XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis, rec.arts.books.tolkien
From: void@obsolete.nul
"Larry Swain" wrote in message
news:DeSdnTcoOIbmc7nbnZ2dnUVZ_tSunZ2d@rcn.net...
> Ertugrul iNANÇ wrote:
>> I have to concede that [...]
> 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.
Maybe concede wasn't the correct word here. Being a devout Muslim and coming
from an Ottoman aristocratic family, I have absolutely no problem with
Tolkien's work at all. The similarities I observe between
Konstantinopolis/Vienna and Gondolin/Minas Tirith probably result from my
keener familiarity with those historical events than the others and in no
way exclude the probability of other similarities, if any, between different
events and the stories.
In a similar sense, the story of Luthien's escape from her tree house (using
her hair as a rope ladder) reminds me immediately of the Indo-Iranian story
found in Shahnameh, but I'm aware that Rapunzel would be a more immediate
source of inspiration, if at all, for Tolkien.
>> On the other hand, nobody seems to try the other way around. [...]
>
> Could you be more specific?
Let me promise to do it sometime. :)
> how are these similar to Sufi thought, rather than Christian thought or
> Greco-Roman mythology?
Again, not "rather than" but "besides". My observations aren't exclusive and
I don't in any way argue that Tolkien was inspired by this, or that and not
yet another; however, I observe similarities or parallelities as I extend my
reading experience. Also, one can observe closer or remoter familiarities
between Sufi Islamic and Monastic Christian traditions as well. I'm
admittedly not that well read but I have been aware of some material in
Augustinus of Hippo, for instance.
>> 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.
Thank you. It's definitely somewhere in my long to-do list. :)
Best,
Ertugrul İnanç
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
