a really long post sort of about LotR & Tolkien

[diony]

I've been thinking about Tolkien lately, in large part due to kate_nepveu's chapter by chapter reread of LoTR that she's blogging about on tor.com. And thus, while reading John Buchan on Sir Walter Scott's novels, I was struck by this:
I am willing to go farther and argue that, without some such salt of the pedestrian, romance becomes only a fairy tale and

Comments

[thistleingrey]

The Buchan quotation helps me grok Witch Wood and Greenmantle a bit more clearly. Do you have title/year handy, by any chance?

[diony]

I haven't read any of John Buchan's books yet, although I spent last summer reading everything by Anna Buchan (who wrote as O Douglas) that I could get my hands on.

I'll have to keep this in mind when I get to those two novels.

[heleninwales]

Thanks for that. I love the way writers link back to one another through the years. I loved Buchan in my teens and I'm feeling the urge to re-read coming on. I didn't read much Sir Walter Scott (mostly his poetry), but I did like Ivanhoe. It would be interesting to see whether that would stand a re-read.

You are right though. I think I appreciate the mundane bits of Tolkien more now in middle age than I did when I first read it in my teens and wanted just the High Drama and Magic.

[cissa]

That is really interesting, and for me is tying into my vague reading query, "Where are the peasants in fantasy?" That's part of the practical side of things not being in a fever pitch all the time: the infrastructure that allows the nobles to go about all their questing and scheming, and meanwhile keeps everyone fed and clothed.

I found one of the most striking things about the LotR movies- which I loved- was a long shot of Minas Tirith, that showed... NO fields of foodstuffs around the city. None. And that was enough of a cognitive dissonance that i went "Huh?" and started wondering how they fed everyone. I mean- the novels didn't mention it much, except with the hobbits- but I'd just assumed that OF COURSE a big city would be surrounded by agriculture!

So now I'm looking for peasants in my fantasy. And it's not an easy search!

I'll admit I have a bit of a bias toward peasant rebellions... but a notable peasant presence will do.