Mythology imperfectly passed down

[Ludibunda]

Allow me to play the devil's advocate and please attempt to explain this to me..

If Tolkien felt himself merely a recorder of a mythology sent to him by God,

Why did he spend so much time rewriting and creating multiple versions of the Silmarillion without even publishing it.

Wouldn't God have provided him a nearly ready-for-press product?

[Sindarin]

That's a theological question, isn't it?

Well, the answer to your question would probably have to depend on the religious beliefs of the person you asked.

Tolkien, a devout Catholic, most likely believed that God had a plan for him, and J.R.R. probably believed that God's
pre-destined plan was for him to be a professor and a writer.

Tolkien, being the religious individual that he was, probably believed God created human life, and with that life, he must have also created the ins and outs of the human mind, thus creating the ideas for the mythologies he wrote about in
"The Silmarillion."

Being religious, Tolkien might have also believed that these ideas he was given, this "gift from God," was for him to write and re-write into a prose any way he decided to; and that it wasn't God's job to provide him a detailed manuscript of the mind, rather, it was Tolkien's responsibility to get the job done himself by arranging and interpreting these ideas into his book.

That's just my opinion.

[Ludibunda]

Thanks Sindarin - that adds a few ideas to the old melting pot. Thanks for taking up the challenge!

[Catz]

ummm since when did Tolkien ever say that he was a "recorder of a mythology sent to him by God" ?
cos ive done a fair bit of reading about him and he always had a very firm sense of what was and was not "real" ie: what was outside of his "secondary world" and what was within it
he created what he felt should have existed, but he was always aware that it was just his creation, tho he acknowledged the part that his God played in his creative process
:catz:

[Ludibunda]

Fair enough question Catz. I went back to look for the references and here they are:
I was reading a book titled J.R.R.Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth by Bradley Birzer, 2003.
The notion of Tolkien as a "recorder" is mentioned several times:
Tokien wrote in 1964 that the parameters of his mythology had been set by 1926. To him the writing that followed constituted understandings, revelations, and manifestations of the mythology as Tolkien began to understand it better,(Carpenter, ed., Letters, 7-8.) "They arose in my mind as 'given' things," Tolkien wrote. "always I had the sense of recording what was already 'there', somewhere: not of "inventing."(quoted in Carpenter, Tolkien, 92. See also Lawlor, C.S. Lewis, 35.) Tolkien implies in interviews and letters that his "discovery" was as much theological as it was linguistic. (p.32) Later, on p 47, I found: As quick as Tolkien was to claim that God created the myth and he was merely the recorder in it, he was equally quick to note that God's grace had touched him directly through the premature death of his mother. (Priscilla Tolkien, "Memories," 12.)
So you see, whether this notion is accurate or not, it has been entertained by those in the field.

[Catz]

oh i agree that others may have entertained that notion, but i dont think that Tolkien himself ever had any feeling that his "mythology" was anything but his own invention. Carpenter himself, Tolkiens official biographer, commented that Tolkien found the way that many people got wrapped up in the story, blurring the division between the fantasy world and the real world, rather disturbing
and yes he did often comment that it seemed that he was writing something that had already existed, but many writers use that image to describe the way their writing flows from their own internal world to the page......and in a sense he was, since the ideas had been gestating in his mind for a long time before he ever commited them to paper...........if you read the HoME editions youll see that what seemed to "flow" from the page as if just "being recorded" wasnt quite as straightforward as it appeared ;) and that there were many stops and starts along the way, and many wrong turns before the thrust of the story really got going..........but ofc this is a part of the creative process.........and that IS god, or whatever you wish to call the power of the universe, given
i think to say that Tolkien was merely a recorder is doing him as well as all writers a disservice........yes in one sense he was a recorder, but only in the same sense that any writer is............in that he recorded his own internal world for others to see
:catz:

[Ludibunda]

Your insights are very helpful and I see "interpretation" and choice of source plays key in the debate. I also agree that Tolkien is not "merely" a recorder in the belittling sence of the word. When he called himself that, I'm sure he was simply being humble. But it brings up many interesting points and again, thanks for being part of the discussion.