What Would Peoples of Earlier Eras have Thought Of Tolkien's Works ?

Lumens said:
Our intelligence hasn't evolved much for the past few tens of thousands of years. LOTR told around any camp fire for that period of time would captivate, I hope.
Click to expand...
Of course. But it could have led to very unexpected results. For example, LOTR could have turned into an epic like Homer's, and poor historians in the future would have searched for cities and fortresses mentioned in LOTR (like Schliemann searched for Troy) and not found them.:rolleyes:

Montero said:
Chaucer would have enjoyed the descriptions and the journey, and decried the lack of bawdiness and humour.
Click to expand...
He could have made a verse parody of LOTR and added his humour and bawdiness to it. It could be a very interesting thing to read.:lol:
BAYLOR said:
Sir Thomas Malory would have have The Hobbit and would marveled at LOTR perhaps it influences him to change certain aspects of Le Mort D'Arthur?
Click to expand...
I'd prefer Sir Thomas Malory to read Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy, and her Mordred book as well.
 
A water like Samuel Richardson would have found the relationship go Aragorn and Arwen intriguing. :)
 
Quite possibly. By the way, it would be nice if William Shakespeare could take inspiration from The Silmarillion and write some great plays.
 
Slightly off tangent, but I came across a short story in an anthology that is a dark-humoured spoof of Shakespeare's pedantic and legalistic prophecies that doom Macbeth. I thought the end was pretty funny. Story: And Tomorrow and by Adam Roberts

Considering J.R.R. Tolkien's attempt to "fix" Shakespeare's "walking" forest, I think he might have enjoyed the short story too.
 
Medieval literature was not well-known back then because it was not seen as important. That's why later it was called the "Middle Ages," as it was in the middle of two ages that they did recognize: the Classical World and the Renaissance. The general view is that that dark hole was the reason why they lost classicism, and why it had to be reborn. In general, they saw medieval lit as part of folk stories and legends, to be told as part of entertainment for the uneducated.

It was only much later, during the Romantic Era, did more become immersed in things like medieval epics. And it was only during Tolkien's time or a bit earlier that medieval studies were seen as important, especially in light of philology and history, e.g., of scholasticism and so forth.
 
I wonder what Edmund Spencer would've thought of , The Hobbit ,LOTR and The Silmarillion?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
D A question about referencing other peoples work Writing Discussion 4
N I recall watching a film on ABC back in the 89's The story was the earth being harvested for peoples emotions at multi millennia interval. General Film Discussion 5
T Sci/Fi KIds who mimic peoples mannerisms to manipulate them. Book Search 1
Menion Placing tributes to other peoples characters in your novel? Writing Discussion 3
Susan Boulton Short story to be in the Ruthless Peoples Magazine Susan Boulton 19

Similar threads


Back
Top