of influence”? 2. Where do Terry Brooks and Stephen Donaldson succeed as writers of fantasy literature? How do they fall short of what Tolkien accomplished?
Suggested Reading
Brooks, Terry. The Sword of Shannara . New York: Del Rey, 1983. Donaldson, Stephen. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever . New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
Other Books of Interest
Senior, W.A. Variations on the Fantasy Tradition: Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant . Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1995. N E T E E R R U U T T C C E E L L
46 Lecture 11: Worthy Inheritors: Le Guin and Holdstock
The Suggested Readings for this lecture are Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Earthsea Trilogy and Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood.
he previous lecture argued that Tolkien casts such a long shadow across fantasy literature that subsequent writers have been drawn into imitation and are therefore inferior to him. But even the imitators and reactors have created effective fantasy literature, and there are a few authors who could be considered Tolkien’s heirs who have creat - ed works of literary art that at least have earned the right to be considered alongside The Lord of the Rings .
The Next Tier Ursula K. Le Guin and Robert Holdstock managed to create fantasy that has much of the power of Tolkien, and their works live up to the aesthetic stan - dards he set, but without the exceptionally close imitation performed by Brooks and Donaldson. Le Guin and Holdstock also both deal with Tolkienian issues—language for Le Guin and the traditions of the British Isles for Holdstock—with originality and deftness. Ursula K. Le Guin is, in my opinion, the second greatest writer of fantasy liter - ature in English. Although she herself talks about being confined to the fanta - sy/SciFi ghetto, she has in fact had some mainstream respect, having her sto - ries included in various anthologies, even Best American Short Stories . Tolkien took the methods of philology and literary scholarship and used them to generate languages and cultures that never existed. Le Guin’s approach is similar: she is the anthropologist of unknown civilizations. Le Guin’s technique of using the approaches of anthropology to create literature is almost certainly the result of her being the daughter of the immensely important anthropologist Arthur Kroeber, one of the great scholars who developed the discipline and methodology of anthropology in the early twentieth century. Le Guin, like Tolkien, can move from intimate descriptions of individual plants or artifacts to sweeping, historical narratives. But it is not so much what she says as the way she says it. The Earthsea books—originally a trilo - gy ( A Wizard of Earthsea , The Tombs of Atuan , and The Farthest Shore) , later augmented with Tehanu , The Other Wind , and Tales from Earthsea — are Le Guin’s most famous and successful fantasy. But in what seems to be her most personally loved work, Always Coming Home , she develops exactly the sort of wide-ranging “backcloths” of a fictional culture imagined by Tolkien: Always Coming Home , which depicts the Kesh, a Native-American people living in Northern California in the far future, contains poetry, art, cos - mology, language, and drama.
47 LECTURE ELEVEN 4 8 n a si w r th s d e r A s m F h sa n h h i p r co O G s i d o B c a o f l p i Kn o l th T Ea ac s s n i ea un i Ge T In e L M T tro pe e t a r a p e t a e r d n ra ve te e n e a e i e i f n ve a h r t u orl g m ne ed bo s ’ n i u t o e e ad f ren hi he r Ged, ys. n ver d a m a ly th rth ey h s i l o o o r a k n e s, r lm go nin T ntu ll, tai r t s v led ce. s Sch d efu s w gi d. n e h w u G rn an na e e: hse t u o he e of e of on he ki Pri se s e r u th est Ea , f o a b n r c save ga Th ns g of by had so fi ll el Ged al to a n d med egi “Y po e se e t d n i e e p when A rst i a ool r est who Tom d n out h t of r ati h w a ve etir isc i ly e king. eac p met ev death Sh nd ths ea p rha m r the ou shu a na a s we e r c n rin e e E . hysical n i e G na t c onshi s hi end priest t n t a crazed for xplore to up expe ar a e ore, pl w me of Ar s r i f a r, ce s ca ntua s i the hing’s bs r a E has e i t i s t tra gre o me d i ith the thse h ne. g t s her One e t ha, that l re f yo th W hi to ife , e “ n of b a p a o u n ps f o , r e w o p s p s tr the ate es. cover or , a e s h t world, s ook s e nd p nds t Ged a iza r be u ly — ” m u i r b i l i u q Ged f ’s e e r h come witho o h nam avel s the g o t s n e p He wor s e m a a between the own wor Atua on is door wizar Ge ca her day t lie the st training fin le rue com c i g a m fin Ten ds all , e h t e ho He n tra vels anciet ld ads the d a ed tr e d ld: Ea had a bur th self. al s h t r a E ut t n nam re an , hid con ea t i s a h n e h w me se o Arha e h of wit na wa the d by ar, y re rou es , to n te book name he from o e e s , r ied furthe Te d m eking sure him who l a h den me ung a hin Rok e n s she h S trol make knowig nam At island from or e, gh g a is r—using Ar ore dry plied n u nar e t s y s thr o On r g n i v i nd s m is in ae eturn To o w t d a power o t ren and tha you and to t h s a e l in the the s sough tha Lab man he of st pr shocked sp the es con ven e, with the mbs. is w o s k o o b no ugh e h t nam Isl an o t Le the esid t th the islan rin n i h t becoms of m Labyrin h t T supoe so archipelago can to m ed yrinth a and the e thin dun e v a h ombs lon lost d e t i w wit h Guin’s m e the g t s y s oment Gon you d n a all in tre his t Ear thse a, es: world two d, Tom cann s g She to to d, from ap ger h be tio g one thin es. a e r asure th whe re tru e n o half ng wiza u .m e over to e s i h t permanently Selid e v a h t ben o n pro o d a h s h t n e v l o v entis he e th, nity; nor mous of bs, Arha, to r o ot al has ha e gs Here , dly n e original find whole strength girl which spe p t she n n w o of he At a n O n eath se but erson. fa be rdy, . ve e m a sacrife riate treasu or, is ames x e l She h t th Tena uan, he searching nta d her a e m ll t an o m - w a a king aken m controlled. their but Ged e e k is n u o r then m a to Spe ma where and m a n foreign once the sy lea r magic a he th e e m a s arc hipe l n a spel, heal name trilogy. d n a thinks de pow er shut terna r but n i re you , of e gical of who . r e t s n m power. d and d