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Tolkien's Other Mythology by Runewuff
Typically, when people really get into Middle Earth, after reading the novels, they move to Tolkein's other writings... the Simillarion, the huge mythology he created about where elves and dwarves came from and who Sauron and Gandalf and Elrond really are.
What I've seen a glimmer of is Tolkien was also mythologizing the present, praising or warning against certain kinds of people.
I have the Lord of the Rings as a sort of expanded edition that came out just after the movie, with appendices on the elven and dwarvish languages, how to read the flowing script on the Ring, and a prologue "concerning hobbits". "Concerning Hobbits" is a long description of just what a Hobbit is (for those who never read the Hobbit) but here's the thing... it describes them in the present tense.
"Hobbits are an unobstrusive but very ancient people, more numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth..."
In this worldview, any small, down-to-earth, good-natured person who loves living well, (preferably through agriculture) is a Hobbit. People who rarely (if-ever) wear shoes for they are connected to their land.
Because it's a prologue, I wasn't sure if this bit had been written by Tolkien himself, but his description of Goblins, in the middle of the Hobbit, removes all doubt.
"Now Goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things but they make many clever ones..."
He then goes on to explain that Goblins may have been behind mass-killing machines of the world... since Tolkien lived through World War I, this is a hint that the people who invented poison gas and machine guns and tanks are Goblins.
In this worldview, anyone who is lazy and without conscience, who will spend hours inventing an ugly, but functional machine to avoid work, even the work of killing other people, is a Goblin.
I have heard that apparently, back in the 60s, these books were fairly popular with Hippies (along with Stranger in a Strange Land)... I'm beginning to see why, and wonder if I'm not the first to pick up on these overtones.
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Interesting. My confusion was once a story becomes famous there'll be one or two or three forewords about how awesome it is. On top of that, the map of Middle-Earth was (i think) drawn by somebody else. So I wasn't sure when the words of other people finally stopped and Tolkien started.
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Hehe, true. And sometimes this happens right on the beginning. I think Terry Jones added two or three forewords to A Salmon of Doubt to make sure his friend's final book was properly introduced.
But I think the map (if it's the same map I'm thinking) was drawn by Tolkien's son Christopher (iirc). I remember he laments a few errors in it in the introduction to Unfinished Tales, and promises to correct it in a new map.
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That map is actually part of a fan-theory me and my brother kicked around... he gets the impression from the book that Middle-Earth is really supposed to be the map of Europe in the Time of Legend... as in the Misty Mountains are the actual Alps, and there is indeed a box-shaped region in southeastern europe where Mordor would be. At this point, however, Middle-Earth is more like a group world building effort that Tolkien only started, so I think it doesn't quite matter what his original intent was, that's the map the community has agreed upon.
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Actually I did have the impression that Tolkien at least started constructing his mythos like that, as if he were telling the story of this Earth long, long ago. The fact that Tolkien's world was flat muddled things a little, though.
But Mordor's funny shape is something that always calls my attention. I can't help but see Anatolia there, and Osgiliath as a fantastic version of Constantinople. Besides, I wonder if Valinor isn't based on Brendan the Navigator's promised lands to the west.
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Not quite the same interpretation of Middle Earth onto the world map, but it makes sense. Then Sauron's horde is the fantasy Ottoman Empire? Come to think of it, the Siege of Isengard does have paralels to the Siege of Vienna...
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Siege of Isengard? I'm not sure if I'm acquainted with the battle you're referring to. Internet is telling me the siege of Isengard was the one by the Ents... But if the Turks are to be associated with Sauron, perhaps Vienna is closer to Minas Tirith?
Anyway, despite the fact that I was the one to bring it to the table, I must admit this kind of interpretation I'm offering is actually a little disturbing to me. I'm never really sure if the more Crusadist types won't see the same signs and decide to take LotR and it's clear-cut good vs. evil narrative as some sort of spiritual inspiration to xenophobia.
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donqui
Well, my pre-movie Portuguese translation (when I was given these I still couldn't read English) of the Lord of the Rings has both the "Concerning Hobbits" prolog and the endless appendices at the end of the third volume. So, I always figured these were written by Tolkien himself because he was really into worldgen.