XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis, rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: theswain@operamail.com   
      
   Ertugrul iNANÇ wrote:   
   > [Read the thread until the point where religion bashing started, killfiled a   
   > couple trolls and stopped.]   
   >   
   > I have to concede that the Fall of Gondolin and the Battle of Minas Tirith   
   > may be seen as "inspired" from the "fall" of Konstantinopolis and the second   
   > siege of Vienna (1683) respectively. But I would hesitate, to say the least,   
   > to label them as explicit anti-muslim traces in Tolkien's work.   
      
   Why would you concede that?  In a general way, one can say that these   
   sieges resemble any real world siege.  But I'd look more toward the   
   literary than the historical in Tolkien and think that these battles   
   look more like the Fall of Troy, the Siege of Jerusalem, and so on than   
   the fall of Constantinople and the siege of Vienna.   
      
   >   
   > On the other hand, nobody seems to try the other way around. There are some   
   > obvious similarities in Tolkien's work, on phillosophical ground, with   
   > Islamic, particularly Sufi thought, albeit in details. The most striking -to   
   > me- has been the element of Elves; their love for Arda, which is destined to   
   > pass away, them being immortal in a mortal land; versus the second-born, who   
   > are mortal on mortal ground but have been gifted with an immortality beyond   
   > the reach of the Elves, even the Valar.   
      
   Could you be more specific?  Not necessarily a detailed account, but how   
   are these similar to Sufi thought, rather than Christian thought or   
   Greco-Roman mythology?   
      
   >   
   > The creation myth, the Valar and other elements also bear resemblances.   
      
   Same as above....   
   >   
   > A detailed account and analysis require a dedicated reading, which I'm not   
   > capable at this time but have been thinking about doing sometime.   
   >   
      
   Well, if you ever get around to it, I'd be interested in reading it.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)