Northern Air

[Lalwendë]

Do not laugh! But once upon a time (my crest has long since fallen) I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of fairy story - the larger founded on the lesser in contact with the earth, the lesser drawing splendour from the large backcloths - which I could dedicate simply to: to England; to my country. It should possess the tone and quality that I desired, somewhat cool and clear, be redolent of our 'air' (the clime and soil of the North West, meaning Britain and the hither parts of Europe: not Italy or the Aegean, still less the East), and, while possessing (if I could achieve it) the fair elusive beauty that some call Celtic (though it is rarely found in genuine ancient Celtic things), it should be 'high', purged of the gross, and fit for the more adult mind of a land now steeped in poetry. I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. Absurd.

So where do you find this Northern air?

For me, the supreme section has to be the Kinslaying and the flight of the Noldor. The Prophecy of the North. The Crossing of the Helcaraxe. The Burning of the Ships.

I have always thrilled to hear stories like that - violent, epic and glacially cool. It might be the Viking blood in me calling out for such thrills, but when I hear about Feanor's deeds, no matter how bad he is, I just love it. I get the sense of sitting in a Longhouse with the fire blazing while the wind howls outside and a storyteller relates the tale. All it needs is a ruddy big dragon to descend with flames of fury to make it complete.

This kind of writing, together with the intimate re-imaginings of folklore (e.g. Tom and the Hobbits), is to me where Tolkien really excels. He just tells the story, no matter how violent, with no narratorial interruptions or asides, and it's left to you, the listener, to get your kicks. It's fey and fell and all of that.

Does anyone else get the urge to go on a rampage and burn a few ships after reading that kind of thing?