Mooreeffoc

[The X Phial]

From "On Fairy Stories"

Mooreeffoc is a fantastic word, but it could be seen written up in every town in this land. It is Coffee-room, viewed from the inside through a glass door, as it was seen by Dickens on a dark London day: and it was used by Chesterton to denote the queerness of things that have become trite, when they are seen suddenly from a new angle.

I, personally, find this a facinating concept, and one that I have experienced on more than one occasion. Tolkien describes it as a type of fantasy, of looking at the same old things in new ways. I think it's a concept that Tolkien incorporates into his books.

The example I think of most often is Sam talking about how he and Frodo are part of a story that goes back to the first age. He has known these stories all of his life and yet they suddenly seem strange, reality redefined, with the realization that they represent real hardship and loss. I can't say for sure that it's what Sam experiences, but it's what I experience when I read it. The old stories, my knowledge of the Silmarillion, seem normal until redefined that way by Sam.

Thoughts, comments, further examples?

[mark12_30]

"Ecnalubma: a rescue vehicle seen in the rear view mirror."

Oh, yes. To me, Mooreeffoc seems like a very pervasive theme, and it begins way back in The Hobbit: after his quest, and the vast number of times that Bilbo wished for his hearth and teakettle just beginning to sing, I doubt he ever looked at the hearth and teakettle the same. I doubt he ever took a pocket hankerchief completely for granted, either!

X-Phial (I've always loved your name, by the way), do you see a similarity between Mooreeffoc and the common concept of "The Paradigm Shift"? To me they are tied strongly together. And I don't think that there's anyone in the Quest who really escapes unscathed; I think all the major characters go through some sort of paradigm shift, with the possible exception of Gandalf ("...and I was the only one who was not surprised.")

[The X Phial]

I would have to say that changes brought about through hardship and suffering are different from a sudden realization, but I agree that each character probably has a moment in the book when they redefine something that used to be normal to them (except perhaps Gandalf, as you said). I have always thought of a paradigm shift as being on the large scale, i.e. the shift from religion to science as the dominant way of defining the world. I suppose the concepts are connected, though I think of mooreeffoc as being more like the "reframing" done in cognitive therapy.

[Guinevere]

Great topic, X-phial!

I love "On fairy-stories"! It was a real eye-opener for me (like Sam says) and I found so much truth in it!

For me, the "Mooreffoc-effect" works also when I'm reading something in a foreign language. It seems much less trite and familiar then and it makes me look at words from a new angle.

And in Tolkien's case it's not only just reading English (which isn't my mothertongue) but his special very beautiful language, which is not everday-English at all, and his many varying styles for the different characters that make his world come alive in a way no other book ever did.

(btw that's why for me, the German translation isn't half as good as the original, especially the new one where the translator actually tried to "modernize" the language! He just spoils the effect, in my opinion.)

[ May 14, 2003: Message edited by: Guinevere ]

[Son of Fire]

Guinevere, I totally know what you mean, when I read things in spanish (my secod language) I feel like I take the words more seriously and understand the intent better than translations if simply because I read a bit slower and think more. The Hobbit is pretty good in Spanish. By the way, you see "ambulance" as "ambulance" in your rearview mirror, they write it backward on the front "ecnalubma" so that you see it correctly in your mirror, nice try though, mark12_30.

[mark12_30]

Ecnalubma-- exactly, that's the point. Got you thinking, didn't it? You know what it is when you normally read the lettering in your rear-view mirror, which is the closest view most people get of an ambulance; and then one day when you face the hood without a mirror, suddenly it looks-- backwards, and mysterious. But you're seeing it for the first time the "right " way.

CS Lewis mentions it in THe Last Battle, when he talks about catching a glimpse of outdoors in your dresser-mirror-- the glimpse is more fascinating, and somehow for a moment more real.

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

This has brought to my mind several things.

When I was a little girl I used to love repeating a word over and over out loud until it became nonsense syllables. If you just mindlessly repeat the word "broom" (that was my favorite), soon it loses it's meaning altogether. By the time I was done, I always thought a broom could be all sorts of fantastic things. Am I making sense? Anyway, the point was, that there's an element of childishness in "mooreeffoc" that is important. Almost every fantasy work/writer gets into that idea, Tolkien touched on it in "The Cottage of Lost Play".

Secondly, it reminded me of the use of the Mirror in Tennyson's Lady of Shallott. She could only see the reflection in the mirror, but she wanted to see the real world. It's rather backward for us, if we take it literally, but (and here I go on a bunny trail again) I think this ties in with Tolkien's entire idea of the eucatastrophe. Both offer glimpses of a wider truth, "mooreeffoc" does it through a radically different look at a familiar thing.

I think when X-Phial talks about Sam's redefinition of the old stories, that moves it even closer to eucatastrophe, because the realization that hits when Sam realizes he's still in one of the old tales, that it's still occurring, is so poigniant.

I've rambled. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Sophia

[The X Phial]

It's certainly true that eucatastophe and "mooreeffoc" are related. The example I cited is using one concept to achieve the other, but I think both can exist independently of each other as well. I had the idea that eucatastrophe was on a large scale and occured infrequently in a story, but on reconsidering, I think perhaps small realizations could count as such.

[akhtene]

Whenever I re-read any of Tolkien’s books (quite regularly, and not necessarily from beginning to end in correct order) I always “discover” something I’ve never thought about before. For example, while reading about the sinking of Numenor I suddenly related it to the stories of Atlantis. Not much of a discovery anyway [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] and perhaps totally wrong, but it kept me proud of my wits for a couple of days… [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

PS Can anyone tell me what ‘eucatastrophe’ is? It isn’t in any of my dictionaries. Btw, when my husband nags me about ‘wasting my time’ here, I keep telling him that I’m improving the language.

PSS Sophia, what an avatar! And so illustrative for THIS thread.

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

Thanks, akhtene!

This is very off topic, but still interesting. I think you're not far off making the comparison between Numenor and Atlantis. One of the names for Numenor after it's downfall was Atalante, a choice of name that brings to mind Avallone's similarities to Avalon.

And on another note, C.S. Lewis in That Hideous Strength makes reference to "Numenore" in connection with Merlin (who is also associated with Atlantis in some contexts). Since they were working simultaneously on space/time travel stories, I don't find it hard to believe that Tolkien knew Lewis planned to make this reference.

Apologies for the straying from topic [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] . As for Eucatastrophe, it isn't surprising that your dictionaries didn't list it, as it's a term Tolkien coined for a certain emotional response to unexpected hope in an overwhelmingly dark situation (or at least that's my rather ungifted paraphrase). Here's a thread that will tell you more about eucatastrophe than you could ever need to know.

Sophia

[Scott]

My particularly cheap definition of eucatastrophe is "good that has come out of disaster (catastrophe)."
Etymologically (because it is a Tolkien site and all), catastrophe is of course the word for disaster (coming from greek katastrophe) and it's prefix eu means something good (greek too, I think).

[akhtene]

Thanks, Sophia and Scott
It's very illuminating thread you directed me to, I spent half a night reading it (can't think how I missed it earlier [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] )
I often grieved that good turns in the story are paid for very dearly. Now I realize that in most such cases the situation didn't suggest any good outcome at all. Wait, it's not an off-topic! That's the new angle at which I am going to look at some events now.