The Mythos of pUr-fection: Language, Theology, and Benjamin in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

Ryan, Kelsey

The Mythos of pUr-fection: Language, Theology, and Benjamin in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

Files

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Date

2014

Authors

Ryan, Kelsey

Advisor

McInerney, Maud Burnett

Department

Haverford College. Department of English

Type

Thesis

Language

eng

Access Restrictions

Open Access

Terms of Use

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/

Abstract

J.R.R. Tolkien, father of the modern high fantasy story, developed his Middle-Earth realm not out of an idea he had for characters or plot, but out of his own constructed languages. Tolkien invented upwards of 14 languages for Middle-Earth, and the languages themselves play roles just as important as any character, in driving action and illustrating character development. His "Elvish" language Quenya serves as a kind of universal language, uniting all noble characters under one holy tongue. But what's more, Tolkien uses Quenya (and its relationship to the other characters) as the access point for a kind of non-religious religion, or a "natural theology" (coined by Catherine Madsen in "Light from an Invisible Lamp: Natural Religion in The Lord of the Rings" (39)). What does this mean about Quenya? How do acts of translation work-–who translates Quenya, when, how, and why? In this thesis, I seek to connect The Lord of the Rings and its Quenya language to Benjamin's "The Task of the Translator,"--showing Quenya as a "pure," Ur-language, crafted by Tolkien through linguistics and narrative to be the verbal embodiment of a nonspoken core universal language. By using key moments of Quenya, such as the poem "Namárië," I argue that Tolkien's moments of translation are, in effect, done more for the reader than the characters, who understand the Ur as it relates to them. An Ur-language does not require translation, as it is the deeper meaning of what spoken words intend; in creating a physical representation of the Ur, Tolkien narratively grounds Quenya in religious vocabulary, relating characters' morality to their fluency of Quenya speech.