What motivated Tolkien to create the mythology of Arda?

[AaronAzrael]

Hello! I would like to bring up the topic of Tolkien's actual linguistic research, motivation, goals and all literary, historically valid, incentives behind his cultural heritage, the work of his life.

I would like to emphasise on his attention to the coherent approach as a Professor that studies, develops and teaches the depths of Ango-Saxon literature, given the fact that he first started constructing Arda as a way to enrich England's heroic legendarium

Please share your knowledge and own research on Tolkien as an academic, dedicated to compose the legend of his country that he believed lacked a deeper body, both in complexity and uniqueness.

I'd like to quote some excerpt from Tolkien's letters and the last quote is from a contributing essay.

"I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story-the larger founded on the lesser in contact with the earth, the lesser drawing splendour from the vast backcloths – which I could dedicate simply to: to England; to my country. It should possess the tone and quality that I desired, somewhat cool and clear, be redolent of our 'air' (the clime and soil of the North West, meaning Britain and the hither parts of Europe: not Italy or the Aegean, still less the East), and, while possessing (if I could achieve it) the fair elusive beauty that some call Celtic (though it is rarely found in genuine ancient Celtic things), it should be 'high', purged of the gross, and fit for the more adult mind of a land long now steeped in poetry.:

"For reasons which I will not elaborate, that seems to me fatal. Myth and fairy-story must, as all art, reflect and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth (or error), but not explicit, not in the known form of the primary 'real' world. (I am speaking, of course, of our present situation, not of ancient pagan, pre-Christian days. And I will not repeat what I tried to say in my essay, which you read"

"Do not laugh! But once upon a time (my crest has long since fallen) I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story-the larger founded on the lesser in contact with the earth, the lesser drawing splendour from the vast backcloths – which I could dedicate simply to: to England; to my country"

"In a now famous letter, composed around 1951, Tolkien recalled how in his youth he was grieved that his “own beloved country… had no stories of its own (bound up with its tongue and soil),” and so resolved to compose a body of myth, fairy story, and heroic legend “which I could dedicate simply to: to England; to my country.”2 This letter has fuelled an intensive and ongoing inquiry among Tolkien scholars concerning the relationship between the various stories of Middle-earth and the geographical entity known today as England. What is rarely noticed, however, is that Tolkien’s reference to ‘English story’ in this letter is complex, and relates to language as well as land. My concern in this essay is not with those stories that he tied to the soil of England, but with his reconstruction of traditions once preserved in a language not native to that soil."

Thank you all for your attention.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Hello! I would like to bring up the topic of Tolkien's actual linguistic research, motivation, goals and all literary, historically valid, incentives behind his cultural heritage, the work of his life.

I have to say, that's a pretty tall order.

I think I'd start by reading T.A. Shippey's "The Road to Middle-earth". Then a few of the better biographies.

 

[Olorgando]

Hello! I would like to bring up the topic of Tolkien's actual linguistic research, motivation, goals and all literary, historically valid, incentives behind his cultural heritage, the work of his life.

I have to say, that's a pretty tall order.
I think I'd start by reading T.A. Shippey's "The Road to Middle-earth". Then a few of the better biographies.

Another source for JRRT's earliest invention of languages is to be found in the book edited by Christopher Tolkien, "The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays". I have a 1997 paperback edition, not sure how available any edition is nowadays.
One of the "Other Essays" is "A Secret Vice", presumed by Christopher to date from 1931 for reasons given in the foreword. JRRT's first introduction to invented languages (the first one not invented by himself) was in childhood, with two cousins. While they dropped by the wayside in (not so much) later stages, we all know that JRRT ended up inventing languages as probably no other author ever.

 

[Bellerophon]

Why did Tolkien believe that England had no stories of its own? It seems to me it has many.

 

[Olorgando]

Why did Tolkien believe that England had no stories of its own? It seems to me it has many.

No stories isn't correct. At least "Beowulf" was written in Old English (as JRRT preferred to call Anglo-Saxon), meaning prior to the Norman invasion of 1066. But when he compared it to what the Brother Grimm had collected in Germany, the Celtic collections (Wales, Ireland, Scotland), even the Finnish collection that was published as the "Kalevala" by the middle of the 19th century by Elias Lönnrot, what was left of "Anglo-Saxon" mythology, legends and fairy tales seemed to him very little. Between Hengist and Horsa, leaders of the incursion (of whatever nature) of the north Germanic peoples into the British Isles in the fifth century, and the Norman invasion of the eleventh century lie only about 600 years.

