XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien, alt.fan.tolkien   
   From: Troels@ThisIsFake.invalid   
      
   In message    
   Morgoth's Curse  spoke these   
   staves:   
      
   > On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:56:50 +0200, Troels Forchhammer   
   >  wrote:   
   >   
   >>I have just finished reading _The Book of Lost Tales_ 1 and 2   
   [...]   
   >   
   > < snip insightful analysis >   
      
   Thank you!    
      
   > You neglected to mention which was your favorite tale! ;-)   
      
   There is so much to choose from, but on the whole I think it is 'The   
   Music of the Ainur.'   
      
   'The Tale of the Sun and Moon' is also a great read -- there seems to   
   be a vigour and a sheer joy of telling that shines through in this   
   tale.   
      
   One cannot ignore, of course, the three great -- here 'The Tale of   
   Tinúviel', 'Turambar and the Foalókë', and 'The Fall of Gondolin' --   
   but I don't think they reach the quality level promised in later   
   retellings. It is, of course, interesting to read full tale of the sack   
   of Gondolin -- it makes me quite sad that Tolkien abandoned the   
   retelling just as Tuor set eyes on the hidden city for the first time.   
      
   'The Tale of Eärendel' is another saddening read -- the potential   
   revealed in the sketches and outlines for another great tale is so   
   enticing that realizing that it never came to anything is   
   disheartening.   
      
   > The only comment that I have to add is that, IMHO, the influence   
   > of the Greek myths is most obvious in the Book of Lost Tales 1.   
      
   Anything in particular that you're thinking of?   
      
   Overall I think that the inspirations for BoLT1 are more generic, more   
   difficult to pinpoint precisely because they deal with generic matters:   
   cosmogony (though that one is clearly more inspired by Christian   
   theology), the explanation of the astronomical bodies, the origin of   
   the species, etc. Unfortunately it's been very long since I looked at   
   the Mediterranean mythologies so I can't remember if there's anything   
   there that would fit things in the early history of the Eldar.   
      
   I'm rambling, I think ;-)  The point is that I've forgot most of what I   
   learned about Greek and Roman myths, so that could be the reason why I   
   don't see any obvious influences.   
      
   > In the second book and in all volumes of HOME thereafter the   
   > similarity to Hellenic mythology fades and is replaced by Norse   
   > mythology and, in Tolkien's last writings, by Christian theology.   
      
   In terms of the external history of his writings, I think, apart from   
   Christian theology, it starts mainly with northern myth, actually:   
   English elves (and Eärendel), Finnish Kullervo and a Norse feeling. Not   
   that that necessarily refutes what you say since the history of the   
   Elves' sojourn in Valinor is not where Tolkien started.   
      
   --   
   Troels Forchhammer   
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