ABSTRACT

THE GENERATIVE PRINCIPLE OF THE

LITERARY ART OF J .R.R. TOLKIEN

by

DAVID NEIL FINKELSTEIN

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. Department of English. July, 1969.

The scholarship of J.R.R. Tolkien provides the

crucial basis for his literary art. His work in language and

medieval literature reveals vital concern for the word as the

most profound expression of being. Fantasy is for Tolkien the

sub-creation of a Secondary World, proceeding from the process

whereby articulation gives meaning to life. The fairy-story

operates within a motion between the Primary and Secondary

Worlds. While it deals ultimately with the same reality, its

language contains a new mode of perception. Tolkien's shorter

tales embody the pure and fresh grasp of experience fully

deve10ped in The Lord of the Rings. The joy of Fantasy' s unex-

pected triumph pierces one's own speech analysis of life. The

craft of Tolkien's writing, and his creation of races, exhibit

minute involvement with language's meaning and sound. Tolkien's

aesthetic derives its energy from language in attempting to re-

appraise the deepest sense of the word.

THE GENERATIVE PRINCIPLE OF THE

LITERARY ART OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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THE GENERATIVE PRINCIPLE OF THE

LITERARY ART OF J .R.R. TOLKIEN

by

DAVID NEIL FINKELSTEIN

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

of Master of Arts

Department of English

McGill University

Ju1y 1969

@) David Neil Finke1stein 1970

• CONTENTS

CRAPTER l INTRODUCTION: THE SCHOLAR AND THE ARTIST 1

CRAPTER II THE DEVELOPMENT OF FANTASY 21

CRAPTER III THE 1Q!Y! ~ ~ RINGS: THE TONE OF FANTASY 41

CRAPTER IV !!!! LORD Sl! ~ RINGS: THE CREATION OF INHABlTANTS 58

CHAPTER V Il!! 1Q!Y! ~ THE RINGS: THE CRAFT OF FANTASY 87

•

CRAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION: THE SCHOLAR AND THE ARTIST

• 2

As a scholar, J.R.R. Tolkien has a considerable repu-

tation for his work in language and medieval literature. Tolkien,

the artist, is associated with books of fantasy which concern

dragons, hobbits, elves and wizards. The development of the literary

art would seem to begin with the stance of the scholar. It is this

stance, l would suggest, which provides the crucial direction for

the attempt to come to terms with the nature of Tolkien's creative

process.

In English and Medieval Studies, which was presented

to Tolkien on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, appears W.H.

Auden's! Short ~~ ~ Philologist. Auden senses the importance

of the philologist's minute involvement with language and his deep

interest in how words are formed and how their meanings change.

in Speech, if true, true deeds begin.

If not, there's International Babel,

But Dame Philology is our Queen still, Quick to comfort l Truth-Ioving hearts in their mother-tongue

He makes the connection between truth as a vital quality of speech,

and truth as the essential motive of deed or action. The philolo-

gist who works faithfully and creatively with words becomes capable

of an insight into life's experience through its articulation.

l W.H. Auden, ! Short Ode ~~ Philologist, English

~ Medieval Studies, edited by N. Davis and C.L. Wrenn (London,1962), pp.II-12. Subsequent references will be to this edition.

• Auden's ode begins this volume of essays, and the poem ends with a

reference to Tolkien as just this kind of creative scholar.

No hero is immortal till he dies Nor is a tongue, But a lay of Beowulf's language, too, can be sung, Ignoble, maybe, to the young, Having no monsters and no gore To speak of, yet not without its beauties For those who have learned to hope: a lot of us

are grateful for Wha t J .R.R. Tolkien has done As bard to Anglo~Saxon.

(~Short Ode ~~ Philologist, p.12)

The study of the development of the English language, and of medi-

eval literature makes possible such "beauties/For those who have

learned to hope." Thus for Auden, the motion of Tolkien's scholar-

ship enables him to assume the role of "bard to Anglo-Saxon."

3

The quality of a "creative scholar" emerges distinctly

from Tolkien's various published work in language and literature.

Tolkien contributed the glossary for an anthology of fourteenth cen-

tury literature edited by Kenneth Sisam. In the Introduction, Sisam

refers to Tolkien' s aspect of the book: uI am obliged to ••• Mr.J .R.R.

Tolkien who has undertaken the preparation of the Glossary, the most 2

exacting part of the apparatus." This Middle English vocabulary,

Tolkien notes, is designed to give a ufamiliarity with the ordinary

machinery of expression -- with the precise forma and meanings that

2 Kenneth Sisam, ed., Fourteenth Century Verse and Prose,

2nd ed. (Oxford, 1950), p.xliii.

• 4

3 common words may assume. 1I Tolkien sees su ch fundamental features

of the language as essential to such an introductory anthology.

The prefatory note explains that the inclusion of brief etymologi-

cal references is intended to encourage the study of phonology and

the analysis of vocabulary. Thus the glossary con tains the normal

though brief allusions to Icelandic, Middle Dutch, Old French, Old

Norse, etc. One senses the intimacy with language and the process

thrüugh which language develops exhibiteà by a scholar in the con-

struction of a vocabulary. In such work, it would seem to be far

more than merely a question of giving the modern English equivalents.

Tolkien and E.V. Gordon combined to produce an edition

of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight. The Preface sets out the aims

of the book as being to provide a readable text of the poem, and to

include the necessary apparatus for its study. The emphasis again

is on coming to a precise understanding of the language of the poem.

Such a process is considered to be the fundamental phase in grasping

the meaning of the literature and the nature of the artiste The book

therefore contains an Introduction which deals with such topics as

the manuscript, the history of the legend, the author and the date of

the poem, and the dialecte There are detailed notes on the poem, and

on its metre, and a language section which covers spelling, phono 1 o &Y. ,

3 J.R.R. Tolkien, ! Middle English Vocabulary, 2nd ed.

(Oxford, 1950), p.2.

• 5

Scandinavian and French elements, and grammar. The Glossary is very

similar to the one in Sisam's anthology, designed with the same kind

of motives.

That habit of mind which regards the profoundest mean­

ing of language as its first principle, is exhibited consistently by

Tolkien. For two years, beginning in 1919, Tolkien worked on The

Oxford English Dictionary, assisting in its revision. This kind of

painstaking activity is apparent in his editing of the English text

of the Ancrene Riwle from MS. Corpus Christi College Cambridge 402.

In his introductcry note, Tolkien reveals the intensive study in­

volved in such a task. The text is heavily footnoted with various

material on its scribe, language and style of writing. The fine at­

tention to the minutest characteristics distinguishes Tolkien's

editing.

The Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture of 1936 which

Tolkien delivered, contains some of his best work as a scholar. The

lecture, Beowulf: The Monsters and The Critics, is orientated again

toward an examination of the poem based on a thorough appreciation of

its language and content. Tolkien considers that "Beowulfiana is,

while rich in many departments, specially poor in one. It is poor in

criticism, criticism that is directed to the understanding of a poem

• 6

4 as a poem." He maintains that the style of the poem is fully

suited to its theme, and that the greatness of the poem lies in the

total harmony of its language, structure and theme. His examination

is a sensitive probe of the actual facets of this harmony. Rather

than detracting from the tone of the work, as many critics have men-

tioned, the monsters are for Tolkien an essential element of its

unity. For they are a real and striking manifestation of the severe

trials awaiting man aIl 'through life. From his study cornes a glimpse

of the poem's agonizing depiction of man's struggle in this hostile

world. Tolkien's close analysis of the inner workings of the poem

evokes atone which parallels the one that he considers to emerge

from it. His mode of writing reflects a creative and vital impulse

which makes criticism a living and new dimension of the art being

scrutinized. This is illustrated in his description of the poem as

the work of "a learned man writing of old times, who looking back on

the heroism and sorrow feels in them something permanent and some-

thing symbolical" (Beowulf, p.269). The insight would seem to

capture the sense in which the poem is a statement on the universal

harshness of man's lot in this world. The lecture concludes with a

remark on the relevancy today of such a theme: "If the funeral of

Beowulf moved once like the echo of an ancient dirge, far-off and

hopeless, it is to us as a memory brought over the hills, an echo

4 J .R.R. Tolkien, "Beowulf: The Monsters and the

Critics", Proceedings of ~ British Academy, XXII (1936) , p.245. Subsequent references will be to this edition.

• 7

of an echo" (Beowulf, p.278). This depiction of the poem as a

unified and ancient expression of the nature of the human condition,

conveys the sense of sadness and of remote beauty which is inherent

in the work.- To1kien's criticism wou1d seem to assert the import-

ance of beginning with the poetry, its meaning and sound, and then

proceeding to formula te one's critica1 stance.

To1kien's verse rendering of the 01d Eng1ish fragment,

The Batt1e of Ma1don a110ws one to view c1ose1y this coincidence of

scho1ar and artist which wou1d seem to emerge from much of his

critica1 work. The fragment tells of Beorhtnoth's defence against

the Vikings in 991 during the reign of AEthe1red II. Beorhtnoth

unwise1y permitted the enemy to cross the ford which separated the

two forces and the Vikings were grim1y victorious. Beorhtnoth and

a11 his persona1 bodyguard defended to the 1ast, and a11 were

fina11y slain. To1kien's ana1ysis of the fragment fixes on two

crucial passages. He agrees with those who emphasize the words of

one of the bodyguard, an old retainer, Beorhtwo1d: '~i11 sha11 be

the sterner, heart the bo1der, spirit the greater as our strength 5

1essens." Yet he asserts that such an ancient and ritua1istic

expression of courage is not the total expression of the theme of

the poetry. Rather one must consider as we11 the words, "then the

5 J.R.R.To1kien, "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth

Beorhthe1m's Son", Essays and Studies, VI(1953) , p.3. Subsequent references will be to this edition.

8

earl in his overmastering pride actually yielded ground to the enemy,

as he should not have done" (Beorhtnoth, p .13) • Tolkien argues tha t

the word "ofermod" here means "overmastering pride", not "overbold-

ness" as it is often translated. Tolkien considers that the poet

is alluding to the hero's overly zealous sense of honour. While

courage is an intensely admirable quality, Beorhtnoth's concern to

give the minstrels and poets good reason to praise his great honour,

indicates e chivalric ratner t~~n a ", ... _.t _ ... 1 •• 1.. ___ .t ___ ........ __ QI ........... "- ........ .1 u..:;.a.. Vol."'" ,ua. r-UJ. 1:. The poet

of this fragment senses the dubious actions of which chivalry is often

the cause. Thus, for Tolkien, the poem becomes a comment on the

nature of courage and also, on the excesses of the chivalric pursuit

of honour.

Tolkien's version of the fragment is in the mode of its

alliterative line. It consists essentially of a dialogue between

Torhthelm and Tidwald who have been sent to recover the body of

Beorhtnoth. The lines create a scene of slain men strewn everywhere

as the two men stumble in the darkness. As they bear the hewn

leader's body, Torhthelm speaks of his death:

Now mourn for ever Saxon and English, from the sea's margin to the western forest! The wall is fallen, women are weeping; the wood is blazing and the fire flaming as a far beacon. Build high the barrow his bones to keep! For here shall be hid both helm and sword; and to the ground be given golden corslet, and rich raiment and rings gleaming,

(Beorhtnoth, p.7)

· 9.

The passage would seem to possess that sense of tragic loss lyric-

ally expressed with great feeling, which the poet of The Battle of

Maldon was aiming at. Tolkien's alliterative lines utter the

sounds of weeping women, of fallen wall and blazing wood. Yet amid

the harshness of such a world, the bones of the hero must be secured

in a high barrow. Here too must be placed the relics of his rank

and honour, "golden corslet" and "rings gleaming". Yet Torhthelm

concludes the piece with a speech which points to the need for great

courage in a world of chivalric excesses:

So the world passes; day follows day, and the dust gathers,

So men flicker and in the mirk go out. The world withers and the wind rises; the candIes are quenched. Cold falls the night.

lt's dark! lt's dark, and doom coming! ls no light left us? A light kindle, And fan the flame!

(B eorhtno th , p.12)

Tolkien's treatment of ~ Battle of Maldon is the

attempt of a scholar to get at the tone of a work through an imagin-

ative, yet rigorous analysis of the poetry itself, its language and

movement. The interest in dictionaries and vocabularies, the de-

tailed editing of manuscripts and texts, aIl reveal Tolkien as a

scholar whose fundamental concern is with language. His process of

thought would seem to be characterized by this consistent attention

to words. Tolkien searches for the origins of their meanings and

traces their evolution. He is intensely sensitive to the sound of

• 10

words and to the kind of motion and rhythm which is inherent in

their syllables. His criticism discovers the significance and

tone of literature here, where thought is articulated, where life

flows into speech. The literary art of the man must be approached,

l would suggest, with the awareness of Tolkien's creative kind of

criticism. For such a scholar examines an Old English fragment

concerning Beorhtnoth, derives its theme from the precise sense of

itô wûrdô, and then prûceeds tü express that theme in a verse trans-

lation of the poem.

In 1938 Tolkien delivered the Andrew Lang Lecture

in the University of St. Andrews. This lecture, On Fairy-Stories,

was written at about the same time as The Lord of ~ Rings was

beginning to take shape. It is a crucial statement of the

aesthetics of the man's particular kind of literary art and it was

later published in a more complete form in Essays Presented !2

Charles Williams. In the introductory comments, Tolkien describes

the nature of the fairy-story: "The realm of fairy-story is wide

and deep and high and filled with many things: aIl manner of beasts

and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted;

beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy 6

and sorrow as sharp as swords." The description provides an

6 J.R.R.Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories", ~ and Leaf

(London,l964). p.ll. Subsequent references will be to this edition.

• l1

initial glimpse of Tolkien's world of elves and wizards. There is

nothing miniature about Tolkien's conception, for it is on a large

and epic scale dealing with whole civilizations. Thus the charact­

eristics of this realm are delineated precisely, coming one after

the other, sketching rapidly the immense physical size. The adjec­

tives, "wide and deep and high and filled" are what one would expect

from Tolkien, basic physical descriptions. He go es on to expand

their meanings giving a completer sense of tais realm. nere are

"aIl manner", the infini te number, of birds and beasts. Yet here

too are seas, which are shoreless and "stars uncounted". Tolkien

~eaks of a whole universe in one long sentence whose parts move

with an alliterative rhythm to create the aspects of the description.

The sentence concludes with a reference to the beauty of this realm

whose essence is both an enchantment and a peril. As he determined

the meanings of "ofermod", here Tolkien alludes with careful scrutiny

to the beauty of the fairy-story's world. A deft simile vividly out­

lines the joys and sorrows here, which have that quality of sharp

swords, able to pierce cleanly and fatally and thus enter in where

the heart beats and the mind moves. The essay now continues to

examine the nature of the fairy-story, its origin and function.

Typically Tolkien uses The Oxford English Dictionary

to launch his enquiry. Yet he finds it of little use, with only a

reference in the Supplement to "fairy-tale" which he finds totally

inadequate. For Tolkien the definition of a fairy-story depends not

on an account of what an elf or fairy is, but rather on the sense of

• 12

the realm itself, of ''Faerie''. Thus fairy-stories are:

stories about Fairy, that is Faerie, the realm or state in which fairies have their being. Faerie con tains many things besides elves and fays, and besides dwarfs, witches, trolls, giants, or dragons: it holds the sea, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and aIl things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted.

~ Fairy-Stories, pp.15-16)

Tolkien attempts to grasp the meaning of the fairy-story through a

process of coming to a full awareness of the nature of that world.

As in the introduction he describes the world and its inhabitants

with great clarity, filling in the details. The definitions of the

dictionary are too narrow because they don't give any indication as

to the scope of this realm. Further they restrict the concept to one

or two elements, or they describe it in terms which are meaningleesly

vague. Tolkien in his criticism consistently strives for the depth

and subtlety which language possesses. His treatment of the fairy-

story is certainly this kind of criticism. The essay goes on to

exclude travellers' tales, dream stories and beast fable from being

fairy-stories as they do not rightly operate within the realm of

Faerie. Tolkien here stresses that one of the essential features of

the fairy-story is that it be presented as true. He cites ~

Gawain and the Green Knight as a medieval example of a tale whose

seriousness is weIl maintained.

Tolkien comments that, "To ask what is the origin of

stories (however qualified) is to ask what is the origin of language

and of the mind" (On Fairy-Stories, p.22). The connection between

language and thought process, and stories, is an intimate one for

• 13

Tolkien. His mode of dealing with the fairy-story is similar to

that of a philologist's study. He wishes to come to terms with the

meaning and movement of the facets of the fairy-story. While the

origins of the elements of the tale are of importance, as the origins

of words in the study of language, yet one must not lose sight of the

analysis of the story and of its world, of the understanding of a

particular language at a given time. The story for Tolkien proceeds

essentially from the mind's ability to comprehend experience and arti-

culate it. It proceeds from the creative energy in words and their

capability of infusing new meaning into experience. One sees green

grass and one is able to distinguish its quality and appreciate the

fact of its being green. The language gives the description of grass

this aspect of the colour green, and one is then able to use "green"

in numerous other connections. Thus:

But how powerful, how stimulating to the very faculty that produced it, was the invention of the adjective: no spell or incantation in Faerie is more potent. And that is not surprising: such incanta­tions might indeed be said to be only another view of adjectives, a part of speech in a mythical grammar •••• when we can take green from grass, blue from heaven, and red from blood, we have already an enchanter's power ••• in such 'fantasy' as it is called, new form is made; Faerie begins; Man becomes a sub-creator.

~ Fairy-Stories, p.25)

The fairy-story is the result of new form which is the outgrowth of

an intensely creative and imaginative grasp of language. Man is

able to assume the role of sub-creator because of this ability to

combine ~ords and meanings in ways which, at least initially, are

unrelated to the everyday reality around him. The realm of fantasy

exists through a language which is uniquely its own, for it is this

14

language which gives such worlds new and enchanted life.

The examination of the origins of fairy-s~ories concen­

trates on the process by which language invents the tale. Tolkien

would seem to place the emphasis on this kind of source rather than

on the various recurring elements of such stories. In commenting

on the origins of such elements, he uses the image of a pot of soup

to refer to the mix of history, mythology and folk-tale. It is from

this pot, to which has been continually added the numerous historical

and mythological figures and deeds, that the story-teller draws. For

here over long periods of time, fact and fiction are inextricably

entangled. From it emerges the accounts of knights and kings, of the

Gods and of Faerie. Tolkien sees no distinction between the so-called

high mythology of Olympus or the low one of Faerie. Rather they are

both part of the soup, a mixture which is essentially the product of

both real and fictitious human experience. The elements of such a

pot would seem to be a kind of spell, and Tolkien notes that spell

means both a story told and a power over Men. The sense of long,

long ago which is characteristic of the soup, is a crucial aspect of

the spell. One finds oneself in another time and in a very differ­

ent world.

