Meet our latest blog contributor and friend from an online writer’s group and the country of Ireland, Clare Campbell. Woo hoo! She shares some thoughts today about Tolkien…
Clare (CJ), is a self-professed Tolkien fanatic, an ElvenQueen-of-Fanfiction (Lord of Rings, obvs), and a caffeinated book-troll. Her alter-ego is a Professional Occupational Therapist with an interest in alternative medicine/rehabilitation by day, and a multi-award-winning author of fantasy, romance, and inspirational writing by night. She’s super excited about her debut fantasy novel, Tempest published by Iron Stream Media, which is coming soon to a magical portal near you.
Concerning Hobbits … and Elves, and Dwarves, and Goblins
By CJ Campbell
First Edition
Picture this. Pre-apocalypse. Y’know, when it was safe to go outside.
It’s late in the afternoon on a packed cobbled street in the middle of Wexford. Summer still hangs heavy on the ‘Ancient East Coast’ of Ireland. The smell of floral from the hanging baskets, salt from the sea breeze, and fusion of spices from the array of artisan and diverse café’s waft invitingly through the relaxed hive of midweek shoppers.
Enter the young, curious, story-hungry, fantasy enthusiast—that’s me—and one gorgeous little bookshop shining like a beacon. She flounces through the door, all wide-eyed and accosts the first salesgirl asking for the fantasy section, preferably YA, and then bounds down the staircase to the basement—because of course fantasy is going to be in the basement. She pauses to fall in love with the stunning piece of art overhanging the staircase; a homage to the elements. To nature, and the beauty that is Éire in all her glory, steeped in mysticism and folklore for millennia. No wonder her mystery inspired JRR Tolkien, particularly the darker, more ambiguous sequences of his stories.
Speaking of Professor T—because he’s the reason we’re in this basement—I wonder did he know his creations would be shaping the entire bookshelf our heroine discovered? I wonder did he know that his carefully researched, meticulous world development, and painstakingly crafted cultures, races, and languages would go on to be the fundamental blueprint of modern fantasy?
But, back to the story at hand. Our story-hungry heroine ravaged an entire bookcase looking for something … anything … that might spark interest. Several contenders were arranged on an eye-level shelf. Contender one; an unlikely, quaint, little heroine plucked by sheer accident to rid a magical realm from a terrible curse. Contender two; THREE words, A-Goblin-King. Contender three; BIG, BEEFY, high-fantasy with dragons, battles, High-Fae, and an array of illustrated maps, pronunciations guides, and more books in the series than our heroine could shake a stick at.
If any of these sound somewhat similar to a hobbit who landed the raw end of the deal with his uncle’s innocuous (irony) ring. Or, another Goblin King. Or, the entire premise to the Middle Earth saga … well, yeah, you’re not alone.
Fast forward to the present day. I’m a few years older, and doing my best impression of a cave troll in the midst of lockdown, but, like an amicable cave troll. A troll of impeccable taste, who enjoys afternoon tea, and is building herself a troll horde of books. Said trove includes a lot of Tolkien. And, this cave troll has been reading, re-watching, re-immersing herself in Middle Earth. Partly for sanity sakes, and partly because she writes fantasy.
Why?
Well, as much as these modern fantasy beauties are fun, riotous, often colourful reads, nothing can compare to the absolute genius of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Elves might’ve been replaced by their root inspiration—High-Fae. And, Dwarves and Hobbits are merely relegated to lesser-faeries status. Oh, and, apparently Goblin’s are hot now (I’ve so many questions)? The point is they have, in one way or another, been inspired by the rich races Tolkien put the leg work into developing.
I’m partial to modern Faerie-inspired stories and, yes, they might’ve taken a darker, morally ambiguous turn but you want to know why? Tolkien’s elves—the absolute superstars they are—were also not entirely innocent. Anyone remember, Fëanor? The Silmarillion should literally have been called ‘Fëanor, No!’ legit, everything falls apart in Middle Earth because of this elf dude’s bad decisions. Which, if you follow Tolkien’s research for his elves it will lead you to the Tuatha Dé Danann, the pre-Celtic, OG elves, rooted in powerful Irish mythology—more like lesser gods, or arc-angels, than forest sprites—who weren’t always exempt from poor life choices, despite their superiority.
For a more obvious comparison; I’ve yet to read a modern fantasy that uses maps and pronunciations that aren’t heavily inspired by Tolkien. There’s a certain popular book and TV series that is an entire knock-off of Tolkien’s world-building but with incest, naughty shenanigans, and A LOT of cruel and unusual character deaths. This is not a criticism, far from it—so please don’t send Jon Snow with a direwolf (or, would that be a little like Beren and Huan, ho, ho, ho). I only wish to present the facts. Tolkien’s rich, beautiful, and diverse world is the cornerstone foundation for fantasy authors everywhere. His imagination and perfectionist research has made it easy for lovers of Middle Earth, and aspiring authors alike, to build their own ideas upon his bedrock.
Somehow, I think he’d be thrilled. Delighted to see, that even after all this time, we fantasy-enthusiasts have fallen so deeply in love with his world that we picked up our walking stick, pinned our cloak, with papers underarm, and went on an adventure to discover the many hidden worlds he uncovered in his own adventures. That we still tread the same paths. Still go into dark caves and run from the monsters we find hidden in the depths of that old mythology. Then, when we’ve gotten thoroughly lost, we somehow manage to find the light of hope he so expertly wove into his characters and we come home. We come home and we write all about our adventure … just like a hobbit who lived in a hole in the ground.
Oh, and F.Y.I., if you were wondering which contender won our heroine’s heart … all of them, duh. She returned home with her treasure, placed them in the trove—nodding approvingly at another journey well-adventured—and picked up her ragged old copy of The Hobbit to read for the zillionth time.
