The Culture of Middle-earth
There are many cultures that make up Middle-earth, and each culture has its strengths and weaknesses. There is the Shire, simple, pastoral, and with a strong sense of community. The flip side is insularity and suspicion of strangers, friend or foe. They desire peace and merriment above all other aspirations, and so stand strong where others fail.
The Dwarves are solid and stoic folk, master craftsmen who cherish ores, gems, and stones, but who also raise their deep voices in song as they bring forth music from instruments of their own hand. Their love of the solid Earth can easily be turned to greed, and their craftsmanship to disdain, but they are loyal, sturdy, fierce to their enemies, and true to their friends.
The Elves are the artisans who bring beauty and grace to everything they do, everything they make, and everything around them. Nothing is too low to be artful, and all that is high and wonderful bears their touch. But all beauty fails, as do the Elves, and so their time, though long, is tinged with sadness as all that they make and are passes away.
The Numenorian Men are the heirs of the Elves, taking on their language, their art, and their architecture, but slowly, inevitably corrupting it. The best of them are true and honorable, and makers of great works, but even they can be tempted to love stones edifices more than family, legends more than life.
The Eorlingas, the people of Rohan, are a culture rich in oral tradition, lovers of horses, and lovers of freedom. They roam their countryside, keeping to their oaths of allegiance. Loyal and true, they make fierce warriors, but they can also be misled and misused.
Our modern-day culture is mix of all these attributes, but layered over by Sarumanesque machines. Almost all that we consume and produce is dependent on engines and wheels, fires and reactions. The challenge is to keep to the positive values of the Middle-earth cultures we cherish. We can start by establishing community, both here in cyberspace, and in the real world. Be producers of works, great and small, but make nothing that is shabby, useless, or ugly. Love the Earth and all she produces, but do not be greedy with her wealth. Cherish and strengthen the beauty that is around us, but do not foolishly insist that it must last forever unchanged, for change it will. The hard heart breaks, but the soft heart yields. Aspire to the arts when you can, for they will expand your vision and enlarge your mind. Build monuments to truth, but put people before things. Cherish freedom and defend it with honor and mercy. Record your histories lest they be forgotten. Sing loudly, dance lightly, and laugh heartily.
The Dwarves are solid and stoic folk, master craftsmen who cherish ores, gems, and stones, but who also raise their deep voices in song as they bring forth music from instruments of their own hand. Their love of the solid Earth can easily be turned to greed, and their craftsmanship to disdain, but they are loyal, sturdy, fierce to their enemies, and true to their friends.
The Elves are the artisans who bring beauty and grace to everything they do, everything they make, and everything around them. Nothing is too low to be artful, and all that is high and wonderful bears their touch. But all beauty fails, as do the Elves, and so their time, though long, is tinged with sadness as all that they make and are passes away.
The Numenorian Men are the heirs of the Elves, taking on their language, their art, and their architecture, but slowly, inevitably corrupting it. The best of them are true and honorable, and makers of great works, but even they can be tempted to love stones edifices more than family, legends more than life.
The Eorlingas, the people of Rohan, are a culture rich in oral tradition, lovers of horses, and lovers of freedom. They roam their countryside, keeping to their oaths of allegiance. Loyal and true, they make fierce warriors, but they can also be misled and misused.
Our modern-day culture is mix of all these attributes, but layered over by Sarumanesque machines. Almost all that we consume and produce is dependent on engines and wheels, fires and reactions. The challenge is to keep to the positive values of the Middle-earth cultures we cherish. We can start by establishing community, both here in cyberspace, and in the real world. Be producers of works, great and small, but make nothing that is shabby, useless, or ugly. Love the Earth and all she produces, but do not be greedy with her wealth. Cherish and strengthen the beauty that is around us, but do not foolishly insist that it must last forever unchanged, for change it will. The hard heart breaks, but the soft heart yields. Aspire to the arts when you can, for they will expand your vision and enlarge your mind. Build monuments to truth, but put people before things. Cherish freedom and defend it with honor and mercy. Record your histories lest they be forgotten. Sing loudly, dance lightly, and laugh heartily.
posted by Mary Joan | 12:02 AM
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