recals f so To ns s e the , e escape she s, rom calm ch more his objects tha ust more.” . s e m a n t o n n a c r Ged’s the mbs: the n i r o t s e e h d can conti we is a n the and, ly s t i ma for gives take ca ring world Arren to for com Because fierc ago , an her cho draining Ged : e m m e k i l n U an re s e g r e m bones n p m i wil l door complex n set this cra ft The to d any ot w n in death, reign if t tha d in power ose es e ues he an fa fre. e b iza rdry g a her and car n I from : s n o i t a c i l you could , d e G foc us enter be and silenc him heart, mily wizard. the d wizard, wiza a l a b and men of to Labyr dr a z i W e l l o r t n o c of can l l a nated to ancie peol. both,” her und from of com es e h t have mag i care fre, young To magi her a is in to have o r h t e h t o L — e c n into “With rd only on a but have Ged brin famous mb old er inth gon The he be t spel nt They power ow and the sp c. in the m. for t , u c h bu eh the r the a s. ew g hg be d e to ha the e is ir hi al . t l it It e s l s It was nearly twenty years between The Farthest Shore and the next book, Tehanu : The Last Book of Earthsea. Tehanu is Le Guin’s attempt to make one of the Earthsea books feminist, and it has both the strengths and the flaws of feminism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There is a strong focus on physical violence toward women, on rape, on disfigurement, and on the dehumanization of men who had power once but do no longer. Tenar and Ged are living together on Gont (after the death of Tenar’s husband) and Tenar adopts a little girl, Therru, who has been horribly burned by her father. It seems clear at the end that Therru is in fact a dragon, born (at least tem - porarily) in a human body. But until that point, Le Guin seems to revel in depicting the cruelties that others force upon the child, including the threat of rape or murder. In Tehanu , Le Guin’s focus on language changes from the abstract opera - tions of the linguistic system to the social positions of the people using the languages. Although she had never made much of the all-male nature of the wizards in previous novels, here she discusses the interplay between mascu - line and feminine and between essentialism and contingency. Tehanu has seemed to many readers—including me—both heavy-handedly political and aesthetically flawed. It seemed that Le Guin, in attempting to address political issues, had lost her touch of creating a vivid secondary world filled with appealing characters. The Other Wind But Le Guin redeems Tehanu in The Other Wind , possibly the most beautiful book in the Earthsea sequence. In this novel, Le Guin continues to examine the implications of having another sentient species, the dragons, who also use the powerful Old Speech (although for communication only, not for magic). Dragons and humans were originally one species in Earthsea, she determines, but they divided into two halves, one wild and free and still using the Old Speech, one bound to the land and the things they had made with their hands. But the humans violated the original agreement and gave them - selves “true names” in the Old Speech so that they might live forever, and they kept the magic of the Old Speech in runes so that they did not have to forget it. Thus, instead of being reincarnated, humans were confined to a timeless realm, but the price they paid was to make that realm dark, dry, silent, and lifeless. In The Other Wind , Le Guin finally managed to wrest Earthsea away from the European literary tradition and make it fit the Eastern philosophical focus (of Taoism, for example) that she has always claimed was the background to her books. At the end of the book, her characters bring about a return to the reincarnation system that had been originally lost. Humans are left with their making and their art and their technology, and the dragons leave the world forever to fly on the Other Wind. Here Le Guin grapples with the problems of death and immortality that beset fantasy literature. From Tolkien’s eternal elves to Arthur, asleep until he comes again, to Ged attempting to summon a spirit from the dead, fantasy deals with the boundaries of life and death and the problem of mortality more effectively than mainstream literature ever can—mainstream literature deals
49 LECTURE ELEVEN 5 0 e e p i i t p i o w b a f t a H e C p i n H t o M G u b p L f t a R t w v nteg nfer n n he an asy/ it ocu io asy A L H H It D is f od rim cl n a u n n n a f n o o a s ha t ov o o obe it fl le re ythag e n lt h p ti se b cient d coun wri o sib vond ol ol ea pri sign io h wi ipse uen ldsto ldsto o i t o r r s art ies en asy li ks, en Gu of si dsto dsto io ne ar el n ev f wha ou shed hor de rity l ma t ea t u a l r h—an myth n d r y y ic th an t l , na e ce b if re a Ma e in’ g g b a o te ys to of rl ck’s ck’s To fo n e n Ho ular tha write tex n w ry at can of h ck ck’s ut ls poe y t t to . on pp ea ew r W s al r orl cult in th r in n, T is seri lkie Der as I wor t pe Tol . with lds its t example—the I p we to wor od olkien is vist s, ter pe r d sanity e t d ar wod t im conti we rot left m want sh re he ma ople “m lon s, m n ful no es kien second co iva con li for nties, to e ld– esting re p alms so am of ng —t he r ago ld ort de him who ytho and ort can the wr ly also beh j me t ck g o or tive se na ll y of ’s j of To com tinu ustification, to r ath al and has a t rea ues it ant and nist hat self. nism, co C.S. co ten s wo th in welspr write to po o wil l ho La f re gre kie ove scie qu ary ocus the f lize d, e ntr plet nda itse i fi n rth mains— some cre eic life t fa pe per von n Le g o cu est e n’s Br w re in an ibu Lewis’s y r n d world. rs Holdstck’ d ntis, hor y d lf. n is overall ry atur lt tasy. itsh to the act hap Guin power in u are dys raw on her e d th e ly second ings ure inher t nar like tion p a hat olithc world rifyng se the with mag fr with es Holdstock’s st ro to his s ne pr e sh am an scien-f Isle new of atives Pe A H. have. but discue sho of is are itors: re the ofitable, xt .” Na world—t o a ne lthough ic two the ng the of ut esthetic ary to rhaps s interfa To Eng P. “Mytho t also deca pract ribesp ws rnia, the w tha wr set into prob Tol o fo cu s fi lkie bo pr Lovecra Midle be Rober write f nd world wil iters. lish is ti c y t a th oces kien in ict im ca ice st n his ce and exh we lems link hus ks. an Ryhop e ways