MYTH, FANTASY AND FAIRY-STORY IN TOLKIEN’S MIDDLE-EARTH Malaya BUVENESWARY VATHEMURTHYof DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH FACULTY OF ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY MALAYA University2016 MYTH, FANTASY AND FAIRY-STORY IN TOLKIEN’S MIDDLE-EARTH BUVENESWARY VATHEMURTHYMalaya of DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF ARTS FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR University2016 Abstract This dissertation explores J.R.R. Tolkien’s ideas and beliefs on myth, fantasy and fairy story and their roles in portraying good and evil in his famous works. Indeed, many authors and critics such as Bradley J. Birzer, Patrick Curry, Joseph Pearce, Ursula Le Guin, and Jay Richards have researched Tolkien based on this connection. They have worked on the nature of good and evil in his stories, the relevance of Tolkien in contemporary society, and the importance of myth and fantasy. However, my original contribution would be to examine the pivotal roles of myth, fantasy and fairy story as a combined whole and to demonstrate that they depend on one another to convey truths about good and evil. This research is aimed at showing that Middle-earth evolves from a combination of these three genres. This is made evident by the way Tolkien crafted his lecture On Fairy Stories for a presentation at the AndrewMalaya Lang lecture at the University of St Andrews in 1939. This dissertation then examines Tolkien’s own definitions of myth, fantasy and fairy stories and his extensiveof research on these “old-fashioned” or forgotten genres. He believed they could provide a cure for the moral and human degradation triggered by modernism. This study also investigates various criticisms, biographical books written by Tolkien experts, Tolkien’s personal letters, various philosophical and academic essays and mainly his works to unravel the questions that need answering. My discussion aims to show that the combination of these genres and their methods of representation, ultimately deliver a message of goodness, faith and a respectUniversity for tradition. Finally, this thesis finds that Tolkien’s noble aims and ambitions behind his legendarium are tied to an enduring faith in God and in moral and social responsibility. iii Abstrak Disertasi ini meneroka idea-idea J.R.R.Tolkien pada mitos, fantasi dan cerita dongeng serta peranan mereka dalam menggambarkan kebaikan dan kejahatan dalam karya-karya beliau yang terkenal. Malah, ramai penulis dan pengkritik seperti Bradley J. Birzer, Patrick Curry, Joseph Pearce, Ursula Le Guin, dan Jay Richards telah mengkaji Tolkien berdasarkan topic tersebut. Mereka telah mengkaji unsur-unsur ini dalam karya- karya beliau, bagaimana ia relevan kepada masyarakat kontemporari, dan kepentingan mitos dan fantasi. Sumbangan saya adalah untuk menunjukkan peranan-peranan penting mitos, fantasi dan cerita dongeng secara keseluruhannya untuk menunjukkan bahawa mereka bergantung kepada satu sama lain dan menunjukkanMalaya kebenaran kuasa-kuasa kebaikan dan kejahatan. Kajian ini juga bertujuanof untuk menggambarkan bahawa “Middle- earth” sebenarnya adalaj hasil gabungan tiga genre dan ini dapat dilihat jelas melalui cara Tolkien telah merancang dan mempersembahkan kuliahnya bertajuk On Fairy Stories untuk presentasi Andrew Lang di University of St Andrews pada tahun 1939. Dengan penemuan itu, disertasi ini juga mengkaji definisi mitos, fantasi dan cerita-cerita dongeng Tolkien sendiri dan kajian meluas beliau terhadap genre-genre in yang dianggap sebagai genre- genre "fesyen lama" atau genre-genre yang tidak berkepentingan demi mencari penawar bagi masyarakat modern yang tidak berakhlak moral dan tidak berperikemanusiaan. Ia juga menyiasatUniversity pelbagai kritikan, buku-buku biografi yang ditulis oleh pakar-pakar Tolkien, surat peribadi Tolkien, pelbagai esei falsafah dan akademik dan terutamanya karya-karya beliau untuk mendapat jawapan bagi soal-soal penting. Dengan gabungan ketiga-tiga genre dan kaedah presentasi mereka, disertasi ini bertujuan untuk menyampaikan mesej megenai kebenaran kebaikan, moral, kepentingan dan menghormati tradisi. Akhirnya, tesis ini iv mendapati bahawa matlamat mulia Tolkien di sebalik “legendarium” adalah dengan penuh iman yang kekal kepada tuhan, moral dan tanggungjawab sosial. Malaya of University v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………… iii Abstrak …………………………………………………………………………………........ iv Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………................. vi Chapters Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………... 1 1.1 Methodological Framework 1.2 Literature Review Malaya 1.3 Statement of Objectives Chapter 2: J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth, Fantasy ofand Fairy Story.……………………… 19 2.1 Myth 2.2 Fantasy 2.3 Fairy Story Chapter 3: A Powerful Recovery, Escape, and Consolation..…………………….. 72 3.1 Recovery 3.2 Escape University3.3 Consolation Chapter 4: Conclusion…………………………………………………………….... 