Tolkien

I was a Tolkien nerd in middle and high school. I've been listening to the Prancing Pony Podcast, where the hosts march slowly through the legendarium, and I recently re-read the series. It was the first time I'd fully read the books since I took a Jan Term course called J.R.R. Tolkien in undergrad. But doing the work of re-reading and listening to the pod as a supplement has rekindled a love for Middle-Earth. 

But why did it gain so much traction? Surely there were other writers of fantasy literature who were contemporaries of Tolkien. The stories of Tolkien, particularly LOTR, have been magnificently popular since their release, and skyrocketed even more with the Jackson films. I think Tolkien's popularity can be credited to three things. 

The first is timing. Yes, there were others writing sci-fi and fantasy stories, comic books, etc. But Tolkien's release of LOTR in the 50s was ideal timing. The Hobbit whet many palates, but LOTR was the entree, and had it been released in 40s I'm not sure it would have gained the same traction. The war may have still been too raw for many, and though Tolkien despised allegory, he would not be able to control how a reader looks at his work. Sauron and the hordes of Mordor would be too symbolic of Hitler and the Nazis. The trauma of that era needed time to subside, have its edges taken off. The mid-50s release of LOTR was just enough time. And of course there was a new and more nebulous enemy now to the western world: communism. Readers of Tolkien would feel like Frodo's quest embodied at least some of the same qualities as their own fight for freedom. If we should fail, if Frodo should fail, darkness would swallow all.

The second reason for Tolkien's meteoric popularity is the authenticity. Tolkien did not just read about war, he experienced it as a soldier and the father of soldiers. He did not just make up words that sounded interesting, he developed languages. He did not simply copy the work of others, but took the wealth of knowledge he had from his professional academic studies and desire to create a mythos for England, and he created from there. We readers can often be stupid. But we usually know when we're being duped. LOTR is not a pair of $5 "Oakleys" we bought waiting to cross the border. 

Lastly, he was good. His writing is most certainly not for everyone, and gets a bit less accessible by the year thanks to the internet's proliferation of new pseudo-languages and zapping of our concentrations. Still, as I read the most recent time I was impressed with Tolkien's language, his economy of words, his fluidity, his plotting, and the ways in which he gave his characters agency. There are a great many problematic portions within LOTR for modern readers, but reading the stories of Sam, of Faramir, of Eowyn, it's impossible not to tip the cap to Tolkien. And I think, possibly more than anything, we have to look at the triangular relationship between Frodo, Gollum, and The Ring as one of the greatest feats of fantasy literature. LOTR is a story of heroism, but it's impossible not to see that Frodo fails. He fails at his quest, and yet Tolkien masterfully provides the necessary eucatastrophe to ensure the quest is achieved. Evil destroys itself from the inside out.