I give you Erik Jampa-Andersson's paper at the Tolkien Society Seminar of November 2023. I thought it was brilliant and I am happy to see the recording was published on youtube. Here is the abstract:
Now I give you my conversation with Erik from the Seminar comments section:This essay explores the topic of revelation in Tolkien’s work, both as an internal historiographic motif and as a potential lived experience in Tolkien’s own life – specifically in relation to two key revelatory traditions in Tibetan Buddhism, known as ‘terma’ (Wyl. gTer ma, ‘treasure’) and ‘drung’ (sGrung, ‘epic’).
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987), an influential 20th century Tibetan lama who largely pioneered the diffusion of Tibetan Buddhism in the west, once allegedly claimed that “Lord of the Rings is a kind of terma.” I explore this comment a bit in my book (Unseen Beings, p. 195), where I argue that the lived experiences of ‘tertöns’ (gTer ston, ‘terma-revealers’) and ‘bäp-drung’ (‘Babs sgrung, revelatory bards) are not dissimilar from the experiences of inspired myth-makers like Tolkien. That Trungpa claimed to be a tertön himself makes this a particularly fascinating and important statement – and since it has been entirely ignored in both Tibetology and Tolkien scholarship, a more nuanced analysis would be a significant contribution to both fields.
I will draw from an array of primary sources to demonstrate some key areas of overlap between Tibetan and Tolkienian mythogenesis: including ‘translation conceit’ and centrality of non-human language, the function of key words as mythopoeic seeds, the prevalence of dream experiences, the motif of past-life or ancestral memories, the importance of the consort relationship, the roles of non-humans as stewards of knowledge, and the ‘furious speed’ with which materials are frequently produced. I will also explore the function of revelation or recovery as a ‘framing story,’ both in the legendarium and in Tibetan traditions, and the ways that Tolkien’s legacy might be culturally negotiated in a Tibetan Buddhist context.
While I will briefly touch on the idea of ‘Buddhist’ readings of Tolkien’s work, this essay will principally demonstrate how Tibetan Buddhist (and other subaltern) paradigms of revelation can help us make sense of the enigmatic nature of Tolkien’s creative legacy.
So, based on this discussion, what do you think? What is it that makes a myth?I: When I was in Oxford studying Tolkien's manuscripts at the Bodleian a question popped out: what does it take to make a myth? Do you think that this Tibetan tradition of Buddhism would reply that it takes terma?
Erik Jampa Andersson: A very good, and very complicated, question! I think that it depends largely on what kind of ‘myth’ we are dealing with. Many myths have been fashioned (and indeed contrived) on a highly pragmatic basis, often approaching ‘propaganda’, which create ‘charter myths’ to authenticate a particular human institution. These often work by repackaging pre-existing motifs in a new philosophical context. For these kinds of myths, I think mere creativity (and a certain awareness of psychology and sociology) is often enough to ‘make a myth.’ Admittedly, many ‘termas’ seem to fit this bill, including the seminal treasures of Nyangrel Nyima Özer that sought to comprehensively renarrativise Tibet’s imperial history. But this is all quite different from what Tolkien did, and relatively few termas are codified with these kinds of political motives. For a more ‘authentic’ myth/faërie story to arise, I think there is a need for an experience of relational enchantment - something Patrick Curry talks about a lot in his works.
