WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.960 Hello, and welcome to Mythic Mind, where we pursue wisdom in the past 2 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:11.720 between primary secondary worlds. I'm your host, dangerwh Snyder, and I am 3 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:22.839 always grateful for your company. Some time ago, I started a substack on 4 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:27.440 Tolkien's letters as I go through each one, providing brief background, summaries, 5 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:31.519 and reflections. I've unfortunately had to put that on the back burner a number 6 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:34.679 of times, but I'm still working on it as I am able. I 7 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:38.920 make posts on odd numbered letters free for everyone, and posts on even numbered 8 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:43.960 letters are behind a small paywall. But for a while I was giving subscriptions 9 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.920 to ten dollars a month patrons, but that was becoming a tedious process to 10 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:51.280 manage, and I really just can't afford the time to be overly tedious. 11 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.840 However, I'm not working around this in a new way. I'm going to 12 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:00.159 be reading these articles and dropping them into the Patreon exclusive podcast feed for all 13 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:03.799 Tier three patrons or higher, and so that's again ten dollars a month or 14 00:01:03.879 --> 00:01:07.519 higher. This means that you're going to have access to all of these posts 15 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:11.760 in audio form, the odd and even numbered, and of course you'll also 16 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:17.640 have all episodes of the Mythic Mind Legacy podcast and the Mythic Mind Fellowship podcast 17 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:21.439 add free, all put into one feed for you. Now, I am 18 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:25.319 providing the recording of the post on the first letter for everyone. It's that 19 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:27.120 way you have some sense of how it goes. But if you like the 20 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:32.680 other recordings, you should join the Mythic Mind Patreon or up your subscription to 21 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:36.079 the ten dollars a month tier. But now let's go ahead and get to 22 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:42.760 it. Introduction. I am so grateful to bring you the inaugural post of 23 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.159 this series on the letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, edited 24 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:49.400 by Humphrey Carpenter. These letters are charming for so many reasons. Some of 25 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:53.719 the letters delve deeply into his literary struggles and the decisions that he faced in 26 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:59.959 crafting his legendarium. Others reveal some of his major literary influences and sourceman. 27 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:06.200 Others deal with some topic of theology or philosophy. Others provide insights into his 28 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:10.199 relationship with his family. Some like this first one, are engaging precisely because 29 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:15.439 they are so mundane. Now why might that be of some benefit to us? 30 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:17.439 Well, for now, let's just take a brief look at the letter 31 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.879 and then we'll come back to that question when we get to the reflection. 32 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.879 All right, now the summary, So, this letter was written in October 33 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:30.520 of nineteen fourteen to Edith Bratt, and Tolkien was engaged to Edith. At 34 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:32.759 this time, he was in his final year as an undergraduate at Oxford, 35 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:38.159 and he was in the University Officer's Training Corps in preparation for joining the army. 36 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:42.240 Now, as for the content of the letter, Tolkien had recently received 37 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:45.919 a letter from Edith and was returning the favor. He apologizes for being so 38 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:47.719 busy lately, and he recounts some of the things that have been taking up 39 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.680 so much of his time. It had been particularly rainy for the last few 40 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.319 days, including during his drills, and so it took ages to clean his 41 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:58.800 rifle. Fortunately, however, he was able to spend much of his time 42 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:01.039 reading. He was forbid from doing work on the Sabbath, and he attended 43 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:05.879 high Mass, which he enjoyed. He found far less enjoyment, however, 44 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:10.800 in an obligatory visit with the Rector, which quote was very boring. Furthermore, 45 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:15.639 Tolkien recounts, quote, his wife is really appalling. I got away 46 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:19.000 as soon as possible, and fled back in the rain to my books end 47 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:23.360 quote, and talking I can always relate to that impulse desiring to flee social 48 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:29.080 engagements to get back to my books. Finally, Tolkien mentions that he is 49 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.319 working on making a short story out of the Khalivala, the great Finnish epic 50 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:37.159 compiled in the nineteenth century. He doesn't go into more