Tolkien is overrated. There, I said it. Someone had to.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, author of the world famous Lord of the Rings, in addition to several other novels, has long been heralded as one of the greatest authors of the 20th century – to some one of the greatest authors of all time – and the father of modern fantasy. I might be willing to give some credence to the latter, but the former is ridiculous to anyone with any breadth of literary knowledge. Tolkien was an absolutely amazing story creator. He invented a vast world, an accompanying mythology, and an entire language. He was, however, a terrible story teller. When it came to translating his ideas to the page, Tolkien was only competent. He wasn’t a bad writer; he was merely average.
So, while you are distracted with sharpening your pitchforks and lighting your torches, allow me to present my evidence.
Over Description of Scenery
Even the most diehard of Tolkien fans (well maybe not the most diehard, but those who still have some sense of objectivity) will admit that Tolkien is more than a little prone to rambling on about the scenery. There is nothing wrong with being descriptive. I love when an author paints a scene, but Tolkien takes it much, much too far.
“A little way beyond the battle-field they made their camp under a spreading tree: it looked like a chestnut, and yet it still bore many broad brown leaves of a former year, like dry hands with long splayed fingers; they ratted mournfully in the night breeze.” – The Two Towers, Chapter 2: The Riders of Rohan
With regularity Tolkien will destroy his own sense of flow and focus by describing a single feature of the terrain in overtly long and semi-coloned sentences. This habit of his ruins the urgency of a scene and removes the emotion and excitement by diverting the reader’s attention to details that distract from the characters’ actions, rather than enhance them. There are times when Tolkien becomes so overwhelming flowery with his descriptions that the reader loses interest in the object being described. I have seen many trees in my day, and I have seen a fair number of forests. Even if I hadn’t, I could reasonably put together the image of a large number of trees with roots mingling together without much difficulty. But by the time Tolkien is done describing exactly what makes Fangorn Forest different from every other forest you have seen or pictured before, you have become lost in the detail. So much arbitrary and expositional knowledge is laid before you, it is hard to process much less remain interested in.
Under Description of Action
Here is the other side of the coin when it comes to Tolkien’s writing style. When it comes to the scenery, Tolkien attempts to paint a wall with a hair thin brush, however when it is time to detail a character’s actions he merely throws the entire paint can at the wall.
“How many there were the Company could not count. The affray was sharp, but the orcs were dismayed by the fierceness of the defence. Legolas shot two through the throat, Gimile hewed the legs from under another that had sprung up on Balin’s tomb. Boromir and Aragorn slew many.” – The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter 5: The Bridge of Khazad-Dum
This is the style of description that awaits the reader whenever a character takes action in Tolkien’s world. It is the simplest, laziest kind of writing. The reader is left to imagine near every detail of the battle that took place. It takes everything I have not to roll my eyes at “Boromir and Aragorn slew many.” What does that tell the reader? Next to nothing. Rather than show an epic conflict, Tolkien elects to use simple single sentence descriptions to depict what would have been one of the most action filled moments of The Fellowship of the Ring. This style of writing is dull and unimaginative. It seems so out of place in a world overripe with description and detail in other areas. It isn’t terrible writing, but it is hardly deserving of the claim “greatest author of all time”.
My Final Words
So yes, crucify me if you must for speaking my heresy. Tolkien is an overrated writer. His impact on the fantasy genre is however undeniable. There are no modern works of fantasy that do not in some way stand upon his shoulder. He may very well be the Father of Modern Fantasy. But his writing style is flawed, and at times it ruins the amazing story that he is attempting to tell.
