Article

Name: Specific of Recurring Plots in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Works

Authors: Nesterova E. A.

In the section Analysis of the Plot

Abstract: In the 20th century the repetition of plot, which previously took place in mythologies, where it is typical for one myth to occur in several variations, and existing in the form of vagrant plots moves in the frames of one writer’s creation. Tolkien in the Arda cycle uses the plot «love of a mortal man to an immortal princess». For mythological consciousness the repetition of something is a significant, specifically meaningful event. The analysis of the Arda cycle’s works proves that recurring plot used by Tolkien introduces in the story a whole complex of archaic beliefs concerning the iteration of events. One of the functions of this mode is reconstruction of the archaic world view. The iteration works as a mean of shaping the context, although normally it is the context that influences the plot. In Tolkien’s stories about Arda interrelation of plots functions as a special type of composition.

Keywords: j. r. r. tolkien, fantastic literature, recurring plot, aspects of myth, m. eliade, «time of origins», archaic consciousness, sacral iteration.

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