I’m continuing my trilogy of posts celebrating Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings today with four more reasons why I love this great classic of fantasy fiction.
4. LANGUAGE
Tolkien was first and foremost a linguist. He wrote the The Lord of the Rings so that someone could speak the languages he had created. That love of language sings in his prose. Even if you skip the lines of poetry in LOTR or sometimes find the lofty language of high fantasy a bit much, you can’t help but revel in his stylistic grace and power.
5. COMPACTNESS
If you think Tolkien’s linguistic power makes him wordy, think again. Yes, the three parts of LOTR (a publisher’s decision—Tolkien never intended a trilogy; it was a concession to the limits of bindings) come in at over 1000 pages, but when I read the rambling tracts of some contemporary fantasy writers, or see how many pages it takes writers of much simpler plots to tell their stories, I marvel at Tolkien’s economy. OK, the first hundred pages are tough—I got stuck there the first time I read LOTR too—but once the hobbits leave the Shire, the pages fly by and never stop.
6. THE NATURAL WORLD
Whether it’s a high mountain pass or underground depth, leafy forest, or stinking swamp, Tolkien takes you there. Middle Earth is a vivid and beautiful place. For those of us who love these books, even a glance at the map can send us into a reverie. LOTR is also a powerful ecological fable. Saruman’s distortion of nature in tearing down forests and fiddling genetically with orcs is strongly connected with the distortion of his wizardry and the revenge taken against him by the ents. The simple pastoral life of The Shire could serve as a model for advocates of green living and sustainable food.
7. MORIA
There are dozens of set pieces that Tolkien fans might cite as their favorites—Helm’s Deep, the defense of Minas Tirith, the attack on Amon Sul, Shelob’s Lair, and so on—but my favorite is the descent into Moria. From the moment the Fellowship begins to try to open the door into the mountain until their narrow escape after Gandalf’s fall, Tolkien’s harrowing description fills me with excitement and dread like no other passage in literature.
Check back tomorrow for the third part of the trilogy, three final reasons why I love The Lord of the Rings.
Check the WRL catalog for The Lord of the Rings in one volume
Or try the second book of the trilogy The Two Towers
Check out The Two Towers on audiobook
Or try Peter Jackson’s wonderful film adaptation of The Two Towers
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[…] July 21, 2010 by Neil This is the third part of my paean to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. For the first seven reasons to love LOTR, see Part 1 and Part 2. […]