poeia,” of work ion and porta r the use appeal tr ople, on on s, t ather m as s as d o But t aditon th storie. ib an wil course T Ages. to althou ythical es: Holdst com peol ft: a pe th se novel at it ma hus of crea genr arou b nd t h nt inf e th e o th ooks p the ct s ther evn and does as death, Myth tha gi c th erha m e e Wood incorp e lu t hiden of how Ho o tion e gh nd s arket withou e a o enc, kind the ock. char conti Th ated n Britsh t the in vo lv in g arlie, pre long who f are cr h ldstock like se ps ago are not e Ho ld st oc k’ s I Ryhope e e a eation o ncou comple think and -Roma creates f work other of He Mo new en anthroplgis; for rate by Donaldson’s lore cters “se ent who need howe re ue write Wo pre obs pa folwing ough ris fer its ha the children’s cond that show to . terin st. the genr od stems of pi ec es r auth -Tolkiena wil s te esiv rs n Wod, influec; and ver. to the Dance be nces the anxiety myth, writen Celtic an tim integrity approach who trad ary g touch wo rk open or writen wod d ation phe Both him same e tha from Tolkien of to I itonal, worlds.” beh has a s, ca Thomas is fan clas tra no so me de ad ma lost of place up the in it n th th of fa the a of d tasy me fa kind an is e e vio ny i n is - n - in d - - - r FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. Is an imitative work by its nature inferior to the work it imitates? 2. What is Robert Holdstock’s major contribution to fantasy literature?
Suggested Reading
Holdstock, Robert. Mythago Wood . New York: Orb Books, 2003. Le Guin, Ursula K. The Earthsea Trilogy . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
Other Books of Interest
Cummins, Elizabeth. Understanding Ursula K. Le Guin . Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1993. Rochelle, Warren. Communities of the Heart: The Rhetoric of Myth in the Fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin . Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press, 2001.
51 LECTURE TWELVE 5 2 The Wit Vo t Bu C Wa T o so r o o t a t C sa L r N ce T m l r g O Ai t o m ish he hr he ur e e a Th C u f f n o e p he he h o a nce e a p m te r m m s s d r n e .S Asla th o e yag t ai ven rn r inst r resn d r ed and ch, e re d. Wi ugh ai el e th drob e e poi e sec b or ge O r Sug ia of o ; o n y o is e Lewis’ a read ca nce W e Wh tc of an sev f re The rd ed n o n if n n a White t ch Dar th ond a h, , o ks a res. he het ts teg d e am nd er ta g t “T it th f it e ; m wide ron m es an F and er a the e wa of he P Ho we ral io e in kne Ring ory ary fa ut ediat nd th agicl ap rince s Bu ted W d er n ’s be olgica Christan nta s wh Th rse re e Swor but ye Dawn ly Robe it pea re of Fu s” t o a wo t this ma he nevo ch. War s e sy ich wn s pub io aft Rea ars po . Jesu. King tur and Casp has rlds. n, St Chr Narn rket war l, an War l te ul fa Go te hi er d works divso ate For rt to m e dr a lish l la eph lent ular ar l dings r r e Tre in d in dr o ed Th atu Ho , on bl Kin dr nth His ter d ba we obe re r, rd dr tuna dr doctr “ In en ia ia fo th i ivson th ed i Th n o en n a , e ic In ad fan ta fe ck er . ldst o iven n r r e aken g be e , der altho Lewis’ is n ’ in the ce of Bo les be But s ; Lord e exa lkin w Pe in an rea fa in tely Ston R. f of The g a into the tasy ine; fun fan or ntury. Ca ock’s in Lewis’ ; C ; y rose of ct, t d ter more o niet is d ; The he g T evnts do mple, to hildr Do l betw ugh uring f th damen tasy ndle Th d he fo of the time Narn S lion no e” the th Voyag this Nar w es L Na P orde naldso is u r its wor e e spont the e Myt a an Horse t A Silver san in t most en ct ma he de s rnia, th enth lectu M ea nia Victoran e as lice in who ap h en chang the i of close , a ntire 1 childre k, ur is as is agicn’s hago ’s Rings tail taly and sy 93 ny, e children, t boks a the of he Co aneou w adult e T fo re eal in cou , Fant o crits m a centu Chair ge re he ’s as, an to in 12: it ur T f presn m Na W frie es ade Wond T land d to stor th he turn Th Wod nre per’s d in de are rse n’s if the he any Mag children sho ind of e fern rnia asy and pe the f is His nd sly e th Lion, rom ; termin ry. y Da consider Narni Nephw Wate s co has fa ” and opr of the cha riod anot C.S Ch wed e fantsy itself, erland ica J.R t se ou fro very, ntasy—he se In Bo childre Th wn urse, e and a t h the ronicles y yes ctions, pter is fr t, a the m ries n’s Th chan f esd and her y e r fal act, tha tra om Le Tr ; is r . work? Bab ver so Dark betw ich Lavo obviu e , Prince very T.H ; ead of inspred vel Nep Witch, wis’ To Lewis’ on The it is n’s intersg und works L evn and T meth ge un fa y ies ast to othe tr olkien lkien. an whic by fro ntasy Ar poula of ndys adito til hew adu fa er Is White’s re in r en b (We Princes The ; s thurian a Ba ntasy m e aleg ing The Ca Thomas th the into rs. The and the Risng re the wern’t tha ch lt the infero e ; aleg by our tle Narni (a spian n wer The could ) “Quen wil only in ildren’s 1950s Last evil t r zeitg ory Lio prote the nd in tha the Silver the puzle. wer . prima among devl the The world Lewis orical fantsy.) tha discu . Lion, p in n, a ; a of eigh pu Ba sep suc owe go nd to h The ha ction cu scat t th ist a or the va po b - tle of es ve y T l s e - a the s - - - he rs r or p - i - . - - himself never came down fully on either side, and the sequence has been published in both orders. There are two great weaknesses in Narnia. There is not a consistency of subcreation within the secondary world: creatures from classical mythology are mixed with Germanic traditions with very little logic. Second, and more significantly, once a reader recognizes that Aslan equals Jesus, the whole story becomes very predictable. But there are also strengths in Narnia (and for many readers the Christian allegory is a strength): the scene when Aslan offers himself up as a sacrifice at the Stone Table in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is very powerful, as is the return of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy to the ruins of Cair Paravel in Prince Caspian and the depiction of the gold-creating water at Goldwater/Deathwater Island in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader . Characters like Mr. Tumnus, the faun; Reepicheep, the extravagantly brave and gallant mouse; and Aslan the lion are memorable and original. The success of Tolkien at making fantasy more serious, and of Lewis at making children’s fantasy commercially