from J.R.R. Tolkien:
I am doubtful myself about the undertaking [to write The Silmarillion]. Part of the attraction of The L.R. is, I think, due to the glimpses of a large history in the background; an attraction like that of viewing far off an unvisited island, or seeing the towers of a distant city gleaming in a sunlit mist. To go there is to destroy the magic, unless new unattainable vistas are again revealed. (Letters, p. 333)
From the foreword, The Book of Lost Tales 1, J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
Given that Christopher allows that someone really told him that the Silmarillion was like the Old Testament, I can’t wait to get into this, but I’m making good progress in the last of the Walton Mabinogian tales. One thing I really like about them is that she’ll step aside, mid-plot to say that according to The Mabinogi, this or that happened. Sometimes it’s to say, that doesn’t really make any sense, so maybe this other thing is more likely or not but here’s what we can piece together. It’s a great device to remind the knowledgeable reader that sometimes the old writing or translation doesn’t parse very well and for the less-widely read reader it’s a reminder that there’s very old lore involved. OK, the latter reader probably thinks the word Mabinogi is made up along with the whole story.
