Posted: September 15, 1999 at 12:18:24: by Mandos
: In Middle Earth there is a total absence of the concept of progress, in fact the opposite is the case. There is no progression of material or intellectual culture, the whole ethos is one of decay. Minas Tirith is a shadow of Osgilliath, and what are either compared to the splendour of Numenor, and this in turn of Gondolin or Tirion?: This attitude probably entered western thought in the Middle Ages and was reinforced in the Renaissance when looking back on the achievements of Antiquity and is one with Tolkien's professional interests. The Anglo-Saxon poet spoke of the Roman remains he saw in England as "Eald enta geweorc" - the work of ancient giants, this is Tolkien's attitude throughout. : This was not the case in antiquity. They did have the legend of the Golden Age, but they really only thought of the past as being simpler, more morally upright, not as being intellectually or culturally superior to the present. Augustus boasted that he found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. Justinian with understandable hubris, when entering the new church of Hagia Sophia, cried out "O Solomon I have outdone thee!" In his attitudes Tolkien was as one with the Mediaeval scholars and men of letters he studied. Well said. I would also add that Tolkien was a man very much enamoured with Anglo Saxon writing, and I believe the eligaic mode ("where have they gone to...."). Anglo Saxon writing is perculiarly eligaic, backward looking, and gloomy (Ragnarok, et al). It makes sense that a writer who loved Anglosaxon literature, and who saw the elevation of English studies from hobby to recognized discipline in his proffesional tenure should write mindfully of the Anglo Saxon perspective. Middle Earth in the third age is very Anglo Saxon. It is the Rohirrim that provide the primary military force of the West, and the "modern" men and hobbits of far west have an English feel to them, and as we all know English=1/2 Anglo Saxon. :)
-Capt Bill Marcellino
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