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| Alan Lee, Lúthien Tinúviel Black hair, fair skin, grey eyes |
J. R. R. Tolkien in Appendix F in his The Lord of the Rings wrote:
They
were a race high and beautiful, the older Children of the world, and
among them the Eldar were as kings, who now are gone: the People of the
Great Journey, the People of the Stars. They were tall, fair of skin
and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save in the golden house
of Finrod; and their voices had more melodies than any mortal voice that
now is heard.
Tolkien in his text "Quendi and Eldar" (The History of Middle-earth, vo. XI, p. 383) wrote about the Elves Vanyar and explained the term fair:
*wanjā from the stem *WAN. Its primary sense seems to have been very similar to English (modern) use of 'fair' with reference to hair and complexion; though its actual development was the reverse of the English: it meant 'pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark', and its implication of beauty was secondary. In English the meaning 'beautiful' is primary. From the same stem was derived the name given in Quenya to the Valië Vána wife of Oromë.
Racism is contempt for people because of their ethnic origin. You can even be racist against your own "race". Tolkien was never a racist, although he was interested in ethnicity, genealogy, ethnic characteristics, etc., as can be seen in his books. I am also in the antipodes of racism. I am a traveler, I respect every person and I am passionate about other cultures and people from other parts of the world. And at the same time, I love my own origin, research the heritage of my ancestors, and I'm interested in the culture of Europe in archaic times and the Middle Ages.
"Tolkien was writing stories that were fundamentally and irrevocably Northern and Northwestern European in their origin and ethos. Tolkien wanted to write a mythology that symbolized all that had been lost in the ancient past when Europe became Christian. His stories are to a great extent, an amalgamation of the mythologies and ancient European traditions of cultures from the British Isles, ancient Germania, and Scandinavia all the way to Finland and the Baltic. He created the great mythological epic that was missing in those cultures. (...)
Automatically attributing racism, Nazism, or some other malevolence to things which are purely Northern European or “white” simply because they are Northern European or “white" is intellectually dishonest and extremely unfair. It is as if, merely being Northern European and claiming that identity were somehow a morally repulsive act. No other race or culture in the world is held to such a ridiculous standard and it is obscene to attribute such nonsense to the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien; whose stories of courage, goodness, and virtue are universal no matter what race or culture the reader happens to identify with."
(quote from Quora).
At the time when Tolkien was creating The Silmarillion, science was dominated by the theory of "Out of Asia" - it was believed that mankind had its origins in Asia, somewhere in present-day China. Therefore, Tolkien's Elves wake up in "Asia" (Cuiviénen), and so is the people (Hildorien). In the world of Tolkien, only Men, due to their changeability and short life, create a whole range of diversity: from the black inhabitants of Far Harad, through the "swathy" skin of the inhabitants of Near Harad and Easterlings, to the the white-skinned inhabitants of North and West of Middle-earth.
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| "Out of Asia" according to Osborn (1900) |
The complexity of Tolkien's world is well illustrated by the maps of Karen Wynn Fonstad:
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| Map of Arda in the First Age (K. W. Fonstad, "The Atlas of Middle-earth") |
And attention, there is not a bit of racism here ... Just like with Tolkien there is no "homophobia", which I will definitely write about one day.
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Tak z ciekawości, Tolkien umieścił Śródziemie na płaskiej Ziemi? Bo tak wynika z tej mapy?
OdpowiedzUsuńTak, Arda w Pierwszej Erze, aż do Upadku Numenoru, miała być płaskim dyskiem. Potem Tolkien bawił się z tym modelem, próbował go zarzucić, ale w oficjalnym "Silmarillionie" tak właśnie jest - istniała Arda Płaska
UsuńNope. In the passage you quote, he says THE ELDAR (the West-Elves) were fair skinned, and he just finished distinguishing then Eldar from Quendi (elves as a whole). Why would he say a certain group of elves had fair skin if all elves had fair skin?
OdpowiedzUsuńIn Tolkien's legendarium Elves Quendi are divided into Eldar and Avari. The Eldar include both Noldor and Silvan Elves (Nandor) etc. We do not find a single Avari in any of the texts (and we don't know how they looked). In Amazon's series, Arondir is a Silvan Elf. He should have light skin, gray eyes, and light or dark hair.
UsuńI think you are mistaken with your definition of racism. It does not require disdain, malice, or hate. Those things can lead to racism, but racism only requires a preference. The idea that one is better than the other. Perhaps discuss the history of language (especially the term fair) with sociology race, I suspect they have a different view of Tolkien's use of the word. Also, context matters.
OdpowiedzUsuń