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03-21-2006, 12:00 PM | #81 | |
Doubting Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Heaven's basement
Posts: 2,466
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Very nice post Bęthberry.
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M-Y-S-T-E-R-Y. Don't you just hate it when, at the end of a book, everything is just wrapped up ever so neatly and conveniently, and nothing is left to ponder? Isn't this the reason for d e m, to fill in the plot holes and finish off the story lines? Discovery. Wonder. Tolkien, in LotR, gives us a glimpse at times that there's more to Middle Earth than just the book in our hands. In the Appendices (added in subsequent publishing because readers wanted to know more?) more of the story is given, but even that is just a teasing draught from the sea of material. The more you explore, the greater your rewards. You still have to dig, as it's not all laid out. And even better, the additional material is (mostly) consistent and valid across the whole. The letters mor signify something dark or black (Moria, Mordor, Moriquendi, etc), whether they're seen in the First or Third Age. Other authors cobble together appendices or additional stories, but these are hacks, not part of nor grown from the whole. Your exploration is put off as it's all a cheap facade, not the real deal archeology of Tolkien's works. So again, as I've stated before, we never get to read about Eru, but occasionally see large fingerprints in LotR, and get the pleasure of playing CSI:ME.
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03-22-2006, 07:36 AM | #82 | ||
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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I often read LotR as being in some ways an unfinished tale. Frodo sails for the West, but there is that evocative passage which hints at yet more: Quote:
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03-22-2006, 09:12 AM | #83 | |
The Pearl, The Lily Maid
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But it's hardly a DEM...think of how often the idea of refuge in the West after long labor is brought up: Legolas' longing for the sea, Aragorns' mourning for the loss of Atalantë, the mystery of Gandalf's origin in the West, the stories (told fairly early in the story) of Ëarendil's journey to Aman. Both the Elves and Men have the same story: A land of milk and honey which they were forced to leave through their own willingness to break rather minimal rules, by the temptation of an evil figure. The fact that Frodo is allowed to return to the West is the ultimate full circle, and reflects Tolkien's religious philosophy. After long labor, and extreme self-sacrifice and bravery, we can return. The West is not lost.
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03-22-2006, 09:18 AM | #84 | ||
Doubting Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Heaven's basement
Posts: 2,466
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03-22-2006, 01:01 PM | #85 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Essex, England
Posts: 886
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this story is about Middle-earth, not about the Undying Lands.
for me, lotr has the most perfect ending I've ever read in a book. There is a sense of closure, the job's been done, but some cannot be healed here in ME so must travel on the Straight Road to find healing before they die. Frodo says goodbye to his friends, and we travel back with Sam and finish the tale from his point of view. And why not, as a lot of people think Sam is the real hero of LOTR..... Hang on, what has THIS got to do with D E M?????!!!!!! |
03-22-2006, 05:33 PM | #86 | |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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I think Tolkien would have baulked at killing off these three Hobbits in any case, but might some see that as reason for this ending being a DEM? Again, I'm not saying that this is what I think at all, as i find it a perfect ending; I'm just posing the question of whether it has the hallmarks of a DEM? I would say that many aspects not just of Tolkien but of fantasy, sci-fi and horror in general could be dismissed as DEMs, when instead, they are just 'magic' or the fantastic.
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