The essay go es on to assert the significance of the

fairy-story as a serious part of literature. Fairy-stories are not

primarily intended for children, though such tales can be specifi­

cally designed for children. Tolkien states that his own experience

• 15

as a child certainly did not bear out this strict association of

fairy-stories and children. Rather for him, "A real taste for fairy­

stories was wakened by philology on the threshold of manhood, and

quickened to full life by war" ~ Fairy-Stories, p.40). The rele­

gation of fairy-stories to the nursery is an unfortunate error which

is the result of a false conception of the fairy-story and of

children's taste for them. As literature, the fairy-story possesses

aIl the qualities of literary art and as weIl its particular aspects

of Fantasy, Recovery, Escape and Consolation.

Tolkien, with that philological mode of analysis, des­

cribes the imagination as the power to make and grasp images which

are not actually present. He distinguishes between this power and

the achievement of a valid and effective expression of that image.

This ability to give, "'the inner consistency of reality', is indeed

another thing, or aspect, needing another name: Art, the operative

link between Imagination and the final result, Subcreation" ~

Fairy-Stories, p.44). Tolkien terms such art, Fantasy, underlining

the sense of a strange secondary world free from the actual facts

and logic of the primary world. It is words which are to construct

this world and give it that totally believable quality which is so

essential for the Fantasy of Tolkien. Further, it is only literary

art which can create the fantasy of a secondary world, for painting

or drama dis tort the fantasy either in absurd representations or in

the limited and artificial depiction of a primary world dressed up

as a secondary world. The creation of the realm of the fairy-story

• 16

requires the craft of the e1ves, for such a wor1d must induce total

be1ief. Tolkien in the essay speaks of the e1vish craft in this

connection as if there was 1itt1e doubt as to the existence of e1ves

and e1vish works of art. In de1ineating the aspects of Fantasy, he

himse1f enters such a secondary wor1d with 1itt1e hesitation and

utter certainty. It is this kind of inner truth which Fantasy must

exhibit, and it is to the e1ves one must turn for instruction in a

kind of art which is Enchantment. Tolkien uses the word Enchantment

to describe that mode of art which is Fantasy, and which comp1ete1y

invo1ves a11 who come into contact with it. Such Enchantment is an

intense1y pure artistic form, minute1y perfect in its construction

and execution. It possesses that qua1ity of the spe11, able to pro­

found1y affect one's awareness through the tale of a readi1y access­

ible secondary wor1d.

One begins to sense the important relation between

creative scho1arship in language and creative Fantasy. For Tolkien,

Fantasy is the exacting and detai1ed de1ineation of a secondary wor1d

through a new language. Such art wou1d seem to demand an intimacy

with words and their meanings. It is a process of recovery, of

grasping in a new way the language of this primary wor1d in order to

construct out of it the "mythica1 grammar" of the secondary wor1d.

Ta enter into this rea1m of Faerie is to become part of this process

of recovery, of this re-eva1uation of words. Tolkien is demonstrat­

ing the infinite possibi1ities of language in making new and fresh

the articulation of experience, and he comments that~ "It was in

17

fairy-stories that l first divined the potency of the words, and the

wonder of the things, such as stone, and wood, and iron; tree and

grass; house and fire; bread and wine" (On Fairy-Stories, p.53).

"The words" and "the things", and their relationship, must be ex­

amined to uncover what the thing is and what the word conveys. Thus

the fairy-story for Tolkien is vitally concerned with the restora­

tion of creative energy to one's sensibility through a process of

becoming very much aware of the nature of language.

The essay concludes with the Escape and Consolation

features of the fairy-story. Tolkien suggests that there is an

apparent confusion with regard to the sense in which the fairy­

story represents an escape from the real world. There is an obvious

distinction between the escape of the prisoner and the flight of the

deserter. For Tolkien the fairy-story is not a desertion, nor does

it merit that kind of condemnation. Rather it is the escape from

the treachery and misery of much of the human condition. Further

the question of what constitutes "real life" is a crucial facet of

this kind of escape. The extreme role of technology in modern life

is a repelling feature of this age in Tolkien's view, and he chooses

to include in his vision lightning for example, rather than electric

street-lamps. That "the Robot Age" considers the automobile more

alive than the dragon is a startling and absurd facto The escape

from the factory chimney to the elm-tree is surely not the action of

a deserter, nor a senseless flight from. "real life". In an oblique

sense, the fairy-story is concerned with securing a more valid

18

concept of life as it is created from an increasingly pure sense of

language. It offers profound "escapisms" from the universal hard­

ships of men, "hunger, thirst, poverty, pain, sorrow, injustice,

death" (.QE. Fairy-Stories, p.58). As well, Tolkien considers that

the fairy-story answers various other longings as the desire to

glimpse inaccessible oceans and heights, and to converse with other

living things. Finally, the fairy-story provides a deep sense of

almost spiritual consolation in its happy ending. For Tolkien,

"the eucatastrophic tale is the true form of fairy-tale, and its

highest functioa" ~ Fairy-Stories, p.60). Such a tale ends in

great Joy, as an unlooked-for turn of events changes despair into

great happiness. For the story to evoke this kind of response,

which flows from this eucatastrophic ending with the keeness of an

elven-blade into the very heart of man, its sub-created world must

be a finely and delicately wrought Enchantment.

Tolkien began his academic career at the University

of Leeds in 1921 as a Reader in English Language. He soon became

a Professor, at a very young age by English standards, and then

took a post at Oxford as Rawlinson Professor of Anglo-Saxon.

Following the war he became Merton Professor of English Literature.

The creation of Fantasy went on amid aIl the demands of a scholar

and a teacher. The kind of imaginative impulse so evident in

Tolkien's academic activities made the efforts of the artist the

natural and obvious extension of the work of the Oxford Don. This

fact is born out by the proceedings of the regular meetings of a

19

literary group in which Tolkien was involved. These gatherings of

the "Inklings", as the group was called, included among others C.S.

Lewis, Charles Williams and Nevil Coghill. The Inklings met every

Thursday in C.S. Lewis' rooms at Magdalen, as weIl as for lunches at

various pubs. The discussions usually centered on a manuscript which

was read by someone present. Thus W.H. Lewis comments: "To indicate

the content of those evenings, let me look forward to 1946, a vintage

year. At most of the meetings during that year we had a chapter from

Tolkien's new Hobbit, as we called it -- the great work later pub-7

lished as The Lord of the Rings." As well, C.S. Lewis' letters

contain references to Tolkien's part in the Inklings. Tolkien's

reading confirms that quality of the Fantasy which reflects the

presence of a scholarly habit of mind. Into an academic and critical

milieu was introduced the reading of a lengthy tale of Faerie. That

the "new Hobbit" was considered material for the Inklings, and vintage

material at that, reveals Tolkien's art to be ingenuously involved

with the scholar.

In attempting to get clear on the nature of the fairy-

story, Tolkien explains that, "Faerie cannot be caught in a net of

words; for it is one of its qualities to be indescribable, though not

imperceptible" (9!!. Fairy-Stories, p.16). He is alluding here to that

7 W.H.Lewis, ed. with a ~~moir, Letters of C.S.Lewis

(London,1966), p.14.

20

elvish craft of Enchantment which cannot be explicitly described nor

defined. Rather the realm is perceptible through one's becoming a

part of the process of its creation. One must move with the artist,

follow him and grasp minutely aIl the elements of this world as they

are made real and true. It would seem that Tolkien's literary art

becomes enchanted due to the man's sense of language. The energy of

his creation, its very life and breath stems from language and from

the kind of motions involved in the imaginative study of language.

The belief of the fairy-story, its aspects of recovery and escape,

aIl would seem to hinge on the words of the tale. The sheer size and

vivid detail of the world of Faerie as Tolkien conceives it, is

generated by the thorough commitment to language which is so charact­

eristic of Tolkien the scholar. l would suggest that to try to de­

fine the spell which Tolkien weaves, as if it were an object in a

net, is to miss seriously the essence of his vision. One must begin

with the realization that the literary art of the man is born in the

meaning and sound and motion of its words and syllables. The task of

coming to terms with such art must focus on this process, must probe

how it is that Fantasy is created by entering into the very realm of

the secondary world.

e

CRAPTER II

THE DEVELOPMENT OF FANTASY

22

Tolkien's Tree and Leaf, first published in 1964, con­

tains the essay On Fairy-Stories and a s tory , Leaf ~ Niggle. The

two are connected, Tolkien comments, by the symbols of Tree and Leaf.

The tale was written at about the same time as the essay, during

that period when The Lord of the Rings was unfolding. Yet it was not

published until 1947, in the Dublin Review. This reissue of the

essay and the story together in one edition underlines the relation

which is apparent between the two. ~~ Niggle appears to be a

story which is about the attempt to create Fantasy. It concerns the

passage from the primary to the secondary world and the means of

achieving this motion. Thus the story is both a commentary on the

thought of the essay, and a glimpse into the development of Tolkien's

Fantasy. If the essay is a discussion of the intricate tree of tales

and the secondary world in which that tree exists, then the story is

one leaf of that tree, one sequence in the mode of sub-creation.

The tale is about a little man called Niggle who i8 a

painter and lives in a curious country with very strict laws. One is

continually reminded of a journey which Niggle soon has to make, a

further aspect of the severe nature of the place in the story.

Niggle's painting is depictéd as the essential motive of his life,

and his subject is consistently trees and leaves, for, "He used to

spend a long time on a single leaf, trying to catch its shape,

1 and its sheen, and the glistening of dewdrops on its edges."

Tolkien describes Niggle's painted leaf with vivid detail, linking

the sense of "shape" and "sheen", calling attention to the edges

of the leaf where drops of dew sparkle. The leaf, though it ia

part of a Niggle painting, is intensely real, viewed as for the

first time with careful scrutiny and a sense of wonder. This

strangely real and pure quality is apparent in the painting of

Niggle's which has completely taken over the man and become his

sole activity in life. The painting had its beginning,

with a leaf caught in the wind, and it became a tree; and the tree grew, sending out innumerable branches, and thrusting out the most fantastic roots. Strange birds came and settled on the twigs and had to be attended to. Then aIl round the Tree, and behind it, through the gaps in the leaves and boughs, a country began to open out; and there were glimpses of a forest marching over the land, and of mountains tipped with snow •••• Soon the canvas became so large that he had to get a ladder; and he ran up and down it, putting in a touch here, and rubbing out a patch there.

(Leaf, p.74)

The tree and the surrounding lands begin to take on that air of

Enchantment, as the painting becomes the creation of that second-

ary world. The tree possesses "innumerable branches" and

"fantastic roots", and its birds are "strange" and require special

attention. There exists no tree like it in the country of Niggle,

23

nor are there birds of this variety. Yet they are real in the land

which begins to materialize aIl around the margins of the painting

1 J.R.R.Tolkien, "Leaf by Niggle", Tree ~ ~

(London, 1964), p.73. Subsequent references will be to this edition.

e which have to be repeatedly enlarged. Niggle's task becomes more

pressing as the time of the ominous journey grows near, and he is

constantly bothered by the interruptions of neighbours. Tolkien

focuses on Niggle's painstaking creative process, as the artist

attempts "to catch the gleam of the westering sun on the peak of

a snow-mountain, which he had glimpsed just to the left of the

leafy tip of one of the Tree's branches" (Leaf, p.75). The

artist's picture ia of a world which becomes alive, and one can

view the aetting sun through the leaves of the tree as it is re­

flected in the snow of a peak.

24

Niggle's struggle for detail in his painting is for

Tolkien the vital aspect of the creation of Fantasy. The tip. of

a leaf, the strange birds and branches, the clarity of sun on snow:

it is from these bits of perception that the belief in a world of

profound wonder energes. The tale shifts from various levels of

meaning, as from the growing world of Niggle's painting, to

Niggle's own country. Niggle's neighbour Parish exhibits little

appreciation of Niggle's painting, being far more interested in

such things as gardening. Parish who is partially lame constantly

interrupta Niggle with requests for help with the trouble he always

seemed to be in. An errand for Parish on a wet autumn night re­

sults in Niggle's getting sick. When he is finally well enough to

paint the time for his journey is upon him. Niggle is taken away

and what follows ia a strange account of his imprisonment and

forced labour;

He did not like the treatment at aIl. The medicine they gave him was bitter. The officiaIs and attendants were unfriendly, silent, and strict; and he never saw anyone else, except a very severe doctor, who visited him occasionally. It was more like being in a prison than in a hospital. He had to work bard, at stated hours: at digging, carpentry, and painting.bare boards aIl one plain colour. He was never allowed outside, and the windows aIl looked inwards.

(Leaf, p.80)

25

The journey which aIl had to make in Niggle's country is a distinct

shift from the mood of his painting. One now sees Niggle doing con-

struction work, and painting things in one drab colour. There are

no strange trees and lands in sight and Niggle is locked in a very

stark room. In a sense Tolkien would seem to be alluding to that

distinction between escape and desertion in the essaye For the

"real life" of Niggle, his country and the queer journey, certainly

make his painting a more meaningful and preferable alternative.

Niggle begins to forget the vision of his art, and he is almost

content, becoming a kind of automaton. A further shift now occurs,

as one listens to the two voices of those who decide Niggle's fate.

Because of his kindness to his neighbour Parish and perhaps too,

the value of the leaves painted by him, Niggle is accorded gentle

treatment, particularly because of the more gentle feature of the

Second Voice.

One is now returned again to the lands of Niggle's

painting. His journey to it is on' a train which is newly painted,

on tracks which shine in the sun, never baving been used before.

Niggle is travelling through unexplored regions, being guided

•

26

strangely for he does not know where he is or where he is going. He

arrives at his tree, which is finished and now alive and moving in

o:the wind. Niggle has made the final step into a secondary, enchanted

world. The artist has been able to enter into this realm precisely

because of the conscious attention he gave to each aspect of his

creation. Thus he painted a leaf numerous times, striving for a new

and purer sense of the leaf, grasping it in a way which had never

been done in his own country. AlI the leaves Niggle ever painted are

in this new land, and many more he had only imagined. The lands

about the trees are vas ter and more enchanted, with the mountains

looming far off in the distance. Of course Parish is there and the

two set about finishing the work as they learn the subtle relation­

ship between one who tends a garden and one who creates it. The place

is called "N1ggle's Country", being the creation of his art. Parish

is amazed at the value of Niggle's work and wonders why he never

realized it before. But the shepherd who came finally to take Niggle

remarks to Parish, "No, it was only a glimpse then, ••• but you might

have caught the glimpse, if you had ever thought it worth while to

try" (Leaf, p.89). The tale ends with a shift back from the enchanted

lands to Niggle's old country, and then to the Voices. The people of

Niggle's country carry on as before, thinking little good of Niggle

or his painting, though one "Leaf: by Niggle" was hung unnoticed in

a museum. The Second Voice comments that "Niggle's Parish in the bay",

as it was called, was proving a valuable place for recovery, and a good

resting place on the journey to the mountains •

e Tolkien's tale gives a good introduction to the

elements in the construction of Fantasy. Though it may perhaps

be weakened by the overly mechanical descriptions of the creation

of such elements, it nevertheless succeeds in securing that sense

of Enchantment as Niggle's art becomes a real secondary world

of wondrous trees, forests and streams. Such devices as the

Voices and the Journey would seem to be artificial, yet they do

point out the fairy-story's capability to provide escape and con­

solation, a chance for laughter amid the grimness of existence.

One perceives that Tolkien is keenly aware of a desperate need to

combat the absurdities of life. In this tale, he offers Niggle's

mode of beginning first wi th the leaf: "He was going to learn

about sheep, and the high pasturages, and look at a wider sky,

and walk even further and further towards the Mountains, always

uphill" (Leaf, p. 90) •

The fairy-story, Farmer GUes .2! Ham, is another

of Tolkien's shorter pieces of Fantasy. The secondary world is

given its initial feature of reality in a Foreword which speaks

of the tale as part of the dark period of Britain's history.

Tolkien claims to have translated it from the Latin in which this

account was originally written. He alludes to the fragment as

being a mixture of history and legend, "Somewhere in those long

years, after the days of King Coel maybe, but before Arthur or

27

• 28

2 the Seven Kingdoms of the English." The tale is fixed far in the

past and one is made aware of that aspect of being witness to "an

echo of an echo", which was apparent for Tolkien in Beowulf and in

The Battle of Maldon fragment. Thus the story of Farmer Giles and

his kingdom is described by Tolkien as having its roots in history,

and from this point it moves toward the sub-created world of Fantasy.

The curious and strange events of the Farmer's rise

are delineated with a total sense of veracity. The tale involves

talking dogs, giants, dragons and enchanted swords. Such fairy-

tale elements are given substance by the manner in which they are

presented by Tolkien. That process of rearranging. the words once

one bas gotten a clear sense of their meaning crea tes a sword which

will not be sheathed when a dragon is close by. The encbanted sword

Caudimordax, or Tailbiter, is revealed to be an ancient sword of great

renown and it is covered with runes and other signs of power. The

dragon is given an effective introduction:

Chrysophylax Dives was his name, for he was of ancient and imperial lineage, and very rich. He was cunning, inquisitive, greedy, well­a rmoured, but not over boldo But at any rate he was not in the least afraid of flies or insects of any sort or size; and he was mortally hungry.

(Farmer, p.25)

The adjectives Tolkien uses to describe the dragon operate through

the metaphor of the beast as a descendant of ancient and renown kings.

2 J.R.R.Tolkien, Farmer Giles of Ham (London, 1949),

p.8. Subsequent references will be to this edition.

e

29

One's sense of the majesty of such a lineage enables one to grasp

the reality of the beast in the secondary world. Tolkien would

seem to playon this interchange between the primary world and the

Fantasy to achieve with greater validity the fantastic elements in

the latter. The rhetorical manipulation in the passage contributes

to its effect. The dragon's name begins the sentence, positing his

size and the extent of his pride. The long list of adjectives which

describe him ends with the phrase "but not over bold". Up to this

point the dragon has been made to appear a formidable and fearsome

enemy. This impression is shifted slightly in this allusion to his

boldness, and it is exploded in the succeeding sentence which

juxtaposes his size and the fact that he is not afraid of tiny in-

sects. The cowardice of the great beast now becomes quite apparent.

