Tolkien keynote lecture: J. R. R. Tolkien's Old English Exodus

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@pearldivers6539 3 жыл бұрын

Hi, I'm enjoying the lecture and I'm learning a lot. At around 24:51 you say that Tolkien did not stick to his own rules regarding translating words that are repeated in the text. The only translation in that example you give (módig), that does not obey the rule, is obviously "wrath" (of the Red Sea). All of the other words can be linked via their etymologies to "courage" and "heart". Wrath cannot be. Tolkien was in the habit of translating words and understanding and interpreting texts according to his own private symbolism. Even texts outside of his own Art-work. If you look at the occurences of the word 'plane' in his critiques of Beowulf and Sir Gawain, you will get an inkling of this phenomenon. He does the same with the Ancrene Wisse with his "AB language". Tolkien had a private symbolism through which he interpreted the world. It was based on a geometric dialectic (A, B, C) which he created just before, and during his time as an undergraduate. It was inspired by Plato's Timaeus and The Republic. The "heart" is central to it. You can see two hearts in the (hidden) geometry of this picture he drew. www.thewindrose.net/eeriness_ancrene_wisse/ Regarding módig. The word "bold" is a word he uses to describe a private persona of himself as an Artist and to describe a process acting on the world which uses the geometric dialectic. It's not to be confused with ofer-mód. He considers "wrath" to act in opposition to the "heart" and equivalent to ofer-mód, or "overbold" (c.f his disapproval and condemnation of Beortnoth's). So, you do in fact see the word bold (as he translates ofer-mód) in his translation of módig. But you need to understand his private symbolism. He uses this dialectic in his critique of the Ancrene Wisse, in his "AB language". "AB language" can only be understood in the context of his dialectic. The word "mód" is given as "the inner man, the spiritual as opposed to the bodily part of man". This is the heart, the two hearts in the picture I linked. The two hearts belong to A and B in the dialectic (etymology gives "conversation"). The conversation is conducted between A and B. Dramatic tension and resolution is created in his world in this way, much like in music. Movement between the two A and B is via a device called the TURN. To pass between A and B requires a planar turn over to the other side, hence ofer-mód. The Red Sea is guilty of ofer-mód. Wrath produces this- essentially a "bad heart". Etymology of wrath gives PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend." All of the important words in the opening passage in The music of the Ainur in the Silmarillion are etymologically derived from "heart". It's opposite is wrath (discords of Melkor). There you see the same relationship between heart and wrath again. To answer another of your points, yes, the Red Sea can be described as being guilty in Tolkien's private symbolism, because he divides land and sea to A and B in the dialectic, and A and B are in fact people,- himself and his wife. The two hearts in the linked image are himself and Edith. And in addition, his world is a symbolic landscape (much like the Arthurian world) -hence the geometry within the landscape. The exterior world is a manifestation of the inner world, the inner heart, of "mód". The red colour symbolises wrath. The sea is an incarnation of B, his wife. I agree this might not be particularly helpful to students (!), but then (at least from what you've presented at 24:51) it only half applies to one of those words. Perhaps he wasn't overly precise in his statement on his rule of thumb regarding translations of repeating words. Tolkien in my view, certainly could be accused of being unhelpful, given that he kept his private symbolism private. Maybe this is helpful to a very minor point? :-) Best Regards.

@the_eternal_student 7 ай бұрын

I have shied away from reading the Lord of the Riings out of fear that is not naturally fantastic and archaic enough. But your lecture has made me want to reinvestigate Lord of the Rings to see if it is written in the heroic style of the Exodus translation you discussed.