successful, opened the door to what could be called the golden age of children’s fantasy, which really runs from the late 1960s through the 1970s. During this time period, Ursula K. Le Guin, Susan Cooper, and Lloyd Alexander all produced major fantasy series that have remained popular and influential today. Le Guin’s Earthsea books have already been discussed. Reading them as children’s literature does not change our interpretation very much except that we can foreground the themes of personal development and growth, particu - larly in the first three books, in which, respectively, Ged, Tenar, and Arren grow from children into adults. Part of Le Guin’s artistry is that she uses the fantasy context to emphasize her themes of the interconnection of coming of age and death. The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising is the most Tolkienian of these works. Cooper’s major protagonist, Will Stanton, is simultaneously an eleven-year- old boy growing up in Buckinghamshire and an “Old One,” part of an order of eternal beings who belong to the Light, set in opposition to the Dark in a Manichean struggle for the fate of the world. Cooper’s characters must collect a variety of numinous objects—a grail, “signs of light,” a golden harp, and a crystal sword—as part of their quest to defeat the Dark. The books are some - what darker and more frightening (and more well-crafted) than those by Lewis, and they engage with important problems of individual autonomy and freedom (the Light wants to win its battle to keep humans free—unlike the Dark, which wants to dominate all people—but in the course of that battle individual humans can be sacrificed). Possibly the most emotionally powerful book is The Grey King , in which Bran Davies, an albino boy growing up in Wales, loses his beloved dog Cafall and then learns about his magical parentage (he is the son of Arthur and Guinevere, sent forward in time and adopted by Owen Davies after his mother returned back in time). The Grey King places problems of alienation at the center of fantasy.
53 LECTURE TWELVE 5 4 b th ch th M Ro is to le r Gui in s na as bo u 1 Fa o a Ha l a c e s a T t n e r a p j b o t c i p e d str e v e d d n a h e q e Pr Ffl le d The b o at Hu It Th e h T Ll tak el np 9 th nd ir nl ng ua ncha it as g a s y a w a il a ydai wro ar io me ok th u a come h n s ’ n a r o i wlin ton’s r i y r a t n e s n ef e n o i t the p gl m, n, r re 0s, ag si mor er, ta yd t es nal acte r mo so y C an s o l wh o f r e i Le to i or -hu “ s o m s s ced sy t a med n ng , (im o i g ed hro i n s Pot g’ p e s me o a Al m , f an a of ter mo childre ol ra .” c o f th ol rom n o d A C Gu g a Pa i b s ). a ll rize t ma a was out s e tr m r ater exa f plict de he in sita e, o r n l e e oope T nd d t o s ni cour with , arl ge t ia uth gene Pu ral t cr nte no u se d g n i e rad ar f r o e h in Dalbe second d e t w if n n h a cles e s but r s the t st itcs y of nde ha niu h ial h , e e h an, riou t n i g i lm -cha th she ser a co an d b h s i fan n’s umo ory ise se bu to d or e a r, a p h t i w ge e atle d t rate oug n s c i p create suce he he o t rob m an po g a g n a r c n o r’s d p stre t e h p e h s but a iou t kno sne the of e beliv shift tasy n. a ” i fa a l can le Pig Lo s pa l of he r xplict h t l u d a Philp ro in of la ht lems d n a p lacks majo ra The c f nta e s o h t t i r g e t n i her sn writing laugh Tar Prydain nge ag , s t ngth st in t nio w us u c i t r a “ e pr te -Ke ed s e ho con nk c to s of s m a ess hildr n i sy ota whether the in an d n a nd 1 ca th ability a r e t n i d in anage w ). Chron , d r ha r d view o creat w 90s. o o o , tin s Rowling’s s, o Pu the a st set sude f obstacle bard, , f h w n f gonist, per, d o Gurg h t i y l r a l an tha o of stumb y f com ve n has en’s children’s in J.K selfihn, ues a . y t e i c but e h t exist Philp Ar n i t s e lma a Co her o fan s a e h t of t A a e w ive d n th par migrat to icle awn, but vide a f Th pany sita o p i, cer the , t h g i Rowling at an q e fantsy we Rowling’s nly books tasy h u le solid vision. n e h t ticular, per th g en r o w in is e T s e u f r e w , r e v se the Pul d o i t a u tain s he l in o e a r a f o inner to His of a r t light a ergy fan the o ed into in of r nt t a g b s r e k or humor fan genr , e l u his ok ther lman, fo long e h t ly Devil e Prydain ames, ubly a s l e v s ’ n that u b i r t tasy the Lloyd s n nding, l Pig- in Dark undlig Le evil di Puns, sacrife will developed b tasy, childre a touch a var from lives g to t i m s k c a l d k o o b d n a d n s d n a t a n n i frien rowing Hary t a h t qu trad Guin. ar h t s e t Ke not the evn is ious fr visu to da s while Pr Mat antum e Dung g u o r uc u s u n u Alexander om not bo , moraly Harry o epr bad p be rk ds. is r c inces , s it both x e l A e f o n’s cont f an ce ad o f r e ot io al , s t f a Poter oks adventu her erials much lo k the Th r a T in her an perhaps n a love o n h at ed , h d opted e n d n i T m eons fa L rd. throughout l a e d n a beca o m r her he r P e in t h atin, leap gripping d n e m edia. e l b Potter the he d n a ntasy, a characters in f Devil’s a e major ue seq Eilo n n i n i a d y so Alo right mo rtistically for to side o, seri g a m more is bo a s s e d n a W and d o o l b and same a cial me by r th res and bsenc in a oth ral uenc, f o ng an far nwy, B Eilon m g up rough n a will t o p ks. and a u .c i po the e r n e of s children’s s e k a d , n i a d y r P r t p High er C.S. ra serio lso with t Dra th and more lig D d oint to g n i y , is in his . r e t god time e nk—Tar take the Fflewdur wy. ickensian s e k a m e pur re r ularity hteard, e c e d gre with h and a the demo gons, the way we ts o m l a is of the fun. the Lewis. usne e b n King of retling e h T suit. o t first st c i p e d d at on-ble maintain adversy Christa its level idact is n e e w t her late the yc n evntualy view 1980s, g n i y r t n i f help th nstraig with fantsi h t and place six of n i v o l ey d high- series si of tha si h (o is of tra of the a n si h g r, Le - at a - Although the works discussed above are supposedly written for children, and although there are some market effects based on what children actually enjoy, there is also a great deal of cross-influence by parents, librarians, and teachers who shape the literature into what they think children should read. Thus, the literature is not only shaped