Tolkien considers that a dragon is surely more alive than an auto-

mobile. Such a passage would seem to give support to this view.

The dwelling of the dragon is minutely described:

Itwas large and black and forbidding, and its brazen doors swung on great pillars of irone Plainly it had been a place of strength and pride in days long forgotten; for dragons do not build such works nor delve such mines, but dwell rather, when they may, in the tombs and treasuries of mighty men and giants of old.

(Farmer, p.62)

The image is of a grea t and dark place which has long ceased to have

been a human dwelling. The "brazen" quality of the doors seems to

reflect this aspect of the dragon's coming to live here. The use of

the word "plainly" conveys a sense of the actual existence of the

place. The adverb expresses the fact of the narrator's presence at

30

the scene, for he is witness to the sight of the dragon's lair, and

forma opinions about it. One moves with him into the Farmer's world

and the encounter with the dragon. Tolkien uses two verbs of

similar meanings, one after the other, "build" and "delve", to give

the act of the cavets construction a greater sense of reality by re-

peating in a slightly different way the motions involved in creating

the dwelling. The alliterative phrase "tombs and treasuries" picks

up the sense of the "strength and pride" already mentioned, and gives

the place that strange and ancient quality. The Farmer's successive

confrontations with the giant, the dragon and then the King and his

Knights, are carefully presented to show the man's developing courage

and wisdom. The establishment of his Kingdom is at the end of the

tale used by Tolkien to explain the names of various towns of that

part of Br1tain, as Worminghall from Aula Draconaria, the place

where Giles first met the dragon, and the Knights of Giles' new

dragon order lived. Thus Tolkien ends the tale with an allusion to

those ancient days:

The face of the land has changed since that time, and kingdoms have come and gone; woods have fallen, and rivers have shifted, and only the hills remain, and they are worn down by the rain and the wind •••• But in the days of which this tale speaks Worminghall it was, and a Royal Seat,

and the dragon-standard flew above the trees; and aIl things went weIl there and merrily,

while Tailbiter was above ground. (Fat&i1er, p.77)

Smith of Wootton Major is another of Tolkien's shorter

pieces of Fantasy which provides an important look into the nature of

31

sub-creation. The tale begins with the reference to the village of

Wootton Major, "There was a village once, not very long ago for

those with long memories, nor very far away for those with long 3

legs." As in the tale of Farmer Giles, Tolkien points to the

accessibility of the village, to its historical existence. Immed-

iately, as the story begins, he sets out the essential reality of

this place and of the events he is about to relate. The motions

of walking and of recalling are linked with the location of the

village, as Tolkien gives the actual physical and mental detail

involved in grasping the phrase, "There was a village once •••• "

He continues to describe the size of the village, its population

and its characteristic of having workers of great skill in various

crafts. The tale in a sense hinges on this notion of craft, for it

concerns the craft of the primary world of the village as it may be-

come the craft of Faerie, the elvish craft of sub-creation.

Wootton Major was particularly noteworthy for its

cooking and the Master Cook was a person of prime importance. The

story is about the appearance of an apprentice to the Master Cook

who is not from the village. Alf, as he was called, puts a fay-star

in the Great Cake which was served every twenty-four years at The

Feast of Good Children. Thus it happened that the star passed to

3 J.R.R.Tolkien, Smith ~ Wootton Malor (London,1967),

p.S. Subsequent references will be to this edition.

32

Smith, becoming attached te his forehead, '~ut it became part of his

face, and it did not usually shine at aIl. Seme of its light passed

into his eyes; and his voice ... " (Smith, p.20). The craft of the

smith, for that was his trade, underwent a change as he grew older

and he became increasingly affected by the fay-star. His skill went

beyond that of the village into another realm:

They were strong and lasting, but they also had a grace about them, being shapely in their kinds, good to handle and to look st.

But some things, when he had time, he made for delight; and they were beautiful, for he could work iron into wonder fuI forms that look­ed as ligb.t and delicate as a spray of leaves and blossom, but kept the stern strength of iron, or seemed even stronger.

(Smith, p.2l)

Smith's work now possesses a certain feel and grace, a form that

gives iron the delicacy of leaves and flowers. He has entered a

secondary world which few in the village believe in. With the star

Smith began to make actual journeys into the regions of Faerie, ex-

ploring strange and enchanted lands. Thus Tolkien describes various

sights of Faerie, as the shore where elven-ships return;

He stood beside the Sea of Windless Storm where the blue waves like snow-clad hills roll silently out of Unlight to the long strand, bearing the white ships that return from battles on the Dark Marches of which men know nothing. He saw a great ship cast high upon the land, and the waters fell back in foam witnout a sound. The elven mariners were tall and terrible; their swords shone and their spears glinted and a piercing light was in their eyes.

(Smith, p.26)

The quality of that association of the "strength of iron" and the

delicacy of blossoms in the craft of the smith, is here developed

further. Tolkien's Fantasy proceeds from the images of a new and

fresh view of the world. In the smith's work, one is made more aware

of the nature of iron and its possibility for a graceful shape. The

33

hidden strength of leaves and gardens is also revealed in the image.

In this passage about the travels of Smith, the sea is ever in the

midst of storm, and yet there is no wind. The silence which emerges

from the image gives one a startling insight into the calm beauty of

a sea as compared ..to...the fury of it in storm. The silence is focused

on again in the waves which are compared to rolling "snow-clad hills".

The memory of such a winter scene makes intensely keen the percep­

tion of serene and gentle movement. The length of this first

sentence, and its resulting kind of ambling motion, accentuate the

sense of this depiction of the sea in Faerie. The elven mariners

are presented in terms of a light metaphor. The words "shone",

"glinted" and "piercing" describe the light which is in their

weapons and in their very being. For Tolkien, the elves are the

energy of light, able to dazzle perception with great clarity and

purity. Smith's many journeys in Faerie come to an end finally, yet

for him Faerie will always existe Tolkien's sub-creation leaves

little doubt as to its serious existence if only one will consider

the craft of Smith as it is able to go beyond the primary skills of

those in Wootton Major. For the passage from the village to Faerie

is achieved by Tolkien through this kind of craft in language.

The Hobbit was written by Tolkien for his children and

later circulated in manuscript form around Oxford. It was first pub­

lished in 1937, and is the crucial introduction to the vast sub-

crea tion which is The Lord of the Rings. The Inkling' s reference to

the latter work as the "new Hobbit" indicates the sense in which

34

~ Hobbit was the tentative beginning of the trilogy and the myth­

ology of Middle Earth. The Hobbit, written as it was for children,

would seem to be the kind of fairy-story which does not attempt to

embody completely the more profound aspects of such talès. In the

essay On Fairy-Stories, Tolkien alluded to this possibility of tales

designed specifically for younger readers. Yet, while it may lack

the epic high ser10usness of tone of the trilogy, The Hobbit 1s a

work of Tolkien's craft and thus it con tains much which i8 essential

to the fuller development of Fantasy.

A prefatory note states that the story concerns events

of long ago. Further, while the languages of that time were differ­

ent than those of today, English is used to represent these ancient

tongues. Tolkien would seem to consistently begin his fairy-stories

as if he is merely giving historical accounts. Such a device provides

the initial phase of bel1ef which is cf course the basis of sub­

creation. This historical awareness is here established through the

fact of the difference between ancient and modern languages. In a

sense Tolkien assumes the role of editor and translator, and the

note begins to read like an introduction to an edition of Sir Gawain

and the ~ Knight. The use of dwarves rather than dwarfs is com­

mented on, as is the derivation of the word Orc. Runes which appear

in the tale are explained: "Runes were old letters or1ginally used

for cutting or scratching on wood, stone, or metal, and so were thin

35

4 and angular." Such runes are represented in the book by English

runes which, Tolkien explains, are known by few people. The maps

which are included have numerous runes printed on them, and one can

discover the runic alphabet by using the transcriptions given in

the story, in conjunction with these maps. Various irregularities

in the alphabet are delineated here, as weIl as the full runic

sentences used in the tale. With such discussions of history, lan-

guages and ancient runic alphabets, and the appearance of maps of

these lands, the Fantasy rapidly begins to emerge and take on a real

dimension.

The tale, as the title indicates, introduces a race

known as hobbits. As weIl, Middle Earth as it is called, has living

in it dwarves, elves, wizards, men, trolls, orcs and many other birds

and beasts. Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit with whom this tale is mainly

concerned, is visited by the wizard Gandalf and numerous dwarves. In

the ensuing meeting the music and song create that sense of Enchant-

ment with which the tale proceeds:

It was a beautiful golden harp, and when Thorin struck it the music began aIl at once, so sudden and sweet that Bilbo forgot everything else, and was swept away into dark lands under strange moons, far over The Water and very far from his hobbit-hole under The Hill.

The dark came into the room from the little window that opened in the side of The Hill; the firelight flickered -- it was April -­and still they played on, while the shadow of Gandalf's beard wagged against the wall.

(The Hobbit, p.22)

4 J.R.R.Tolkien, The Hobbit, 3rd ed. (London, 1967) ,

p.7. Subsequent references will be to this edition.

36

The music of the dwarves allows one to enter into this secondary

world. Tolkien makes the music "sudden and sweet" and gives it that

qua li t Y of strangeness able to move one "into dark lands under

strange moons tf• In this long first sentence Tolkien creates the pro­

gression from the beautiful harp to the music to the lands far away~

With Bilbo, one is confronted with the harp and its music. As the

phrases undulate from "sudden and sweet" to "swept away", one comes

to places "far away over the Water". The meaning of the music is

expanded from phrase to phrase, and Tolkien constructs a motion

which explores such music until it arrives at a great distance from

where it began. Then the narrative returns to the scene in the room

where time has passed quickly and darkness has come on unexpectedly.

Tolkien, against the continuing sense of the music, sketches, in

relief, the details of the room with great clarity. The fire

flickers in the darkness, and the shadow of the wizard's beard plays

against the wall. The Enchantment of the sequence comes from the new

juxtapositions of words and meanings, which the essay noted is the

origin of Fantasy. It comes also from Tolkien's essential sensitivi­

ty to the movement and detail of which language is capable.

Bilbo is induced to join the wizard and the dwarves on

a journey to recover the palace and riches of the dwarves which was

stoien by Smaug, a great and terrible dragon. The trip to the Lonely

Mountain, where the dwarves of old lived in great splendour, is a long

distance through many perilous and evil lands. The events of the

journey and the defeat of the dragon, as weIl as the defeat of a great

37.

host of ores, wolves, wargs and bats in The Battle of Five Armies,

form this adventure of Bilbo Baggins. Tolkien's description of the

dragon surpasses the one in Farmer Giles of~. This worm is

depicted with even more detail, and his deeds of murdering, thiev-

ing and plundering are graphically given substance. Bilbo is the

first to glimpse Smaug:

There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; a thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but bis fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under aIl his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on aIl sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious things, ••• Smaug lay, with wings folded like an immeasurable bat, turned partly on one side, so that the hobbit could see his underparts and his long pale belly crusted with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed •••• There are no words left to express his stagger­ment, since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days when aIl the world was wonderful.

(The Hobbit, p.227)

The fantastic sight of the dragon and his hoard is given increased

credibility by this reference again to the shifts of language, and

the history of elves and men. Only the ancient elvish tongues could

adequa tely speak of Bilbo' s " s taggerment". Yet Tolkien' s descrip-

tion embodies rather weIl the incredible scene of Smaug in his lair.

This presence of the narrator is here quite strongly felt, for one

is given Tolkien's account of the scene as it came down to him. The

ev en breathing of the vast worm is fastened upon, and the lines at-

tempt to capture the sounds of his sleep. The "thrumming" noise of

the sleeper forms the basis for what one hears. To it is added the

low flickering of the dragon's fires, the seething of the heat of a

furnace. The riches of this dragon, as the one with which Farmer Giles

had to contend, become a means of giving him size. Here Tolkien

38

connects the physical aspect of the worm with his hoard. Even the

"underparts", the soft vulnerable part of Smaug, are " crusted with

gems", as if the life was inextricably bound to the wealth, the

prime energy of the beast flowing from his greed. Elsewhere the

stench of the bat-like creature is often spoken of by the hobbit and

the dwarves. The dragon for Tolkien is essential to the tensions of

the sub-creation, as perhaps the monsters of Beowulf. The quest of

the hobbit takes him face to face with seemingly insurmountable forces

of evil. While Fantasy has within it such possibilities for evil,

it also has much that is good and beautiful. When Bilbo finds the

Arkenstone, the heart of the Lonely Mountain, he is enchan~ed by its

perfection, for, tIit took a11 light that fe11 upon it and changed it

into ten thousand sparks of white radiance shot with glints of the

rainbow" (The Robbit, p.249). Further, the grim and valiant character

of the elves in their defence of the beauty of Faerie is effectively

presented by Tolkien:

The elves were the first to charge. Their hatred for the goblins is cold and bitter. Their spears and swords shone in the gloom with a gleam of chilI flame, so deadly was the wrath of the hands that held them. As soon as the host of their enemies was dense in the valley, they sent against it a shower of arrows, and each flickered as it fled as if with stinging fire. Behind the arrows a thousand of their spear­men leapt down and charged. The yells were deafening. The rocks were stained black with goblin blood.

(The Hobbit, pp.294-295)

Here again the elves appear as the piercing light which shatters the

gloom of the goblins, rending the literally black blood from their

veins. Their swords and arrows are infused with their energy, and they

illuminate this scene of struggle and death in The Battle of Five

39

Armies. Tolkien appeals to taste in the word ''bitter'', pointing to

the absence of any sweetness in these cruel confrontations with the

ores. One is aware of the discomfort of the wrath of the elves,

the harshnesB of their struggles in Faerie to preserve that elvish

mode of beauty.

Thor in , the descendant of the King of dwarves under

the Lonely Mountain, is wounded fatally in the battle. Before he

dies he speaks with Bilbo, praising the hobbit's courage and essen­

taU outlook, "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above

hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world" (The Hobbit, p.301).

The thought, though it is somewhat simplistic in its expression, is

the beginning of the recovery and consolation facets of the fairy­

tale which is spoken of in the essay. For the world of The Hobbit

is created out of a new awareness of such things as "food and cheer

and song", a new articulation for experience in a living secondary

world. Tolkien's intimacy with language allows him to rearrange

its parts in order to give meaning to this sub-creation. The alter­

nate title of this book is There and Back Again, for Bilbo returns

from the wide world of Middle Earth to his own home in The Shire, as

it is called. Yet, as Gandalf remarks, contact with Faerie, with

elves, dwarfs and the affairs of wizards, has changed Bilbo, deepen­

ed his perspective. He is considered "queer" by the hobbits of his

town, and b.~ begins to write poetry and take frequent tramps with

elves. For Tolkien an excursion into Faerie is a significant exper­

ience, one which may alter onels sensibility. Niggle's leaves, or

Farmer Giles' Kingdom, or Smith's craft, or perhaps Bilbo's adven­

ture, aIl become intensely felt aspects of the secondary world of

Faerie. But it is in The Lord .2! The Rings that Tolkien gives

fullest expression to the kind of Fantasy of which these shorter

tales are merely a glimpse.

40

•

CHAPTER III

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TONE OF FANTASY

42

In the Foreword to The Lord of The Rings, Tolkien dis-

eusses the relationship between allegory and history. He professes )

an, essential dislike of allegory much preferring history whether it

is true or invented. His reasoning fastens on the distinction

between applicability and allegory, "but the one resides in the

freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of l

the author." For Tolkien, the applicability inherent in history al-

lows one to create various relationships between the work and one's

own thought and experience. Rather than impose one specifie allegor-

ical significance, history tends to suggest numerous paths along

which one may proceed to discover that sense in which the tale be-

comes a vital and new aspect of one's sensibility. Often in the

shorter tales Tolkien begins with this kind of historical metaphor,

and the trilogy is, to an even greater extent, the rendering of his-

torical documents. The Prologue ends with a recapitulation of the

events in The Hobbit as they lead up to the beginning of this tale,

and the last sentence is, "At this point this History begins" (Rings

l, 36). This explicit reference to History is continued in the

following "Note on the Shire Records". Here Tolkien delineates in

considerable detail his sources for the narrative which is to come.

He traces the copies made of Bilbo's and Frodo's histories of the

Third Age of Middle Earth which became the Red Book of Westmarch.

l J.R.R.Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (New York,1966),

l,xi. The text is that of the American Ballantine printing of The Lord of the Rings, 2nd ed. (London,1966). Subsequent references will be to this edition.

ct

43

The records and manuscripts prepared and co11ected by Samwise,

Meriadoc and Peregrin, the other hobbit members of the Fe1lowship,

are cited along with the copies of the Red Book as the chief mater­

ia1s from which the story emerges. Tolkien even refers to the

scribe of a particu1arly complete copy of the Red Book, lIFindegil,

King' s Writer, fini shed this work in IV 172" (Rings I, 38).

This rigorous description of the exact origins of the

tri10gy would seem to indicate important features of the tone of

Tolkien's sub-creation. That is, if one is to consider the stance

Tolkien adopts toward his work and, as weIl, the stance the reader

would begin to assume, then that quality in history of the appli­

cability provides an initial insight into Tolkien's aesthetic pro­

cess. The historical metaphor in To1kien's view conditions the kind

of articulation that the fairy-story aims at. The conscious aware­

ness of reading history secures, to begin with, a definite sense of

rea1ity for the story, and prompts a profounder belief in the sub­

creation. The device also makes the interchange between the primary

and secondary wor1d a more obvious and necessary movement. Appli­

cabi1ity suggests that the narration is a process through which one

is motivated to relate one's own speech analysis of experience to

that in the tale. In this sense, one participa tes in the construction

of the aesthetic. For one crea tes for onese1f the apparent extension

from the Secondary to the Primary World, coming to terms with the

collision between one's own grasp of the f10~ of 1ife into words and

the depiction of this movement in the story. Tolkien's function as

44

an artist lies in making the basic meaningful connection between the

primary world and the sub-created world of Fantasy. He must fashion

his world out of a new and imaginative grasp of the materials in

this primary world. Further, he must achieve this process in terms

which are far removed from the allegorical rigidity which is

stifling to one's intense involvement in the energy and motion of

his art.

The essence of Tolkien's connection between the two

worlds rests in the language with which he works. He comments in

the Essay that, "The Primary World, Rea lit y , of elves and men is the

same, if differently valued and perceived" ~ Fairy-Stories, p.48).

