J. R. R. Tolkien refers to some kind of war machinery having to do
with aviation calling it/them "skimming martins." What is he talking
about? |
Request for Question Clarification by
markj-ga
on
04 Feb 2005 15:09 PST
erehwon --
I would have to know more about the context of the Tolkien language to
be sure, but I think it is likely that the reference is to swallows
(of which "martins" are one type). Swallows, including martins, drink
by skimming along the surface of the water with open mouths.
There are lots of online mentions of "skimming swallows" that are
references to this low-flying feeding and drinking behavior. Here is
one source that mentions martins in particular:
"An interesting fact is that martins will also drink on the run; in
other words, they will swoop down and skim water off to drink."
About.com: Purple Martins
http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa081501a.htm
Please let me know if this explanation of the phrase seems to fit the
context in which Tolkien uses it. If it does, I will post the
information as an answer and explain how I found it.
markj-ga
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Request for Question Clarification by
answerfinder-ga
on
05 Feb 2005 04:17 PST
I agree with markj-ga, it would be useful to see the context of the
remark and the date. I'll go out on a limb here and guess that it
could refer to Barnes Wallis's Bouncing Bomb.
This link has a picture showing how the bomb skimmed across the water,
much like a swallow or house martin when it drinks water.
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/moorcraft/The%20Bouncing%20Bomb.htm
answerfinder-ga
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Clarification of Question by
erehwon-ga
on
05 Feb 2005 08:21 PST
Re: skimming martins
Tolkien was writing to his son Christopher in1944; C. was undergoing
pilot training in South Africa. Tolkien said, "I wonder how you are
getting on with your flying since you first went solo. . . I
especially noted your observations on the skimming martins. That
touches to the heart of things, doesn't it? There is the tragedy and
despair of all machinery laid bare. Unlike art. . . it attempts to
actualize desire and so to create power in this World; and t hat
cannot be done with any real satisfaction. Labour-saving machinery
only creates endless and worse labour. [And] the Fall [of Man] makes
our devices not only fail of their desire but turn to new and
horrible evil. So we come inevitably from Daedalus and Icarus to the
Giant Bomber. It is not an advance in wisdom!"
Does this context help?
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Request for Question Clarification by
answerfinder-ga
on
05 Feb 2005 08:48 PST
Thank you for the clarification. It doesn?t look like my bouncing bomb
theory. I can?t immediately answer it - so another guess: it may be a
reference to the Martin B-26 Bomber which was supplied to the South
African Air Force in 1944.
See these links for further information.
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_us/b026-13.html
http://www.xs4all.nl/~fbonne/warbirds/ww2htmls/martb26.html
http://www.rcaf.com/1939_1945_waryears/aircraft/bombers/maurader/
answerfinder-ga
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Clarification of Question by
erehwon-ga
on
05 Feb 2005 11:40 PST
I think answerfinder-ga's surmise that these are Martin aircraft is a
sound one, since these aircraft (B-26 Marauders) were used by the RAF
in South Africa at the time. Tolkien did not capitalize the word in
his letter, which may have put me off the scent for a bit. I will
research what Christopher Tolkien was up to and get back to the Google
board.
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