suggests that I think that much of Tolkien's world is "known" to us in some
sense, though most of us don't have the texts and geography at hand. I know
that when I read it first as a nine year old it awoke in me a hunger to know
more about literature because I felt there were layers there that were somehow
vaguely familiar--things I should know and recognize--but I had no idea where
to look for such recongizable origins.
And, I suppose I felt the same about Arthurian legends when I knew some of
them, but oddly, Tolkien seemed more familiar. Having said all that, I'm not a
Brit :-)
Anyway, I really wanted to agree with what you say
here.
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'I was afraid they were all sailing away, Sam-dad. Then soon there would be none here; and then everywhere would be just places, and'
'And what, Elanorellė?'
'And the light would have faded.'
'I know,' said Sam. 'The light is fading, Elanorellė. But it won't go out yet. It won't ever go quite out, I think now, since I have had you to talk to. For it seems to me now that people can remember it who have never seen it. And yet,' he sighed, 'even that is not the same as really seeing it, like I did.' (the epilogue from HoME IX, emphasis mine)
email plainhat at yahoo dot com (do the translation!)
