The Tolkien Template - Carrying on the torch of mythology and folklore

[ReededGoat]

I'm interested to hear people's comments and philosophies on the following...
Much of the fantasy written today is garbage. People churn out imitative junk without truly paying homage to their sources. Many might say that all modern fantasy is based on Tolkien, but Tolkien himself would probably disagree. Tolkien admittedly was fashioning a myth based quite heavily on many existing myths. What Tolkien accomplished was the very meaning of myth - the stories are created from various sources - real experience, imagination, exaggeration; and are then filtered through many minds and mouths as time rolls ever on. He took from many sources (the man was a veritable goldmine of medieval myth and language), and fashioned a brilliant epic in the literary style and feel of myth.
What much of today's fantasy fails to embody is a style that is both captivating and interesting. Much description of environment is a run-on laundry list of flowery phraseology. Example (made up by myself): They awoke the following morning, sleep still heavy on their minds. The glowing embers from the fire the night before provided the illusion of warmth and comfort. The morning dew glistened on the blades of grass, and songbirds heralded the coming of the sun.
Whereas in Tolkien (and in old myths and legends from long ago) things are, literally, more intense:
Down in the lowest and most sheltered corner of the dell they lit a fire, and prepared a meal. The shades of evening began to fall, and it grew cold. They were suddenly aware of great hunger, for they had not eaten anything since breakfast; but they dared not make more than a frugal supper. The lands ahead were empty of all save birds and beasts, unfriendly places deserted by all the races of the world. (from FOTR p. 202, Houghton-Mifflin, second edition).
JRRT keeps things simple, but strings things in a way that flows and sets the scene perfectly. In cases where things need to be more intense, he adopts the absolutely ridiculous nature of myth, where the impossible becomes possible, and if not handeled correctly, or given the proper context, could become downright silly:
With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains. (ROTK, p. 112, ibid)
or
And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City. (ROTK, p. 113, ibid)
To compare, here is a brief bit from Lady Gregory's Cuchulainn of Muirthemne (Irish mythology)
And he cut down a tree with his sword, and it having four branches, and he lopped them short, and cleared the tree; and he stood up in his chariot, and with one cast he drove the tree into the ground that it stood deep and firm, and he set the four heads he had struck off on the four lopped branches of it. (Cuchulainn of Muirthemne, Lady Gregory, p. 152, Colin Smythe Limited)
It should not be suggested that modern writers of fantasy throw off their current techniques and begin writing in a style based on Early Modern English, or that such exaggerated feats of mythical proportions be blatantly incorporated into their novels, but it might behoove more writers to examine how their actual prose might enhance (or inhibit) their stories and how they are conveyed to the reader. There is power in some writing that has nothing to do with the plot or characters...JRRT is a writer who reflects this concept. It is good to look at a poem he was quite in love with during his life - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The alliteration used in that poem often tonally reflects what is happening in the story...things become more difficult to say when difficult events are transpiring, the language flows when the story is relaxed, and the language becomes very rhythmic and quick when the story touches upon festivities...I will not quote here, many editions are available for study.
Fantasy as a genre is in its infancy in our world...perhaps many problems arise from writers trying to create something wholly original, when no art is truly (at its very core) original. In acknowledging the various sources that are imitated and drawn from, one transcends the problem of trying to separate from the very traditions that imbue stories with vibrancy and life.
As a disclaimer, much of what has been said above relates the very insecurities I have with my own writing, and I will always be struggling to overcome them. As such, this thread is not intended to aid me in my personal problems, it is in the very analysis of them that I become curious about other people's opinions regarding the observations I've made.

Thanks for reading,
RG

[ November 11, 2002: Message edited by: ReededGoat ]