Tolkien's Elves as Angels is a very common misconception. It is an easy mistake to make given how immaculately flawless their characterization is in LotR. The only reason I know the letter with that quote about the true inspiration off the top of my head is because this has come up so often. XD
The second part of my post wasn't actually directed as a response to you. I was only planning on being a super Tolkien nerd and correcting the Elves/Angel remark. Then I realized I could throw in some more Tolkienology that was more pertinent to the discussion.
While Tolkien does get some flak for the Orcs, I think that his work has actually aged quite well, considering when it was written. Sauron draws evil men from all across the globe into his army, but Sam has that moment when he questions whether or not these people are truly evil or just misled or coerced into fighting, which clearly is not the sentiment of a man trying to promote racial animus through literature. So, yeah, anybody who claims that Orcs were ever intended as exaggerated and dehumanized non-Europeans is quite certainly mistaken.
Now if only Lovecraft wasn't so atrociously racist. I'd love to be able to enjoy some eldritch horror, but damn, that man just really had a lot of hate in him and wasn't even subtle about it.
Last edited by Warlocke; 01/07/20 09:17 AM.
