On the Origins and Influences of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Legendary Epic.doc

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1、论 J. R. R.托尔金传奇史诗小说之源起及其影响On the Origins and Influences of J. R. R. Tolkiens Legendary EpicContentsAbstract.1Key words11. Introduction.21.1 Tolkiens life and his career.21.2 The origins of Tolkiens epic novel.42. Motif of the Lord of the Rings.52.1 Critics view about Tolkiens work.52.2 History backg

2、round and parable meaning of J.R.R.Tolkiens work.63. The Aftermath of Tolkiens Epic Fiction.83.1 The background of the 1960s spring development of Tolkien Industry.83.2 Formation of the novel industry.94. Conclusion.11References.12On the Origins and Influences of J. R.R. Tolkiens Legendary EpicAbstr

3、act: The article will dedicate to the great English fantasy writer J.R.R.Tolkien and his monumental trilogy epic: The Lord of the Rings, of which origin and impact can indicate what we can learn from his work. Through its archaic settings, the common destiny of humankind is revealed and the inner-em

4、bedded tragedy nature of human narrated. The Lord of the Rings is chronicle with a double-line historical backdrop. One is the obvious outer primitive milieu set in the primitive era 5 and 6 A.D of European geography and demography and the other is albeit obscure yet genuinely existing turbulent war

5、-torn Europe continent of 20th century as the breeding-ground of two great wars, which many literary critics ascribed as the underlying motivation for Tolkien to elaborate this tome. Henceforth, I would like to comb Tolkiens trilogy in a tradition logical line.Key words: Origins; Theme; Influences o

6、f Tolkiens trilogy摘 要：谨以本文向英国著名幻想小说家J.R.R.Tolkien 及其广为人传诵的三部曲史诗致意。借由其古代背景，人类普遍之命运与内里之悲剧性跃然纸上。并且本书的年代背景由双线构成。一条是外在的古代架空世界,以五，六世纪的中古欧洲地理民族为其历史背景；另一条则是20世纪的纷乱的欧洲，两次世界大战的爆发和破坏令欧洲生灵涂炭，满目疮痍。很多文学家视这后一条为托尔金写作该书主要动因。因此，我将以逻辑线索为主线梳理该小说的成因，主题及其后世影响。关键字：托尔金小说三部曲起源；主题；影响1. Introduction J.R.R.Tolkiens contributio

7、n to the literary world begins with The Lord of the Rings, which revealed the grand depth and possibility of human nature, but never end at the work. In this paper, I would like first to talk about his life and major as an explanation why his works form in such a manner and style. Then, I will focus

8、 on the phenomenon that a series of cultural industry sprout out from the “secondary world”, in which Tolkien was the well-received forerunner. I write this article with the purpose of share the reading experience and background of The Lord of the Rings. Many a time, I noticed that people watch movi

9、e The Lord of the Rings with confused face and perplexed mind. Therefore, I will elaborate the historical settings and influences exerted by Tolkiens trilogy.1.1 Tolkiens life and his careerJohn. Ronald. Reuel. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. His mothers name is Mabel Suffield, who w

10、as well educated and mastered several European languages. Tolkiens father Arthur Tolkien was then a branch bank manager of Bank of Africa. When three years old, Tolkien was brought back to England and the next year came the tidings that his father has passed away. However, without enough money for k

11、eeping their living standard, Mabel still kept her children educated by her own teaching. During his childhood, Tolkien enjoyed his country life and such a experience he never forgot, in fact he recreated a similar place in his secondary world Shire. Thus, we may know why he did not like urban lifes

12、tyle, for in a city, he never felt at ease and the smelly atmosphere does him a great harm. When he was seven, he began to write his own dragon story. In 1899, Ronald took the entrance examination of King Edwards School without success, but the next year he did. Therefore, his four years of happy ru

13、ral life ended. With the advocating and encouragement of Cure Francis, young Tolkien pursued what he was interested in elfish language and ancient English and Finnish. Again sad news came, his mother died in 1904. He was transported to his aunt Beatrice. After he passed the scholarship test of Oxfor

14、d University in 1910, he got down to collect and study the saga and myth of Finland, such as Kalevala. Joseph Wright taught him linguistic and languages, who was then a self-taught linguistic professor. Tolkien began his further study of Finnish and during this process he commenced to form his own l

