Hi everyone! Hope everyone's staying sane and safe!
I was just wondering about all the different creatures that Tolkien chose to put in his world. Spiders, elves, dwarves, wizards, hobbits, dragons, etc. Of all of the creatures that exist in all of mythology why did he pick these? He drew from many different sources of inspiration and yet many of the creatures in Middle Earth did not exist before Tolkien wrote them into being. Why not use more creatures that already exist in the real world or at very least had already been thought of before? My guess is that he chose the ones that best suited his plot and what he wanted the world of Middle Earth to feel like to the reader. When one didn't exist that best suited him, he then made one up. That is one of the fantastic things about fantasy is that you can make it whatever you want. If nothing quite fits, create something that does.
I agree, this is a really intriguing aspect of Tolkien’s creative process. I think what he also additionally does is when something that does already exist that doesn’t quite fit, he changes the association and qualities of the creature. The one that I consider most when thinking of this are elves. Prior to Tolkien’s interpretation of them, elves were evil, wicked, dark creatures that were only in the world to cause bad things to happen and lived in a very hellish dimension. Tolkien’s elves are nothing like this. I also think it’s very interesting that Tolkien translated Sir Orfeo, which showcases elves in this darker manner, and despite this, the elves in middle-earth possess none of these associations. It’s fascinating to see what aspects he took from possible sources of inspiration and what he might have simply disregarded from them for his story.
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that he chose creatures/races that best fit the plot and specific aspects. However, these creatures din't have too much of a backstory before Tolkien came along. For instance hobbits weren't a thing until he created them and shaped them into what he needed for his story. I think he took traits and backstories then connected them with these creatures/races accordingly to best fit his story.