101 Bibliography 108 CHAPTER ONE Introduction Myth and fairy-story must, as all art, reflect and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth (or error), but not explicit, not in the known form of the primary 'real' world. J.R.R. Tolkien, Letters 1 When myth, fantasy and fairy-story unite and converge with reality, the effects can be astonishing as seen in the astonishing worldwide book sales of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series: The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), at about 50 million copies, is probably the biggest-selling single work of fiction in this century. The Hobbit (1937) is not far behind at between 35 and 40 million copies. And one could add the considerable sales, now perhaps over 2 million, of his dark and difficult posthumously published epicMalaya The Silmarillion (1977). The grand total is thus well on its way to 100 million. Tolkien’s books have been translated into more than thirty languages including Japanese, Catalan, Estonian, Greek, Hebrew,of Finnish, Indonesian, and Vietnamese. (Curry, Defending Middle-earth, Intr., 9, par 3) W.H. Auden, a renowned British poet, wrote in The New York Times: “No fiction I have read in the last five years has given me more joy.” Later in a radio program, he had this to say about The Lord of the Rings: “If someone dislikes it, I shall never trust their literary judgment about anything again” (Profiles in Faith, 1). Indeed Dr. Christopher Wright Mitchell went as far as to hail Tolkien as the “father of modern fantasy literature”University (Veritas Forum, 2009). 1 See page 167 1 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known as J.R.R. Tolkien, was born on the 3rd of January 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa to Arthur Tolkien and Mable Suffield. He was the eldest child in his family and he had a baby brother named Hilary. Arthur passed away due to rheumatic fever when Mable and her two sons were in Birmingham for a short vacation. After her husband’s death, Mable and her sons did not return to South Africa and she raised her sons alone in England. Then against the will of the families on both sides (Suffields and Tolkiens), Mable converted to Catholicism and from that moment on Tolkien “remained a Catholic all his life” (Garth, 12). In 1914, Tolkien “served as a soldier in World War I and watched his son Christopher serve in World War II” (Kraus, 138). He was also a philologist and was a principal collaborator in the translation and literary revision of the First Edition of the Jerusalem Bible.2 Malaya Tolkien is best known for his three main novels: The Silmarillion (S), The Hobbit (H), and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.of The Silmarillion was collected, edited and published in 1977 posthumously by Tolkien’s son, Christopher. The Hobbit also known as There and Back Again was published on 21st September 1937. The Lord of the Rings was published between 1954 to1955. It is also called an epic trilogy because it contains three volumes and they are The Fellowship of the Ring (FR), The Two Towers (TT), and The Return of the King (RK). Tolkien’s awe-inspiring myth-making is best expressed in The Silmarillion. The Silmarillion is the “enigmatic and unfinished work thatUniversity forms the theological and philosophical foundation upon which, and the mythological framework within which The Lord of the Rings” (Pearce, 6) and The Hobbit were structured. 2 See Birzer, The Christian Gifts of J.R.R. Tolkien, http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/ 2 His fantasy novels were a phenomenal success and caused a shockwave which was also a double-edged sword. They received a combination of both incredible success and critical hostility. As Curry questions, “what are so many readers finding so rewarding in these books that so many professional literary intellectuals think is so bad?” (Tolkien and His Critiques, 1). Critics like Edmund Wilson, Catherine Stimpson, Brenda Partridge, Raymond Williams, and Kathleen Herbert have critically slammed Tolkien’s works as “juvenile trash”, as being sexist, racist, snobbish and most of all for not being relevant to modern society.3 Perhaps the most bitter criticism came from Germaine Greer, an Australian theorist, academic and journalist. In Waterstone’s Magazine, she expressed her frustration claiming that it had been her “nightmare” that readers would consider Tolkien as the “most influential writer of the twentieth century” and now “the bad dream has materialized” (qtd. in HandsMalaya of a Healer, 1). of Nevertheless, there are many writers like Joseph Pearce, Patrick Curry, Jane Chance and Christopher Synder who disagree with the denigrations placed on Tolkien. Patrick Curry, the author of Defending Middle Earth, argues that critics have always misinterpreted and misunderstood Tolkien and the messages implied in his books. Even Joseph Pearce, the writer of Tolkien: Man and Myth, a Literary Life, agrees that Tolkien was “a misunderstood man precisely because he is a mythunderstood man” (5). AccordingUniversity to Pearce, Tolkien understood the nature and the meaning of myth in a different light which his critics and detractors misapprehended4 and thus they failed to appreciate his works. 3 Detailed description of criticisms found in Patrick Curry’s Tolkien and His Critiques , pages 1-32 4 See Pearce in Sanctifying Myth: fwd.