This shift in value and perception is the distinctive aspect of sub­

creation. Tolkien focuses on the subtly different sensibility

which is at work in the realm of Faerie. For if the Reality is the

same, then it is a new mode of ordering and giving meaning that he

is concerned with. It is the words and syllables, and his arrange­

ment of these, which contain the capability of achieving this end.

For it is in the coincidence of speech and thought that is formed the

way in which one perceives oneself and one's relation to the world.

Faerie proceeds from this coincidence and it is from here that its

function and meaning may be extracted. The Fairy-story is a recon­

struction of the infinite bits of Reality. It begins with the

isolation of each adjective, noun or verb, the attempt to renew

their sense and the meaning of the qualities, things or actions they

convey. The enchanted realm consists of nothing other than these

things though often in curious arrangements. In Tolkien's view,

Literature opera tes between minds, with both the artist and the

reader actively reproducing particular images out of the more uni-

versaI facets of the work. Thus:

If a story says 'he climbed a hill and saw a river in the valley below', the illustrator may catch, or nearly catch, his own vision of such a scene; but every hearer of the words will have his own picture, and it will be made out of aIl the hills and rivers and dales he has ever seen, but specially out of The Hill, The River, The Valley which were for him the first embodiment of the word.

(On Fairy-Stories, p.67)

45

The "embodiment of the word" is at the root of Tolkien's concept of

sub-creative narrative. The reflections back to the primary world

are glimpsed by both the artist and the reader through the mechan-

ism of recognition. The realm of Middle Earth is composed of the

vast mosaic of aIl the things which the Primary World contains,

placed in a new and enchanted setting. One's experience here makes

new the awareness of reality, imparts a quality of purity to aIl

the particulars of existence. By infusing reality with the energy

of an aIl together different context, of a sub-created, inhabited

and living world, Tolkien restores that first grasp of life with aIl

its keeness and vigor. The fairy-story acts as a kind of catalyst to

perception, evoking a profound reaction in the motion of one's aware-

ness.

The consolation of the fairy-story, which as has been

mentioned, Tolkien terms the eucatastrophe of the tale, is a crucial

aspect of the tone of Fantasy. Just as the physical materials of the

tale are gleaned from reality, so too are the traditional

46

philosophicsl characteristics of its inhabitants. The histories of

the men of Middle Earth are filled with evidence of corruption and

severe imperfection, with great civilizations declining through their

own self-destruction. The relentless rise of the power of Mordor,

of the Dark Lord in aIl his unfathomable evil, is the dominant

feature of each age of Middle Earth. The harsh and bitter confron­

tation with such a power is the ever present peril of this sub­

created world. As Gandalf the Grey tells Frodo at the outset of the

tale, "Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another

shape and grows again" (Rings l, 81-82). Even the elves with their

infini te capacity for good and beauty must be ever wary of the per­

version of their powers.

While the trilogy is essentially concerned with the

Third Age of Middle Earth, much is revealed in the narrative and in

the detailed appendices about the earlier ages. The First Age is

that of the Eldar or the elves of the West, who dwell in the land of

the Valar, and Middle Earth is sparsely inhabited. The Edain, three

peoples of men, live in the Western part of Middle Earth near the

sea. The Eldar and the Edain combine in Middle Earth against the

dominion of Morgoth, an early shape of the Shadow. Morgoth even

infiltrates the undying lands of the Valar in the West, and steals

the Silmarilli, jewels wrought by the elves from the light of the

Two Trees Telperion and Laurelin. For their part in the struggle

against Morgoth, the Edain are given the realm of Numenor, far re­

moved from the dangers of Middle Earth. But the Numenoreans, though

47

their kingdoms grow to great power and splendour, are finally cor-

rupted by the Shadow. In their envy of the Eldar, they attempt to

enter the realm of the Valar only to be cast down and destroyed.

In exile they come to Middle Earth which is now separated from the

elven-lands in the West. The opposition between the images of light

and darkness which begin in the First Age with the Silmarilli and

the !WO Trees, and the darkness of Morgoth, is central to the world

of Middle Earth. Tolkien consistently details the struggles in his

sub-creation in terms of the elvish capacity for blinding undying

light, and that aspect of the shadow which is the nature of the

Enemy. The ancient possibility for light and beauty associated with

the Eldar, and the blackness of Mordor, are given new form in the

trilogy with the appearance of the rings.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-Iords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them aIl, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring thema11 and in the darkness bind them

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. (Rings l, vii)

This verse prologue to the book establishes the Ring as the symbol

for great good and hideous evil. Forged in the Second Age by Elven-

smiths living in Middle Earth, the Rings of power conta in much

tha t is the Dark Lord r s work. For the elves were won over by him,

and he watched the forging and learnt aIl their craft. It was then

that He made the One Ring in Mordor, infusing it with a11 his black-

ness and giving it mastery over the other Rings. Only the three

48

Rings of the Elven-kings were made unknown to Saur on and were hidden

from him. Tolkien makes the existence of the elven-realms in Middle

Earth assured due to the power of these three rings. Yet the One

Ring is inextricably bound up with these, in a sense giving them much

of their effectiveness. Welded by Sauron, this ring binds aIl into

shadow. If it is used by others, it corrodes the will and the light,

transforming its wearer inevitably into the slave of evil and corrup­

tion. The One Ring would seem to depict the kind of inexorable pro­

gress of darkness which Tolkien envisions in his sub-created world.

The Rings become a metaphor for Tolkien's sense of good and evil as

being constantly apparent and in conflict wherever there is life.

The verse prologue twice repeats the line, "In the

Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie". The emphasis is on shadows

and darkness, and on the eventual domination of these forces. The

"One Ring" begins a phrase or a line four times, underscoring the

primary energy of this "One" in the hands of the "Dark Lord". Its

function is expanded in these lines, for it possesses the capacity

to ferret out aIl the inhabitants of Middle Earth, extinguish their

light and bind them in the darkness. Tolkien gives to Mordor the

balance of power, for as Galadriel of the elves of Lorien comments,

"through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat" (Rings

l, 462). And yet, the account of Middle Earth is marked by the

sudden almost impossible reversaIs which change defeat into vic tory.

Tolkien frequently in the trilogy uses the word "unlooked-for" when

he describes such occurrences. It i8 this quality of an unexpected

49

and joyous change of events which the Fairy-Story offers, depicting

victory out of certain defeat for those who wou1d stand with

Galadrie1 and Ganda1f against the tide of night without day. When

Gandalf is held prisoner by the treacherous Saruman in the invincible

stone tower of Orthanc, he is rescued through the "un100ked-for"

passing of a friend:

ISO it was that when summer waned, there came a night of moon, and Gwaihir the Wind10rd, swiftest of the Great Eag1es, came un1ooked­for to Orthanc; and he found me standing on the pinnac1e. Then l spoke to him and he bore me away, before Saruman was aware. l was far from Isengard, ere the wo1ves and orcs issued from the gate to pur sue me.

(Rings l, 343)

He is then able to return towards the Shire and assistFrodo's safe

passage to Rivende11. In the batt1e of He1m's Deep when the orc hosts

of Saruman appear sure to overrun the men of Rohan, Eomer remarks to

Gandalf after victory, "Once more you come in the hour of need,

un1ooked-for" (Rings II, 188). Ganda1f attributes much credit for the

victory to the courage of the men of Rohan and the good counse1 in

peril which he received from others. Yet this experience of the

"un1ooked-for" event persists throughout the narrative. It crea tes

that sense of joyous relief, communicating hope to one's awareness

despite the horrors of this wor1d.

In the essay Tolkien describes this tone as, "a piercing

glimpse of joy, and heart's desire, that for a moment passes outside

the frame, rends indeed the very web of story, and lets a gleam come

through" (On Fairy-Stories, p. 61). One is prompted to grasp the inti-

mate relation between the secondary wor1d and the primary wor1d through

this joy which gives reality a new aspect. Onels vision is essen­

tially shifted, and one may glimpse something of the inner truth

which is born in these eucatastrophies, and which becomes suddenly

possible in onels own deed and word. Tolkien carries this even

further in the essay, giving an almost spiritual significance bD

this experience in the tale as, "it may be a far-off gleam or echo

of evangelium in the real world" (On Fairy-Stories, p.62). That

simile, already mentioned, which compares the joy and sorrow of

50

these tales to sharp swords, indicates the profound effect which

Tolkien is attempting to achieve in the act of sub-creation. Hope

and joy are thus basic elements in the tone of the Fairy-story, and

the degree to which they are instilled into onels perspective is one

mark of the success of the literary artiste The destruction of the

One Ring, and the ultimate defeat of Sauron and aIl his forces gives

to the trilogy this kind of consolation. The entire work delineates

the strength and aIl pervasiveness of Sauron. First Saruman the

White, a wizard, then king Théoden of Rohan, and finally Lord

Denethor of Gondor fall victim to the corruption of Mordor. Yet the

hobbit Frodo, the Ring-bearer, succeeds in entering Mordor and des­

troying the Ring in the fires of Orodruin, of Mount Doom, where it was

forged. The Third Age of Middle Earth ends with this victory in the

midst of certain darkness. One is exposed to a joy which enters into

oneself, of laughter and tears, and beyond them both.

As a kind of corollary to the eucatastrophe is the com­

ment which this sort of tale wou Id seem to be making concerning

e

51

death. Tolkien sees the fairy-story as offering in a diffuse sense

the escape from Death. In the secondary world of the trilogy there

are the Undying Lands of the Eldar far in the West over the sea.

Only the elves and the half-elven are permitted access to this place

on the ships which leave from the Grey Havens, tha t place to the

west of the Shire. Wizards such as Gandalf undoubtedly possess im­

mortality being descended from the Eldar, the most ancient living

race in this world. But such as the hobbits, the dwarves and the men

have limited spans of life, though they often live far longer than

men in the Primary World. The union of elves and men focuses on

this problem of immortality. When Arwen, the daughter of Elrond,

the half-elven, weds Aragorn, the King of the Numenor come again to

Middle Earth, she must relinquish her place among elves in the

Undying Lands: "She was not yet weary of her days, and thus she

tasted the bitterness of the mortality that she had taken upon

her" (Rings III, 427). The sorrow of the elven-Queen is assuaged

by Aragorn's allusion to aIl the good and beauty of their life and

strugg1e in Middle Earth. Tolkien places the possibi1ities of life

in the balance against the Ifbitterness" of death. The burden of

sorrow and pain which lies on the elves and their undying lives is

apparent in that racers history in the West and in Middle Earth.

The absence of death for them do es not prec1ude sadness and loss.

The secondary world con tains mortal and immorta1 e1ements, and a

clear indication is given as to the nature of each. For Tolkien

sub-creation dea1s with life, and he is intent on giving greater

52

meaning to one' s experience, here, as one breathes and speaks. He

grants an escape into life which is bound up with new awareness, joy

and hope.

~ Lord of ~ Rings begins wi th a reference to the

eleventy-first birthday of Mr. Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit of some note in

Hobbiton in the Shire. The book ends with Sam, Merry and Pippin re­

turning to the Shire after seeing Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf and many

elves depart Middle Earth for the lands of the Eldar in the West.

Thus, the hobbits begin and end the trilogy, and this fact is a signi­

ficant feature of the work. Tolkien remarks of the hobbits, that it

was their "point of view l was mainly concerned to preserve" (Rings

III, 515). The hobbits bear the closest mental, if not physical,

resemblance to people of the Primary World. Hidden away in the Shire

for long years, they have ceased to consider the outside world of

Middle Earth, nor do they have any large body of knowledge about the

nature or races of that outside world. In a sense Middle Earth is as

new to them as it is to the reader. From the outset one explores with

the hobbits this sub-creation as the vastness of Middle Earth begins

to unfold. Further, l would suggest, a shift begins to occur quite

early on in the first volume. As the scene starts to move out of the

sheltered and simple world of the Shire, the work takes on an epic

kind of stance. The hobbits are plunged into the midst of the great

affairs and forces of Middle Earth. Gandalf reveals the significance

of the One Ring which Bilbo and then Frodo possess. The Nine Black

Riders of Sauron, those mortal men turned to wraiths through Sauron's

53

control of their rings, appear in the Shire bringing terror and

shadow to the peaceful hobbits. The perspective of the hobbits in

the fellowship of the ring undergoes a rapid widening as they be­

come aware of the peril and despair of their world and, as weIl, its

great capacity for good and beauty. Tolkien's mode of narrative be­

comes increasingly complex in the face of the immense size of bis

secondary world. One is constantly in touch with the hobbits, and

one is consistently returned to their point of v1ew. However, the

narrative carries on to delineate the profusion of detail and event

which occur at every moment in the tale, and which do not, at least

immediately, affect the hobbits. Tolkien's role as the narrator, as

one who is rendering historical facts, allows him great freedom to

move rapidly through distance and back and forth through time. In

the trilogy, one feels intensely the presence of this narrator. On

the first level, one sees this world through the eyes of the hobbits,

but one goes on to a bigher level of perception with the historian

who has a kind of total aerial view of the sub-creation.

The trilogy comes complete with assorted and detailed

maps of Middle Earth, and an incredibly complete series of appen­

dices. The latter includes the histories, languages and customs of

the various races, a complete chronological study of the events of

the three Ages, and discussions of calendars, sources and transla­

tion. One senses here the scholar's habit of mind in Tolkien's being

concerned with the exact origins and structure of aIl the elements of

54

this world. Such materials make more sure oners grasp of the sub­

creation, and make more profound its ultimate effect. For belief

proceeds readily from this abundance of historical and linguistic

facto The sub~creation is carried on and on, and thus its impact

upon one's sensibility is given greater force, multiplying the

initial responses until Middle Earth reveals a new and perhaps more

truthful way of looking at reality. For Tolkien the fairy-story

opera tes by "reflec ting in ~ ~R.rticular way one of Man' s visions of

Truth" ~ Fairy-Stories, p.16). But this aim depends on a construc­

tion of painstaking unit y and completeness. If one can follow

Frodo's journey to Mordor on a map, or ascertain the definite loca­

tions of groups in a battle, then such unit y is given further impetus.

The description of the various languages of the elves gives a new

urgency to the understanding of speech. For the thorough implica­

tions of words are crucial to the process through which Tolkien is

imparting new energy to perception.

The chronological study in the Appendix ma~es quite ap­

parent the rapid and numerous sequences of events which occur in

Middle Earth. Things which happen at great distance fram each other

and which seem at first unrelated are later discovered to be quite

significant. It is perhaps in the nature of history to have this

seemingly disjointed rush of events whose effects are not fully

realized for some time. In order to embody such historical material,

the structure of Tolkien's narrative is quite complexe The suunnary of

events on 15, Mar ch , 3019, gives an indication as to Tolkien's task:

55

15 In the ear1y hours the Witch-king breaks the Gates of the City. Denethor burns himse1f on a pyre. The horns of the Rohirrim are heard at cockcrow. Batt1e of the Pe1ennor. Théoden is slain. Aragorn raises the standard of Arwen. Frodo and Samwise escape and begin their journey north a10ng the Horgai. Batt1e under the trees in Mirkwood; Thrandui1 repe1s the forces of Dol Gu1dur. Second assu1t on Lorien.

(Rings III, 467)

The narrative often fo11ows one group of characters to a certain

point, and then returns back in time to another groupls para11e1

actions. One is often reminded, in the midst of an action, where

others are and what is occurring in distant corners of Middle Earth.

On this day, the 15th of Mar ch , the Batt1e of the Pe1ennor is taking

place in Gondor and Aragorn comes as the heir to the Numenorean king-

dom. Whi1e the Ring-bearer is approaching Orodruin, there is much

conf1ict throughout Middle Earth. The repetition of a given period

of time with different characters and new facets of the action, ex-

poses one to various vantage points for the same unit of time. Often

the events are quite simi1ar, being mere1y the other side of the same

series of actions. Thus, whi1e one has entered into the rea1m of

Faerie, one is neverthe1ess a1ways aware of the distinct sense in

which the narrator is recounting a history of a secondary, though

not 1ess rea1, wor1d. This ambivalent stance wou1d seem to give the

movement between the two wor1ds a more precise aspect and a greater

kind of f1uidity.

The destruction of the Ring in Orodruin is viewed three

times, each one farther away from Frodols actua1 act. The first

glimpse is of course Frodols and Samls view of the quest they have

. ' . . ~.

':-".: .:

;.:~~

56

fulfilled. AlI the horror and fires of destruction which accompany

the end of the Shadow is witnessed first hand. Following this, the

scene at the gates of Mordor is presented, as the armies of the West

led by Gandalf and Aragorn founder before the vicious onslaught of

the armies of Sauron. But Gandalf, with "unlooked-for" and sudden

hope, cries at the moment of Frodols deed, "Stand, Men of the West~

Stand and wait~ This is the hour of doom" (Rings III, 279). The

will of the Dark Lord goes out of his hosts, and the scene resounds

with the sound of the Enemyls downfall, of new hope for the West.

Finally, after the victory here and the rescue of Frodo and Sam, one

is returned to Minas Tirith in Gondor. Eowyn, the daughter of

Théoden of Rohan and Faramir, one of the sons of Lord Denethor of

Gond or , wander in the Rouses of Realing recavering from the Battle

of the Pelennor Fields. They stand on the Eastern wall gazing toward

Mordor, waiting for a sign:

And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in aIl the houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they could not tell.

(Rings III, 297)

The darkness is dispelled and light and joy leap within them and

everywhere in the land. Tolkien wishes to make the reader rub his

eyes with the tears and the light which overwhelm the people of this

city. By showing the main eucatastrophe of the story in terms of three

different settings, he builds the sense of joy and hope outwards, from

the ruins of the burning mountain, to Gondor, and to onels own vital

e relation with reality.

The tale of Middle Earth must reflect for Tolkien,

elemental truth concerning the Primary World. The hobbits speak

often, self-consciously, of their quest as a tale, wondering how

it will come out. Sam and Frodo discuss their appearance in the

tale, "Still, 1 wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or

57

tales" (Rings II, 408). They specula te as to the outcome of tales,

concluding that tales do not seem to end, but simply change char­

acters and continue on. This conception of the tale as growing out

of life, of its being an important quality of the articulations of

life, is central to Tolkienls aesthetic. For the sub-creation of the

tale is, in the sense which the hobbits speak of stories and songs,

an extension of life. Its highest function becomes the new, pure

and more profound meaning it can give to the deed and the word of

onels own tale, onels own experience of life.

