Posted: April 19, 1999 at 09:04:34: by Martin Read
: : The real difference between Michael's way of thinking and mine
: : is one of approach. He very much works from within the various
: : texts Tolkien wrote - my approach is to come in from the
: : outside and make comparisons from the text to the external
: : world and then make extrapolations and expansions to fit one
: : with the other. I had a thought that, surprisingly (epecially
: : for an avowed Christian): I wish I knew how to ensure that your messages would all be recorded properly on the message board. As far as the above goes I pretty much agree with you. I start from within the texts and try to stop when I run out of texts. Many people apply the opposite approach, although I'm not sure of what one uses as a frame of reference. I always use the excuse that Tolkien posed his creation as being the "Hidden-history" of the real world. Therefore comparisons drawn from the real world have a presumption of validity unless specifically contradicted by the texts. An apple would fall on the head of Malbeth the Seer much in the same way as on Issac Newton's :-)
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