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by paulddraper 464 days ago
LOTR+universe was meant to be a mythology for Western Europe. Purposefully impractical/fantastical.

King Arthur vibes. Royalty, wizards, magical objects, heros and villains, destiny, romance, fealty, etc.

But obviously dispensing swords from lakes is no sound system basis for government.
2 comments
andrepd 464 days ago
It's also notably light on the "prosaic" aspects. It just says that elves "dwelt" here and made a kingdom there. But as GRRM said: what was Aragorn's tax policy?
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tombert 463 days ago
At least in the Once and Future King, the only real King Arthur story that I've read, I got the impression that Arthur pulling the sword from the stone was more of a metaphor of him "being ready" to be king more than just genealogy or anything like that.

When Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone, he was remembering all the stuff that Merlyn taught him about the different ways that animals run their societies and how it informed how he would lead if he were in charge.

That might be TH White's flavoring to it though.

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paulddraper 463 days ago
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Howard Pyle) is in my mind the most "classic" King Arthur telling. [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_King_Arthur_and_H...

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