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A Nodal Structure in Tolkien's Tales of the First Age?

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Volume 13 Number 4
Article 16

6-15-1987

A Nodal Structure in Tolkien’s Tales of the First Age?

Nils Ivar Agøy

Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore

Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons

Recommended Citation

Agøy, Nils Ivar (1987) "A Nodal Structure in Tolkien’s Tales of the First Age?," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 13 : No. 4 , Article 16.

Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol13/iss4/16

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please

contact phillip.fi[email protected].

To join the Mythopoeic Society go to:

http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm

Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON

July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday)

http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm

Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien

Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022

http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm

Abstract

Identifies “nodes” or “stable images,” which persist in “staying more or less the same among endlessly changing plotlines” as Tolkien developed his narratives of the First Age.

Additional Keywords

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Book of Lost Tales—Motifs; Tolkien, J.R.R. The Book of Lost Tales—Visual images; Tolkien, J.R.R. The Silmarillion—Motifs; Tolkien, J.R.R. The Silmarillion—Visual images; Paula DiSante

This article is available in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic

Literature: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol13/iss4/16

  • M Y T H L O R E   50: S um   m er   1987
  • Page 22

A N   o dal Structure   in T   o lk ie n 's
T a l   e s   o f   t h   e F   i r s t   A g e ?
N i ls   Iv a r   A g o y

v ersio n it h ap p en s u n d er fra n k ly im probable circum - sta n c e s [1]. M oreover, th e sto ry lin es lead in g up to th at p oin t are q u ite d ifferen t. It looks a s if the
This article w ill deal w ith two d ifferen t, but c lo sely related them es, nam ely w ith J.R.R. T olkien’s u se of stab le, more or le s s u n ch an gin g im ages or m otifs in h is w ritin gs about th e F irst Age of his "su b -created " world of M iddle-earth, and w ith h is r e -

  • k illin g had to happen in exactly su ch an su ch
  • a
  • way;

a s if th e p ictu re of Turin clu tch in g h is sw ord and su d d en ly seein g h is frien d B eleg ly in g life le ss and b lood -d ren ch ed in fro n t o f him w as th e p oin t of d ep artu re, and th a t th e su rro u n d in g sto ry w as w rit- ten in ord er to make th is scen e fit in. Other p o ssib le exam ples o f su ch n od es or sta b le im ages, sta y in g more or le s s th e same among e n d le ssly ch a n g in g p lo tlin es, are

  • u se of certain plot elem ents. It is
  • a
  • slig h tly rev ised

  • v ersio n of lectu re held at th e fir s t intern ation al
  • a

Arda Sym posium , arranged in Stockholm from 12th to 14th April 1985. As su ch , it w as d esign ed to provoke

  • d iscu ssio n , and it does not rep r e se n t
  • a
  • fin ish ed

th eory. Rather it is meant to su g g e s t of approach to T olkien’s early w ritin gs.

  • a
  • p o ssib le w ay

-T u rin th row in g th e h ea v y g o b let in th e face of th e h a u g h ty and m ocking S aeros [2],
With th e publication in 1983 and 1984 of th e two

  • volum es com prising The Book of Lost T ales, and, to
  • a

le sse r d egree, of U nfinished T ales in 1980, w e have been g iven an exceptional o p p ortu n ity to trace the developm ent of T olkien’s conception of M iddle-earth. Put sim ply, The Book of L ost Tales g iv e s th e ea rly v e rsio n s of th e tales th at fin ally appeared in The Silm arillion in 1977, and th at Tolkien had b een w ork- in g on for most of his ad u lt life. Not on ly fin ish ed u - as he th ou gh t — , coh eren t form s are in clu d ed , but also rou gh d ra fts, ou tlin es, num erous co rrectio n s, r id ers, fragm en ts and oth er w orking papers; th e w hole b e in g e d ite d and th o r o u g h ly com m ented u p on b y C hristopher Tolkien, J.R.R. T olkien’s litera ry execu tor. We can say th at The Book of Lost T ales re p r e se n ts M iddle-earth in its ea rliest form. In p arts it g o es as far back as 1916-17, w hen T olkien w as 25 y ea rs old, and it tak es h is p rivate m ythology th rou gh m any sta g e s of rev isio n and com plete rew ritin g up to th e 1930s, at w hich time it had ch anged ch aracter and become th e core of th e book we know as The Silm aril- lion . N eed less to say, th e later v e r sio n s of T olkien’s "Great Tales" d iffer from th e earlier in m any r e sp e c ts, som etim es fundam entally. Some of th e most im portant p a rts, a s w e reckon, of The Silm arillion can h ard ly be d iscern ed at all in The Book of Lost T ales, and th e rea d er’s overall im pression, faced as he is w ith seem - in g ly innum erable v e r sio n s and p lotlin es goin g o ff in all d irection s, may ea sily be one of u tte r con fu sion , tem pered on ly b y (relu ctan t) adm iration for T olkien’s sta y in g pow er and h is u n d en iab ly fertile im agination.
-T h e E lf-h ero G lorfindel fig h tin g th e terrib le
B alrog on th e narrow m ountain path a fter th e flig h t from fallen Gondolin (BLT2, p. 194; 53, p. 243).

-L u th ien th e b eau tifu l, sta n d in g b efore th e su b - terran ean th ron e of M orgoth th e Dark Lord and sin g - in g him to sleep (BLT2, p. 32-33; S, p. 180-181).

-T h e people o f Gondolin w aiting on th eir high w alls for th e lig h t of daw n, b u t seein g in stea d th e glare o f M orgoth’s ap p roach in g arm y (BLT2, p . 172; S, p. 142).

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