by Elluinas Mirion » Oct 11, 2013 11:17 pm
"In the Kingdom of Sulfur is a mirror, The Mirror of The Art, in which the Whole World can be seen..."
- Na Mysteria de As Catedrais
Oh dear...
This is one of my pet obsessions - a question I've spent almost 40 years working on.
The difficulty is one of literature - that is of their particular methodology, its "Art" so to speak (techne, in gk, jitsu in .jp) and how this reveals faith. It therefore might just as well be called a form of alchemy if not Science.
But where to begin... after much arguing with my cousin (weeks, Tru Narnian, WEEKS!) I'll do the typical elvish response: answer a question with a question - or rather in this case, answer a post by offering a homework assignment!
If you have never read "On Fairy Stories" by JRRT (be sure to get the later edition of 1988 with C Tolkien's comments) then you're just wandering in the dark. Most of the foundations of Narnia can be seen there. It might be said to be the closest text on Deep Magic that any of them ever dared to write and I will warn you that AS SUCH, it is not easy to appreciate the full import at the first reading - especially if you have never read chronicles, or the space trilogy, or essays such as Weight of Glory. It is a deceptively plain essay - but it is every bit as if you heard someone tell how Euclid (better yet- Georg Riemann) prefigures Einstein. If you listen very carefully you will hear the angels whispering
READ IT
This essay dates from 1938, but it's thoughts tie it to the 19 Sept 1931 events of addison walk with CSL, JRRT and Hugo Dyson. It is THE exegesis of the "True Myth" idea par excellence. It is pre-chronicles, pre Hobbit (well, Pub date anyways) pre "Mere Christianity" and all the rest.
Tolkien originally paired this essay with "Leaf by Niggle" but I think now that a better choice would have been "Smith of Wooton Major" as it somewhat better illustrates the ideas he expresses although as a fairy story it borders on Allegory.
Waggerawolf, it also has a few veiled references to quenta silmarili - The darkness of some of these tales needs to be seen in the context - like "Out of the Silent Planet" it is the context of the Great Siege.
aure entuluva! na kare indolmelya!a
rakuenno ar
kiryar.獅子のための kwa simba από το λιοντάρι
fyrir ljónið Az oroszlán
par lauva사자의 na i Ravession voor de leeuw
bagi singa