some thoughts, or nation in ME

[HerenIstarion]

just a bit of speculation on the subject [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]:

for the title of given topic may sound a bit strange, as JRRT himself never uses such a word in his entire ME works. And it’s just natural – the world described is like that of ours, yet of feudal age, not modern one. The hierarchical sistem is vertical (population ruling class  nobility  king) than characteristical to our period horizontal one. There are no nations, only races, as it is. Whatever difference between realms, the races are felt to be an entity – dwarves means “whole of the dwarves” and men “all of the mankind”, as well as elves or orcs. And this implication is made not only by outsiders, yet by races themselves. Possible difference in language (i.e Rivendell – Lothlorien, Rohan-Erebor), does not matter as the difference matters in the modern sence. For in modern world “nation” is described as entity of people united by language, culture, and self-definition.The self-definition of ME peoples is rather ascribed to place. Riders describe themselves as “those living in the Mark”. Those elves are elves of Lorien, and these are of Mirkwood, but they are elves allright. They may differ in status, but difference is not based on the case of them being “lorienians” or “imladrisians”. Closest to nationality in modern sense come 2 peoples – Gondorians and hobbits. Both look at outsiders as strangers, i.e Shire hobbits consider bree-landers to be queer folk, almost foreigners, as well as gondorians, who are guarding their realm, and it only, and, factually, consider the rest of the world to be of less importance then their state (Faramir as an exception). But in comes another difference. Gondor is state somehow pre-feudal, more like Roman Empire in its decline, or, even rather as Byzantium, the place of union and mingling of peoples, united by culture, while Shire is by definition state on the way of developing so-called “bourgois” society.