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La Belle Dame

22 July 2021 | doubtfulseaOllamh

Unlike The Hobbit, which is written in a chatty modern style, much of The Lord of the Rings is written in what we now might see as an elevated tone, with lines like

Nay, Gandalf!’ said the King. You do not know your own skill in healing. It shall not be so. I myself will go to war, to fall in the front of the battle, if it must be. Thus shall I sleep better.’ (LRC §3.06.110)

As one who weighed practically every word of the many drafts of the book, Tolkien replied to criticism of the lines above by writing:

For a king who spoke in a modern style would not really think in such terms at all, and any reference to sleeping quietly in the grave would be a deliberate archaism of expression on his part (however worded) far more bogus than the actual archaic’ English that I have used.

(draft of unsent letter to Hugh Brogan, September, 1955 — Letters, 226)

We can accept his reasoning or not, but JRRT’s literary medievalism already had a relatively long history.

Authoritative information may be found here.

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source URL 🌐La Belle Dame | doubtfulsea
date recorded 📅2021-08-11
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