What is so interesting is that with the very simple words “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit” great insight into history and mythology has penetrated the modern world through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring. As Shippey explains it, Tolkien created a mystical world in which he placed the hobbits: a race of simple creatures who did not adequately fit into that world. In a way Tolkien wanted to direct the reader to have insight about how the little people (the marginalized groups of society) as he calls them contribute to the well being of this great and wonderful world called the modern world.
In creating this mystical world Tolkien borrowed a lot from already written literature works which constituted the various creatures that existed in his new world. He adapted these creatures for his own use. He gave new meaning to the mannerisms and names of these creatures from the old sagas and so doing, created new identities for these creatures in a modern mythology. Amazingly Tolkien place great emphasis on the meaning names and words as well as their lineages. This is how he was able to create the element of history that exists in the storyline of the novels. In the end Tolkien is able to prove reader the importance of words and their meaning as well as their lineages but above all he is able to show how the different races in his world can harmoniously coexist.
Another thing which is intriguing about Tolkien is that most people came to think that he created the world of fairy-tale. Shippey helps the reader to understand that he did not but rather he helped many more readers to imagine their novels in the realms of fairy. Tolkien through his writings was able to show other writers the expansive world of fairy-tale and how adaptive to the purpose of the writer this world can be. Tolkien was also able to show them how to go about writing fairy-tale. He introduced them to the sources to use, the places to look for ideas and the name of people and places can play important roles in fairy-tale. Tolkien also showed later writers who may be interested in fairy-tales the value of using one’s own environment and social class structure, peoples and the landscape as a great resource in create fairy lands in their novels. For these reasons some still consider him the Father of the world of fairy-tale.
Trudy antwi October 15, 2008, at 07:01 PM
