"A Greater Still": The Importance of Song in Tolkien's Creation Myth by Dawn Felagund

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Summary:

Tolkien's creation story the Ainulindalë includes many archetypal elements. This essay explores the deus faber or god-as-maker element and why creation from vocal song is vitally important to legendarium.

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Genre: Nonfiction/Meta

Challenges: B2MeM 2018

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1, 876
Posted on 3 March 2018 Updated on 3 March 2018

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"A Greater Still": The Importance of Song in Tolkien's Creation Myth

Comments on "A Greater Still": The Importance of Song in Tolkien's Creation Myth

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Congrats to you! This is an interesting piece. It took me five years after I first picked up The Silmarillion to go back and finish the Ainulindalë--not that it does not have its moments. There is Melkor trying to mess everything up. 

John Garth apparently recently produced something on the Ainulindalë. I wanted to see if I could find it and my internet is not working. I'm stopping now! Hope this goes through.

I never enjoyed reading it for fun; I am not one of the Tolkien fans that found it so beautiful or uplifting or poetic. But I do enjoy creation myths as a research topic, so I've found interest in it through that. I've been meaning to write something up fannishly for the last five years (!!), since that Mythmoot presentation, and today's prompt was the kick in the pants to do so.

I'd be interested in the Garth article, if you have access to it. When I researched all this five years ago, the scholarship was pretty disappointing. There were bright points (ha) but there was a lot of religiosity masquerading as serious academic work ... I know you are familiar with *that*.

this was a very informative and thought-provoking essay.
as I commented to oshun regarding her biography of the month I have recently been listening to the Silmarillion audiobook. I am finding it a very rich experience and it actually made the Ainulindalë a far more pleasant experience this time.
 
I agree on what a creative and unique creation myth this is. Creation from song has it's only other parallel in the creation of Narnia--CS Lewis' world, which is intriguing in itself, considering the close friendship of those two authors.
 
I have always found some kinship of the Valar to the Greek gods--in some of the characterizations, some of their poor decision-making, in their inability to truly understand the Elves, and their overall lack of insight. 
 
The songs of power have always been fascinating to me and I wish we had more information about them. I imagine Maglor had great power in his songs and I always wonder what would have happened if he had entered into the battle of song against Sauron. 
 
Songs were such an ancient and powerful method of oral tradition--from Homer to the troubadours of the Middle Ages, to indigenous communities that carry their history to this day in stories and songs. 

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! ^_^

I think it's fitting that the Ainulindale works better recited aloud than read as a written text since its power is in vocal song (and that, in Tolkien's imagined in-universe history, it almost certainly started as an oral tale told among or to the Elves).

I had forgotten that Narnia used a similar mode of creation. I am not a Lewis expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm almost certain that the Ainulindale is older; it began as "The Music of the Ainur" in BoLT that Tolkien wrote in his twenties. I do not, however, know if he ever shared it (although, as one of his oldest texts, it is hard to believe he did not) ... but it would not be the first time Lewis borrowed from him! :D Tolkien was rather salty over Lewis's appropriation of "Numinor"!

I agree that Maglor--whose father-name Canafinwe means "commanding"--was a powerful character *because* of his voice. I think this is an area where the popular understanding of music and musicians leads to mischaracterization of Maglor, who gets cast as the simpering, soft-hearted poet when the scops and skalds Tolkien likely had in mind when creating his character were anything but that: they governed public opinion, and a skilled singer could unseat a king. And they controlled the history: who was remembered and how. Powerful indeed!

Thank you again for reading and commenting. <3