Fiction in Middle Earth - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 04-10-2003, 02:38 AM

Silly question, maybe, but why is there no 'fiction' in Middle Earth? There don't seem to be any novels or stories in that world. All the characters refer to historical events, but all the stories mentioned are about things & places that 'actually' existed there. There seems to have been a total absence of invention in this one area. You'd think the Elves, being so incredibly creative, would have 'made up' stories. Tolkien doesn't mention anything about this aspect of ME life, when he put so much effort into creating the world in such detail. As a fiction writer himself, isn't this odd?

04-10-2003, 02:38 AM	#1
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Fiction in Middle Earth Silly question, maybe, but why is there no 'fiction' in Middle Earth? There don't seem to be any novels or stories in that world. All the characters refer to historical events, but all the stories mentioned are about things & places that 'actually' existed there. There seems to have been a total absence of invention in this one area. You'd think the Elves, being so incredibly creative, would have 'made up' stories. Tolkien doesn't mention anything about this aspect of ME life, when he put so much effort into creating the world in such detail. As a fiction writer himself, isn't this odd? __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."