15、anguageQuenya, which was of course deeply influenced by Finnish. In his treatise, Tolkien claimed that Britain should also create a world-establishing saga like Kalevala of Finland. In the summer, after Tolkien switched to another college of Oxford, he realized he was also interested in ancient Engl

16、ish, in which a word even became the name of his hero in his epic novelEarendel that means glittering lightness. Ronald was enlightened by such kind of sentences, which he thought have an archaic and beautiful background. Through further learning, Tolkiens imagination inspired.First, he wrote poems

17、and further developed his languages and the first one wrote like this, which was considered the inception of his fantasy writing,The Voyage of Earendel the Evening StarEarendel sprang up from the Oceans cupIn the gloom of the mid-worlds rimFrom the door of Night as a ray of lightLeapt over the twili

18、ght brim And launching his like a silver spark From the golden-fading sand Down the sunlit breath of Days fiery death He sped from WesterlandWhen the First World War broke out, British army in France mobilized Tolkien, during which period his elements of his book, such as Valinor, the twin trees cam

19、e into being. Moreover, in 1917, he began to write the first storyThe Book of Lost Tales, which was renamed as The Silmarillion. Tolkiens life became quite smooth after he was hired by Oxford University as Anglo-Saxon professor in the year of 1926. In 1937, his children fantasy came out and during 1

20、954 to 1955, his trilogy The Lord of the Rings was published. His legendary epic splashed a wild fever discussion, he even wrote a little poemThe Lord of the Rings Is one of those things:If you like you do:If you dont you boo!Within several years, his saga was translated into various European langua

21、ges, so Tolkien was constantly invited by other countries to give lectures. When time came to 1968, the published volume of The Lord of the Rings topped three million. J. R. R. Tolkien died in 1973.1.2 The origins of Tolkiens epic novelIn his foreword to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien says, this tal

22、e grew in telling, until it became a history of the Great War of the Ring and included many glimpses of the yet more ancient history that preceded it. His writing was begun soon after The Hobbit was written and before publication of the Hobbit in 1937. However, I did not go on with this sequel, for

23、I wished first to complete and set in order the mythology and legends of the Elder Days (i.e. the mythological setup related in The Silmarillion), which had then been taking shape for some years. I desired to do this for my own satisfaction, and I had little hope that other people would be intereste

24、d in this work (published after Tolkiens death by his son Christopher Tolkien as The Silmarillion), especially since it was primarily linguistic in inspiration in order to provide the necessary background of “history” for the Elfish tongues. “When those whose advice and opinion I sought corrected li

25、ttle hope to no hope, I went back to the sequel, encouraged by requests from readers for more information concerning hobbits and their adventures. Nevertheless, the story was drawn irresistibly to the older world, and became an account, as it were, of its end and passing away before its beginning an

26、d middle had been told. The process had begun in the writing of The Hobbit, in which there were already some references to the older matter: Elrond, Gondolin, the High-Elves, and the orcs, as well as glimpses that had arisen unbidden of things higher or deeper or darker than its surface: Durin, Mori

27、a, Gandalf, the Necromancer, the Ring. The discovery of the significance of these glimpses and of their relation to the ancient histories of Middle-earth revealed the third Age and its culmination in the War of the Ring.”(The Fellowship of the Ring， 9) Tolkien himself was aware that The Lord of the

28、Rings was less easy to categorize as “adult” or “childrens literature,” and it is probably part of the books lasting success that it appeals to all ages. In tone and style, it is somewhat “in between” the other two books. Lord and The Hobbit are surely not “the same story told twice,” as Helms, sugg

29、ests. “One says without exaggeration that The Lord of the Rings is The Hobbit writ large” Helms even claims, “The Hobbit . . . was aimed wrong, childish”. (Helms, Tolkiens World 1965 21).Dieter Petzold in Fantasy Literature gives a rather insightful description of the relationship between Tolkiens t

30、hree major fictional works. Helms states, “the real importance of The Hobbit is what the creator learned in its writing. As Bilbo Baggins grew up, so did Tolkiens imagination” (Tolkiens World 1975 53). Petzold observed quite accurately that it was not so much the relation between The Hobbit and Lord

31、 that deserves attention, but that between The Silmarillion and The Hobbit. It was not that Tolkiens imagination needed “to grow up,” or that he had to learn to handle serious topics and moral depth (the stories in The Silmarillion, written long before The Hobbit, abound in these), what Tolkien real

