Comments on: Yo, Pod. So what’s with the Ents? https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/04/14/yo-pod-so-whats-with-the-ents/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:41:18 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: podrock https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/04/14/yo-pod-so-whats-with-the-ents/#comment-41394 podrock Sun, 15 Apr 2018 20:28:51 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=70496#comment-41394 since Tolkien considered it a mythology, he approached it with a gravitas that other authors may not. And I would suggest that LOTR is not the mythology, but is a story built upon the mythology. He had already created a whole world of thousands of years of history before he ever started the Hobbit. Remember that LOTR and the Hobbit are supposed to be the written works of Bilbo and Frodo as the "Red book of Westmarch." This make the two authors scholars of the ancient tales. Bilbo routinely translates tales he hears in Rivendell from Elvish to the common speech. By the way, this summer a new book length version of "The Fall of Gondolin" will appear on bookshelves. I'm looking forward to it as it is one of my favorite tales of the First Age. (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/10/the-fall-of-gondolin-new-jrr-tolkien-book-to-be-published-in-2018" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/10/the-fall-of-gondolin-new-jrr-tolkien-book-to-be-published-in-2018</a>). A bit of trivia ties this story to later events: In the Hobbit, Elrond tells them that Bilbo's sword "Sting" was forged in the Realm of Gondolin (as was Gandalf's sword.) since Tolkien considered it a mythology, he approached it with a gravitas that other authors may not. And I would suggest that LOTR is not the mythology, but is a story built upon the mythology. He had already created a whole world of thousands of years of history before he ever started the Hobbit.

Remember that LOTR and the Hobbit are supposed to be the written works of Bilbo and Frodo as the “Red book of Westmarch.” This make the two authors scholars of the ancient tales. Bilbo routinely translates tales he hears in Rivendell from Elvish to the common speech.

By the way, this summer a new book length version of “The Fall of Gondolin” will appear on bookshelves. I’m looking forward to it as it is one of my favorite tales of the First Age. (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/10/the-fall-of-gondolin-new-jrr-tolkien-book-to-be-published-in-2018). A bit of trivia ties this story to later events: In the Hobbit, Elrond tells them that Bilbo’s sword “Sting” was forged in the Realm of Gondolin (as was Gandalf’s sword.)

]]> By: ER https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/04/14/yo-pod-so-whats-with-the-ents/#comment-41393 ER Sun, 15 Apr 2018 18:36:48 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=70496#comment-41393 between legend and myth that has evolved with a people and their history, and that which is created by a single man just a few years ago. Storytellers create new mythologies all the time, that's what Star Wars is all about, or the Star Trek Universe, or the worlds of Battlestar Galactica, the Terminator, Alien, King Arthur or even James Bond. Every movie franchise, novel cycle and video game universe is built around an alternate reality, a founding myth of some sort. What makes Tolkien unique is the detail and depth of his mythology, and the exquisite craftsmanship and scholarship he has lavished on it. Still, there are times when, in my opinion, he doesn't quite get it right; like Tom Bombadil.... He's the Middle Earth equivalent of Jar-Jar Binks. between legend and myth that has evolved with a people and their history, and that which is created by a single man just a few years ago.

Storytellers create new mythologies all the time, that’s what Star Wars is all about, or the Star Trek Universe, or the worlds of Battlestar Galactica, the Terminator, Alien, King Arthur or even James Bond. Every movie franchise, novel cycle and video game universe is built around an alternate reality, a founding myth of some sort.

What makes Tolkien unique is the detail and depth of his mythology, and the exquisite craftsmanship and scholarship he has lavished on it.
Still, there are times when, in my opinion, he doesn’t quite get it right; like Tom Bombadil…. He’s the Middle Earth equivalent of Jar-Jar Binks.

]]> By: podrock https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/04/14/yo-pod-so-whats-with-the-ents/#comment-41392 podrock Sun, 15 Apr 2018 17:22:32 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=70496#comment-41392 The Valar knew the elves would be appearing in Middle Earth and were excited for their arrival, so that they might have beings to teach and guide. Aule was the god of forging and mining, as Vulcan was to the Romans. He grew inpatient and created dwarves out of stone. The other Valar were pissed about this so he was forced to put them to sleep until after the Elves appeared. Yavanna, the god of living thins, was very concerned about the Dwarves and what they would do to her forests once they woke with their axes. So she was given permission to allow spirits to enter trees so that they might act as shepherds to the forests. Recall Elrond's message to Gimili about being careful about what trees he uses his ax upon. According to tolkiengatewat.net/wiki, Tolkien invented them while writing the Two Towers. My guess is that he needed them to rescue the hobbits from Saurman and to add historic depth and mystery to his tale. A fairy tale comes alive sort of thing. They also link back to Old Man Willow in Fellowship of the Ring. As far as splitting the story to follow the different characters' arcs, that is not the change in prose I have asked you to watch for. We've talked before about Tolkien's desire to create a mythology, not merely a fantasy story. This was import to him and I think you see the elements of that in LOTR, as you have just discussed. The Valar knew the elves would be appearing in Middle Earth and were excited for their arrival, so that they might have beings to teach and guide. Aule was the god of forging and mining, as Vulcan was to the Romans. He grew inpatient and created dwarves out of stone. The other Valar were pissed about this so he was forced to put them to sleep until after the Elves appeared.

Yavanna, the god of living thins, was very concerned about the Dwarves and what they would do to her forests once they woke with their axes. So she was given permission to allow spirits to enter trees so that they might act as shepherds to the forests. Recall Elrond’s message to Gimili about being careful about what trees he uses his ax upon.

According to tolkiengatewat.net/wiki, Tolkien invented them while writing the Two Towers. My guess is that he needed them to rescue the hobbits from Saurman and to add historic depth and mystery to his tale. A fairy tale comes alive sort of thing. They also link back to Old Man Willow in Fellowship of the Ring.

As far as splitting the story to follow the different characters’ arcs, that is not the change in prose I have asked you to watch for.

We’ve talked before about Tolkien’s desire to create a mythology, not merely a fantasy story. This was import to him and I think you see the elements of that in LOTR, as you have just discussed.

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