Michael Moorcock once referred to the huge catalog of epithet , berth , tintinnabulation and swayer in J.R.R. Tolkien ’s phantasy texts as “ a baneful confirmation of the values of a virtuously bankrupt mediate class . ” He criminate Tolkien ’s workplace of infantilization . And he created his most famous persona , Elric , as a critique of Tolkien .
Over inthe New Yorker , Peter Bebergal indite a gravid profile of Moorcock , in which Moorcock ’s antipathy to Tolkien is explored , including how he equate Lord of the Rings to Winnie the Pooh . And how it shape Moorcock ’s own writing :
Because Moorcock is a fiction writer , it was only fitting that he would bid a critical review of Tolkien through his own work . In the nineteen - 70 , swimming in the shadows like a remora alongside Tolkien ’s bequest , was a hero of sorts with a slightly saturnine nature than that of Bilbo or Gandalf . His name is Elric , a frail , drug - addict albino and the loath ruler of the realm of Melniboné , where retaliation and hedonism are stand characteristics , and human beings are enslaved . The denizen of Melniboné are not the spiritual , almost angelic elves of Lothlórien , but a raceway of decadent autocrat whose magical gifts are impart by fiend . While Elric fuck his mass , he despises their selfishness , and the stories and novels follow Elric across strange dry land and time as he tries to get along to footing with his own internal conflict with his associate , Stormbringer , a sentient brand that feeds off the souls of those Elric kills .
The whole thing is well deserving reading . And curb outour brushup of Bebergal ’s book about the occult in Rock’n’Roll . [ The New Yorker ]
How Rock and Roll Found Satan — And Why That Was a Good Thing
BooksLord of the Rings
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