tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2410716623228444076.post3018938670493955895..comments2024-03-14T06:20:59.015+00:00Comments on The Notion Club Papers - an Inklings blog: Tolkien's beatitudes - his affirmation even of clumsy, insufficient, vague wish-fulfillment fantasy fiction; so long as its motivations are GoodBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2410716623228444076.post-273454179371898722018-08-01T02:31:49.854+01:002018-08-01T02:31:49.854+01:00I wonder if these parts are not only deliberately ...I wonder if these parts are not only deliberately interacting with the Beatitudes but also, in various ways, with both Ecclesiasticus chapters 44-50 and Arthur O'Shaughnessy's Ode (including, as set by Elgar as The Music Makers)? <br /><br />David Llewellyn DoddsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2410716623228444076.post-35131948310646284692018-07-27T20:38:11.215+01:002018-07-27T20:38:11.215+01:00It is interesting that Tolkien says “of things nor...It is interesting that Tolkien says “of things nor found within *recorded* time.” Combined with this quote from the Notion Club Papers: "Sometimes I have a queer feeling that, if one could go back, one would find not myth dissolving into history, but rather the reverse: real history becoming more mythical” and a similar statement in the Lost Road it seems like Tolkien really did believe there is more to prehistory than the common view that it is mostly barbarism. <br /><br />These lines in particular are excellent:<br /><br />It is not they that have forgot the Night<br />or bid us flee to organised delight,<br />in lotus-isles of economic bliss<br />forswearing souls to gain a Circe-kiss<br />(and counterfeit at that, machine-produced,<br />bogus seduction of the twice-seduced).”<br /><br />Tolkien acknowledges that there is evil in the world but the solution is not economics or social engineering or Transhumanism or the solutions put forward by the self-appointed aristocrats who despise Leftism but cannot imagine anything better than a world of relentless status competition.<br /><br />I think the “timid hearts that evil hate” and the others blessed in the poem may be timid but they certainly aren’t “cowardly.” These are people who are afraid to face evil in “open battle” and know they are not strong enough to defeat it. Yet, they do not compromise with evil when it is expedient, nor do they surrender. Even if the idea that there is something better seems impossible like nothing more than hopeless escapism, they hold true to their vision of the Good the Beautiful and the True and live according to it. <br />C.W. Bradleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2410716623228444076.post-40155235902637817302018-07-25T16:21:30.557+01:002018-07-25T16:21:30.557+01:00I think that it is important to understand that to...I think that it is important to understand that to say that someone is blessed means that someone else has done the blessing.<br /><br />And while it is right and proper that those who are blessed should receive the blessing, it is not right that they should forget gratitude for those who have blessed them, through an abundance of strength to do good rather than mere dislike of suffering evil.<br /><br />I do not feel that Tolkien himself ever forgets what gratitude is due to the heroic effort put forth by the strong and courageous on behalf of the weak and timid.<br /><br />But I do feel that many people try to use Tolkien to justify impotence and cowardice as superior virtues.<br /><br />Blessed are those who gratefully accept blessing. Cursed are those who forget from whence all blessings flow.Chiu ChunLinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03519192610708043962noreply@blogger.com