"Myths are not lies," Tolkien countered, among the swaying trees of Magdalen Grove. Materialistic progress leads only to the abyss, Tolkien said, but the myths we tell reflect a fragment of the true light. He argued the Christ story functions as a myth, just like the Scandinavian myths they had loved, with one difference: The Christian myth was true.
QUOTE:
"The Christian myth was true."
An oxymoron?
A myth is a figment of one's imagination. Oh my! as I consider this phrase my brain gets all forhuddled*. Think I will go do something else.
Have a good day!
*forhuddled - a PA Dutch word meaning confused. Spelling may be wrong - I wrote it out phonetically.
I got a little "forfhuddled" also as I was reading. I just got the impression that what Tolkien was saying was that a lot of stories of old etc. have been written pertaining to overcoming etc. which have happy endings and the like. He was obviously a reader of these stories of lore and drew from them yet the point he was making in what I read was that the story of Christ's incarnation, death and resurrection was true - based on actual facts.
I looked up the definition of myth and it had a somewhat different definition that what one normally thinks of when they think of the word myth. But I'm sorry for any confusion.
Thanks.
I looked up the definition of myth and it had a somewhat different definition that what one normally thinks of when they think of the word myth.
I can vouch for you here. The word "myth" has lost its original meaning by its popular usage. Thanks for clarifying.
Diane
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