Posted: February 04, 2000 at 07:03:16: by Martin Read
In a very basic sense The Lord of the Rings is firmly based in the world of Mediaeval thought. The novel is essentially a Mediaeval invention. The Classical World came up with most forms of literature, epic, comedy, satire, history etc etc but as far as a longish fictional story in prose (a novel) is concerned, we have to look for its genesis in Mediaeval Byzantium and the "Romances" of byzantine writers. A later flowering occurred in the west, probably under indirect byzantine influence, in such writing as the Catalan Tirant lo Blanc etc. So, at least in its form, LOTR owes all to Mediaevality.
|