If you're thinking of King Arthur, as far as there are historical roots, he was most likely a romanized Celt fighting against the Anglo-Saxon incursion. That whole Arthurian cycle (besides what may have survived in Welsh legends) was re-imported from Brittany, where quite a few of the British Celts fled from the Anglo-Saxon incursion. Robin Hood, another favorite of Hollywood (where factual history, if and when it can be ascertained, is of supreme irrelevance), most likely originates several generations after the Norman invasion. While as a hypothetical Anglo-Saxon rebellion against Norman usurpation might have made it sympathetic to JRRT, dear ol' Robin is shrouded in far thicker legendary mists than Arthur is - probably a conglomerate figure of varying sources.

The habit, still current, of referring to the inhabitants of the British Isles as "Anglo-Saxons" - and its extension of the term to several of its former colonies, notably the US - is in error. The ruling class for centuries war Norman, slowly "diluting" to what should be properly called "Anglo-Norman" - which is a fitting term for much of the British aristocracy up to present times. When you factor in the Christianization of the definitely "heathen" Anglo-Saxons, which led to a latinization of writing (later Norman - aka imperfect - French was added), very little besides "Beowulf" seems to have survived to our times, something JRRT deeply regretted.

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

From my own research and knowledge, Tolkien never argued that England had no stories of it's own, but that it lacked a Mythology, which is no lie. His quest was to fix this, by giving England a Mythology such as the Greeks or Romans had. Of course, although this was as successful as it could have been, most people regard The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and other ME books as just other novels and stories, when in reality their true purpose was to create a whole world of mythology. I appreciate these topics being discussed, and I think that it is certainly important to remember that Tolkien, aside from being an extraordinary author, was a Professor and a fine literary genius in fields such as philology.
Thank you for bringing this to attention.

 

[Bellerophon]

I took the phrase ‘no stories of its own’ from the quotation in the OP.

If what he meant was that the mythology of Anglo-Saxom paganism had almost entirely disappeared with the arrival of the Church that’s true.

My next question would be in what way did he think that the mythology of the Silmarillion is specifically a mythology for England?

 

[Ent]

"The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays".

Sir Olorgando: An old one from you...resurrecting, I'm sorry.

I just set eyes on the existence of this book, and find myself 'lusting for ownership' a bit. It's essays are of particular interest to me.

What did you think of it? It's available in paperback for a fair nickel or 600. (Though it will need to be shipped by crippled submarine and placed in the hands of the desperately questionable U.S. Postal Service upon arrival.)

(p.s. - I find "A Secret Vice" that you also mention to be fun. but would need to scan it again to do a meaningful review of it. It got buried by a mass of other reading very quickly..!!)

 

[Deimos]

Sir Olorgando: An old one from you...resurrecting, I'm sorry.

I just set eyes on the existence of this book, and find myself 'lusting for ownership' a bit. It's essays are of particular interest to me.

What did you think of it? It's available in paperback for a fair nickle or 600. (Though it will need to be shipped by crippled submarine and placed in the hands of the desperately questionable U.S. Postal Service upon arrival.)

(p.s. - I find "A Secret Vice" that you also mention to be fun. but would need to scan it again to do a meaningful review of it. It got buried by a mass of other reading very quickly..!!)

You say you only now discovered the existence of "Monsters..." ? I discovered it, oh maybe only 10 years ago.
Finally found a good HB copy (pub. Unwin and Allen, UK edition) ...price was ..(wait for it) ... $75 (USD) ...(plus $5 to ship)
I'm glad I bought it...good to have it on the JRRT shelf... someday I may actually read it! 😁 (jk)

 

[Ent]

you only now discovered the existence of "Monsters..." ?

Yep. Keep in mind I've only been 'doing Tolkien' beyond the basics now for about 5 months... had to wait 50 years to be able to get to the deeper stuff. Been here less than 3 months.
I've managed to cover a whole lot of territory, and accumulate some 60 books now... but I don't have 'em all and do still bump into surprises now and again.

But... I'll get there.

Probably 10-13 good years left in me to deal with all this... assuming my eyes hold out and my last 2 brain cells remain connected. (Sometimes there's a 3rd that links in, but it's a bit iffy.)

 

[Olorgando]

What did you think of it? It's available in paperback for a fair nickel or 600.

A must-have for at least a glimpse of understanding of JRRT's professional side. My favorites are the first essay, giving the book its title, and the seventh and last essay "Valedictory Address". The second one, "On Translating Beowulf" drifts into technical stuff that left me very quickly, but all are illuminating.

 

[Ent]

understanding of JRRT's professional side.

THANK you very much SIR..!! I really appreciate your input.

A must-have

OK I couldn't stand the strain, so I ordered it to get it over with. 😁

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

OK I couldn't stand the strain, so I ordered it to get it over with. 😁

Might be an impulse-buy but I totally support you, Ent.