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A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

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A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby jo » February 28th, 2006, 6:40 pm

"I saw it begin,” said the Lord Digory. “I did not think I would live to see it die"

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re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby Theo » February 28th, 2006, 8:09 pm

It might well be a valid criticism, but that sounds a little odd - I can't remember hearing of Lewis criticizing others for "trying to include too much at once". On the other hand, that was almost exactly the criticism Tolkien made of the Narnia books - he didn't like Lewis' approach of stuffing every cool thing from various mythologies into his world.

Still, I dunno. I think Merlin's a pretty cool character, quite unlike any other character I can think of in Lewis's books. It's just a shame that he doesn't get to do much in the book.
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Re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby Stanley Anderson » February 28th, 2006, 8:42 pm

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
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re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby Messenger_of_Eden » March 1st, 2006, 7:05 am

"If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."--St. Augustine of Hippo
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Re: re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby Gabriel Syme » March 1st, 2006, 12:28 pm

In our school, on a wall, there is a big writing, saying «I care». It is the untranslatable motto of the best among young Americans. It means: «I AM interested in it; it is dear to me». That's the exact opposite of the fascist motto, «I don't care». (Lorenzo Milani, priest. Lettera ai giudici; 1965)
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Re: re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby The Pfifltrigg » March 3rd, 2006, 12:28 am

False ideas may be refuted indeed by argument, but by true ideas alone are they expelled. — Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Cardinal Newman
Freedom lost and then regained bites with deeper fangs than freedom never in danger. — Cicero
You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them. — Ray Bradbury
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re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby Áthas » March 5th, 2006, 1:39 pm

When I started reading THS, Merlin's appearance did something to me... set me on fire in some way. I was totally fascinated about this link between mythology and our modern world and I loved it.
Most of you probably guess from my avatar that I'm a fan of the TV-series "Stargate SG1" where they include tons of mytholy (Merlina appears there too) and I think there is something great about doing that. These mythologies suddenly become much more vivid, more interesting... to me it was as if a whole new word had been opened up where everything was possible.
From my own point of view, Lewis did the inclusion of Merlin really well, making him a real and very interesting character.
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re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby Messenger_of_Eden » March 5th, 2006, 4:59 pm

"If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."--St. Augustine of Hippo
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re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby David » March 17th, 2006, 2:34 am

I have read some critics who think the inclusion of Merlin in Hideous Strength was intrusive and that the story could have gotten along without him. I can't see that. Merlin is intergal to the plot. And if you know anything about the Merlin legends, you know that Lewis draws on his wealth of knowledge in the medeival-Arthurian realm in order to complete the legend of Merlin and bring it to an end.

For example, Merlin once denies in the book that he was the son of a devil. This was a part of the Merlin legend. So a lot of the accumulated stories about Merlin are addressed in Hideous Strength and he is laid to rest.

I once did a detailed paper on this in college and had a lot of fun reading all the literature on Merlin, but alas can't find a copy of the paper.
The way, the weather, the terrain, the discipline, the leadership. --Sun Tzu
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re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby StrawberryRose » April 9th, 2006, 12:32 am

i must admit, that I thought that Merlin's inclusion in the story was rather odd. However, now that i look back on other events in the book, perhaps his inclusion is not as odd as I think. Now that i thinkof it, wasn't there a great deal of other kinds of things like that mentioned in the story? For instance, isn't there something at the end about the person of Venus?
It's been many years since i have read the ST and i'm not an expert in mythology. Am I way off base, or is there an immense amount of mythology included in THS?
Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
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re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby BeeLayne » April 9th, 2006, 9:32 pm

"We are armed with the truth. What can harm us if we are armed with the truth?"
"Well, a crossbow bolt can, e.g., go right through your eye and out the back of your head."
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re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby The Pfifltrigg » April 10th, 2006, 5:56 am

False ideas may be refuted indeed by argument, but by true ideas alone are they expelled. — Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Cardinal Newman
Freedom lost and then regained bites with deeper fangs than freedom never in danger. — Cicero
You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them. — Ray Bradbury
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Re: re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby Monica » April 10th, 2006, 12:48 pm

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Re: re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby BeeLayne » April 11th, 2006, 2:59 am

"We are armed with the truth. What can harm us if we are armed with the truth?"
"Well, a crossbow bolt can, e.g., go right through your eye and out the back of your head."
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Re: A criticism I heard recently of Merlin in THS

Postby Janet » May 1st, 2006, 8:34 pm

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