History became legend, legend became myth.
History has become a story, and a story has become a legend.
-"Lord of the Rings"
1 Tolkien just writes for fun?
April 23 is World Book Day and the re-screening of the movie "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". The original novel of the same name for the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy has a very lofty status in the West and is considered the originator of Western fantasy literature. Today, many of our familiar literature, movies, and game series-such as Warcraft, Warhammer, Game of Thrones, Dungeons and Dragons, etc., have benefited greatly from this masterpiece by Tolkien.
But in China, this masterpiece always has a certain sense of alienation from us. I think a very important reason is that this series lacks a historical anchor point. The thinking of Chinese people is historical. Our novelists make up stories. Even if the novels of "The Romance of the Gods" are so nonsense that their mothers dare not recognize them, they still have to bite the bullet and say that this is a "story of Shang and Zhou". . In Chinese, the original meaning of the word "story" means "something that happened before". Telling stories is not tied to a certain period of history. It feels awkward for us like going to the toilet without wiping buttocks. The advantage of this habit is that we have a general expectation of who the characters in the story are. The difficulty of the Lord of the Rings for Chinese people is that it not only does not deliberately attach to history, but deliberately avoids history. Anyone who has watched the original Lord of the Rings or the movie will feel that Tolkien seems to be discussing something seriously, worrying deeply about something. But because of the lack of historical "anchor points." Many people do not understand. So after the "Lord of the Rings" series became popular, many people ran to ask Tolkien: What is your old metaphor, or at least from which period of history? And Tolkien's answer every time is: no history is alluded to, I just write it for fun, take a picture of it.
Tolkien: Don't think about it, I just wrote it for fun, old man.
As a result, this answer is regarded by many “fundamentalist Chinese fans” as the imperial edict of "Lord of the Rings" that has nothing to do with history. But if you think about it, it’s impossible. Human thinking cannot imagine a world he has never seen before. Tolkien’s construction of a masterpiece like "The Lord of the Rings" cannot be completely meaningless. It must be based on certain history and express a certain point of view. In my opinion, Tuo Lao's speech is actually a typical "British cunning". The Lord of the Rings trilogy was written from 1954 to 1955, and was first popular in the 1960-1970s. At that time, affected by the scars of racism in World War II, the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, and the war in the Middle East, ethnic and religious issues have begun to become sensitive topics subject to "political correctness" in the West. If Tolkien clearly stated that his writing inspiration was derived from a certain period of history, he would inevitably encounter resistance, hatred and even assassination by some ethnic groups. After all, what Tolkien describes is a world where good and evil are too clear. No reader will be happy to learn that his race is the prototype of the Sauron Demon Army in the novel. So Tolkien must conceal the historical prototype of the story, for his job (he is a professor at Oxford University), for his personal safety, and for the novel to be immune to resistance and hatred.
Comparing the fate of "Charlie Comics", you know how foresight the old man is. So, what is the historical metaphor of the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" deliberately concealed by Tolkien? In fact, if you are familiar with European history, you will find that this metaphor is not difficult to guess. This article will try to explain one or two for you: (First of all, this article is just an tentative interpretation of the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy". It aims to provide readers with an interesting hypothesis. I know that there are also many hardcore ashes in China. For fans, the interpretation of this book will stick to your own point of view. I have no intention of arguing here, it's just a point of view. If you have different opinions, please spit it out and welcome friendly discussions.)
2 What are Europeans anxious about
The easiest key to cracking the mystery of the historical prototype of a fictional novel is to first analyze what the author’s "age anxiety" is when he writes the book. Croce said: All history is contemporary history. In the same way, a good epic novel can be welcomed, and it must also reflect the collective anxiety of the era in which it was created and the ethnic group the author belongs to. For example, although "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" clearly writes the story of the Three Kingdoms, it actually reflects the anxiety of whether the Han people are still orthodox after the Southern Song Dynasty loses the rule of the Central Plains. Therefore, the Three Kingdoms must respect Liu Yi Cao and emphasize the Shu Han regime. Although it is in a corner, it is an orthodox concept. This metaphor was understood and accepted by the Han people at that time. Therefore, the relevant "words" of the Three Kingdoms could flourish after the Southern Song Dynasty. Eventually, at the end of Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, the Han people would "reopen the sun, the moon, and the sky". . In the same way, the reason why the novels of the "Lord of the Rings" series became popular in the West is because it also hides a common European Christian civilization that can be understood and accepted by a single glance. What is this anxiety? Since modern times, Christian civilization in Europe has had one and only one real common "anxiety of the age", and that is the invasion and persecution of the Islamic civilization led by the Ottoman Turk Empire. Stavrianos, the author of "The General History of the World", had a very profound exposition in his book before the modern history of the world after the 15th century. To the effect, people today (in the middle of the 20th century) look back and may feel that modern times are a process in which Western Christian civilization is flourishing and spreading their ideas to the entire world. But if you look at the first few hundred years of modern times, the situation is completely different. Western civilization has gone quite hard on this road. The little flame of his civilization was almost extinguished. If there was an alien observer looking at the earth at that time, the first thing he noticed would be the rapid expansion of the Ottoman Turk Empire, which almost pushed European civilization into desperation.