details here, but 51 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:42.120 this would become the story of Kalervo, which unfortunately wouldn't be published until twenty 52 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:45.719 fifteen. This will come up again in reference to other letters, but as 53 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.439 a teaser is worth noting that this story, this finished tale, would be 54 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:53.520 instrumental in writing the story of Turinturnbar as told in The Silmarillion and in the 55 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:59.919 Children of Huron reflection. It is so easy to put our heroes on pedestals 56 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:03.599 and almost class them as superhuman. This is particularly true of Tolkien, who 57 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:09.759 is known for his masterful stories and as well as his penetrating insights that we 58 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:14.199 get in his essays and his literary criticism and whatnot. However, JR. 59 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:18.160 Tolkien is first and foremost a man amongst men, with the same frustrations, 60 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:23.160 boredoms, and busyness that we all face. In some way or another. 61 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:27.800 In recognizing his very real humanity, we come to find that we two can 62 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.879 rise to great heights. Maybe he'll never be a Tolkien, but you don't 63 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:34.879 need to be. We've already had one Tolkien, yes, and we don't 64 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:40.439 need second Tolkien. However, we can certainly learn from his patterns of life 65 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:45.759 to discover what made this ordinary man so unordinary. And there are a couple 66 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:49.120 elements from this letter that particularly stand out to me. First, he obviously 67 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:54.639 holds his beloved Edioth in great esteem. One line from the beginning particularly stands 68 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:58.720 out to me. Quote, you do write splendid letters to me, little 69 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:02.240 one. I am such pig to you. Though I'm certain this is not 70 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:06.839 mere rhetoric, he seems to genuinely feel shamed by her goodness to him. 71 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:12.000 Later on, we'll see that she was his inspiration for the character of Luthian, 72 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:15.720 the fairest elf maiden who ever lived this. Ability to appreciate true beauty, 73 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:20.480 particularly in the one to whom you are mundanely committed, is critical to 74 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:26.160 receiving the right kind of inspiration. The poet is only as skilled as his 75 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:30.800 ability to cherish his muse In the day today, and secondly, it doesn't 76 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:35.560 take great study to discover that Tolkien was given to great study. He spent 77 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:42.399 rainy days reading, He dodged social engagements reading. He familiarized himself with epic 78 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:46.600 stories and poetry. And one of the primary reasons he was able to produce 79 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:51.120 magnificent stories is that he himself was immersed in magnificent stories. If you want 80 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.639 to be great in your field, whether in the arts, the sciences, 81 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:58.920 or whatever else, make sure that you are intimately acquainted with the greats who 82 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.639 have come before you. Regardless of your domain, you are almost certainly operating 83 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:08.279 in a domain that was carved out by these greats, and they continue to 84 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:11.839 shape the way that you operate, whether you realize it or not. And 85 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.399 so make this influence intentional. Go to the foundations, and if this is 86 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:19.680 too broad, start with the foundational voices that interest you. The more that 87 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:24.160 you befriend them and make your relationship with them intentional, the more that you'll 88 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:28.240 be able to harness the same spirit that they did to accomplish great things in 89 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:32.240 your own right. Tolkien's legendarium is not the same as the epics that came 90 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:38.000 before him, but it most certainly would not reach its own epic greatness without 91 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:44.480 them. Thank you for listening, and I hope that you found this worthwhile. 92 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.759 If you did, be sure to go to patreon dot com slash Mythic 93 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:50.319 Mind and join the ten dollars a month here. Whether we're talking about one 94 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:54.560 of these more mundane letters or one that does a bit more heavy lifting, 95 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:59.240 I think that you'll find that there is a richness in Tolkien's thought, there's 96 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.720 a richness in his family life, there is a richness that just exudes from 97 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:09.079 his personal correspondence with those around him. But until next time, I wish 98 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:17.560 you many meaningful roads ahead. All music, including this episode is owned by 99 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:20.399 Newline Productions, and please don't sue me.