Tolkien Care Tundo Coina
“Tolkien makes the hills alive.” I am blown away by the intricate detail with which Tolkien crafts his fiction- i.e. CREATING AN ENTIRE LANGUAGE TO FIT A RACE! (zomg). Above is a sample of Quenyan Elvish, taken from an online dictionary dedicated to J.R.R. Tokien’s creative project. He even went as far as to fabricate an alphabet with which to convey the elegance and excellence of the elvish language, and thereby the quality of the race itself. His beautiful figures are only one example of the INCREDIBLE creativity of the “Imaginary World” of Middle Earth. The Lord of The Rings set a new standard in fantasy- it introduced an immersive, competely contrived escape from reality- one with a history and a future.
As an avid fantasy reader myself, I have tasted several examples of the genre. Most books that take place in another “world” concentrate information onto the relevant, the present, and only enough background to begin to understand the nature of the characters. Take ERAGON for example- an enjoyable, action filled fantasy, but it seems to take place in an “imaginary world” that consists of a few key places and three races- the only background given is that bare minimum needed to understand matters at hand. I always find myself thirsting for more “Dragon-Lore”…
OH but Tolkien has written volumes of history to preface his world! The Silmarillion (an amalgamation of J.R.R.’s note by his son) reveals the origins of all (at least seven) races on Middle Earth- and expands the world to include other continents as well! His sense of time is rivaled only by the poetic eloquence with which he writes song for each race (and each tongue) he has contrived. Lines and lines of verse grace the pages of his works- each with distinctions and nuances that reveal little tidbits about their so-called “writers.”
Extensive scene developement is also characteristic of Tolkien’s work: it is nearly impossible to read through a scene and not picture in perfect 1080i in your mind! Indeed, some find this tedious, but it is imperative when literally building a world from the ground up, and it certainly solidifies Middle Earth in my mind. Fantasy, for me, is an escape from the duldrums of reality- a new adventure, fresh clean and pure- and YES “quest structured”- where i can find security in the fact that good DOES in fact defeat evil, and I CAN be the hero, even when he is four feet tall with extremely hiary feet. When stress closes in and I just need to GET AWAY- I know there’s a genre and especially a certain author that can satisfy my escape. :)
Westley Taylor
Above is an example of Tolkien’s elvish script- completely original! O.o
Detailed attributes such as language constructs, world building, and political structures all bring depth and enjoyment in varied ways to the reader. When correctly mixed, it creates a powerful result.