Yes, if you limit your perspective to the “traditional West” centered on the Mediterranean, you will find that not only in modern times, but since the Middle Ages, Western Christian civilization has been steadily retreating when facing Islamic civilization.
At the beginning of the seventh century AD, Islamic civilization flourished from the Arabian Peninsula, and the first wave of force took away half of the Mediterranean world that originally belonged to Christianity. Christian civilization relied on the strenuous support of the Frankish Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, one west and one east, to be able to preserve a corner of Europe.
However, in 1453 AD, Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Rome, fell under the bombardment of the Turks’ urban artillery. The eastern gateway of Europe was opened. At that time, the whole of Europe was trembling under the guns of the Turks-even the fortress of the eternal city has fallen, what else can stop the Turks who believe in Islam from sweeping across Europe?
Yes, after the Ottoman Empire destroyed East Rome and occupied the Balkans, Western civilization has almost been driven to desperation. On land, the Turks pointed directly at the Italian peninsula, the heart of the Christian world. At sea, the once prosperous Mediterranean trading system also declined under the attack of the Barbary pirates it supported. In a sense, the "Great Era of Navigation" that Europe opened afterwards is more like Europeans being forced to cross oceans under the pressure of the rising Turks to "refuge" in the New World. Having said that, do you think of the pessimistic prophecy repeated by Elf Queen Galadriel in "The Lord of the Rings"?
Queen Galadriel is worried: Middle-earth is about to fall, and the elves can only travel across oceans to Amen Island to avoid disaster.
Yes, the Queen Galadriel, who has a strong presence in the "Lord of the Rings" series, has the shadow of Isabella, the founding monarch of Spain, the "Warrior Queen" in many ways.
The two queens have completed a political marriage with the king and jointly ruled the merged kingdom. Both of them have taken the lead in this rule, making their husbands feel thin, and they have also funded great expeditions.
Galadriel and her husband's name is Celeborn, Isabella and her husband's name is Ferdinand-but these two are less important than their brilliant wives.
In the face of the strong enemy in the east, the two queens also looked at the wider continent of the west with hope.
In Tolkien’s writings, Galadriel and Isabella’s thoughts of "can't afford to hide" are still very positive. After all, at the end of the story, Uncle Baggins followed the Queen to Amen. Continent.
Many people will definitely not understand it here. After playing for a long time, they managed to save Middle-earth, so they still have to immigrate to America in the end... Ah no, Amen Chau. I don't know if this ending is also a metaphor for this meaning-even if Western civilization can hold Europe (Middle-Earth), its future will eventually be in the New World. However, before this bright "New World Immigration", the protagonists still have to face the magic army led by Sauron just once. So let's talk about the metaphor of Sauron's army.
3 Who is the meaning of Sauron's "Magic Army"
The dark forces of Sauron in the story of "The Lord of the Rings" obviously correspond to Turkey, which has been pressing for the West step by step in history. First of all, from the map of Middle-earth that Tolkien appointed in his later years, you can easily see that the Mordor area, the base camp of the Sauron Demon Army, is very similar in appearance to the Asia Minor Peninsula where the Ottoman Empire emerged. The Doomsday Volcano corresponds to the Anatolian Plateau.
In "Lord of the Rings", the Sauron Demon Army has two very important servants: a servant is living outside the southeast corner of the map Harad (Haradrim, in the movie veil, dominate the mammoth war elephant That force).
From this name full of Middle Eastern flavor, you can feel that this is clearly the Arab nation of the Middle East and North Africa that was accepted as servants after the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The other servant army is the Umbar pirates (Corsairs of Umbar, piloting the Black Sail fleet in the movie, was destroyed by the undead army led by Aragorn before they even played). The prototype of this force is obviously the Barbary pirate group that once took orders from the Ottoman Empire and ran across the Mediterranean. They obtained the "authorized privateer" of the Ottoman Empire and were the earliest ancestors of royal pirates.
What's more interesting is that the real main force of the Sauron Demon Army is not these two groups of people, but the Orcs (Orcs), the group that the fantasy world view has been continuously used for later.
