Having never read The Silmarillion, this was an interesting chapter for the most part. Hearing the constant references to Old Norse or Icelandic culture, though, does get tiring. At this point, I’m pretty sure everyone is perfectly aware of Tolkien’s drawing from specific cultures in order to fulfill that need for an English mythology, and doesn’t need to be constantly reminded of it. I understand it’s importance in explaining the patterns, but I suppose I’m just tired of hearing about them when I’m not completely acquainted with the cultures outside of Tolkien references.
The constant onslaught of character names, places, and circumstances becomes incredibly hard to get through. Interesting, yes, but hard. I can just see how much Tolkien put his heart and soul into creating this thorough history of a mythical world simply by the wealth of information. Relating to each person we’re introduced to, though, becomes difficult. It got to a point for me where I just accepted another cousin of some other previously mentioned character existed and moved on.
Devon Cozad? November 12, 2008, at 09:17 PM