CHAPTER. IV

THE ~ OF THE~: THE CREATION OF INHABITANTS

59

In the essay ~Fairy-Stories, Tolkien states that the

realm of Faerie is inhabited by aIl manner of living things. The

world of The Lord of the Rings would certainly seem to bear out this

comment. One is confronted at once, in the trilogy, with the im­

mense range of its inhabitants, beginning with the verse prologue of

the work. The lines here give an introduction to some of the more

crucial races of the realm, Elves, Dwarves, Men and that of the Dark

Lord. The inhabitsnts of Tolkien's sub-creation are an initial mode

of delineating the nature of that world, of giving it energy and move­

ment. This is evident in The Hobbit, and would seem to be even more

the case in the trilogy. For one ~ains the primary insight into the

vastness of Middle Earth through the numerous varieties of life it

contains. The creation of such life becomes one of the prerequisite

tasks in the construction of a secondary world. For Tolkien, the

process of conceiving new races and of rediscovering known ones, is

bound up with language and the motions of the study of language. It

is language which distinguishes the races and gives them their essen­

tial characteristics. Further, the belief in such races emerges

from that thorough and minute linguistic method which is typical of

Tolkien, the scholar. In one of the Appendices to the work, Tolkien

describes the language most prevalent in Middle Earth at the time of

this tale, called the Westron or Common Speech. At this point he

assumes the role of translator as he renders the Westron, in which

the history of the Ages of Middle Earth is written, into English.

Only the more ancient tongues, far removed from the Common Speech,

60

are 1eft in their original forme Because of this translation, "the

difference between the varieties observable in the use of the Westron

has been 1essened" (Rings III, 513). This device of giving the

Fantasy a historical perspective, here through the allusion to lan­

guage deve10pment and translations, has already been mentioned as

a most important aspect of the sub-creation of Middle Earth. Tolkien

often uses this method in the shorter fairy-stories, as has previous­

ly been seen, and it is a basic element in the composition of this

tale.

This conversion of Westron into English has certain ad­

vantages for Tolkien's process of sub-creation. For with the ancient

tongues, though these he must invent, the unique characteristics of

the particular race proceed quite readily. However with these races

which are now made to speak English, Tolkien must indicate distinc­

tions through variations in the kinds of English which are spoken.

Further, Tolkien transposes many of the Westron names of people and

places into English. This makes more effective the names le ft in

the ancient tongues giving them that sense of a distant and valiant

pasto It also allows Tolkien to exercise his ability to manipula te

the sound and meaning of words and produce names which contribute

greatly to the Enchantment of the Fantasy. The Appendix note on

translation gives the various derivations of many of the names in the

work. Such explanations are made within the context of the history

of language in Middle Earth, showing the development from the

tongues of the Eldar and Edain of the first age. Tolkien includes

61

much detail on the translation from the Westron, with material on

consonants, vowels and stress. He is intent on including one even

in the mechanical apparatus with which he approaches the problem of

rendering the Westron into English.

In the essay, Tolkien alludes to the question of good

and evil as it is a concern of the fairy-story. He comments on the

basic interest in getting, "the Right side and the Wrong side clear •

• For that is a question equally important in H1story and in Faerie"

(Q!!. Fairy-Stories, p.38). The inhabitants of Middle Earth partake

in this distinction between a good and a bad side. The language

plays a vital role in one1s recognition of the stance of an inhabi-

tant, or in one1s detecting of a shi ft from the light of the West

to the Shadow of Mordor. Indeed it is the speech of an elf or an

orc which gives one the most complete glimpse into the nature of

those races. For Tolkien, language is the profoundest expression

of being, and it betrays utterly the fundamental nature of life,

the particular cosmology of a race.

The Prologue of The Lord of the Rings contains much

information dealing with the race of Hobbits. They are described as

a people who "love peaee and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-

ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favourite haunt"

(Rings I, 19). A little more than half the height of men, theyare

merry and fond of good food and drink. Yet there is a certain

toughness in them, and an undaunted will to su~ive and secure again

62

their kind of peaceful existence. Up to the time of this tale, the

hobbits were largely unknown or forgotten in Middle Earth. But

Gandalf the Grey, a wizard knew of them and sensed the basic strength

and goodness of this race which lived in elaborate and luxurious

holes, smoking pipe-weed and eating as many as six meals a day. It

is he who prompts Elrond to include Merry and Pippin in the

Pellowship, and he considers that only a hobbit could withstand the

Ring long enough in order to complete the quest of its destruction.

When Prodo cames to Rivendell for the council of Elrond, he has es-

caped by the merest chance the Black Riders of Mordor. AlI the lore

of the Half-elven was needed to cure the wound in his shoulder that

he received on Weathertop from the leader of the Ringwraiths. Yet

when aIl is finally said at the council, he feels intensely the task

he must set himself though he longs for the quiet of his Sbire:

A great dread fell on him, as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might after aIl never be spoken. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by Bilbo's side in Rivendell filled his heart. At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will was using his small voice.

'1 will take the Ring,' he said, 'though l do not know the way.' (Rings l, 354)

Prodo here reveals the hobbit's deep impulse to defend the life which

they love so enthusiastically. Often the resources that lie within

them surprise even themselves. In spite of the uncertainties which

he expresses in the phrase, "1 do not know the way", Prodo is pre-

pared to venture into the shadow, into hopeless terror and darkness.

Por Tolkien, the hobbits are the race who embody a view of life which

is to a great extent fundamental and unaffected. It is this qua lit Y

of basic delight in life which begins to account for a hobbit's

being capable of far more than a surface simplicity would suggest.

Frodo exhibits a sure sense of his place in the world of Middle

Earth, a deep awareness of his identity as a hobbit of the Shire.

63

He possesses the resolute dignity of a race which proceeds from this

certainty in self and in one's life style. He feels that it is his

duty to maintain this hobbit-like stance, to preserve the special

kind of order of which hobbits are so fond. Tolkien's statement

that it was the fairy-story which first taught him to be aware of

the wonder of su ch as bread or stone or trees, is relevant here.

For it i8 the hobbits who would teach one the essential joy in the

matter of life. Without such a profound appreciation, without this

thorough grasp of the infinite particles of life, then the further

reserves of strength and courage would not seem possible.

When Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry first leave the

Shire pursued by the Black Riders, they meet some elves along the Old

Forest Road. Sam's description of the experience is typical: l~ell,

sir, if l could grow apples like that, l would calI myself a garden­

er. But it was the singing that went to my heart, if you know what

l mean" (Rings l, 121). The enchanting ways of the elves are trans­

lated into the hobbit's own terms. He fastens on their fruit, for

such things are a delight to him. Sam is a gardener and it is with

this comparison that he attempts to 8um up his reaction to them. The

effect of the elven-songs on him is difficult to adequately put into

words. Sam merely remarks that it "went to my heart", referring to

e

64

the total response he felt by this allusion to that place where aIl

breath and feeling is. The phrases, ''WeIl, sir,1f and "if you know

what l mean1f convey the almost rustic aspect of the hobbit as he at-

temps to get clear his thought on the meeting with the elves.

Pippin recalls the bread as "surpassing the savour of a fair white

loaf to one who is starving" (Rings l, 121). The comparison of the

great plenty of the elven-bread, with the state of a starving

hobbit, makes more enjoyable the elven-meal. This appreciation of

things through a joy in the actual fact of their presence is char-

acteristic of the hobbit, reflecting his capacity for continually

making experience n~w and fresh.

As the book progresses the hobbits are of course

changed by their many travels and adventures in Middle Earth.

Though the texture of their speech i8 slightly altered, it never-

theless always contains this striking intimacy with the objects and

actions of life. Frodo, who is an exceptionally learned hobbit,

being Bilbo's nephew, speaks with less of the rustic quality appar-

ent in Sam or Pippin. Yet he is very much a hobbit and bis speech

clearly indicates this. In the midst of the horror of Cirith Ungol,

Sam wishes for the end of the quest:

'And then we can have some rest and some sleep,' said Sam. He laughed grimly. 'And l mean just that, Mr. Frodo. l mean plain ordin­ary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning's work in the garden. l'm afraid that's aIl l'm hoping for aIl the time. AlI the big impor­tant plans are not for my sort.

(Rings II, 408)

But Frodo describes the darkness of their present state: "step or

65

stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water aIl seem accursed. But

so our path is laid" (Rings II, 407). Sam' s plea for a return to

plain sleep and gardening is juxtaposed against the foulness of the

basic elements of Mordor. The hobbits object to the scene in terms

of the perversion of those elements which for them are the first

principles of perception. The relationship between Frodo and Sam is

glimpsed here. For that sense of order and dut y which distinguishes

Sam's attitude toward Frodo, parallels Frodo's notion of the impor-

tance of the Fellowship which was formed in Rivendell. While Sam

alludes to the more basic qualities of life,Frodo in a kind of

austere voice, speaks of the almost epic elements which are vital to

his vision. Sam's concern is with the "plain ordinary" aspects of

life, while Frodo points to the actual physical stance of life which

is inherent in action, 1Is tep", and "breath". The rhyme of stone and

bone links the materials of the world and the body, for a hobbit con-

sistently asserts his established place in Middle Earth, his inti-

macy with the structure of his world. When Frodo comes very close to

Mount Doom, and the anguish of the ring is grea tly upon him, he seems

to lose hold on his vision of the world:

No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. l am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. l begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and aIl else fades.'

(Rings III, 264)

He is fighting against the overwhelming darkness and corrupting fires

of an enemy who would blot out the keen sense of purity and beauty

with which Frodo sees life. The hobbit is accustomed to a world in

66

which aIl his senses are able to operate with a creative energy.

The clean feel of water, or the soothing sound of wind lies at the

root of the new way of seeing the world which Tolkien is attempting

to impart in the fairy-story. In the agony of Frodo's loss of these

things, one recognizes their sound and touch, and one is prompted,

by Frodo's and Sam's insistence on their value, to re-crea te one's

own relationship with these things.

The poetry of the hobbits sheds still further light

on their nature. Sam's composition about trolls cheers the hobbits

as they journey tbrough danger and fear toward Rivendell:

Troll sat alone on his seat of stone, And munched and mumbled a bare old bone;

For many a year he had gnawed it near, For meat was hard to come bYe

Done by! Gum by! In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone,

And meat was hard to come bYe (Rings I, 276)

The lines make free use of alliteration and internaI rhyme. The ef-

fect of these devices is heightened by the repetitions of sense, and

the use of the refrain, "Done by! Gum by!", a11 of which give a

lighthearted and amusing motion to the stanza. The hobbit's aim of

preserving good spirits is the intent of the poem. Though its con-

tent is somewhat limited, ita appeal lies in the almost frivolous

manner in which the troll, his stone cave and his bone are presented.

The fearsome troll is absurdly depicted through the image of a wretch

who must gnaw on the same bone for many years due to the scarcity of

meat. The steadfast will of the hobbit, which lies beneath this

e happy exterior, is revealed in Bilbo's "Walking-Song":

The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone, And l must follow, if l can,

Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way

Where Many paths and errands meet. And whither then? l cannot say.

(Rings l, 62)

67

The metaphor of life as a journey which must be pursued eagerly des-

pite its length and uncertainties, is, in a sense, the crucial philo-

sophical stance of the hobbit. Bilbo, early on in the trilogy sings

these lines, and the road of the four hobbit members of the

Fellowship does go "on and on" through great hardship. The song is

repeated three times, once by Frodo soon after and twice with some

variation towards the end of the tale, by old Bilbo in Rivendell,

and again by Frodo on the way to the Grey Havens. These last two

versions speak of a resting place beyond "some larger way / Where

Many paths and errands meet." For the tale must end for Frodo and

Bilbo, though others will go "Down from the door" of their cozy

homes to follow resolutely the way ahead. For the emphasis in the

song is on movement, with almost every line containing an active

verb. The words trace a path which goes "on", and ''Down'', and "far

ahead" to a "larger way". Along the road the hobbits glimpse Many

scenes which make their journey dark or light. Frodo sings of a

particularly grim event, the fall of Gandalf in the Mines of Moria:

He stood upon the bridge alone and Fire and Shadow both defiedj his staff was broken on the stone, in Khazad-dftm his wisdom died.

(Rings 1, 466)

68

The hobbit gives an accurate and terse description of the bitter

10ss of Ganda1f. The rhyme of "a10ne" with "stone" focuses on the

courage needed to face the co1d and hard foes of Middle Earth. The

linking of "defied" and "died" point to the grave risk invo1ved in

the task of the Fe11owship. Tolkien writes that, "It was Frodo who

first put something of his sorrow into halting words" (Rings l, 465).

This need to articula te the sorrow, and the joy too, is bound up

with the hobbit's deep awareness of the importance of a c1ear and

basic view of life. The stanza here opposes the "Pire and Shadow"

with the "staff" and Ifwisdomlf of Ganda1f. For this race of the

Shire, bred in the 1ight which Ganda1f represents, emerges as a

va liant foe to the menace of Mardor.

The e1ves, who are descended from the E1dar, are the

most ancient race in Middle Earth, excepting perhaps the Ents who

will be considered further on. In the Appendix, Tolkien comments

on the importance of this ancient quality: "Yet in those days a11

the enemies of the Enemy revered what was ancient, in language no

1ess than in other matters, and they took p1easure in it according

to their know1edge lf (Rings III, 514). This fundamenta1 interest in

the past becomes a means of combating the shadow. For Tolkien, the

1ight of the peop1es of the West burns brightest when it is infused

with a11 the works and deeds of a11 who have been since the E1dar

first came to the Undying Lands. A11 through the tri10gy the de­

fenders of the West emp10y the weapons, songs "and strategy of the

e1ves, and it is undying e1ves as E1rond and Ga1adrie1 who play a

69

vital role in the War of the Ring. The elves are the embodiment of

the ancient craft and beauty, it flows from their speech and

presence, it is alive in their poetry and in their way of life. The

members of the Fellowship are renewed and strengthened by them, and

Tolkien would seem to suggest that in a paraI leI sense, one is

affected by Fantasy. For the elves are the essence of Enchantment,

and the most perfectly skilled in its construction.

In this Secondary World, it is the elves who began

language and writing. Tolkien carefully delineates the alphabets they

developed, the Tengwar or letters, and the Certar or runes. Though

various examples of these appear throughout the narrative, on inscrip-

tions, in spells, or briefly amongst the learned, the elves are made

to speak English. The elvish tongues, which are the design of

Tolkien, evoke a profound belief in, and response to the Fantasy, for

language is life and the consciousness of being. But the English

translation, and the descriptions of the race, perform this function

in equal measure, giving form and breath to the elves. In Rivendell,

the hobbits see Arwen, Elrond's daughter, who was also named Undomiel,

being the Evenstar of the elves:

Young she was and yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost; her white arma and clear face were flawless and smooth, and the light of stars was in her bright eyes, grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the yeara bring.

(Rings l, 299)

The description of her shadows forth a new way of valuing and perceiv-

ing reality, which ia implicit in elvish Enchantment. Tolkien makes

70

the qualities of the fair elven-maid embody aIl the ancient wonder

and wisdom in the craft of this race. Though her look has aIl the

perfection of youth, she has the knowledge of many years. Paradox

would seem to be basic to the elves, for each member of the race has

within him aIl that has gone before and aIl that is still to be. The

elves are in a sense outside of time, moving in a dimension which

continually accumula tes thought and experience giving them infini te

life and energy. "The light of stars was in her eyes" means that

quite distinctly her eyes participate in such light, for being the

Evenstar of her people she imparts meaning to the evening skye The

metaphor of a spring which carries on through aIl the seasons is

here in this depiction of Arwen, for the elves transform reality with

dynamic youth, though they do not grow old. Tolkien regroups the

words, which articulate experience, to sub-create the elves. For the

elves are craft itself, the first makers and the first to give mean­

ing. Perception for them originates at the beginning of aIl ages,

and carries on even through the dominion of the Shadow. Meaning

for them is the profoundest awareness of and the most intimate prox­

imity to life. It is from here that their Enchantment proceeds and

one is inevitably caught up in the process whereby they transform

aIl the facets of one's own reality.

Galadriel, the elven-lady of Lothlorien, gives to Frodo

the Ring-bearer, a phial which contains the light of Earendil's star

derived from a silmaril. When the hobbit is in the midst of the

darkest terror of the servants of Mordor, he takes out the phial

71

from his cloak. When he strives with the Lord of the Nine Wraiths,

it is this which allows him to thwart the will of the Margul-king:

"As he touched it, for a while aIl thought of the Ring was banished

from his mind" (Rings II, 401). The elven-light swiftly alters the

darkness, moving one's sensibility to the first beauty and good of

the West. The phial's enchantment becomes a reflection of the over-

aIl enchantment of Fantasy. The elven-poetry operates in the same

mode as Galadriel's light. Frodo's experience of it in Rivendell is

significant:

At first the beauty of the melodies and the interwoven words in the Elven-tongue, even though he understood them little, held him in a spell, as soon as he began to attend to them. Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of far lands and bright things that he had never yet imagined opened out before him; and the firelit hall became like a golden mist above seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the world.

(Rings l, 307)

The primary effect of such poetry is to envelop one in the melody and

the scenes which the words depict. One loses consciousness of immed-

iate surroundings, entering the ancient and timeless world which is

the life of the elves. It is a poetry of utter involvement because

this race lives in a fusion of aIl time and aIl place. Legolas, the

member of the Fellowship who represents the elves, proves a valiant

and faithful companion. Though he has lived long in Middle Earth, in

the forests of Mirkwood, the longing of the sea and the West, which

aIl elves possess, is deep within him. The elvish sense of age and

beauty is frequently apparent in his speech:

'And l,' said Legolas, 'shall walk in the woods of this fair land, which is rest enough. In days to come, if my Elven-lord allows, some of our folk shall remove hither; and when we come it

shall be blessed,for a while. For a while: a month, a life, a hundred years of Men. But Anduin is near, and Anduin leads down to the Sea. To the Sea!

(Rings III, 289)

72

The phrases he uses refer to the time and the distance of his race,

and the essential sensitivity to a "fair land" which is all the

sustenance he needs. But the Third Age of Middle Earth sees an end

to the Eldar in its lands, and they pass over the sea in sadness and

song. For Tolkien, however, their enchantment lingers on: it is

there in pure perception and in the beautiful and ancient qualities

of this world.

In the Appendix, Tolkin describes the coming of the

Istari, or Wizards, to Middle Earth. They emerge out of the West to

aid in the combat against the Shadow of Sauron: '~ey came there-

fore in the shape of Men, though they were never young and aged only

slcwly, and they had many powers of mind and hand" (Rings III, 455).

