Longer Boats
About my item on Tolkien as British mythology, and why the Ring saga is so land-locked, Patrick Nielsen Hayden quickly wrote:
What do you mean, “where are all the boats”? In Tolkien’s mythology, sailing is how you get to Heaven, more or less. Sounds reasonably English to me.
Mariners are a Big Deal in Arda, I’ll remind you. One of them was so successful, he got turned into a star, and Elrond is his son, too. An entirely Age of the World (the Second, to be precise) was dominated by dauntless navigatin’ men. Eventually they decided this naval power stuff was so spiffy, they’d just use it to conquer the gods. Trouble ensued.
Even in THE LORD OF THE RINGS, Aragorn enters Minas Tirith at the head of a mighty fleet, one of the most visually-dramatic scenes in THE RETURN OF THE KING and one I hope doesn’t get lost on the cutting-room floor.
Just like Patrick to confuse the issue with facts. Still: It doesn’t seem like much. Where is the littoral coastline? Where are the wondrous islands? Beowulf sails a lot. Sir Patrick Spens sails. Frodo not at all.
I’m wondering now if Treasure Island isn’t “a mythology for Britain.”
