Tolkien & Romance...
Just thought I'd pass this little tidbit along. I am currently reading The Philosophy of Tolkien by Peter Kreeft, and came upon part of a letter that Tolkien wrote to his son, Michael, on the Medieval Courtly Love Tradition. It is remarkably refreshing, in the sense that he is telling the truth without losing sight of the ideal. It is as follows:
"The romantic chivalric tradition...can be very good, since it takes...fidelity, and so self-denial, "service", courtesy, honour, and courage. Its weakness is, of course, that...its centre was not God, but imaginary Deities, Love and the Lady...This is, of course, false and at best make-believe....It takes the young man's eye off women as they are, as companions in shipwreck not guiding stars." (p.103-4) This premise does not, however, include one Lady who serves as both.
jmj
posted by M' Lady's Topsail @ 10:04 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
That's awesome. It reminds me of something Christopher West said, though in the reverse, about how a woman can destroy her husband by imagining him to be her Knight In Shining Armor.
It reminds me, on the other hand, of something Fulton Sheen said once: that every woman in love is looking for Our Lord, and that every man likewise is looking for Our Lady. The courtly and chivalric tradition, then, could point toward something true beyond the lady in the castle. Sir Gawain knows this--he's got the BVM on the back of his shield, much closer and deeper than his relationship to the woman for whom he takes the challenge. Somehow he looks beyond the earthly woman to the Heavenly one.
That's a good point, Mr. Flyte. I suppose that is why Tolkien's women characters (most particularily the Elvish ones) were the best archetypes, the best reflections of Our Lady herself. They were immensely beautiful, yet their beauty was not of their own making (see 'Elbereth').
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