When one thinks of the fantasy genre in books, there are two names that dominate the field, George R.R. Martin and JRR Tolkien. Both are legends in their own ways; one is in the making and the other has been for decades. It is a well-established fact that both, The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, occupy a very big space in the genre, with huge fandoms and dedicated follows. This begs the question of what happens when these two fandoms get at each other’s necks.
Martin once gave an interview where he spoke quite freely about his thoughts on Tolkien’s series; not as a writer but as a fan. However, he was quite critical of certain aspects of it. While some would listen to his criticism carefully, other fans of LOTR were not happy with what he had to say.
The Lord of the Rings—A Test of Time and Change
During an interview with Rolling Stone, George R.R. Martin went into quite a lengthy rant about his thoughts on JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, specifically focusing on its ending. There is naturally a very big difference in society and literature from when Tolkien wrote his books and Martin wrote the Game of Thrones series.
While many readers go into classics with this difference in mind, Martin mentioned certain aspects of the series that he did not fully agree with. Specifically speaking on morality and the implications that come with being a ‘good person’, Martin did not seem to think that things could ever be as simple as good and evil. He mentioned that the implication that if someone was a good person, they would be a good ruler was a flawed one.
Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple
According to the writer and his writing, the weight of a ruler comes with making tough decisions that do not simply go away by the salve of moral hierarchy. He mentioned that there were a lot of complex decisions that did not lie in morals that were simply left out of the series. On top of this, he stated that not everything could be black and white.
In real life, real-life kings had real-life problems to deal with. Just being a good guy was not the answer. You had to make hard, hard decisions. Sometimes what seemed to be a good decision turned around and bit you in the ass; it was the law of unintended consequences.
Sometimes, rulers made decisions out of the good of their hearts that took the lives of thousands. The ambiguity around the kind of ruler Aragorn would turn out to be seemed to really frustrate Martin, and he explained it further through his own writing. He mentioned how, when he was writing Game of Thrones, he learned exactly what makes a good ruler.
I’ve tried to get at some of these in my books. My people who are trying to rule don’t have an easy time of it. Just having good intentions doesn’t make you a wise king.
Through this, he understood that it wasn’t the man who was the most morally good and had good intentions that made the best ruler, but the one who was able to make the tough decisions.
The Lord of the Rings Fans Are Not Happy With George R.R. Martin
After George R.R. Martin’s works hit the ears of The Lord of the Rings fans, there was no stopping the backlash he would get. In a Reddit thread, fans began to discuss the criticisms that the writer had towards the series, and they did not hold back with what they had to say. Many fans were inraged, pointing out every problem that they had with the Game of Thrones series and how some of the things that Martin said were hypocritical.
At the same time, some could see the flaws in both of their ways of thinking and how it made them stand out in their writing. Several fans pointed out that JRR Tolkien’s clear-cut take on morals acted as a breath of fresh air in front of Martin’s realistic portrayal, both having a certain appeal for their own reasons.
Thoughts on G.R.R.M.'s critique of Tolkien?
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One fan even pointed out that Martin was not saying that Tolkien’s writing was poor or that he was bad in his way of thinking. He simply did not agree with a certain aspect of the book, much like many readers dissect and criticize some aspects of their favorite classic novel but would always go back to the masterpiece over and over.
