BBC Article on Tolkien and Kullervo

[zedturtle]

Yeah, it calls it a 'dark tale' (which is definitely true), and the title says 'Kullervo: Tolkien's fascination with Finland' which is probably a bit of a stretch, but not really.

And I agree with Rich... those of us who post regularly here are but a small subset of the people who visit the site, who are but a small subset of those people who play The One Ring, who are but a small subset of the people who are familiar with Tolkien's writing who are but a subset of the people who are aware of Tolkien's stories. It is to this last mega-group that the article has to address itself, and we should keep that in mind in situations like this.

[Rich H]

I'm personally more concerned that you say you're a Brit, yet spell legitimising with a 'z'! Shocking.

That's not an Americanism, it's the spelling the Oxford English Dictionary favours.

Bollocks to that! ... Oxford. Pah. The source of all culture and learning is Yorkshire. Everyone knows that.

[Rich H]

And I agree with Rich... those of us who post regularly here are but a small subset of the people who visit the site, who are but a small subset of those people who play The One Ring, who are but a small subset of the people who are familiar with Tolkien's writing who are but a subset of the people who are aware of Tolkien's stories. It is to this last mega-group that the article has to address itself, and we should keep that in mind in situations like this.

I do understand the criticism though; I mean instead of drawing the fascination with Finland due to the Kullervo story, it could have also mentioned the other elements within The Lord of the Rings with Finnish and other Scandinavian influences - a certain Elf language for starters! So, it did feel somewhat lazy but I didn't get the sensationalist angle that cuthalion picked up on.

It was nice to see the great man in the current news again, though.

[aramis]

I'm personally more concerned that you say you're a Brit, yet spell legitimising with a 'z'! Shocking.

That's not an Americanism, it's the spelling the Oxford English Dictionary favours.

Bollocks to that! ... Oxford. Pah. The source of all culture and learning is Yorkshire. Everyone knows that.

I thought it was Athens...

I just wish spelling were phonetic. But then the UK would have 3 spellings and the US 5 more for many words.

[cuthalion]

So, it did feel somewhat lazy but I didn't get the sensationalist angle that cuthalion picked up on.

Well, to get that, you'd have to understand just how razor-edged this critique is--i.e. I didn't really read that much, but the first line really put me off! "Reveals"--what the bloody hell did they/the publication of Kullervo "reveal" about Tolkien's fascination with/adoration of Scandinavian myth?!? Add to, yes, deepen, yes. But "reveal"?! The headline is just a sweeping, glib attempt at "making news" out of something that should be interesting in its own right. Far better to let the research and the publication stand for itself than make inflated claims on its behalf.

Anyway, I'm afraid I have sidetracked your thread. Just wanted to offer some defence (!) of my sticking my nose in in the first place. I'll bow out.

[cuthalion]

And I agree with Rich... those of us who post regularly here are but a small subset of the people who visit the site, who are but a small subset of those people who play The One Ring, who are but a small subset of the people who are familiar with Tolkien's writing who are but a subset of the people who are aware of Tolkien's stories. It is to this last mega-group that the article has to address itself, and we should keep that in mind in situations like this.

Yeh--I don't think they should be catering to Tolkien scholars (which, by the way, I wouldn't count myself one of---and defer to many other forum regulars)----but I do think they shouldn't misinform the general reader.

[Rich H]

Anyway, I'm afraid I have sidetracked your thread. Just wanted to offer some defence (!) of my sticking my nose in in the first place. I'll bow out.

Not at all! I don't think critiquing the article is in any way side tracking the thread and I appreciate the explanation of why you feel its sensationalising things - to which I'm now more inclined to agree.