Anyone read Tolkiens short story, Leaf By Niggle? If you havent, then do; Its really wonderful. Theres a CS Lewisine influence there. At least, it feels like the sort of thing hed have written. The following is Tolkien discussing it: ...that story was the only thing I have ever done which cost me absolutely no pains at all. Usually I compose only with great difficulty and endless rewriting. I woke up one day (more the 2 years ago) with that odd thing virtually complete in my head. It took only a few hours to get down, and then copy out. These few hours Tolkien found the time to write down a little story which is an absolute pearl and one of my favourite Tolkien stories. Leaf by Niggle is very much an allegory of Tolkiens own creative process, and, to an extent, of his own life. Although Tolkien activily defended against being allegorical. He admitted having been just that in Leaf by Niggle in a letter to Caroline Everett (24 June 1957): I should say that, in addition to my tree-love (it was originally called The Tree), it arose from my own pre-occupation with the Lord of the Rings, the knowledge that it would be finished in great detail or not at all, and the fear (near certainty) that it would be not at all. The war had arisen to darken all horizons. But no such analyses are a complete explanation even of a short story... The story, Leaf by Niggle, was originally written by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1938-39 and first published in the Dublin Review in January 1945. It can be found, most notably, in Tolkiens book titled Tree and Leaf. This is notable because the book, consisting of a seminal essay by Tolkien called On Fairy-Storiesand Leaf by Niggle as example, offers the underlying philosophy (Creation and Sub-Creation) of much of Tolkiens fantastical writings. It can also be found in many other books where it is combined with other (short) stories and/or essays & poems by Tolkien. - See more at: tolkienlibrary/reviews/leafbyniggle.htm#sthash.uJHicUiy.dpuf
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 17:31:26 +0000
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