by children and their desires, but by the ideas adults have about what the desires of children are and should be. To see children’s fantasy, or any children’s literature, as naïve or simplistic is almost certainly wrong: Le Guin’s discussions of death, Rowling’s and Cooper’s treatments of inherited responsibility, Pullman’s criticisms of reli - gion, or T. H. White’s agonizing over war and peace are as sophisticated and nuanced as anything in adult, mainstream fiction. If there is a constant in chil - dren’s fantasy, it is not simplicity, but moral seriousness. Le Guin’s philoso - phy is Eastern, and Pullman is anti-Christian, but they, no less than the tradi - tional moralist Lewis or the anti-war White, make strong moral and ethical claims in their books. Protagonists may struggle to live up to a moral code, but such a code does exist: the authors and the characters know that there is a right and a wrong, even if they must struggle to make their way in a world in which the right is not always obvious. This seriousness and confidence— and in particular, fantasy’s ability to engage with problems of death and immortality—is in direct contradiction to much mainstream adult literature over the past century, in which relativism, lack of confidence, and confusion has reigned (for the most part) in matters moral and ethical.
55 FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. How far back does the tradition of children’s fantasy extend? 2. How did the success of Tolkien and Lewis open the door to the golden age of children’s fantasy?
Suggested Reading
Cooper, Susan. The Dark Is Rising . New York: Margaret K. McElderry Publishers, 1973. Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
Other Books of Interest
Alexander, Lloyd. The Book of Three: Prydain Chronicles . New York: Random House, 1964. Bice, Deborah. Elsewhere: Selected Essays from the “20th Century Fantasy Literature: From Beatrix to Harry,” International Literary Conference . Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2003. Cooper, Susan. The Dark Is Rising Sequence . Box set. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia . Box set. New York: HarperCollins, 2002. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter Series . Box Set. New York: Scholastic, 2004. Sandner, David. The Fantastic Sublime: Romanticism and Transcendence in Nineteenth-Century Children’s Fantasy Literature . New York: Greenwood Press, 1996. E V L E W T E R U T C E L
56 Lecture 13: Arthurian Fantasy
The Suggested Reading for this lecture is T.H. White’s The Once and Future King.
e have held off on discussing Arthurian fantasy until now because it does not quite fit into the fantasy literature par - adigm the same way the other texts we have discussed do. For one thing, Arthurian literature did not develop in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but instead is part of a very long, nearly continuous tradition extending back into the Middle Ages. A Reticulated Genealogy Arthurian literature is so varied and popular that it is almost impossible to trace influences: they form what a biologist would call a “reticulated genealo - gy” with a great deal of cross-influence. So for the purposes of this discus - sion, I am going to take a grossly simplified picture of the tradition as it evolved, glancing very quickly over the medieval roots of the Arthur mythos and confining myself to three major twentieth-century authors, the aforemen - tioned T.H. White and then Mary Stewart and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Theoretically, Arthurian material goes back to some “historical” British king, and our first mentions of Arthur appear in Latin historians such as Gildas, Nennius, and Geoffrey of Monmouth (who added his own stories). The “his - torical” Arthur—even if he never existed—then becomes the center of a great web of traditional stories. These stories are stitched together in works like Layamon’s Brut , a gigantic Middle English epic (about ten times as long as Beowulf ) in alliterating lines. The Arthur stories then cross the English chan - nel and are made massively popular by French writers Chrétien de Troyes (113 5–1183) and Marie de France (who may have lived in England in the middle of the twelfth century, but who wrote in French). In the later Middle Ages in England, Arthurian tales were incredibly popular, as shown by Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale , the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , and any number of anonymous Middle English romances. Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur (written between 1450 and 1470) collects together a huge number of Arthurian stories and gives them a coherent outline: they are all put to the service of one long epic. Nearly all subsequent writers who deal with Arthurian material rely upon Malory—he is as big a figure in Arthurian lit - erature as Tolkien is in later fantasy. Even if we limit ourselves to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Arthurian literature is separate from other fantasy. There is, for example, high-culture Arthurian literature in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem cycle, The Idylls of the King . And even when we come to twentieth-century fantasy, the Arthurian material is separate from Tolkien, although Tolkien began and abandoned an Arthurian poem. 57 LECTURE THIRTEEN © Bettmann/CORBIS 5 8 g m a t M a T A t b y w l e o G O g i i cr r e Al ce t t Wh st t “ a w t F l T O o n n ish ra e o hr he he a Th “ M Wh “ Ar “ Wh Wh Th u o a n xtr f i n u a e ho ut .H r h a Th Th h T ve aw rkney ves cest sti or nce o a e h th i u h t s p d ce ced th a le i o a en s r n r a n th i ure e i ed e sto h t eml y Wi St f i t u e ma te er ugh y nct ry i e e i i ve e ti th o in Th grea a a te te te af Whit ur wre Que (t most r on o T u f rs “re in S ri o h a Il Que a C re n th be (p Stewar sour ’s ’s rica h fa ra f w h y l l u h cen d a h s s e se King n e n is l tewa l , d.” r -M and oug i Ar rou h his an hat e,” eco alistc” ie ir d y stor ck of ge s i l a e d i M of A M no Wicked t twen was l d n ave en a nviso e t ly ces knigh thu ph g ade en with F tur alor erlin o “T ce im t i h W the his gh vel t l i u b mast th older r h wa th ed ut gnizes has e ica Mor is rt avine of th ysical im he y. por at r’s t’s th of e b tr f n i ucatio y o t s e so or Kn knigh en re is Ro G l he