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J. R. R. Tolkien invests the acts of creation in Middle-Earth with consistent philosophical principles. In deriving these philosophical principles, Tolkien drew from other mythologies he admired-one of which is the Kalevala. Though scholars typically acknowledge Tolkien's Finnish influence in the form of surface parallels between the Kalevala and pioti ines from his legendarium, I argue the Finnish epic poem contributes creative ethics in the form of mythic oppositions that inform several instances of making in Middle-Earth. Using the mythic oppositions of harmony vs. dissonance, antiquity vs. modernity, and remembrance vs. creation, this study examines the ways in which Tolkien synthesizes these motifs to offer the reader an evaluative method applicable to the acts of creation in his oeuvre. Understanding the philosophical values underlying each mythic opposition, the reader will gain an evaluative tool by which to judge between legitimate and illegitimate forms of creation in Tolkien's Middle-Earth.
IN J. R. R. TOLKIEN'S LEGENDARIUM, THERE ARE MANY DIVERSE INSTANCES OF creation: the making of Middle -Earth in his creation myth, "Ainulindalë"; Melkor's attempts at creation within Middle -Earth; Aulë's creation of the Dwarves; and Saruman's contrivances, to name only a few of such creative acts. In his landmark essay "On Fairy-Stories," Tolkien posits that for a story (or a sub-creation) to engender belief it must convey to the reader an "inner consistency of reality" (139). One of the many ways Tolkien achieves this inner consistency is to construct these creative moments around specific principles or ethics that assure their legitimacy within Tolkien's poiesis (a term Tolkien himself employed that combines the ideas of creation/making and of speaking/poetry). Tolkien critics have embarked upon many quests for origins and influences that inform the principles with which Tolkien invests his elaborate sub-creation, and Richard West remarks that the Kalevala, among other sources, was "absorbed into [Tolkien's] imagination" and that it "inform[s] his legendarium, not as imitation or pastiche, but as a natural part of his mindset" (288). This article argues that Tolkien adapts principles derived from the Kalevala specifically to inform Middle-Earth's creative ethic. Just as the creative aesthetic of the Kalevala privileges harmony over dissonance, antiquity over modernity, and remembrance over invention, so, too, does Tolkien invest his poiesis with these values. Understanding the way...