32、ly learned in writing The Hobbit was to introduce comical and realistic elements into the overly serious and profound fantasy world of Middle-earth as it is outlined in The Silmarillion (Fantasy Literature 45-48). In doing so, Tolkien wrote Lord, a story that breaks away from the pompous emotionalis

33、m of his early work, and creates a modern hero in the figure of Frodo. 2. Motif of the Lord of the Rings2.1 Critics view about Tolkiens workMany reviewers noticed the discussion of the nature of good and evil, among them Michael Straight(1916-2004) thought the thesis of the trilogy is personal respo

34、nsibility, which represented by the hero Frodo. “What is the obligation of the ring bearer on the condition of limited virtue and potential corrupted man? Is use the existed evil to preserve the existed good, and so evil continued? Or refuse the advantage for the sake of destroy evil?”(Michael Strai

35、ght, Fantastic World of Professor Tolkien, New Republic, CXXXIV, 16 January 1956, 24) In addition, W.H.Auden (1907-1973) referred to the historical experience. He considered the success of Tolkien was due to his persuasion to his readers that Dark Lord was doomed to fail because of lacks of creativi

36、ty, even though he has mighty power. In addition, the main weakness lies in he lack the imagination: the good can imagine what may become if it turn evil, whereas the evil cannot imagine it can be used for good. Sauron cannot imagine the one with the ring not to wield it, and “just like the incarnat

37、ion of evil: Sauron, the will to the power would forever in the form of irrational cruelty”. (W.H.Auden The Fairy Tale: the Reader in the Secondary World.)Our history told us, the stronger side always wins the war, whether it is justice or not. In addition, at the same time, we too believe the natur

38、e of good is love of freedom, so the good cannot show itself by force and so lose the feature of it. The Evil enjoyed various strengths, and its biggest weakness is lack of imagination. That is why Gandalf and Aragorn refrained to use the magic ring. Sauron cannot imagine by any motives, except the

39、will to control and exert fear that enemy got the ring would not use it but destroy it. (W. H. Auden, At the End of the Quest, Victory, The New York Times, 22 January 1956.)2.2 History background and parable meaning of J.R.R.Tolkiens workAs a linguistic professor smoking with a pipe, Tolkien worked

40、out the adult fairy tales with an intensive as well as miraculous imagination. This article also underlined the elusive parable meaning and embedded revelation. Lord of the Rings mingled magic into the looming truth; let us forget “fantasy story is merely snowman that cannot get into the house”. (W.

41、 H. Auden, At the End of the Quest, Victory, The New York Times, 22 January 1956) Therefore, the supporters of Tolkien compared him to Milton, Spenser, and Tolstoy. Moreover, W.H.Auden (1956), who was then a renowned writer and poet, extolled that Tolkien is as great as Milton, only at the defeated

42、battlefield of Milton; Tolkien meet the requirement, which disintegrated love from absolute authority. In addition, Edmund Fuller (1898-1970) compared Lord of the Rings with the works of Wigner, he concluded that both of them centered with a magic ring, and named after it as well as contained dragon

43、s and re-forged double-edged sword. Still he emphasized the common field shared by the two novels were limited, for Tolkiens works did not have the specific fountainhead or borrowed materials, on the contrary, his work is “startlingly original”.Tolkiens work was on the faith of his England historica

44、l definition; it is the way for him to chase and experience the long past English spirit and is the method for him to criticize the modern society. The ever-lasting idyllic style and the nostalgia for country life may came from his childhood in Birminghams suburb as well as his fear of the sprinting

45、 industry development in Oxford shire. It is well received that his fantasy novels succeed in his stock of the ancient Norse lingua and cultural knowledge as well as his new originated narration method, races and the new images of the established items, such as the very self-sufficient secondary wor

46、ld. His work, though he always denied that, was the reflection of the 20th centurys impending war prospect and the tectonic changes of world structure added with the grand industrialization. Logically, in his legendary novel, the epicenter is the power, and the only way to undo it is to annihilate i

47、t self. LORT are the very simile of the 20th century Europe, a war and chaos downtrodden world. Ancient legends, tales, and languages maybe expounded why his was work filled with strange or even exotic places, names and events. However, why in his mind the story line should follow such a line that a

48、 Halfling assumed the mission to destroy the lord of the rings and Saruman widely utilized the grand workshop to create the war-machine and the Uruk army. Reasons lay in that the author perceived all the devastations and annihilations whether they came from the atrocious wars or daily industrial productions, all came from the power of machines, combined with the mans lust to gain more power. Evil will be backup by the stre