Tolkien As a Literary Artist by Thomas Kullmann;Dirk Siepmann; & Dirk Siepmann

Author:Thomas Kullmann;Dirk Siepmann; & Dirk Siepmann
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030692995
Publisher: Springer Nature

telling stories,

reciting poetry.

In all of these instances, Tolkien follows literary practices which date back to periods preceding the eighteenth century. The present study aims at examining Tolkien’s use of these three categories of text and identifying specific pre-texts and narrative traditions. A further step will then take us to the question how the various literary traditions connect and interact within Tolkien’s overall design.

In the Iliad , speeches form the major part of the direct speech passages: the Greek and Trojan heroes, as well as the gods, meet in councils and engage in debates on what to do in a particular situation. Participants make speeches to convince one another of their points of view. The presuppositions are that the debate is open-ended and that participants can freely express their opinion. In the course of the centuries following the composition of the Homeric epics, the ancient Greeks would define, codify and teach rhetoric, the art of making speeches for purposes of persuasion.1 Rhetoric was commonly understood as the “art of persuasion” by means of speeches, and rhetorical handbooks regularly distinguish between three main types of speech: deliberative, judicial and epideictic; that is, speeches delivered in the Assembly, in the courts and at public festivals.2 There are no judicial speeches in The Lord of the Rings, but deliberative speeches are quite significant, while some other speeches can be classified as epideictic:As in the Homeric epics there are councils in The Lord of the Rings, in which all the participants can proffer advice and make suggestions. The major site for deliberative speeches made in council is, of course, the Council of Elrond (chapter II, 2, 239–271). Some of the speeches made there serve to inform the council of events which happened in the past, and these will be discussed in the subsequent chapter on stories. Speeches made with the intent to persuade, however, include Elrond’s review of the situation (265), Glorfindel and Galdor’s advice against entrusting the Ring to Tom Bombadil (266–267), Boromir’s proposal to make use of the Ring (267), Elrond’s advice against it (267) and Gandalf’s argument defending the “folly” of seeking out the “Fire” in which the Ring was created (269). Other council speeches are Gandalf’s advice as to the Company’s choice of road (296), Sam’s explanation of the absent Frodo’s state of mind and behaviour, provided to the Company (403), and the speeches made by Gandalf, Prince Imrahil and Aragorn at a ‘council of war’ held at Minas Tirith (878–881).

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