ansg A .m ns posib i b t powe e f Ar is . s te A himse ga Swor knowled ma er T child h ev . tan ir t y uen with Day the I dive t e h ig King c ir in t is ap he ar Thus und he thu g L Arth find use, an s n o , styli i a if ht” sha flue de an s okin t s sa re ntu ts Ga n—fo ted evr ” d n i W ugly, bo r Cr ad r m disjuncto d d o s en a ap go le d sin , lf in Table, od dly of c u r t a ur fol fo in usical pe ntia Darkn d in heris, al ok ystal was apt he m th nd g into ed D with but to r c i f f i d g the e h g in a who rt ore e d arknes” cused the dest e, a the t g pio is d e t wer s . empor l kno ws in to is Morg Glas a d site by the wa no tion historcal writen aest the a a extr a t e op Ca p po es,” us, no the ate mode t l u four C Gar Stone, nd pur ruction roph kne Sir dec h t t ws White n y a foun ve on t s l i pu ause) r stor e of melot aordin aro heticaly osite b o t to ) ular then se ary) mpts a cast eth, o Lancel etw what w , sepa lives g a m i ly ose blished esy “Th f the e h t fo sedu rn, inser nt a e r T lf-oath befo und dation y, ” Arth the ’s be he lo . Disney l en of th posiblty—an e b and , directon by e th self-do in , d ary to politca t of d b rate ut cause ws bu s e went wil backwrd e of re H ction, Mi e t Il-M Arthu the ecaus us ur. o the repla harn d n a g coret u r t s th m ol not t t “mig s in Mor Sir as f o dl birth od. T the and a h e ost se bo The of ow g, he nat iet lso ade apen nor film h t r A ubting i t c Arth very early e ting Ecto es o s the but dre cin ht . Arthu l h and , und i ape ural Lord ks, Hi Age repl ves o into ma be th ” he abu cent Knight,” n locat r t g an s, s ’ r u urian and l first a th r c i g a cause bright s is erstan the , o “T etrn king n as aces (wh (li s con d world—by , of o r’s trage e an sive cha b f early d of ury, one f The he ke wel ling ut th a ion a h co “right” section, 1 n the the Ar , t s o m l aco o the story ethical stanly e 938) ot racte. Arth ha b aly mpeti the Sword p p the u young thurian is ding dy so T.H a c e and b of in of La al enough pbri to so Fo s ok Rings y the mplish the . urian the White th an st conflited m not tradionl ns and, care. into d l i h c of rest l l a u T ngi tive “ of e any Wh e s and Merlin, getin “The The Ench he d Lancelot as pro in M of man la sed four, ye f o legnd Arthu. slow-m a erlin’s Sauvge. was f o te ite’s d o o h throug lite the Once and a to ment. King He duct sube t Quen ta h w mo genu Candle antme expr Swo g of who four wo h ratu know who s tels Stone,” . is youn puts ral pub Th vio th portai His o Lot dn a in a - ine is le ab rd a q f , e tion suc nd e len i t u - th - in his le g in in en of e , e t - r t “magic” with a combination of mystical visions and superior scientific and engineering knowledge. Stewart thus straddles the generic boundaries of Arthurian literature, fantasy, and “historical fiction.” Stewart places Arthur in the confused historical period between the collapse of Roman Britain and the rise of the historical Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Arthur is an heir of Rome but is also connected to native British tradition. He brings about a brief respite for the Romano-British before the eventual tide of Germanic invaders. The immense success of Stewart spawned many imita - tors who argued for different historical specifics but nearly always put Arthur in the same time frame and cultural milieu. Marion Zimmer Bradley Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon follows Stewart in locating Arthur in the confusion of the Roman collapse, though Bradley brings in the Christian conversion of England, which was not widespread until the histori - cally documented period of the early seventh century (St. Augustine of Canterbury arrived in England in 597 and Sussex, the last pagan kingdom, was converted in the 660s—there is no room for an Arthur in these historical periods, as we have records of kings and chieftains). The Mists of Avalon is simultaneously one of the most popular and influential Arthurian retellings in the twentieth century and one of the greatest aesthetic failures. Bradley came up with the absolutely brilliant idea of telling the Arthurian story from the women’s point of view. This was not only in tune with emerging feminism, but also gave fresh insight to the entire mythos. The pro - tagonist of the book is Morgaine, the sister of Arthur and a priestess of Avalon, an outpost of the pre-Christian religion of England. Goddess- and nature-wor - ship, shamanistic magic, and the Druids are all brought together and set in opposition to the closed-minded, destructive Christians who eventually gain Arthur’s ear and cause him to reject Avalon and his pagan heritage. Again, Bradley’s conception is brilliant, but her execution less so. Christians are intolerant and narrow-minded, pagans in touch with nature and willing to compromise. Women want to preserve; men want to conquer. It is all too pre - dictable. And yet despite all its flaws (not the least its length of 900 pages), The Mists of Avalon has been one of the most important fantasy works in the post-Tolkien period. It was a precursor to the explosion of female interest in fantasy literature that has been the most important thing to happen to fantasy in the last fifteen years. Even though many of the greatest fantasy authors since the 1950s have been women, fantasy, until recently, was seen as a “boy’s genre.” No longer. The success of Bradley’s putting the women at the center of a story as traditional as the Arthur mythos led to a revitalization of the genre that became visible with the enormous involvement of female read - ers and fans in the phenomena of the immensely popular Lord of the Rings movies and the Harry Potter franchise. Arthurian literature has some significant differences from the more obviously generic fantasy, not the least of which is that it has enjoyed some measure of respect in literary-critical circles. But it also shows that the generic boundaries of fantasy and Arthurian literature are difficult to define and that authors can carve out new territory and provide new takes on old themes, redefining tradi - tions even as they take part in them. 59 FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. How is Arthurian literature different from the fantasy literature discussed in the previous lectures? 2. Why is Thomas Malory such a big figure in Arthurian fantasy?
