Comments on The In-universe Authorship of LACE

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Thank you for this. It is very concise, readable, and hits the major troubling points concerning the authorship of L&C. I will be pointing people here in the future when this topic comes up! :D

Something that's always bothered me about L&C--well, there are lots of things that bother me about L&C, but this is definitely a biggie--is this: As you note, that Aelfwine was quite possibly a Christian. Whether sixth- or tenth-century, England was only nominally Christian at that point, and outside the urban centers, people practiced a form of paganism flavored by Christianity. Aelfwine's tone in L&C is one of admiration and respect. He is presenting the Eldar as a culture worth looking up to.

What is his agenda? It is interesting that so much of what he presents of the Eldar--the sexual conservatism, the emphasis on marriage and children, the traditional gender roles--mirror Christian belief. How convenient. So why is he presenting these wonderful, beautiful, and ethereal people to his countrymen? What is he hoping to convince them of, at this point in history where Christianity had only achieved a foothold in some parts of his country? If he'd discovered beliefs or behaviors that went against his own religious views, would he have presented them?

Aelfwine has always struck me as a very untrustworthy narrator for this reason.

Now off to finish my very L&C noncompliant International Day of Femslash story. >:^)))



You are quite welcome! And thank you! I'm honestly blushing that you think it's worth pointing others to. (It was a bit of an adventure writing it. Among other things, I went to three bookstores to find BoLT1 because the library's sole copy was already checked out *and* had a hold on it.)

 

As for Christianity: my question with Aelfwine is how he meshed his beliefs with the existence of the Elves. Because while I don't know-- or remember-- as much as I should about the beliefs of medieval Catholics and how they would look at the Elves, I do know they would be far more likely to see them as agents of evil than anything else. So LACE written as-is seems to play into a "they're not evil; they're just like us only better and therefore holier" mindset.

 

Good luck! (I do find it amusing that I posted an anti-LACE essay on IDF.)

Oh wow! I'm so glad you mentioned this. You have presented some excellent points and questions here thatI've neve rseen anyone else consider. Well done and Thank you!