Minor Works -- 2 - Leaf by Niggle

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

It certainly has an interesting take on the Catholic concept of purgatory - learning to work by the clock!

A modern motif. I can imagine that before time keeping the theme could be the same, but with sunrise and sunset being the standard.

Originally Posted by Legate

given what I knew Tolkien said about allegory in the foreword to LotR and his generally negative attitude towards it.

The only other description of purgatory I know of is Dante's. Obviously, we're dealing with a short story compared to Dante's masterwork, but the differences are striking. It seems more of an evocation of Niggle's own forced and practical reform rather than an after death millions of years long purification. Personally I wouldn't want to experience either of them!

And thanks, [b]Legate[b], for re-associating - for me - the idea of subcreation with Niggle.

Originally Posted by Guinevere

"There is a place called "heaven" where the good here unfinished is completed; and where the stories unwritten, and the hopes unfulfilled, are continued."

For one such as I whose subcreation may never see print (or webpage), this is a great consolation.