The wizards would seem to share in the qualities of the elves, and

they are a force for light and counsel in Middle Earth. Yet they too

are susceptible to the corruption of Mordor, and one of their order,

Saruman the White, betrays them and comes under the sway of the Shadow.

Gandalf, the Grey, plays the greatest role in the wizards' defense

of the West. He is depicted, in Rivendell, as a man of great wisdom

and strength alongside the elven-lords: Elrond and Glorfindel:

Gandalf was shorter in stature than the other two; but his long white hair, his sweeping silver beard, and his broad shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend. In his aged face under great snowy brows his dark eyes were set like coals that could leap suddenly into fire.

(Rings l, 299)

73

The association of profound wisdom and age is used by Tolkien to

portray Gandalf as a"wise king" in the affairs of this world. The

skills of the elves are partially shared by Gandalf, and the image

of his eyes as fiery coals prepares one for the blinding light of

which his staff 1s capable. His speech exudes a sense of solidity,

and faith in the possibility of coming through the perilous times

if one would trust in hope, courage and clear thought. Thus in the

last counsel after the vic tory of the Pelennor Fields, Gandalf

speaks of the only course that he sees left to them:

'We must walk open-eyed into that trap, with courage, but small hope for ourselves. For, my lords, it may weIl prove that we our­selves shall perish utterly in a black battle far from the living lands; so tbat even if Barad-dOr be thrown down, we shall not live to see a new age. But this, l deem, is our duty. And better so than to perish nonetheles8 -- as we surely shall, if we sit here -- and know as we die that no new age sball be.'

(Rings III, 191-192)

Gandalf advises a dangerous course which would give hope to later

ages, rather than an end to aIl light in their despairing 'death.

A march on the gates of Mordor, though futile, would give Frodo a

greater chance to fulfill his quest by diverting Sauron to the en-

snar1ng of the armies of the West. The quiet yet stern appeal for

the adherence to the road which has been laid for them, cbaracter-

ize8 the wizard's words here and throughout the trilogy. Gandalf

expresses the importance of one's sense of dut y, of seeing the

struggle through to its conclusion. It i8 this quality in the

hobbits which Gandalf is weIl aware of when he entrusts the Ring to

them.

74

The wizard becomes, in a sense, the expression of the

"unlooked-for" quality of the fairy-story. As he appears throughout

aIl the lands of Middle Earth bringing word of fair and evil deeds,

marshaling effective opposition to Sauron, he is hope and light in

the onrushing darkness. Aragorn remarks tbat, "The Dark Lord has

Nine: But we have One, mightier than they: The White Rider"

(Rings II, 133). For after his fall in Moria, Gandalf returns again

as the head of his order, Gandalf the White, displacing the traitor­

ous Saruman. He bears the wisdom of old, and his person is,

"shining now as if with some light kindled within, bent, laden with

years, but holding a power beyond the strength of kings" (Rings II,

133). Tolkien gives the wiz~rd the leadership in the War of the

Ring. It is he who calls forth the deepest resources of the inhabi­

tants of the West, urging the eucatastrophic possibility to its

culmination.

The Dwarves of Middle Earth are a tough and laborious

race, "lovers of stone, of gems, of things that take shape under the

hands of the craftsmen rather than of things that live by their own

life" (Rings III, 512). Gimli, the dwarf representative in the

Fellowship, is typical of the inward and severe nature of his race.

As the Company leaves Rivendell on their quest, his appearance is

described: "Gimli the dwarf alone wore openly a short shirt of steel­

rings, for dwarves make light of burdens; and in his belt was a

broad-bladed axe" (Rings 1,365-366). 'l'he "steel-ring" and the "axe"

are significant features of the dwarf, for his race have a profound

75

intimacy with things of stone and steel, with hard and cold mater-

ials. Indeed, it was instilled in them from the earliest beginning.

Dur in , the eldest Father of their race, built his dwelling in the

Misty MOuntains, which became known as the mines of Moria. Khazad-

dftm it was called, being the place of the Khazad or Dwarves. This

place, a vast underground city in the heart of the stone mountains,

was for long known for its power and splendour, and the great riches

of the mining dwarves. Yet in the third age it was taken and fouled

by the shadow, and at the time of the trilogy, a darkness for ores

and the Balrog.

Middle Earth contains many mountains and caves which

are perhaps the very heart of the dwarf. Gimli's description for

Legolas of the caves of Helm's Deep gives an indication as to the

truth of this fact:

'And, Legolas, when the torches are kindled and men walk on the sandy floors under the echoing domes, ah~ then, Legolas, gema and crystals and veins of precious ore glint in the polished walls; and the light glows through folded marbles, shell-like, translucent as the living hands of Queen Galadriel. There are columns of white and safron and dawn-rose, Legolas, fluted and twisted into dreamlike forma; they spring up from many-coloured floors to meet the glisten­ing pendants of the roof:

(Rings II, 194).

The sensibility of the dwarf comes alive in such caves. Confronted

with the glit~er and the strength of such vaults, Gimli is much

moved. The lines he speaks are rich with colour and shape, and he is

concerned to detail aIl the materials which are to be found here.

The comparison of light glowing through marble with the elven-bands

of Galadriel is significant. For the dwarf, such matter is life and

76

his perception is conditioned by this deep response to stone and gem.

But the elves are closely allied to starlight or the forest of

Lorien, and beauty for them is within their own race. The structure

of Gimli's description reveals the laborious builder, for he begins

with the floor, and goes on to the walls, the columns, and then the

roof with all its"glistening pendants". He is aware of geometric

shape and pattern and knows the craftsman' s work of "fluting" or

"tWisting". The dwarves are terribly proud of their worka and guard

their lives with the savagery of the smith or the mason as they beat

and hammer steel and stone. Their language is little known, for it

is revealed to no one outside their race. It is an ancient tongue

which contains much of their lore in such matters as building. Gimli

speaks a few words of it in battle, "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd aimênu!

'Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you! '" (Rings III, 513).

There is a certain hardness to the speech, in the sound of "k" and

"d". Even in Gimli' s English speech, this qua lit Y is often there,

if not in the sound, then in the sense. Thus he complains to

Legolas, "Men need many words before deeds. My axe is restless in my

hands" (Rings II, 163). Yet Gimli the dwarf ia much affected by the

sight of Galadriel in Lorien, and he carries her memory and a lock of

her hair with him through aIl the perils of the war. The Appendix

notes that Gimli went with Legolas over the seas, a startling event

in view of the dwarves' love of Middle Earth, and the final removal

by the Eldar of the Undying Lands from aIl who were mortal. Perhaps

even the toughness of the dwarves is not able to resist the lure of

77

the elven-enchantment, of the infinite vision of that race.

lt is a curious aspect of the trilogy that one is more

inclined to take on the basic point of view of the hobbits than of

the men in the tale. For the latter are farther removed from the

reader than the hobbits through their close association with the

elves and the ancient and kingly quality with which they are imbued.

Tolkien has perhaps structured the tale in this way because of his

aim of giving new energy and dimension to sensibility. By plac1ng

the men in his tale in a partially inaccessible and somewhat alien

mode of life, he forces one to begin with different races and the

perceptions of reality which they embody. Since the hobbits would

seem to be a people of similar habits to men in the Primary World,

they serve as a more graduaI introduction to the inhab1tants of

Fantasy. The first glimpse of Aragorn, the heir to the Numenorean

kings, occurs when the hobbits arrive at the inn in Bree. Here he

is called Strider, and he 1s "a strange-Iooking weather-beaten man,

sitting in the shadows near the wall ••• " (Rings l, 214). After

the sundering of the realm of Numenor, 'which had grown to splendour

and power, some of the faithful of this race came to Middle Earth,

and they estab1ished the North and South kingdoms of Arnor and

Gondor. But the line of kings faltered, and with the strength of

the shadow, the Numenor dwindled in Middle Earth. The heirs went

into hiding in Rivendell becoming Rangers or Dunedain of the North.

Yet the works of the Numenor were closely tied to the lost realm

which the Eldar had given them beyond the sea, and there still

78

existed at this time the great city in Gondor, Minas Tirith.

Aragorn, a concealed ranger in Bree, returns as king by the tale's

end, through severe peril and shadow. The concept of an almost

royal race of men is the central form in which men appear in the

book. Though lesser men are referred to, they are barely evident

in the narrative. In the essay On Fairy-Stories, Tolkien comments

that the realm of Fantasy contains "mortal men, when we are

enchanted". This imperial quality of the men in the trilogy, along

with their past in an elven realm of vast splendour, would seem to

constitute the Enchantment of these mortal men. The invincible

courage and perseverance of Aragorn through aIl the years of his

long trial distinguishes the Numenor. When Aragorn reveals himself,

it is in the images of a king and great light: '~or a moment it

seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the

brows of Aragorn like a shining crown". (Rings II,44). The elven­

strain, which is evident at once in the union of Aragorn and Arwen,

allows the man to be part of that race's energy and capacity for

beauty.

The speech of the men in the trilogy has an antique

feature, for it is from them that the Westron originates, and they

still retain some of its more ancient qualities despite the changes

which for example the Hobbits make in their more rustic use of it.

Many of the words of the men reflect therefore tneir ancient history

and as weIl the strong elven-influence. Tolkien often has Aragorn

speak words such as "thou art", "aright", "10", "alas" or "hither",

79

and his poetry is of the first unions of elves and men. The men of

Gondor, as Boromir, are delineated in similar fashion, with close

attention to their ancient strength and deep pride in their kingdom

and city. This valiant facet of the Dunedain and those of Gondor is

also apparent in the Rohirrim, the horse-lords of Rohan:

Their horses were of great stature, strong and clean-limbed; their grey coats glistened, their long tails flowed in the wind, their manes were braided on their proud necks. The Men tbat rode them matched them weIL: tall and long-limbed; their hair, flaxen­pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in long braids behind them; their faces were stern and keen. In their hands were tall spears of ash, painted shields were slung at their backs, long swords were at their belts, their burnished shirts of mail hung down upon their knees.

(Rings II, 40-41)

The imagery Tolkien uses to de scribe them is of the kind which re-

lates them to the Lords of men. The majesty of the rulers is com-

plemented by that of their horses who are descended from the first

and proudest line of such beasts. The transition from the horses to

the men is uninterrupted, for the two seem to run together. Both

have long braided, fair hair, and are "stern and keen" in appear-

ance. The weapons of battle are an essential aspect of the men of

Rohan, and indeed of aIl men in Middle Earth. Spears, shields, swords

and mail, aIL arranged with precision on their bodies, impart that

sense of epic struggle in which the men of the trilogy are involved.

Aragorn reforges the broken sword of Elendil as he goes to battle

the hosts of Mordor. The tools of battle become an important part

of the terms in which the men are portrayed in the Fantasy. For they

add to the size and heroic quality of men in a state of Enchantment.

80

The Ents are perhaps the strangest inhabitants of

Tolkien's sub-creation. They are the most ancient form of life in

Middle Earth, and they were known to the Eldar. Merry and Pippin

come upon the oldest Ent in Fangorn Wood, Treebeard, "a large Man-

like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen feet h1gh, very

sturdy, with a taU head, and hardly any neck" (Rings II, 83).

The Ents would seem to combine great age and keen perception of the

present, and so they are similar to the elves, though more change-

able as Treebeard points out. When he refers to the hobbits as

"hast y" in giving him their names, it is a significant indication

as to his nature. For the language of the Ents does not permit

haste, as Treebeard remarks: nIt 1s a lovely language, but it takes

a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say any-

thing in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to

listen to" (Rings II, 86). Tolkien's conception of the Ent stems

from the consideration of a tree as a living and ancient thing

whose roots go far down 1nto the inner substance of the world."

The Ents' language has aIl meaning that ever was put into its words

and sounds:

The language that they had made was unlike aIl others: slow, sonor­ous, agglomerated, repetitive, indeed long-winded; formed of a multiplicity of vowel-shades and distinctions of tone and quantity which even the lore-masters of the Eldar had not attempted to repre­sent in writing. They used it only among themselves; but they had no need to keep it secret, for no others could learn it.

(Rings III, 510)

If an Ent were to give you his name, it would take considerable time,

being the record of aIl his being, aIl that he has ever done or

e thought. The councils of the Ents also go on for great periods of

time. For if they speak of a hill, they do not use such a hasty

word for something which has been formed over a grea t span of

years. Yet in the trilogy, the Ents a~e roused, and they revenge

the wanton destruction of their forests by Saruman and the Ores.

The Ents are fond of elvish languages and their songs of the Lost

Entwives are related to the poetry of the elves. They keep large

lists of aIl the inhabitants of Middle Earth, and for Tolkien,

they are the living roots of aIl language and culture of his

Secondary World. For the Ents are inside of things, beyond the

surface of reality and they have an ingenuous grasp of life.

81

When the hobbits leave the Shire and pass through the

Old Forest on their way to Rivendell, they encounter Tom Bombadil,

another singular inhabitant of Middle Earth. The energy of Bombadil,

the actual mechanism of life within him, is poetry. lt is poetry

of an easy movement and light rhythm, which touches on the world

with a simple and essential beauty. Frodo describes it as differ­

ent than the spell of elves: "less keen and lofty was the delight,

but deeper and nearer to mortal heart; marvellous and yet not

strangeft (Rings l, 173). Gandalf in the Council of Elrond refers

to Bombadil as the First to inhabit Middle Earth. He becomes in a

sense the movement of the landscape, the capability of delight which

is in it. His poetry controls his world, and he is able to command,

in verse, the Old Man Willow or the Barrow-wight to do his bidding.

For Bombadil, perception is the rhythm and sound of this poetry:

• Now let the song begin! Let us sing together Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and clo~y weather, Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather, Wind on the open hill, bel1s on the heather, Reeds by the shady pool, lilies on the water: Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter!

(Rings I, 171)

The alliteration and rhyme which the hobbits use is here even more

the case in these lines. The use of the caesura is typical of

Bombadil, as he gives a breathing movement ta his depiction of the

82

landscape. The parallel structure within the line divisions focuses

attention on the exact detail which each phrase contains about a

"leaf", or a "feather", "a hilP' or the tlheather". The allusion to

the numerous forces of the world,aa "sun" or 'Tain", is carried from

the list of the second line, to an individual application of each to

a segment of Tomls surroundings. Bombadil, his very name contains

the rhythm of his speech, resides beyond the Shadow, for he came

before it, and would leave only after its complete dominion.

Tolkien makes Tom the pure poetic extension of the hobbits' relation

to life, for he adds to their elemental concern in bread or the

garden, a lyrical motion and deeper feel for commonplace beauty.

The Shadow of Mordor, and its Master, Sauron, contains

the dark inhabitants and foes of the races of the West. The quali-

ties of those who are bred ~ Sauron are glimpsed in the corrupted

figures of Saruman and Gollum, one formerly a wizard, and the other

closely related to a hobbit. The voice and speech of Saruman re-

flect an essential duplicity.When Gandalf speaks with him amid the

83

ruins of Isengard, he attempts to conceal his motives under the guise

of a gentle voice and the demeanor of a mistreated old man. The

spell he casts makes the voices of Gandalf or Théoden seem harsh and

unwise. Yet Gandalf breaks the spell, lIIn the language of Orthanc

help means ruin, and saving means·slaying, that is plain" (Rings II,

235). Saruman's mode of darkness is to bring aIl under his domina-

tion through speech which would persuade one tha t here is "help" and

"saving". The distortion of meaning and sense which is apparent here

is a vital aspect of Sauron. Tolkien senses that language can be used

to deprive meaning. In addition to infusing new energy into the ex-

pression of being, language May also deaden such articulation, per-

verting one's awareness of life. But in Gollum one sees the consum-

ing agony of the Dark Lord's evil as it destroys the insides like

creeping disease. Gollum, who long had the ring deep in the Misty

MOuntains, has been infected with its design, a design which was

formed from aIl the Shadows of Sauron. He refers to himself in the

plural, as "us", unable to separate himself from the Ring and its

power:

'Don't kill us,' he wept. 'Don't hurt us with nassty cruel steel! Let us live, yes, live just a little longer. Lost lost! We're lost. And when Precious goes we'll die, yes, die into the dust.' He clawed up the ashes of the path with his long fleshless fingers. 'Dusst!' he hissed.

(Rings III, 272-273)

The slimy wretch he has become is heard in his hissing, in the whin-

ing of this "s" sound in his words, "nassty" , "precious". The

creature is torn between the torture of the ring'spossession and the

agony of its loss. He wishes to live, yet he is "lost" in the ash

84

and dust of the decayed land of Mordor. In the moment when he bites

the ring-finger off Frodo's hand, and the ring is his, he cries,

nprecious, precious, precious! ••• My Precious! 0 my Precious!" (Rings

III, 275). He then fa11s to his death, and the end of the Ring comes

in Orodruin's fires. The repetition of the word in the sickening mad-

ness of his being, i11ustrates the total sense in which the ring and

the desire for it bzs enve10ped him. The nature of Sauron is p1ain1y

seen in the misery of a creature who was once hobbit-1ike.

The language of Sauron, even the mere sound of it or of

his name, posits the presence of his evi1. Ganda1f reads the inscrip-

tion on the One Ring at the Council of Elrond with devastating

effect:

Ash nazg durbatu1nk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatuHlk agh burzum-ishi krimpatu1!

The change in the wizard's voice was astounding. Sudden1y it be­came menacing, powerful, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. AU tremb1ed, and the E1ves stopped their ears.

(Rings I, 333).

The guttural sounds of that tongue, and the darkness within it, causes,

even in e1ven-Rivendell, momentary shadow. Gandalf himse1f is made

"menacing" by it. This Black Speech of Barad-dOr is described in the

Appendix as one which is "without love of words or things" (Rings III,

514). Tolkien remarks that his English rendering of it is less fi1thy

than it really is. In the orc speech which Sam hears in Cirith Ungo1,

one is made aware of the nature of this speech:

'Then you must go. l must stay here anyway. But l'm hurt. The Black Pits take that filthy rebe1 Gorbag!' Shagrat:s voice trai1ed off

into a string of fouI names and curses. '1 gave him better than l got, but he knifed me, the dung, before l throttled him. You must go, or 1'11 eat you. News must get through to Lugbrurz, or we'll both be for the Black Pits. Yes, you too. You wonlt escape by skulking here.'

(Rings III, 222).

The hard "g" sound in the names "Gorbag" and "Shagrat" gives one a

sense of the animal-like grunting which is typical of the ores.

