Timeline for Significance of the White Stag and Hunt in The Hobbit
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 29, 2012 at 14:10 | comment | added | Wayne Weibel | Thanks again everyone. I was familiar with other stories of white stags (mostly Narnia), but wasn't sure if there was some crossover, or certain Tolkien mythos in addition to its appearance. | |
| Nov 29, 2012 at 5:14 | comment | added | sugaredlightning | @Martha: Good point. I am more familiar with Tolkien's mythology than I am with real-world mythology, so there are plenty of other associations I may be missing. | |
| Nov 28, 2012 at 23:01 | comment | added | Martha | @sugaredlightning: actually, white stags are chock-full of mythical significance, in all sorts of mythologies. It seems obvious to me that Tolkien was referring to one of them, I just have no idea which one. (The Hungarian origin myth involves two brothers hunting a white stag, just for example.) | |
| Nov 28, 2012 at 22:17 | comment | added | sugaredlightning | @Wayne: The manner in which the scene is described certainly contributes to the eerie feel of the forest, that they are "near the borders of faërie", but I'm not aware of any specific mythical significance of the elements. | |
| Nov 28, 2012 at 21:17 | vote | accept | Wayne Weibel | ||
| Nov 28, 2012 at 19:02 | comment | added | Wayne Weibel | Thanks. I wasn't sure if it was something as simple as creatures not black or more to the appearance. The hunt can later be assumed to be the elves but at that point of the story it seemed as though the hunt and deer could both have been enchanted (reading with no other knowledge). So, it is simply the physical 'reality' of the white deer and humanoid sounds in contrast to the forest, not some mystical foretelling. | |
| Nov 28, 2012 at 18:34 | history | answered | sugaredlightning | CC BY-SA 3.0 |