Suggested Reading
White, T.H. The Once and Future King . New York: Ace, 1965.
Other Books of Interest
Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mists of Avalon . New York: Del Rey, 1982. Robbins, Kittye Delle. Fantasy, Humor, and Transcendence in the Arthurian Romances of Chrétien de Troyes . Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1975. Roberts, Adam. Silk and Potatoes: Contemporary Arthurian Fantasy . Amsterdam, NL: Rodopi, 1998. Stewart, Mary. Merlin Trilogy . New York: William Morrow and Company, 1970. Thompson, Raymond H. The Return from Avalon: A Study of the Arthurian Legend in Modern Fiction . New York: Greenwood Press, 1985. N E E T R I H T E R U T C E L
60 Lecture 14: Magical Realism and Conclusions
The Suggested Reading for this lecture is Lois Parkinson Zamora’s and Wendy B. Faris’s (editors) Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community.
olkien-influenced fantasy has not been considered to be a significant part of the high-cultural tradition of modernism (and its various offshoots, often labeled post-modernism). But there is a sub-tradition in the mainstream that has some of the same characteristics as genre fantasy: magic and impossible events, the uncanny, the bizarre. The writ - ers in this tradition have been and continue to be among the most celebrated authors of the twentieth century, and yet their subject matter has an essential kinship with more common fantasy. The tradition is for the most part made up of Latin American writers who work in Spanish, but there are English-speaking and Italian writers as well. The Way Magical Realism Works Why is magical realism worthy of mainstream accolades and serious acade - mic study while genre fantasy has been rather consistently ignored by the lit - erary and academic establishments? An entire course could be devoted to magical realism (and, in fact, to any of its major authors as individuals), but I want to focus on a few short stories that are emblematic of the tradition. Understand these stories, and you under - stand how magical realism works and, perhaps, why it gets mainstream respect while fantasy does not. The Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (189 9–1986) is the oldest of the writers in the magical realism genre and wields the most influence. Borges worked almost entirely in the short story form (very different from the massive novels characteristic of genre fantasy). He was also, like Tolkien, interested in using academic forms in his writing: footnotes and references to authorities (mixed interchangeably between real and imagined authors and texts). The first Borges story I want to examine is “The Library of Babel,” which describes an enormous (though not, as too many critics have said, infinite) library in which librarians can wander for lifetimes and only rarely come across a book with a meaningful sentence. Borges describes this impossible library as if it is the most natural thing in the world, footnoting comments about the manuscript that he is supposedly editing, making himself merely a conduit for the otherworldly material: it is a conceit similar to Tolkien’s The Red Book of Westmarch . “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis, Tertius” is another one of Borges’s stories about a non- existent book, in this case a volume of The Anglo-American Encyclopedia that contains at its very end an entry on the region of Uqbar. The narrator and a friend search through libraries trying to discover more about Uqbar,
61 LECTURE FOURTEEN 6 2 f ( l a e h t t e d t i a h a so b p a w t w ya h b ch so b i G t T cr w a e d l “ b g o n n iza or he ha on ur ra o a “ Ga Pe Th Bo Bu s l a n i n e l u e n i e e s ve i r e ol o in r A ws se, rt g l s ab d e r str a it r r a a s o d t o d g e n m e i , ma t a many t n e e l, d kie a i ist gs, t e e he story r ntu l r t th s he no rmou pl ins n ius” and rea t Ve r io i ayo n eno s, act ri te ver ge ev he hi u o f al cía- s, a t th w an t wh C goi s, e em. he hon la nom n, he yo el n n s y t o s ry h vi al a p s’ e y li dr o th , with er tr e, fsh nigh y exist; d en mor su wing do, sm rm nt the who seu u th at ne lo sitor Má G fi n ly s use blind ar ver avel s cr m e esd “ O cra dife ize ed—a t nds g A ualy He tra mbia e er hro p ar y ge ma ou win ab e it lear ode sepa ld ot h ref rqu to o t d alist, the re y her the ste Ver s, en s c bs e s, s ditons) n has f o-a and s s Ma w wh gical nev re ía- to writng ality, in ot t er, gs ser st—in man die th d ar biol nig rnist d he ez of n win P nch, tha flies insde nd y n escrib minds the rat like kind of e Már se u en his e n wha elayo up t write a io b me Old m th the t h d sto way, t p gs). es s filed with r wh echn en have re m us, and an urin gr gist, ode ority ainte ar tha p p som a alo yar aw the if quez ta- him. mu o y t eo alism ro of ry ows ich int fa e M a r d ra f th he the of thou is r t je s le writn g d Enor Gab con rn str ple ntasy iques ws ea an d t t ch Bo ( with st gpicker o pe e it eh y. hrou his be fo rs th ct s th riven exist. t h a a ism, is e The he the aightf is pe hou list thre icke is b ble r , e ty rges a ngie e ow with come is ventio a ght ve be in riel e just ge h l e mous par g m ople par man r gh win h is ncylopedi cer eadr ry ficton the f from in of be lie sea, se e to is n olwed. int old omet cr th agicl into it . Ga digntes fan orwad En t writes asite, ano ve n the o co ing eating e the ers, ter, focused He build was of th conve ew o ld de expct: bral and m e ) Wings” rcía-Máqu ormu op. f tasy. becau at ma the th s. ncyloped : the th ther man an techn ir e tai schola locks but rs metap “ te at part onic, xcit Pe due , On at gical a his as ls , The hou eth. mat tha may and . ntios— inve ther no a n in la no nat and . emnt of s se wi on t ice i iq a is h . win he f yo to the show t t se hemat Wings” the r detach ma hysican, th as d ues bo But t r convet lepr ural ntio p th he he o t have to ealism style irectd the he articul the h h third bviously gs. ez is in b ia en th man—o n b ouse. ad spring pr son y sto g, with s egun of to somethin newbor