85

The talk of ''Black Pits", filthy rebels, and knifing and throttling,

stand in great contrast to the speech of a hobbit or the melodic

words of an elfe The lack of a feel for meaning or of any connec-

tion with the wonder in stone or bread, is typical of Sauron and

the nightmare of Mordor. The Nine Ringwraiths are pictured as great

black shapes, of no fleshly substance. Their sound as they fly to

battle at the gates of Mordor is hideous and piercing, "cold voices

crying words of death" (Rings III, 206). They are given the qua li t Y

of chilling, cold darkness. The associations connected with these

sensations are used by Tolkien to sub-create the evil of Middle

Earth. Sauron is actually depicted only in terms of a Red Eye which

searches and probes relentless into onels very being. Gollum knew

Him in this way, and Frodo is tortured by his awareness of it, con-

stantly looking for the Ring-bearer:

So terrible was it that Frodo stood rooted, unable to cry out or to withdraw his gaze. The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a catls,watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.

(Rings l, 471)

The image of Saur on as a large Eye allows Tolkien to inflate the de-

tails of the eye, giving it a misshapen aspect of horror.From it

proceeds the nature of Mordor, its fire, the repulsive glaze of

its shadow, and the black pit of its empty wastes. Tolkien's con­

ception of Mordor emerges from the language of that place, and

carries on to describe the life and works which would come from

those who articulate in this manner. This process 1s apparent as

86

the essential mode through which aIl the Inhabitants of Middle

Earth are sub-created and given life. Tolkien draws on the reality

of the Primary World, but the various ways of perceiving that world

which the inhabitants express, shadow forth the possibilities of new

energy and beauty in the face of the Shadow.

CHAPTER V

THE LORD OF THE~: THE CRAn OF FANTASY

Tolkien's mode of scholarsbip provides the basis for

his narrative style. The crucial aspect of that intersection of

88

life and speech, which evokes the tone of literary art, becomes the

first princip le of his writing. The Fantasy of the trilogy obvious­

ly makes substantial demands on the prose of the work. For if the

sub-creation is to have that quality of inner truth, and the mechan­

ism of reflection back to the Primary World, then it is here, in the

texture of the writing, that the aesthetic must succeed. Tolkien's

prose is at once far removed from a linear discursive kind of expres­

sion. Rather, it exhibits a richly poetic feature wbich would seem

to make a use of the term prose altogether inadequate. There is a

conscious attention to sound and movement, and to aIl the senses of

the reader. The elvish craft of the trilogy appeals to aIl levels of

awareness, for the Enchantment must produce a profound effect on sen­

sibility. The work must involve. one intimately in its world and in

the process of its sub-creation. The presence of the narrator, which

is strongly felt in the trilogy, has been mentioned as a significant

facet of its structure. lt is through this voice of Tolkien that one

is given an essential glimpse of the wonder and terror of Middle

Earth. For the words of the narrator, and the many inhabitants of

tbis world, combine to give it energy and the potency to alter one's

way of perceiving experience and giving it meaning.

The rigorous attention to the word and to its power is

everywhere apparent in this account of the Third Age. As the hobbits

prepare to leave the Sbire on their quest, Tolkien carefully

describes the surroundings, giving a sense of the peaceful beauty

they are leaving behind. It is autumn, and here, as throughout

89

the narrative, Tolkien consistently uses the seasons as a means of

giving greater effect to the moods of the characters and the parti­

cular events in the plot. As the shadows deepenin Middle Earth,

winter begins to come on. Yet with spring and summer, the War of

the Ring comes to an end, and great joy is felt by the races of the

West. Frodo's departure is marked by an unusually fair summer and

autumn: "The Shire had seldom seen so fair a summer, or so rich an

autumn: the trees were laden with apples, honey was dripping in

the combs, and the corn was tall and full" (Rings I, 102). Such a

description not only gives a good insight into the hobbit's kind of

life, but it also begins to sketch the landscape in which one finds

oneself. The images of great pleuty and sweetness reflect the

hobbit's basic delight in good food and cheer. The dripping of

honey causes one to recall its taste and the scent of it in meadows.

The weight of the tall trees and the oozing, thi~k liquid is set

against the clean slender motion of corn ripening in the sunlight.

One is placed in the environment through this appeal to one's par­

ticular awareness of taste and smell. Tolkien confronts the reader

with the varied features of a peaceful rus tic scene, showing the

growth and movement which forms such a landscape. The Fantasy por­

trays the Shire with an essential purity. There is an interaction

between one's own memory of this scene and this presentation of it,

which renews its perception in the very act of giving it the new

90

setting of Middle Earth. The close delineation of surroundings i8

carried on tbroughout the various journeys. As the hobbits continue

on their way, Tolkien pauses to comment on the trees a t dawn:

nTouched with gold and red the autunm trees seemed to be sailing

rootless in a shadowy sean (Rings I, 109). The syntax of a sen-

tence is an important element in Tolkien's writing, and here he demon-

strates this effective concern for the construction of sentences.

The metaphor begins with a phrase which modifies the subject,

nautumn trees". It gives the colours, "gold and redit to the image

of trees in the grey mists of morning. The sudden splash of colour

in shadows i8 central to the "unlooked-for" theme of the fairy-story,

giving a physical appearance to this joy. The trees seen as ttsailing

rootless" in the mist is indicative of Tolkien' s mode of imagina tive-

ly infusing movement and strangeness into reality to sub-create his

world. The image gives a sharp and clear perspective to the hobbits'

scene as they awake and set out, moving without hope toward the East

and the Shadow far from their Shire.

As the hobbits enter the Old Forest, Tolkien describes

the trees which come into view:

Looking back they could see the dark line of the Hedge tbrough the stems of trees that were already thick about them. Looking ahead they could see only tree-trunks of innumerable sizes and shapes: straight or bent, twisted, leaning, squat or slender, smooth or gnarled and branched; and aIl the stems were green or grey with MOSS and slimy, shaggy growths.

(Rings I, 157)

Tolkien places one among the hobbits, and one gazes behind and in front

of the group. The point of view encloses one in the forest, and one

91

begins to sbare the stifling aspect of the scene. In depicting the

tree-trunks, the adjectives are strung together, often in pairs of

opposites to embody the infinite variety that the Old Forest con-

tains. The use of the colon and the semi-colon which i8 illustrated

here, is a distinctive quality of Tolkien's writing. They occur

with enormous frequency indicating a desire to extend the length of

sentences and give greater depth and meaning to a scene or event.

In this case, the colon after "sizes and shapes" precedes the long

list of adjectives which concludes with a semi-colon. A further

feature of the trees, their stems, is now considered. Again colour

is noted first, the "green or grey", and then feel is given,

" s limy ,shaggy growths". Tolkien tends towards a greater fluidity

and keener motion in the quality of the long sentence punctuated by

colons and semi-colons. Each phrase leads on to the next which is a

fuI 1er expression of the one before. The realm of Fantasy is un-

raveled with increasing scope and a greater degree of reality.

The maps of Middle Earth reveal a curious aerial facet

which the writing often contains. With Bombadil's fair lady,

Goldberry, the hobbits survey the ~ands from a hill somewhat East of

the Shire. They look in aIl directions and Tolkien describes what

they see:

To the South, over the line of the Withywindle, there was a distant glint like pale glass where the Brandywine River made a great loop in the lowlands and flowed away out of the knowledge of the hobbits. Northward beyond the dwindling downs the land ran away in flats and swellings of grey and green and pale earth-colours, until it faded into a featureless and shadowy distance.

(Rings l, 188)

92

Numerous times in the trilogy a chara c ter , s view of a part of this

world is presented in this manner, with the aspects of each point

on the compass considered. The technique gives one an overall sense

of the realm in which the inhabitants move. It allows one to re-

late individual actions and journeys to the entire surrounding

lands, achieving an inner reality for the Fantasy. The ability to

see in aIl directions the Secondary World reminds one of the

unique way in which one participates here. For the vision of Middle

Earth recalls the vision of one's own view of reality and suggests

the profound connection between the two. In this scene, the sense

of distance emerges from the image of a river looping to the South

like pale glass. The lands seem to come together in colours of

"grey and green", and the verb "faded" expresses tha t far away

quality of the places to the North. The hobbits continue East, pur-

sued by the Nine Black Riders. In their flight to the Ford leading

into Rivendell, Frodo barely escapes the wraiths:

He shut his eyes and clung to the horse's mane. The wind whistled in his ears, and the bells upon the harness rang wild and shrill. A breath of deadly cold pierced him like a spear, as with a last spurt, like a flash of white fire, the elf-horse speeding as if on wings, passed right before the face of the foremost Rider.

(Rings l, 285)

The fear of that ride which grips Frodo is described by Tolkien with

the hobbit's eyes shut. The sound of the whistling wind and the

harness bells produce the shrill urgency of the situation. To involve

one in the action, it is detailed through the sound and feel of it.

The closeness of the passing Rider is grasped in the cold breath

which blows across the face of the pursued. Though the scene is also

93

described in visual terms, it is given a further dimension here in

the sound and physical sensation of the danger. Almost in the same

sentence, the two perspectives are given. For in the last words, the

cold of the wraith is compared wi th the "white fire" which the elf­

horse resembled as it sped to the Ford. One is with Frodo and also

with the narrator, and the scene has greater clarity and effect as

a result.

In Rivendell, the Council of Elrond is held. Here the

plans are laid for the creation of the Fellowship and the destruc­

tion of the One Ring. Much of the council is made up of the tell­

ing of various tales by those present, to shed increased light on

the situation. This recounting of past events is frequently a part

of the narrative. The speaker relates the events, not Tolkien

directly. This gives a greater innnediacy to the tale, and a great­

er sense of sbared experience. For one relives the events with the

speaker, noting his own personal reactions to them and his part in

the particular episode. Elrond, the master of Rivendell, and the

eldest descendant of the unions of elves and men, begins first,

"Then a11 listened while Elrond in his clear voice spoke of Saur on

and the Rings of Power, and their forging in the Second Age of the

world long ago" (Rings l, 318). After Elrond speaks of the three

ages through which he bas lived, others continue with more recent

details. The hobbits speak, the elf Legolas, Boromir and Gandalf.

The narrative is shifted through the several races giving varying

emphasis to the events of the pasto This quality of the tale, in

• 94

the writing, is a surface indication of the importance of the tale

in the tone of Tolkien's Fantasy. The tales and the council fin-

ally end, and the Fellowship sets out: "Then with one glance at

the Last Homely Rouse twinkling below them they strode away far into

the night" (Rings l, 368). Tolkien sets the House of Elrcnd with

its twinkling elven-light, against the dark night into which the

travellers move. The scene shadows forth the essential conflict

between the Light and the Darkness which now becomes central to the

narrative. The image of that light which is left far behind becomes

aIl the hope and strength in the dark winter to come.

When the Fellowship enters Lothlorien, the land of the

elves, they are blindfolded and led to Galadriel and Celeborn:

Being deprived of sight, Frodo found his hearing and other senses sharpen~d. He could smell the trees and the trodden graSSe He could hear many different notes in the rustle of the leaves overhead, the river murmuring away on his right, and the thin clear voices of birds in the skYe He felt the sun upon his face and hands when they passed through an open glade.

(Rings l, 452)

Here again Tolkien resorts to this device to give greater meaning to

the scene. The new sensitivity which is at work in Lorien is present-

ed in the keeness of Frodo's various senses. In the elven-wood,

there is a freshness and a purity which embodies the initial and total

meaning that one gives to experience when aIl the world is new. The

smell of the trees or the grass i8 magnified due to the loss of sight.

One notices it perhaps for the first time, as is the case with the

sound of rustling leaves or the murmuring river. The warmth of the

sun is a comforting sensation, made even more intense because of

95

the absence of its light. The wonder of this world which is develop-

ed in this blindfolded sequence is given fuller treatment as the

group reaches the i~er depths of the land. The appeal to the senses

other than sight indicates Tolkienrs basic notion of the word as

being more than merely a straightforward superficial expression of

meaning. The significance of the warmth of the sun is focused upon,

and the sensation is felt close to the skin as one passes with Frodo

through flan open gladefl • Frodo is astounded by the land, for even

his hobbit-like joy in life is surpassed here:

AlI that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring.

(Rings l, 454)

The elvish capacity of synthesizing the ancient and the new is the

distinctive quality of this place for the hobbit. Tolkien uses

colour to illustrate the craft of this race, which makes perception

a vital and new process at every moment. Frodo's sight is infused

with the same energy as his other senses were earlier. The narra-

tive makes a graduaI transition to this scene, beginning with the

smell of the "trodden grassfl and leading up to the actual sight of

flclear cut" wondrous shapes. Tolkien wishes to involve one to the

point where the colours gold or white are shifted from the worn

awareness of them to an essentially new, more complete vision of

such colours. The allusion to a win ter whose qualities make the

lament for spring unnecessary, points to the timeless existence of

the elves though the seasons come and go. The movement of Frodo's

mind from shape, to colour, to seasons and time, is characteristic

of the infini te progression which the elves are able to achieve.

The Enchantment of Lorien touches the hobbit deep within him, an

effect which Tolkien would strive to produce on the reader.

96

When the company leaves Lorien, the Lady Galadriel is

glimpsed as the shore recedes quickly from view: "She shone like a

window of glass upon a far hill in the westering sun, or as a re­

mote lake seen from a mountain: a crystal fallen in the lap of the

land" (Rings l, 488). Tolkien makes a judicious use of the simile

throughout the trilogy which is weIl illustrated here. The Lady has

a strange and wonder fuI light about her, which is liquid and fair

beyond aIl ever seen before by the Company. The three comparisons

relate this quality of the Lady to objects and scenes in the Primary

World. The setting sun reflecting on glass set in a green hill is

the image of dazzling light in the midst of a wood. Yet it is a

light that dwindles with the sunset and the cool of evening. The

Lady is made to partake in this scene, and the sight of her becomes

that much more effective as a result. At the same time oners own ex­

perience of this sunset is enriched in the sense of the Lady

Galadriel's relation to it. The "remote lake seen from the moun­

tain" opera tes in a similar manner. In this depiction of an

isolated patch of gleaming light, one is able to share that glimpse

of Galadriel on the bank. The final comparison moves still further

away, and it is now a more general view of a crystal, small yet

bright somewhere in the land. Coming after the colon, this one is

the final statement on the scene. It completes the vision of her

elven-form imparting the Company's own experience as they journey

southward. The three images possess more complex metaphorical im­

plications. Previously, Elrond's dwelling is described as "the

97

Last Homely House", and here Galadriel is depicted as a window, the

light escaping from an elven-home which aIl the company must leave

behind. The hobbits' intense feeling for the Shire, and for its

being their proper place, is revealed in this allusion. The house

becomes a symbol of the order and harmony of the West. Tolkien uses

the word house as the expression of a beginning and an end. That is,

one sets out from it, and one yearns through great tr.ials to return

to i t. The There !!!! Back Again alterna te ti tle of The Hobbi t is

implicit in the word. The trilogy vitally concerns this movement

:into Middle Earth, for the hobbits as weIl as the reader. The water

image bas within it that quality of fertility which is so much a part

of the elven-energy. The elvish capacity for beauty is glimpsed in

the gem, the "crystal", whose light is bound up with that of the

elves. In a similar manner, the Company sees Lorien disappearing

from sight: "Lorien was slipping backward, like a bright ship mast­

ed with enchanted trees, sailing on to forgotton shores ... n (Rings l,

488). The image of the land as a moving vessel of light, rather than

a fixed point, conveys the energy which is 50 integrally a part of

that place. It is not the Company which seems to move on, but the

land itself, departing to ancient lands over the sea. The

98

combination of trees and ships in the simile connotes the origin of

the elves, over the sea, and the importance of the woods of Lorien to

their existence in Middle Earth. The members of the Fellowship are

left to continue their voyage down the Great River, Anduin, toward

Mordor.

The elves give the Fellowship various things to aid

them in their journey. Tolkien sub-creates some quite curious

ma terials in the Fantasy. The lembas cakes in leaf-wrappings are an

elvish kind of traveller's food or waybread, "and it is more

strengthening than any food made by Men" (Rings l, 478). The food

stays fresh for a long period of time, and later on in the tale is

the crucial means through which Frodo and Sam main tain their

strength and will to go on. Tolkien often gives close attention

to the basic needs of life, a first concern of the hobbits,and for

them the lembas proves a most valuable cake. The elvish cloaks

possess just these kind of strange and potent qualities. The gar-

ments seem to have the colour and breath of Lorien:

It was hard to say of what colour they were: grey with the hue of twilight under the trees they seemed to be; and yet if they were moved, or set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or brown as fallow fields by night, duek-silver as water under the stars. Each cloak was fastened about the neck with a brooch like green leaf veined with silver.

(Rings I, 479)

The craft of the robes is linked with the elves' essential feel for

beauty as an inextricable feature of awareness. The description of

them is given in terms of the grasp of reality which one is exposed

to in Lorien. Tolkien uses the colours of the wood at various times

99

of the day to construct the similes. Such figures connect the cloaks

to the green leaves or the f1dusk-silver" of water. This transfer-

ence of the bues of the landscape to the products of the elvish

crafts, is part of the mechanism of recognition which involves one

in the very act of Tolkien's sub-creation. The cloak is given its

wonder in one's own rediscovery of the green leaf.

Following the breaking of the Fellowship, Aragorn,

Gimli and Legolas pur sue the orcs who attacked them, killed Boromir

and captured the hobbits Merry and Pippin. Tolkien ends this chapter

with a paragraph which describes the departure of Aragorn:

Like a deer he sprang away. Through the trees he sped. On and on he led them, tireless and swift, now tbat his mind was at last made up. The woods about the lake they left behind. Long slopes they climbed, dark, hard-edged against the sky already red with sunset. Dusk came. They passed away, grey shadows in a stony land.

(Rings II, 26)

The descrit>tion starts with a simile, with the "like a deer" begin-

ning the sentence, and the subject of the comparison, Aragorn, com-

ing after. The effect is to give greater empbasis to the clean

flight of the man. The verb nsprang" is typical of Tolkien' s use of

the intensely active verb to delineate action. In this passage, the

verbs such as nsped", "led" , "left", "climbed" and "passed" convey

the sense of movement and speed with which the hunters move. Tolkien

alludes to the passing trees and the receding lake and woods to make

one a part of the travellers' perspective. The passage of time is

noted through the mention of the sky which is "red with sUnSet" as

dusk comes on, and then is upon them. The final sentence presents

100

the appearance of their movement as "grey shadows in a stony land".

