Larry Swain scripsit: AMen. One of the reasons I use Tolkien in a course that deals in European epic literature is because he drew so much from Vergil and Homer. If I recall correctly, Classical Language and Literature was his first "major" before! he switched to philology under Sisam. Et, mehercules, categoriae histo
riae aliquantum hicstrident: horresco referens monstrum istud quod �European epicliterature� appellas! Europaeae litterae nec revera sunt nec, si vestroiudicio sint, tamen eundem vultum exhibent ettemporibus et locis. Tolkien animum applicatphilologiae impulsore Sisam ! Sed id quod tuphilologiam vocas rectius philologia Anglorum adMedium Aevum pertinens appell! I'll only make a few brief comments to this diatribe. First, I used philology in the sense that it was usedin British universities before World War I. "Philol
ogy" at that period was used to describe thenascent field undertaken in English departments by andlarge of Indo-European linguistics. This of coursehas changed drastically over the century, but in 1912,that's the way it was. I also didn't say "impulsoreSisam", I said under Sisam. Kenneth Sisam wasTolkien's tutor in 1912 and it was during this timethat he migrated from the Classical faculty to theEnglish faculty. Most of the rest of the message is beside the point. Tolkien et al came from a period in which all ofEuropean literature was seen as a continuum, two ofthe great works that this generation produced wasAuerbach's Mimesis covering material from the ancientto the modern world, and Curtius' magnum opus,European Literature in the Latin Middle Ages whichassumed a continuity between the Classical past andMedieval literature. That Tolkien also participatedin this view is apparent to anyone who has read any ofhis scholarly pieces. That his fiction is influencedby his scholarly life is also quite well known. Thathe was embued with the Latin and Greek classics isplain as day. That the classics, as well as othersources, influenced his work is easily demonstrated. Si ergo tam multiplex implicatumque est quod
Vergilius Graecis debet, ut qui duas tantum litteras(latinas et Graecas) docent persaepe Vergilium abHomero disiunctum teneant, quo se res habet cum adTolkenium fuga temporum locorumque ducit? So the epic hero died with Vergil eh? And epic themeswere never dealt with in any subsequent literature? And our great epics didn't influence later writers tomimetic works and scenes? Please, spare us. An impassioned plea to not do comparative literatureor to engage in studies that cross our dearly heldboundaries. I'm afraid I'm not going to try anddefend interdisciplinary studies, or interperiodstudies and comparative literature against the fearthat by doing so we have somehow devalued the contextof Vergil or of the study of that context. The best Ican do at the moment is to invite you to come and sitin on my class, perhaps you'll learn something.
Larry Swain scripsit:
Most of the rest of the message (scilicet of V. Crupi)is beside the point. Tolkien et al came from a period in which all ofEuropean literature was seen as a continuum, two ofthe great works that this generation produced wasAuerbach's Mimesis covering material from the ancientto the modern world, and Curtius' magnum opus,European Literature in the Latin Middle Ages whichassumed a continuity between the Classical past andMedieval literature. That Tolkien also participatedin this view is apparent to anyone who has read any ofhis scholarly pieces. That his fiction is influencedby his scholarly life is also quite well known. Thathe was embued with the Latin and Greek classics isplain as day. That the classics, as well as othersources, influenced his work is easily demonstrated.
Veritas certissima in istis verbis! Auerbachii Curtiique opera perlegi ego quoque admodum tunc adulescens , nec Americae tantum ea �incolae sunt� (ut callidissima fraudem iunctura Leofrancum nostrum!). Tolkien certe iis temporibus vixit: sed hoc docendum cui docenda Vergilii opera sunt? Cum haec discipuli noverint, tanta adrogantia a Magistris imbuti, non modo quo �Imperium� a �Re publica�secernant carent, sed quamobrem legissent nesciunt nisi quia in aula tanti magistri sederent cumque tanto sub magistro subeundum iis foret periculum! A quo �divom pater atque hominum rex� me sevocavit! Vae iis qui cum Auerbach et Curtius non sunt, tamquam essent vivunt! Dubito quin Auerbach Tolkien cum Vergilio miscuisset si umquam Vergilium legisset. Historia litterarum fraudati discipuli ad historiam litterarum in insignibus operibus legendis, per semitas tam angustas coguntur et tortuosas , sine instrumento, sine possessione sermonis quoque auctoris? Haec schola tua! Quianam legerent discipuli textus ergo, ut istas tam manifestas �veritates� inveniant? Ut Tolkien iste, scilicet staturae maximae auctor, apud Vergilium ponatur, scilicet tam magnae staturae ut sine eo Litterae non stent!
Revera Tolkien iste vester mediocris philologus et scriptor simul fuit, ita ut nec tam irrita philologia eius operas insulsas et falsas sustineat, nec operae tam insulsae ( quae nulli placere possunt nisi adolescentibus seu istis pilosis ministris et scribis et �professional�, ut bene ais!) tam vanam iustificent philologiam! Hoc sensus omnis sermonis mei.
Post Maximos et veneratos Lindsay et Wilson haec philologia Britannica abutitur lingua? Quia non tibi proponis cum Walt Disney quoque dramatum personis legere Vergilium? Utinam ussissent Varius et Tucca Aeneidem antequam tam insulsi �professional� Nonio Marcello digni divina sua legerent verba, ut �insolenter solent�!
Diversi nobis sunt sermones, non quia mihi italorum barbarumque adrogantium tibi; sed quia tam comprehensus temeritate adrogantiaque es ut ante te Latine dici non possit, nec de meo sermone tam horribili et mediocri loquor, sed de eo sublimi et Augusto poetarum quos legere simulas.
Etsi tibi nihil scribam ultro, tamen legam et inteligentia gaudebo quom eminebit et mediocritatem mecum verberabo tuam et aliorum. Textus Vergilii quem legis et te leget et insipientiam non fert. Non ferant in aeternum discipuli quoque.
Nec credo tibi cum de historia deque philologia loqueris et gloriaris. Fabellae tolkienianae istae cum Vergilio ridicule confusae te arguunt, et tecum certe totius americanae artis explanandi!
Nisi legisti, posito horribili Tolkenio, lege Petrarcam, ab "De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia" incipiens!
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