(How the Czechs formed the Mythology)
Lukáš Bajgar
Back in 1997 when I was 15 years old I went to the local library in my hometown (far away in the east of the Czech Republic) to borrow a book. The old-fashioned lady knowing me very well, kept some books aside for me that I would probably be interested in. One of these books was called Setkání Lévi-Strausse s Tolkienem[1], a fictional conversation between Claude Lévi-Strauss and J.R.R. Tolkien based in the capital city of Prague. I was so excited! “Tolkien has been in Prague!” I shouted to my brother. When I went on reading my excitement vanished, Tolkien wasn´t in Prague. Never.[2]
Despite my disappointment I still believed there must exist a connection between Tolkien and my country, and not just in the case of Radagast and Karel Čapek. What the hell? What do they both have in common? Maybe it would be better to start my essay once again, from the beginning.