Tolkien arranged a very weird origin for the orc army in subsequent works. He said that these creatures were originally elves or humans. After these people or elves were captured by the dark power of the demon Lord Sauron in their childhood, they were then instilled with a strong hatred of elves and humans, and they were finally twisted into orcs with super combat power and brutality. But Tolkien added that because of this special life experience, the orcs' hatred of their master Sauron is undoubtedly stronger. So once the shackles of enslavement and restraint are untied, they will go back to their masters. This setting more vividly exposed Tolkien's idea of shaping the Sauron Demon Army based on the Ottoman Turk Empire. Because in the history of the Ottoman Empire, there is a system that is not highly similar to the "orc training plan" in the novel, but can only be said to be exactly the same. This is the "Jericheni system" of the Ottoman Empire.
The "Jericheni system" is also known as the blood tax system. Whenever the Ottomans acquire a new territory, they will draw a "blood tax" from the Christians step by step. Every 5-7 years, recruiting officers are sent to the local area to select a young boy from 40 families and take him to Constantinople for military training. When the population of ordinary Greeks (the last descendants of the Eastern Roman Empire) is insufficient, they will also choose from Christians from non-main ethnic groups such as Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Armenia. These "blood taxes" that have been levied can only be loyal to the Sudan because they are far away from the family and the old social relations. The sultan allowed these children to convert to Islam, and then instilled them with hatred of infidels. Eventually, these people would grow into Sudanese soldiers who were more fanatical than ordinary Muslims, had more fighting power, and were only loyal to the sultan himself, and became the Ottoman Empire. The main force of expansion to Europe.
Using Sudanese soldiers who were originally Christians to attack Christians, is this the same as letting the orcs from elves and humans fight elves and humans in the same way? More similarly, once an orc breaks free from control, it will backfire on its owner. In the middle and late stages of the Ottoman Empire, the overbearing Sudanese soldiers became a threat to the Sudan himself. The Janissaries killed the Sudan in a mutiny, and it became commonplace to establish a new master. In addition, in "Lord of the Rings", the demon Lord Sauron had personally visited the battlefield in the ancient times, but in the main story, he was unable to return, leaving only a demon eye to explore before the doomsday volcano.
The original inspiration for this setting may also come from the history of the Ottoman Empire. In the early days of the Ottoman Empire, it was a tradition of the empire that the sultan came to the battlefield to command operations, and even led his own soldiers to charge. But although this boosted morale, it also made the Sultan easy to be assassinated. The most famous case was the assassination of Turkish Sultan Murad I on the battlefield by the Serbian national hero Milos Obilic in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. To put it another way, the assassination is really the racial talent of the Serbs. This story should be the inspiration for the human hero Esidor to cut off the finger of the Lord of the Rings with the Lord of the Rings when the movie "Lord of the Rings" opened.
What's more interesting is that after learning of his father's death, the second son of Sudan Bayezet (nicknamed "Thunder") made a decisive decision and immediately trapped his brother who was in the army who had just ascended the throne and succeeded him as Sudan. From this story, you can see how dangerous the Ottoman sultans are in battle, not only to guard against the opponent's open guns, but also to hide from their own people's arrows. Therefore, in the middle and late stages of the Ottoman Empire, under the threat of internal and external assassinations, in order to protect his absolute safety, the sultan began to play Shenlong to see the end. Since the "Conqueror of the King" Mohammed II, the sultan has no longer even participated in the court hearings, but has handed over the country's executive decision-making power to the "Imperial Conference", which is held 4 times a week, each lasting 7- For 8 hours, the participants included three Vizier (Prime Minister), two justices and four financial officers, a total of nine people (expanded in the late Empire).
...
Is this nine-person meeting very familiar? Think of the "Nine Ring Spirits" under Sauron's seat as his minions?
Yes, according to Tolkien's description, these nine ring spirit messengers were originally human kings, and fell into his minions after being tempted by Sauron. And in history, a considerable part of the real ministers of the Royal Council are from the Sudanese soldiers trained under the "Yericheni System." They were ordered by the Sultan to launch an offensive against European Christians of the same clan. In the eyes of European Christians, it is indeed a bit like Sauron driving the once-human precepts to fight against humans.
In addition, the method of convening this imperial meeting is also very interesting. In the later period, the Sultan himself not only did not speak, but also did not show up. A small cubicle was built next to the imperial meeting room. There was a small veiled window in the cubicle. When the Sultan wanted to monitor the minister, he opened the window and listened. Listen to what they are talking about. The ministers in the meeting could not know whether the Sudan was watching the meeting through the window at this moment. Perhaps the next second, a note was handed out from the hut, and a minister who had said the wrong thing was dragged out to feed the dog. In this way, the Sudan is always in a state of being present and absent, staring at you and not staring at you, expressing opinions or not expressing opinions, which makes the ministers feel pressured, and the Sudan never has to be responsible for the failure of the decision-making. , Can be said to be deep in the essence of autocratic rule.
And I have to say, this kind of prying game where you never know whether "Big Brother" is watching you or not, in "Lord of the Rings", the monster is vividly restored through "Sauron's Eye".