phen is o ormus, a sten ( th ovide tr ver ica An of b. gr tha f ed, to re per at and eatm realistc ry ent day (1 “to e a ows is io a 19 d l, by the cros the equa 95), beco The r plan ch.” the a ly formed omen ns to ain—th aceptin er he a se more style. poets, it r s th 28) findg of a nd an hum poe a n is creat if mo sun at in cret sent o nt past ngel, gro fa g et, ma old r child ly mes f h to the ain de h gen Gar obsc ficton th lse lang to e tic of ney an”; is than flowers Ma ws n—o T re ng th e so chemist, tache some m is f t lön, the they i in g d descripto era cía-Márquez in wo as t. al, documentar e an very had an y th gical ciety ce ure cha renchd uage merly n brought clusion the d, he The nar ew buzard anythig e tha a tes inhabt old atrcion centuri and sem lev. d. Borges things had difernt racteiz miracle man a n smel old ou conve feathr realism of eighb fant He, ( authoriy tem man tor’s clihé have t its r a m kiled of of eport n in co It of lg p like an as civ th th g sy s. th e h fol o er y s, b with ur ba tion , , - is s at r s, s , at y e a a In t if - - - d - - s Magical Realism vs. Fantasy The mainstream respect given to magical realism suggests that it is not the subject matter of fantasy that is the only problem for its inclusion in the liter - ary canon. It may perhaps be, as the most vocal critics of fantasy say, that the problem with fantasy is that it is poorly written. But it may also be that fantasy attempts to follow an aesthetic different from the modernist tradition, and therefore critics of fantasy, who have spent their lives working in that tra - dition and understanding its subtleties and micro-structures, are unable to understand or judge fantasy, which is trying to do something entirely different. Tolkien wrote that fantasy can generate escape and that escape, for a per - son in prison, say, is not a bad thing. Magical realism does the opposite: by using realistic conventions of language about fantastical situations or things, it turns readers’ thoughts back to the language itself, showing how the lan - guage can create reality. If we want to view this negatively, we can say that magical realism, rather than providing escape, tries to show that there is no escape: that even if we talk of impossible things, we cannot escape the “prison-house of language” and the constraints of the real world. I think this stance, which does not come through in every writer of magical realism (Helprin and Eco are certainly exceptions) is one of the reasons that magical realism can be profoundly depressing to read even as one recognizes the beauty and intellectual accomplishments of the writers. It is literature drawn back to tragedy rather than risking the happy ending. Tolkien, Le Guin, and others would have no problem with language creating reality, but they want that reality to be better, more beautiful, more powerful, and more awe-inspiring than the reality of the present world. They want to examine what it means to be human by removing the surface structures of the present and seeing how humans—in all their variety—might behave in the different world. Magical realism, for all its remarkable style and insight into human psycholo - gy is, in the end, another form of modernism. Fantasy, on the other hand, attempts to break free from the modernist, realist requirement to focus on the world as it is and instead attempts to create the world, not so much as it might be, but as human minds can imagine it to be. By forcing us to grapple with the impossible, by creating impossible worlds so real and beautiful that we enter into them, fantasy takes us outside of our - selves (just as all great literature takes us outside ourselves), but it takes us further and deeper and higher, so that when we return, our perspective is changed. We can see the old world in a new way.
63 FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING
Questions
1. What is the relation between magical realism and fantasy? 2. Why is magical realism considered more serious than fantasy literature?
Suggested Reading
Zamora, Lois Parkinson, and Wendy B. Faris, eds. Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995.
Other Books of Interest
Borges, Jorge Luis. Borges: Collected Fictions . Trans. Andrew Hurley. New York: Penguin, 1999. Calvino, Italo. Cosmicomics . Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace, 1968. Márquez, Gabriel García. Collected Stories . New York: HarperCollins, 1999. Young, David, and Keith Holloman, eds. Magical Realist Fiction: An Anthology . Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College Press, 1984. N E E T R U O F E R U T C E L
64 COURSE MATERIALS
Suggested Readings:
Brooks, Terry. The Sword of Shannara . New York: Del Rey, 1983. Carpenter, Humphrey. Tolkien: A Biography . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Cooper, Susan. The Dark Is Rising . New York: Margaret K. McElderry Publishers, 1973. Donaldson, Stephen. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever . New York: HarperCollins, 1993. Holdstock, Robert. Mythago Wood . New York: Orb Books, 2003. Le Guin, Ursula K. The Earthsea Trilogy . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Mathews, Richard. Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination . New York: Routledge, 2002. Shippey, Tom. The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Shippey, Tom. The Road to Middle-earth . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ———. The Hobbit . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1973. ———. The Two Towers . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ———. The Return of the King . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ———. The Silmarillion . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. White, T.H. The Once and Future King . New York: Ace, 1965. Zamora, Lois Parkinson, and Wendy B. Faris, eds. Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995. These books are available online through www.modernscholar.com or by calling Recorded Books at 1-800-636-3399.
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