An Appreciation of Tolkien

He coins words like Dali painted images and crafts visions of places that are unforgattable. For example, the hidden valley of Rivendell, the last home of the High Elves in Middle Earth. And he sanctifies the place with an older, more magical name from a misty, forgotten past, Imladris. Contrast this against the lurking, black, evil sites of Thangorodrim and Mordor or the threatening sound of ancient, dark servants, the Balrogs. His wordsmith talent alone was masterful.

Having created a brilliant scenario, Tolkien then decided to fortify and strengthen the image with mythology and private histories, a chronology of ages. As in The Hobbit, he made full use of poetic interludes and songs to intrigue us with specialized verses, applicable to portions of hidden sagas, mystical elements and fragments of dreams within dreams to tantalize our imaginations. This, even more than the main story, solidifies the drama as a fantasy and elevates it above any other ever written to date. To give that much attention to the minuscule is an extraordinary effort that no other writer is willing to engage, at least so far. He describes other eons and delineates a believable path whereupon we see with clarity how the final war comes about and ends with the utter destruction of Morgoth and the enemies he has fashioned over an incredibly long span of time, beauty and terror, rather reminiscent of Milton's epic.

To those who say they don't like the work or cannot get into it, I suspect that they haven't given it a chance or are being lazy or dishonest about attempting it because of its length. It is a first class mind shaper, one that covers all the emotions, the foibles and strengths of all of us with considerable wit and style. It is couched in easily readable fashion with tons of surprises, twists and turns and a denouement second to none. Read it for true and prove me wrong. I doubt if you can do it.

Tolkien writes with a passion and literacy that few achieve. I got the impression that the man was sorry to let the work end, that he might have been satisfied to continue it forever and even lose himself within its intricacy, so mightily did he craft the world. This is more than mere entertainment, more than just fantasy. It is a genius and a work of art to be held in awe by readers and reverence as authors. To reinforce my opinion, the film makers have been trying desperately to capture the quality of the work, especially LOTR, for many years. A new film approaches even as I write this, one that we Tolkien admirers hope will do the story justice and put its real impact on the screen. I sincerely hope it does that.