In summary, the geography, allies, military and political system of the villain Sauron can almost be found in the historical Ottoman Turk Empire. If Father Tolkien really has no intention of "connotation" of the Ottoman Empire, I really want to know why he has to bury so many stalks.
And in Tolkien's writings, what is the most terrifying ability of Sauron, the enemy of Middle-earth? It is he who can seduce and assimilate the humans and elves of Middle-earth for his own use-the orcs are the fallen elves, and the ring spirits were once the king of mankind. This metaphor is thought-provoking.
4 What is the Gondor Empire?
The enemy in the "Lord of the Rings" story is like this, what about the righteous side in the story? In fact, its metaphor is more obvious in the novel. In the world view of "Lord of the Rings", Middle-earth once existed a powerful empire called the Númenor empire. Not good at horseback riding alone. Later, it fell under the temptation of Sauron, the empire was destroyed, and the famous "Numanor Lushen Incident" occurred.
But at the last moment of the empire's demise, an imperial royal family of Elendil left Numanor with his two sons and landed in Middle-earth. His two sons, Esidor and Ana Ryan, established the old capital of the Gondor Empire in Middle-earth, the "Star Fortress" Osgiliath (Osgiliath).
It is the old capital that the two sides competed over and over again at the beginning of the movie. Later, Essidor and Anarion went to each other to defend the empire. Essidor built Minas Ithil (Minas Ithil) on the east side of Osgilias, near the border of Mordor. tower).
At the same time, Anarion built Minas Anor (Sunset Tower) on the west side.
The descendants of the two brothers each stood by and fought Sauron. We can clearly see that the above story is actually the result of Tolkien's re-smashing and restating the history of the rise, decline, and division of Rome. The story of Esidor and Ana Ryan jointly established Osgilias, which refers to the legend that the brothers Romulus and Remus jointly established Rome in real history. So Osgilius obviously has the shadow of Rome.
The story of the two brothers who established Minas Ihir and Minas Jano respectively, is like the end of the Roman Empire and also for the defense of the empire. The east and west empires were divided into two. Emperor Theodosius let his two sons After his death, he was in charge of a stall, respectively stationed in Milan and Constantinople.
In contrast, the "Tower of the Moon" in "Lord of the Rings" Minas Ihir obviously has the shadow of Constantinople. According to the description, Minas Ihir was once very strong after its establishment. The demon King Sauron was out of breath, but in the Third Age 1636, a Great Plague broke out in the city. Prosperity turned decline. Hundreds of years later, the Sauron demon army launched a siege on the city. After two years of long siege, the demon army finally sacrificed the giant siege hammer "Grond", and finally captured Minas Ihir .
After the fall, this place degenerated into the "Minas Devil's Cave", and became the gathering point for the Sauron Demon Army to invade everywhere in the whole story.
Historically, the rise and fall of the Eastern Roman Empire with Constantinople as its capital is also very similar to the story. The point of the East Roman Empire’s transition from prosperity to decline was the Justinian Plague in the 6th century AD. This plague caused a sharp decline in the soldiers and labor force of the Eastern Roman Empire. Soon afterwards, the Arab Empire rose and the entire East Rome was attacked. Transfer to.
Finally, in 1453, the impregnable Constantinople was captured by Turkey. Just as the demon army used the massive killer "Grond", the Turks also used the terrifying Urban Cannon to blast off the walls of the castle.
Since then, the castle, renamed Constantiniya, has become a rallying point for the Ottoman Empire to attack the entire Europe. Therefore, the old capital "star fortress" Osgilias corresponds to the city of Rome. At the beginning of the story, the "Tower of the Ascendant" Minas Ihir, which has fallen, corresponds to Constantinople. The Gondor Empire corresponds to the Roman Empire that never perished in the European concept. Then, in the entire Lord of the Rings story, what does the giant white city Minasiano refer to as the main battlefield and the heaviest scene?
…I’ll sell it here, because I found that this article has been written too long.
Even if the original "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" is not counted as many of its prequels, it is a masterpiece. The metaphor, even if I speak very briefly, I am afraid I can't finish it in an article.
Therefore, in the next article, we will enter the main body of the "Lord of the Rings" movie to interpret the historical metaphors in a deeper way.
You will see,
The kingdom of Lokhan, where the cavalry appeared in the story,
The thrilling defense of Minas Jano,
Saruman, the white-robed wizard of the "rebel revolution",
The handsome fairy prince Legolas,
Frodo Baggins, Guardian of the Ring,
Even the "Lord of the White Trees", the last king, Aragorn...
In fact, all these countries, events and people can find historical prototypes in modern European history.
Tolkien used these materials to make a very clever use in his novels, leaving many people unable to see the prototype. But the epic he recorded is still a European history after fairy tales. And behind this fairy tale, Mr. Tuo may hide a very clear realistic proposition. This proposition is related to the future of the West and even the entire world. To be continued...
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