Mythological Multiculturalism

[vovat]

I've seen this many times in the past and usually avoided doing it, but I figure I might as well go ahead with it now. It IS the holiday season, after all. From zimbra1006:

Reply to this post, and I'll tell you one (or a lot of reasons) why I like/love/adore you. Then put this in your own journal, and spread the love.

This article on creating the fantastic beings for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe contains some information on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien's conflicting opinions on incoporating such creatures.

"Tolkien, who relied heavily on Norse mythology for Rings, thought a fantasy world worked best when its mythology was self-enclosed. Encountering figures from different traditions in the same story would break the spell of the fairy tale, Tolkien argued."

I think I'm somewhat more on Lewis' side in this respect. But then, my favorite fantasy series has so many different types of weird people and creatures as to make Narnia look downright tame by comparison. For that matter, it also incorporates Santa Claus. While I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings books, I never found it to be as much fun as Oz, Narnia, or (if I'm allowed to include a more recent fantasy series) Harry Potter.

I still haven't seen the Narnia movie yet. I'm hoping that maybe bethje and I can go on Thursday, if nothing else comes up to get in the way.

You scored as Martin Heidegger. You are Martin Heidegger. You are a very wordy person that believes we classify objects by their function, and that community is essential. Once we are in a community, then it is possible for us to differentiate ourselves. You also might have sympathetic feelings towards Nazis. </td> Martin Heidegger 68% Friedrich Nietzsche 32% Soren Kierkegaard 32% Jean-Paul Sartre 32% Albert Camus 32% Not An Existentialist 29% Which Existentialist Philosopher Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

Comments

[bethje.livejournal.com]

Well, I ain't putting it on my blog/LJ< but I love you, because you are my best friend and are fun and we get along and all that crap.

Anyway, you're also a nazi, because you would heckle Ann Coulter.

[loz]

I've already spread the love twice, I'm really not up for doing it again. Those sorts of things always seem to bring up the people on my friends list who never respond otherwise and usually it's really difficult thinking of things to say.

I think there's a nice internal logic to Tolkien's vision, however how does he know his audience is going to know that any creatures contained therein are from different traditions? Perhaps it would be true of his very first audience, but surely not the young today who most likely think he invented such creatures.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, I ain't putting it on my blog/LJ< but I love you, because you are my best friend and are fun and we get along and all that crap.

Awww, I think the same of you. You're the most fun person I've ever known.

Anyway, you're also a nazi, because you would heckle Ann Coulter.

Yeah, I'd go to her rally and yell, "PLAY FREE BIRD!" :P

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I've already spread the love twice, I'm really not up for doing it again.

That's understandable. I will say that I like you for your enthusiasm and the interesting thoughts you have on interests that we share, but I don't require you to do this in your own journal. I might well avoid doing the kind of meme that tells people to reply to it, because hardly anyone ever does. Maybe my readership is made up of people who are resistant to being told what to do. {g}

Those sorts of things always seem to bring up the people on my friends list who never respond otherwise and usually it's really difficult thinking of things to say.

If all else fails, I guess you could always go with, "I think you're cool because you left me a comment." {g}

It's been a while since I've read anything by Tolkien. I might well want to read The Hobbit again, or try my luck at getting through The Silmarillion, but The Lord of the Rings was so long that I don't relish going through it again. I saw all three movies, though, and I remembered most of the events from them pretty well.

Perhaps it would be true of his very first audience, but surely not the young today who most likely think he invented such creatures.

The thing is, Tolkien's best creations might well be the ones he DID invent himself. There might have been some mythological basis for hobbits and Ents, for instance, but I think he came up with most of the details on them by himself. Tolkien seemed to have a particular love for his elves, but a fair number of readers seem to think they come across as stuck-up bastards. {g}

[obsessical.livejournal.com]

I like to be told nice things :D!

I'm gonna post that in my LJ. I was gonna make all sorts of hilarious puns about 'spread'ing the love like one would put some delicious 'spread' on a sandwich, but then I said 'spread' too much in my head and the word lost all meaning.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd go to her rally and yell, "PLAY FREE BIRD!" :P
Ironically and yet completely unrelatedly, I read that just as "Free Bird" actually came on my computer... ooooo...

If I leave you tomorrow, would you still remember me?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

It's weird when stuff like that happens.

Anyway, since I'm spreading the love, I'll say that you're cool because you share some of my interests (mostly in terms of books), and you're one of very few people I knew from college with whom I'm still in touch.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Okay, I like you because you'll usually reply to and/or propagate the stupid memes and quizzes I'm always posting.

Re: If I leave you tomorrow, would you still remember me?

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks for the love! You're cool too!

Re: If I leave you tomorrow, would you still remember me?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, and thank you!