Forums:Fingon article enhancement
Am completing a fleshing out of the article on Fingolfin's eldest son Fingon, as requested on the main page. Have some spelling errors and other "mechanic" touch-ups yet to do, just wrote the bridge section to the existing Maedhros rescue narrative; which was where the History section had originally started.
This past month I have been re-reading the Silmarillion, some 40 years after I first read it, as I am doing with LOTR and The Hobbit. Now considered "One of The Wise", this old elf is seeing the entire Legendarium with fresh, old, eyes and realising that Tolkien put a great deal more information into these Works than the action packed, emotionally engaging tales themselves.
Foundational characters, like Fingon, must need be discussed either very lightly or at some length (for those discussing, or concerned about, prolix articles). The "short form", IMHO, just doesn't give folks like Fingon High King of Dor-lómin, his rightful due. Fingon quietly (in comparasion to some other characters) represents the entire main body of Elvendom in the Legendarium! He is at the top of the main branch when the Elves were divided by Melkor's evil. I have decided to write a stand alone article going into this and will not take space here for that.
There is something to be said for different Editors giving enough info on how the character fits into the complex web of the "back-story" from different perspectives.
Reading it told correctly several different ways makes the immense Legendarium more accessible to younger, attention span challenged, readers who are honing their concentration skills into formidable tools for life and the pleasure that comes from a complete understanding of any topic. I remember well how steep a learning curve all this content was in the late-60's and early-70's, before "social" media gutted the reading and concentration skills of so many. Keep in mind, those reading here, and especially editing here, are Readers, and already appreciate the joy of good books!
Although my life has been spent primarily in the lofty towers of Technology and Science (retired Metrologist, Internet and General Communications Engineer, and Programmer), my initial love was, and still is English Literature; hence my first degree in Arts and Letters. Yes, I'm an engineer that can write properly! A "rare bird" indeed.
"Social" Media use has reduced the "average measurable" attention span of a 21 year old college student from around 22 minutes (until boredom begins to set in) in 1975 to around 4 minutes in 2015! One wonders why commercial time blocks in media have grown to double that! But I digress. Those who choose to become Readers, and enjoy actual books (not the audio kind) quickly increase their attention span to the previous, apparantely natural, level of 20 minutes or so. Sadly, many have adopted a habit of automatically refusing to even peruse any printed document longer than half a page! How does one learn anything of value with a 250 word limit on data? They simply never gain mastery of any subject; yet if this shallowness is ubiquitous, who notices? A: Those who know. There are many books on this phenomena, from every possible approach, for those who wish to learn more. I take the space to make these comments because, as a former "academic" with a major College of Education, and Tolkien lover, it is clear that Prof. Tolkien was a deeply learned man of great intellectual power, and to compress his works into "sound bites" (not "bytes") is, IMHO ("in my humble opinion" - quite old Net slang, circa 1978 on ArpaNET, on which I was a "full access" user, it was for Military use only at that time and required a very high clearance) would be a crime against the very thing the folks that have generously given their time, talents, and efforts to the World through this Wiki have worked to produce. OK, sermon completed.
Repeating some expository details placing any given character, and their actions, in context makes it a more facile process to get a real grip on the many generations of characters and what happened where, and when. The fact that there is inherentely repitition in this approach does more good than harm and saves having to jump from page to page for back-story, events, etc. when you are studying a specific character; keeping in mind that only the pertinent "general" details be included and held tightly to the character's role and connection to the events detailed.
When the Internet was being devised, there was much discussion about "Links", because when one "links" to a different page the original topic often gets left behind as the viewer moves off in a newly discovered direction. The compromise was the "Back" function, but being a static menu item, this feature is often overlooked. Links are too good to pass up, a danger and a blessing like all technology innovations, but having the more complete information available "inline" helps the viewer stay on course and read the entire article they were interested in to begin with.
While the reverse approach may be more concise, shorter, and faster - my belief is that a more comprehensive approach makes getting a real firm idea of where a character fits into the big picture more difficult.
A friend said, "well now the article is about Fëanor as well". Indeed it is, and other well known characters; but my view is that Fingon's political situation as the co-equal of Fëanor (the two eldest sons of Finwë) requires this, and the additional context of the Flight of the Noldor and Fingon's role in that flight, and in the First Kinslaying. More in my article to come. The point being, Fingon's rescue of Maedhros was a major, but discreet, event in his life. The main arc of Fingon's life was his role as the "good" side of the Elves, even though his life was cut short.
Odd how that in the end, with salvation in arm's reach, Maedhros had not learned from Fingon's selfless act of rescue and example, regardless of previous contentions and strifes, and chose badly again, to his Death.
Agree? Disagree? I have the thick skin of Ironfoot so speak your mind honestly. Kind feedback is appreciated. Fudoki 03:04, 31 March 2018 (UTC)
