Research project

[Chrysophylax Dives]

I too have tried to overturn existing scholarship - but without much success. It’s extremely difficult, when so many books and websites consistently have stated over many decades much the same position that for:

The Hobbit

a) The Stone-giants have no mythological source or are an allegory of nature (Shippey).

b) Tom, Bert & Bill are just names which Tolkien idly chose.

c) There is no source to the name Bilbo.

d) The Carrock has no real-world counterpart.

e) The plot/quest storyline is completely Tolkien’s own and has no known basis.


The Lord of the Rings

a) Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are unsolvable enigmas.

b) The storyline for the Barrow-downs episode is just mysterious, and leave it at that.

c) The vital scene at the Cracks of Doom is just that (i.e. no comprehension that a fairy tale antecedent exists).

d) The text relating to the Book of Mazarbul and the associated facsimiles are of non-devious construction (i.e. no comprehension that Tolkien hid ‘stuff’ in them exists).

Hello Priya, I hope you are OK with me copying and pasting the above into a new thread - if not just let me know and I will delete. (Also, let me know if you would prefer a different title to the thread.) It is just that here for the first time you put together all your various lines of research. I have a few questions.

Firstly, is there is an overriding theme that connects all these avenues? Or even a connection that led you from one to the other? Or are these just different projects?

Secondly, how come you focus on the two Hobbit stories? Your knowledge of Silmarillion matters is vast (much greater than mine), so how come you choose not to explore it?

Thirdly, how much of the above is a continuation of your Bombadil 'enigma' book and how much is new ground?

Thank you!

PS. I would also be happy to discuss the wider world of Tolkien scholarship against which we both bang our heads. Specifically, I'd quite like to review what it is we are up against and to consider strategies. I did begin on such on the 'Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics' thread but it is a delicate subject and I reckon it would be better to have such a conversation in the Shire.

[Priya]

Hello Chrysophylax Dives

The overarching theme around which my research pivots is trying to gain an understanding of the substructure behind his fictional works. In particular delving into the mysteries which I feel the academic community have not been able to adequately address!

There has been so much to explore in The Hobbit & TLotR - that I haven’t devoted too much effort on The Silmarillion stuff in that regard.