Odola
Well-Known Member
I understand. But Tolkien was a linguistically, historically and phylosopically aware author. Would he have stated out clear in his intentuon to write a fantasy not connected to our world today he would made sure the hobbits have a moral system adequate to their described times and context. It would probably rensemble that of the Rohirrim with whom they seem to be distanly related. But Frodo's inner struggle and the ways he tries to combat the ring's influence would make little sense then. Those are basic methods of Christian spiritual warfare. For them to work and to add up, there has to be a Redeemer somewhere or "some-when". Otherwise his methods have "no right to work" as they are then completely baseless.But there is no evidence the constellations are our own. I don’t expect them to be in a fantasy world. I don’t expect similarities to a particular concept of Christian morality to be anything more than similarities I am using as reference points for understanding. I bring that familiarity to frame why I’m reading but I also know it’s not relevant to the world I am reading. ‘Oh, that’s something i can understand’ regarding a moral worldview is no different to ‘okay, okay I know what a wolf is’. But it doesn’t mean I assume the thing I recognise as a wolf in Tolkien’s world has the same lineage and origins as a thing of similar shape in my reality. I don’t assume evolution in my fantasy took the same course because it did in my reality. It’s just that I have a reference point to understand the language used. Sorry, I’m struggling for a good analogy here. What I mean is, I don’t see any evidence to suggest the attitude of Hobbits is anything I should be connecting to Christianity as that isn’t something that exists in their past.
I like Tolkien’s world because by and large it exists as a closed circuit. I totally get that one way to read is to examine the comparisons and influences, but it’s not a way I personally enjoy my Fantasy.
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