tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post2199288934934768763..comments2024-03-28T10:20:44.291-07:00Comments on Sacnoth's Scriptorium: Well, This Is WeirdJohn D. Rateliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12324926298336489295noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-81007519410267584172011-08-01T08:02:21.834-07:002011-08-01T08:02:21.834-07:00I have no intention of commenting on the political...I have no intention of commenting on the political issue (which would be extremely presumptuous of me, as I am not a US citizen), but there is, I think, an interesting comment on Tolkien's sub-creation hidden away in all this: I would like to comment on Tolkien's Hobbits rather than on US politics. <br /><br />The original <i>Wall Street Journal</i> article seems to have been reasonably favourable of Hobbits as such even if it does seem to present belief in this Hobbit scenario as being very naïve. Possibly the intention with the mention of Hobbits is precisely to invoke this naïvitée about how the larger world works, and this would, I believe, not be wholly inappropriate if we consider how Tolkien portrayed the Hobbits (by which I exclusively mean that the use of Hobbits may be appropriate to the intention of the writer; not that I necessarily find the intention of the writer itself appropriate or inappropriate). <br /><br />Speaking of Sam as a more representative hobbit, Tolkien describes some truly typical Hobbit traits:<br />| a vulgarity — by which I do not mean a mere <br />| 'down-to-earthiness' — a mental myopia which <br />| is proud of itself, a smugness (in varying <br />| degrees) and cocksureness, and a readiness <br />| to measure and sum up all things from a <br />| limited experience, largely enshrined in <br />| sententious traditional ‘wisdom’<br /><i>The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien</i>, Humprey Carpenter (ed.), no. 246 to Mrs Eileen Elgar (drafts) September 1963<br /><br />This, it would seem to me, is quite close to what the writer of the original WSJ article intends to imply, possibly together with an acknowledgement also of the good sides of the Hobbits — their courage and indomitability, for example.Troelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07515711722551393026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-73543966927263015682011-07-30T20:18:47.355-07:002011-07-30T20:18:47.355-07:00You're right. It's weird times when your T...You're right. It's weird times when your Tolkien Watch alarms start ringing in the middle of congressional fiascoes. Thanks for the links.Rob Heinsoohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06577746024668857179noreply@blogger.com