The comparison begins wi th a colour, grey, which embodies the

stealth and quiet of the three, and also underlines the coming on

of evening. The "s" sound in "shadows" and "stony" echoes this

hushed and darkening scene. The hard sound of "stony", places the

fleeting aspect of the pursuers against the harshness of the land

and the bitter struggles awaiting them. The whole image is an ex-

tension of their passing, as the verb phrase "passed away" is

balanced by the succeeding figure. The paragraph achieves atone

of urgent speed in the ever darkening land, atone which is care-

fully constructed so as to place the reader in an essential

proximity to the scene.

The Battle at Helm's Deep is the first tentative

thrust of the enemy, and Tolkien's initial description of a large

scale struggle. The charge of King Théoden of Rohan with Aragorn

at his side is indicative of Tolkien's mode of filling such scenes

with great sound and motion:

'Forth Eorlingas!' With a cry and a great noise they charged. Dawn from the gates they roared, over the causeway they swept, and they drove through the hosts of Isengard as a wind among grass. Behind them from the Deep came the stern cries of men issuing from the caves, driving for th the enemy. Out poured aU the men tha t were left upon the Rock. And ever the sound of blowing horns echoed in the hills.

(Rings II, 185)

Again the use-of/ numerous active verbs fills the paragraph, begin-

ning with ucharged", and carrying on with "swept", "drove" and

"poured". The flow of men into the orc hosts is characterized as ~~

101

"a wind among the grass". Such a simi1e gives a curious dimension

to the immense commotion of batt1e. For it is a detached kind of

image, showing the c1ean and total permeation of wind as it passes

through and bends the long grasses of a meadow. In the midd1e of

the paragraph it comes as an almost slow motion view of 'the scene

with its sound reduced to that of the breathing winds. One is

p1unged into the midst of the action with the King,for one begins

at the gates and ends up we11 before them with others coming behind

"from the Deep". The 10ud sweep of the charge is apt1y conveyed by

the verb "roared". The repetition of the cries of the men is aug-

mented by the horns of Rohan which b10w through the who1e scene.

The rebounding of this sound in a1l the hi11s imparts a sense of the

cruel strugg1e which unfo1ds as men and ores co11ide continuous1y

before the gates of the fastness. In the final assau1t, the enemy

is driven into the shadows of the Ents:

The wild men fell on their faces before him. The Ores ree1ed and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear. Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they f1ed. Wai1ing they passed under the waiting shadow of the trees; and from tbat sbadow none ever came again.

(Rings II, 186-187)

The agony of the ores is revea1ed in the verbs, "ree1ed" and

"screamed" and ''wa-iling''. Tolkien gives their defeat a vocal aspect,

yet he also emp10ys a simi1e to portray their f1ight. The associa-

tion between the hosts of the West and a "mounting windft has a1ready

been made. The ores are pictured as a "black smoke", for they are a

product of the Dark Lord and they contain his stif1ing, suffocating

102

darkness, the reek of his evil fires. The defeat of the orcs is seen

as a making clean, a purifying of the atmosphere. The last sentence

tells of their annihilation by the Ents. Tolkien writes of their

passing into "the shadow of the trees", and then, after a semi-colon,

he repeats the word "shadow" with finality, as he adds that "none

ever came again" from there. The scene of Helm' s Deep graphically

underlines the terror of the realm of Fantasy. In the face of such

conflict which man has always known, the sub-creation builda toward

the final eucatastrophe which allows one relief and a profound sense

of joy, perhaps kindling new hope.

When Frodo and Sam finally arrive in the land of Mordor,

they are confronted with the utter desolation and wastes of that

place. It is na land defiled, diseased beyond aIl healing" (Rings

II, 302). Tolkien uses the metaphor of disease to delineate not

only the inhabitants of Mordor, but also the nature of Sauron's king-

dom. The rampant sickness and rot of this evil become the character-

istics of his abode:

Here nothing lived, not even the leprous growths that feed on rotten­ness. The gasping pools were choked with ash and crawling muds, sickly white and grey, as if the mountains had vomited the filth of their entrails upon the lands about. High mounds of crushed and powdered rock, great cones of earth fire-blasted and poison-stained, stood like an obscene graveyard in endless rows, slowly revealed in the reluctant light.

(Rings II, 302)

AlI healthy life has ceased here, and Frodo notes that even the

nleprous growths" of its borders cannot possibly survive. The images

of pestilent garbage and death are used as the terms of the

e

103

description. The verbs "choked", "crawlingtt and 'vomi tedlf are

actions which are involved in disease and in the cessation of life.

The mountains of Mordor become living participants in the scene, for

they have filled the land with If the filth of their entrails".

Sauron is envisaged as actually a part of the earth which is able to

actively fouI itself. The colours are "sickly white and grey", those

of ash and mud and waste. The metaphor of the graveyard is used, and

the gravestones consist obscenely of the mounds of rotten earth. The

two descriptions, "fire-blasted" and "poison-stained", combine the

action with the quality of decay, which produced these cones. The

light of Mordor is obviously dim, and the word '!reluctant" would seem

to make the light an active and corrupted agent of this decay. The

description works by having aIl the natural processes perverted and

turned to the darkness of Sauron. lt is a picture of death, yet one

. which pulsa tes with a profound energy of evil.

Tolkien often sharply juxtaposes the antithetical forces

of his world. lmmediately after the hobbits leave this spectre of

life-in-death of Mordor, they enter the land of lthilien. This

place where the men of Gondor once lived when their kingdom was at its

height, still exhibits much of the good that they broughtto the land.

Rich growth and life are its distinctive features:

Many great trees grew there, planted long ago, falling into untended age amid a riot of careless descendants; and groves and thickets there were of tamarisk and pungent terebinth, of olive and of bay; and there were junipers and myrtles; and thymes that grew in bushes, or with their woody creeping stems mantled in deep tapes tries the hidden stones; sages of many kinds putting forth blue flowers, or red, or pale green; and marjorams and new-sprouting parsleys, and

• many herbs of forms and scents beyond the garden-lore of Sam. (Rings II, 327)

The waste of Mordor stands in clear relief to the gardens of

104

Ithilien. Tolkien begins with the trees and progresses to groves,

thickets and flowers. In one long sentence with no less than five

semi-colons, he literally piles the thick and abundant details of

the s trong and heal thy growth of the gardens. One is overwhelmed

by the scene and one stands in the very midst of the thickets.

The profuse catalogue of plant-life cites the smells, the colours

and the appearance of aIl that Frodo and Sam see. The pungent

"terebinth" and the "many herbs of forms and scents" unknown to

even Sam, stand in contrast with ~e reek of the filth and vomit in

Mordor. The stems of the thyme are glimpsed in the metaphor of a

tapestry in "the hidden stones1f • The craft and beauty of the

flowered tapestry is a welcome sight to the hobbits after the utter

lack of Sauronls lands. The colours of blue, red or pale green are

opposed to the sickly white and grey of ash and slag. But the

passage has a still further effect in the sound of its words and

phrases. The undulating rhythm of the garden is reflected in the

richly sensuous sound of "marjorams1f and "parsleys1f, of "tamarisk",

1fthymes" and "sages". The long breathing of the sentence builds the

scent of the garden, as its plants and flowers seep into the eye and

the ear. The garden is intensely fair to Sam and Frodo, and one is

prompted to gaze with a new sense of wonder at the colour or scent of

a flower, that grows in spite of the darkness to lighten the heart of

105

the hobbits, and to ease the burden of their quest.

The great Battle of the Pelennor Fields before the

gates of the city of Minas Tirith contains the quality of that harsh

confrontation with Sauron which the races of the West are ever in-

volved in. The siege of the city is ruthlessly carried out by the

Enemy:

For the enemy was flinging into the City aIl the heads of those who had fallen fighting st Osgiliath, or on the Rammas, or in the fields. They were grim to look on; for though some were crushed and shapeless, and some had been cruelly hewn, yet many had features that could be told, and it seemed that they had died in pain; and aIl were branded with the fouI token of the Lidless Eye.

(Rings III, 117)

Tolkien's realm of Fantasy has within it aIl the terror of reality

in the Primary World. The hewn heads of friends and relations

lying in the streets of the city are tokens of the cruelty of the

Shadow. The image of His Eye stamped upon them indicates the basic

impulse of Sauron throughout the trilogy, of usurping the very char-

acteristics of good and beauty, and transforming them with his foul-

ness. The grim fact of the dead proceeds fram the pain caused by

Sauron, and the agony of having died with his symbol branded upon

onels vision. The description is one of the most grisly in the en-

tire trilogy, and it would seem to pass beyond the margins of the

tale to onels own awareness of pain and suffering. For Tolkien, in

his sub-creation, such evil must be utterly destroyed, or fought

till the last, beyond aIl hope. The world of Mordor, of the ash and

slag makes the alternative of death quite preferable. The battle is

conditioned by the consciousness of the total darkness of Sauron

•

106

which the narrative builds. When the Rohirrim finally come ta the

aid of Gondar, the light of hope begins ta gleam on the darkening

siege:

For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hasts of Mardor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then aIl the hast of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even ta the City.

(Rings III, 138)

The metaphor of the morning and the wind as forces ta cleanse the

Shadow is here given its fullest expression. The hasts of Mardor

flee or are killed, as ruthlessly as they mutilated the bodies of

the men of Gondor. Battle becomes a kind of joyous catharsis, and

Tolkien writes that the Rohirrim "sang as they slew". The phrase

has a razor-sharp feel ta it in the mouth, which is further devel-

oped in the adjectives "fair and terriblell• The ambiguity here,

in this quality of a hideous yet proud and violent action, would

seem ta reflect the basic horror which evil, for Tolkien, involves

aIl races in. Thus, the songs of the elves attempt ta recapture

the sense of a joy which is not tinged by this terrible feature of

the destruction of the enemy. And yet in Middle Earth such rejoic-

ing in the vanquishing of ores or trolls is central ta the survival

of the West, of songs and flowers. Tolkien makes one aware of the

wail of the retreating enemy, and over and above it, the sweet

deadly chant of the riders of Rohan. The reference ta dawning

light and ta such sound, carry the struggle ta a greater, more vital

motion which is bath "fair and terrible" •

107

With victory, the King, Aragorn, returns to the city,

to aid in the healing of the sick and wounded. For the wounds of the

enemy inflict a creeping fever and shadow into the body which even-

tually consumes the wounded into the wastes of Mordor. This diseased

element of the enemy is countered by a herb, athelas, which was

planted by the Numenor who came to Middle Earth. For Tolkien great

darkness must be opposed with ancient and pure light which has that

elvish timeless quality. The description of the scent of the herb is

significant:

For the fragrance tha t came to each was like a memory of dewy morn­ings of unshadowed sun in some land of which the fair world in Spring is itself but a fleeting memory. But Aragorn stood up as one refreshed, and his eyes smiled as he held a bowl before Faramir's dreaming face.

(Rings III, 173)

The appeal is to onels memory of the fragrance of a calm, early morn-

ing, the first most perfect morning that ever was. Tolkien employs

the sense of smell to send one back to aIl the beauty which goes

unnoticed in unblemished sunlight in spring. The refreshing aspect

of the vision heals Faramir of his deadly wounds, and in a sense,

heals one's own perceptions. For the Fantasy, in giving startling

powers to herbs or healers is ultimately drawing on the reality of

the Primary World, on the possibility here for beauty untouched by

shadows. The herb, which cures Eowyn, Théoden's valiant daughter,

has no particular scent, "but was an air wholly fresh and clean and

young, as if it had not before been breathed by any living thing"

(Rings III, 176). The purification of breathing, of the life which

is felt in the throat and the nostrils, is here in the description

• 108

of the fragrance of the herbe The word which comes fram this breath

is made new in the first appreciation of its pure energy and its

life.

Towards the end of the third volume of the trilogy,

Tolkien has aIl the various facets of the plot converge on the point

at which the Ring is destroyed by Frodo. With this stroke, the tide

of aIl the conflicts in Middle Earth is turned, as Sauron, the

energy of aIl that is evil, is driven finally from this world.

Frodo and Samls vision of the passing of the shadow 1s presented in

the narrative:

A brief vision he had of swirling cloud, and in the midst of it towers and battlements, tall as hills, founded upon a mighty mountain-throne above immeasurable pits; great courts and dungeons, eyeless prisons sheer as cliffs, and gaping gates of steel and adamant: and then aIl passed. Towers fell and mountains slid; walls crumbled and melted, crashing down; vast spires of smoke and spouting steams went billowing up, up, until they toppled like an overwhelming wave, and its wild crest curled and came foaming down upon the land.

(Rings III, 276)

For a fleeting instant aIl the machinery and buildings of Mordor are

glimpsed. Tolkien concentra tes on the qualities of height and size,

as he prepares the inevitable crash. The similes give the towers the

aspects of hills and cliffs, and the adjectives, "lmmeasurable",

"gaping" and "mighty", posit Mordor as a whole world. The Dark

Lordls kingdam is seen in terms of the natural surroundings which

are twisted and hollowed to his purposes. The vision plumbs into the

very core of the Shadow, giving an almost X-ray view of its inner

appearance. The destruction of Sauron is the end of a whole movement

•

109

and presence which has entered into the very structure of Middle

Earth. This description prepares one for this end, which is de-

1ineated through the metaphor of a total vo1canic eruption. The

utter co11apse and ruin af Mordor is the downward motion in the

verbs, "slid", "crumb1ed", "me1ted" and "crashing". The burning

out of Sauron, as the remova1 of the poison of disease, is acc~-

p1ished with an enormous rending of the basic composition of the

land. The image of a huge wave whose crest comes "foaming down

upon the land", washing away al1 the fi1th in its path, conveys

the sense of the purification of Middle Earth which is in motion

a11 around one. The destruction of the Ring and of Sauron b1inds

and deafens the hobbits, and To1kien 1 s de1ineation of it seethes

with the vast heat and sound of such an end.

The eucatastrophe of the tale, which appears to have

mounted in impossibi1ity throughout the long narrative, comes

"un100ked-for" in the face of the despair and the inevi table fal1

of the west. The scene on the Field of Corma11en in Ithi1ien, ex-

p10res a11 the joy of this sudden turn of events. The hobbits

awake, after having been rescued by Ganda1f from Orodruin's ex-

p10sion, and are confronted with the King Aragorn and a11 the

sp1endour of the Numenor a1ive again in Middle Earth. The daz-

zling sunshine and the great company in the Field overwhe1ms Frodo

and Sam, and indeed a11 present:

And a11 the host 1aughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the c1ear voice of the minstre1 rose 1ike si1ver and gold, and aIl men were hushed. And he sang to them, now

• in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessed­ness.

(Rings III, 286)

Tolkien pierces one with such laughter and tears, which are all

intermingled in such profound joy. The minstrells voice is com-

pared with "silver and gold", the elvish colours in Lorien. The

110

simile depends on the richness and gleam of such materials, and on

their aspect of,clear purity in a world which has been freed from

the Shadow, at least for the Third Age. The song is perhaps the

final culmination of the entire motion of the tale. For the

elven-capacity to enter into the joy and beauty of such songs

would seem to have provided the essential energy of the narrative.

The metaphor of a sweet wound which goes to the beating heart ap-

pears here as it did in the Essay On Eairy-Stories. Tolkien des-

cribes the hearing of the singing in terms of a movement which

"overflows" and which causes one to pass beyond where joy and

sorrow merge to engulf one in the tears of happiness. This sense

of an immersion in a fluid of liquid joy comes as a result of that

"unlooked-for" shift in events. For the reader, coming after the

lengthy acquaintance with such as hobbits and elves, and the deep

vision of Middle Earth, which is formed from onels own basic reality,

the joy shatters the Fantasy and moves from the sub-creation to onels

essential sensibility. One is drenched by the joy of the tale, and

the liquid passes into oneself to where life and thought are born.

III

The Third Age of Middle Earth comes to an end. How­

ever, Tolkien extends the eucatastrophic tone for some length as he

deals with the restoration of the Shire and the journey of the Ring­

bearer, the wizard and the elves to the Grey Havens and then over

the Sea. At the last, Frodo bids Sam farewell telling him of the

need to preserve the memory of that Age so as to maintain the in­

tense awareness of the beauty and good of Middle Earth. The

function of Tolkienls literary art lies here, in its ability to

infuse one with this sense of wonder and joy in the Primary World.

The aesthetic achieves this aim through the profound and creative

craft in words which Tolkien is so supremely capable of. For

Fantasy operates to alter onels way of valuing and perceiving this

world through a reappraisal of articulation, of the process through

which language gives essential meaning to life.

LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED

Fictiona1 Works:

Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. The Hobbit .5?E. There and Back Again. 2nd edition. London, 1954.

Farmer Gi1es .2! Ham. London, 1949.

The Lord .2! the Rings. 2nd edition. 3 volumes. New York, 1966.

The Adventures of !2!!! Bombadil. London, 1962.

"Leaf by Nigg1e," ~ and~. London, 1964.

Smith of Wootton Major. London, 1967.

The Road Goes ~ .On. ! Song Cycle. New York, 1967.

Scho1ar1y Works:

Davis, Norman and C.L. Wrenn, editors. Eng1ish and Medieval Studies. London, 1962.

Sisam, Kenneth. Fcurteenth Century Verse ~ Prose. 2nd edition. Oxford, 1950.

Tolkien, John Ronald Reue1 and E.V. Gordon, editors. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Oxford, 1925.

Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Cri tics, Il Proceedings of the Bri tish Academy, XXII (1936), 245-295.

! Middle Eng1ish Vocabu1ary. 2nd edition. Oxford, 1950.

"The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthe1m's Son~" The Eng1ish Association, Essays and Studies, VI (1953), 1-18.

The Eng1ish Text of the Ancrene Riw1e, edited from M.S. Corpus Christi Co11ege Cambridge 402. Oxford, 1962.

113

Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. "On Fairy-Stories," ~ and ~. London, 1964.

1 Tolkien Criticism:

Isaacs, Neil and Rose Zimbardo, editors. Tolkien ~ the Cri tics. Notre Dame, 1968.

Lewis, C.S. Of Other Wor1ds, edited by Walter Hooper. London, 1966-. -

Lewis, W.H. editor with a memoire Letters of C.S. ~. London, 1966.

Ready, William. The Tolkien Relation. Toronto, 1968.

1 The preceding essay consu1ted, Letters of C.S.

Lewis, and The Tolkien Relation. Other entries are inc1uded for comp1eteness.