This is so fun! I love that you are bringing us all along for the journey as you discover this foundational Tolkien work for the first time!
I love the vision for Faërie that Tolkien has, this world of the Wonder and magic. I truly believe that this otherworldly nature of myth is precisely why Tolkien's stories work, because he is reaching for the World beyond the visible world. A world where the True and real Story is illuminated by these tales of Faërie! Looking forward to continuing to hear your thoughts as you keep going!
Thank you!!🥹 It’s the adventure I never knew I needed, and I’m so incredibly thankful for everyone coming along with me. I never could have anticipated the warm welcome and the amazing friendships that awaited!👣
Lovely, thank you kindly!! I think this essay is pivotal for fully understanding the legendarium, the perspective undergirding and the richness it can confer 💙
The fairy/faërie distinction is one of the most important things Tolkien ever wrote, and it's wonderful to see someone encountering it fresh. Tolkien isn't just defending fairy tales as a literary form,he's making a case for the imagination itself as a truth-bearing faculty. Faërie isn't an escape from reality but a way of seeing reality more clearly. He called that ‘recovery,’ and I think it's the single most underappreciated concept in everything he wrote.
I am hearing the emphasis of the “recovery” aspect of On Fairy Stories again and again in my comments, making me all the more eager to delve into that section—soon!
I am beginning to get a sense of the case for imagination that you describe, and I feel the interview with Malcom Guite that I included in the post also covers this beautifully! As I watched that interview I kept having to pause and go back to collect more gems.
This is my first time journeying through all of Tolkien’s works, and I’m so grateful for every friend who has joined me along the way! Comments like these enrich the journey in ways I could never have imagined!
The feet that have walked this path before me have been my favorite gem collected so far!👣
‘The feet that have walked this path before me have been my favorite gem collected so far!’ That’s it isn’t it, feeling part of something greater than yourself that is at the same time a kind of extended family. You found your tribe😍
The more I see you dive in and write so well about The Professor and what he has gifted us with, the more I truly believe that the entirety of Middle Earth lore is vastly greater in detail and depth and sheer size than anything else in fiction. (The only thing I might consider coming in second place would be Star Wars.)
This is so fun! I love that you are bringing us all along for the journey as you discover this foundational Tolkien work for the first time!
I love the vision for Faërie that Tolkien has, this world of the Wonder and magic. I truly believe that this otherworldly nature of myth is precisely why Tolkien's stories work, because he is reaching for the World beyond the visible world. A world where the True and real Story is illuminated by these tales of Faërie! Looking forward to continuing to hear your thoughts as you keep going!
Thank you!!🥹 It’s the adventure I never knew I needed, and I’m so incredibly thankful for everyone coming along with me. I never could have anticipated the warm welcome and the amazing friendships that awaited!👣
Lovely, thank you kindly!! I think this essay is pivotal for fully understanding the legendarium, the perspective undergirding and the richness it can confer 💙
The fairy/faërie distinction is one of the most important things Tolkien ever wrote, and it's wonderful to see someone encountering it fresh. Tolkien isn't just defending fairy tales as a literary form,he's making a case for the imagination itself as a truth-bearing faculty. Faërie isn't an escape from reality but a way of seeing reality more clearly. He called that ‘recovery,’ and I think it's the single most underappreciated concept in everything he wrote.
I am hearing the emphasis of the “recovery” aspect of On Fairy Stories again and again in my comments, making me all the more eager to delve into that section—soon!
I am beginning to get a sense of the case for imagination that you describe, and I feel the interview with Malcom Guite that I included in the post also covers this beautifully! As I watched that interview I kept having to pause and go back to collect more gems.
This is my first time journeying through all of Tolkien’s works, and I’m so grateful for every friend who has joined me along the way! Comments like these enrich the journey in ways I could never have imagined!
The feet that have walked this path before me have been my favorite gem collected so far!👣
‘The feet that have walked this path before me have been my favorite gem collected so far!’ That’s it isn’t it, feeling part of something greater than yourself that is at the same time a kind of extended family. You found your tribe😍
I feel like they found me 🥹
Wonderful!
The more I see you dive in and write so well about The Professor and what he has gifted us with, the more I truly believe that the entirety of Middle Earth lore is vastly greater in detail and depth and sheer size than anything else in fiction. (The only thing I might consider coming in second place would be Star Wars.)
That would be a fun deep dive to see where all of Lucas’ inspiration came from!