Creative Writing by Homeschoolers
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE LORD OF THE RINGS
by a homeschooler #1
One of the best qualities of the Lord of the Rings is the depth of the world and cultures that appear in it. Through his presentation of Middle-earth history and geography, Tolkien effectively creates a deep world, which seems to truly exist. Tolkien gives a background and history to almost every region or cultural group that appears in the book. As a result, the reader gets a sense of reality as he reads about the many races and places in the Fellowship of the Ring. Almost everything in Middle-earth carries significant weight and depth behind it.
For example, Tolkien gives depth and reality to the race of Dwarves. As we read the book, we find out much about their culture. We see a glimpse of their ancient culture and travel through their mines, marveling at their architectural prowess. We learn their history and see the historical significance of the Mines of Moria. gfThere is the land where our fathers worked of old, and we have wrought the image of those mountains into many works of metal and of stone . . . under them lies Khazad-dum, the Dwarrowdelf, that is now called the Black Pit, Moria in the Elvish tongue.h We see their elaborate system of writing and even read their poetry. Tolkien describes other culture such as those of Men and Elves in a similar way as well. Each culture is fleshed out, down to miniscule details.
Tolkien also gives us vivid pictures of landscapes and terrains, thus increasing the depth and grealnessh we see. Tolkien describes the harsh appearance of Caradhras with its glittering snow. gCaradhras rose before them, a mighty peak, tipped with snow like silver, but with sheer naked sides, dull red as if stained with bloodh . He contrasts the dark, sinister atmosphere of the deserted Mines of Moria with the almost unearthly beauty of Lothlorien. By developing Middle-earth well, Tolkien creates a grealh world.
Copyright © 2006 Shu Suzuki
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