-The Lost Road and Other Writings, Chapter II
The use of dreams and visions that appear in The Lord of the Rings and other works of Tolkien are vague and confusing, filled with images and meaning, as dreams and visions often are. In several instances, it would seem that Tolkien uses dreams to show characters events happening in another place and/or time, yet in other places it seems to be a warning or reassurance of something unforeseen, and yet some others they are beyond explanation. From the portentous Mirror of Galadriel, to Tolkien’s Great Wave, dreams and visions hold a strange significance in Tolkien’s legendarium and are always a mixture of recognizable images and vagary, either explained elsewhere or not at all. I believe that, to a certain extent, not even Tolkien completely knew what the dreams meant until he got them down onto a page. The dreams and visions are his way of allowing the reader into his mind, allowing us to watch him feel out the tale and testing different paths, trying to “discover” which one was correct.
I found his comments in his letter to W. H Auden most interesting. He recounts that most things about his book he did not know until he arrived at that point in the story, but what intrigued me the most was his comment about Saruman: “Most disquieting of all, Saruman had never been revealed to me, and I was as mystified as Frodo at Gandalf's failure to appear on September 22” (Letters 163). I immediately thought of a dream Frodo had while in the house of Tom Bombadil, “And passing over he saw that the rock-wall was a circle of hills, and that within it was a plain, and in the midst of the plain stood a pinnacle of stone, like a vast tower but not made by hands. On its top stood the figure of a man” (LotR, I:VII:125). It was surprising to me that Saruman, a character that has importance to the world of Middle Earth and to the story itself, didn’t appear to Tolkien much earlier, and yet Frodo, even before he met Aragorn (another character that “surprised” Tolkien) was dreaming of Orthnac. Perhaps it was that moment where Tolkien “discovered” Saurman and his capture of Gandalf. It was clear that Gandalf was trapped on a tower somewhere, but whether or not it was Orthnac and the identity of his captor aren’t as obvious. The dream Frodo had mimicked the way the story reveals itself to Tolkien from time to time.
I found his comments in his letter to W. H Auden most interesting. He recounts that most things about his book he did not know until he arrived at that point in the story, but what intrigued me the most was his comment about Saruman: “Most disquieting of all, Saruman had never been revealed to me, and I was as mystified as Frodo at Gandalf's failure to appear on September 22” (Letters 163). I immediately thought of a dream Frodo had while in the house of Tom Bombadil, “And passing over he saw that the rock-wall was a circle of hills, and that within it was a plain, and in the midst of the plain stood a pinnacle of stone, like a vast tower but not made by hands. On its top stood the figure of a man” (LotR, I:VII:125). It was surprising to me that Saruman, a character that has importance to the world of Middle Earth and to the story itself, didn’t appear to Tolkien much earlier, and yet Frodo, even before he met Aragorn (another character that “surprised” Tolkien) was dreaming of Orthnac. Perhaps it was that moment where Tolkien “discovered” Saurman and his capture of Gandalf. It was clear that Gandalf was trapped on a tower somewhere, but whether or not it was Orthnac and the identity of his captor aren’t as obvious. The dream Frodo had mimicked the way the story reveals itself to Tolkien from time to time.
In other places, most notably in Book II, Chapter VII, “The Mirror of Galadriel”, dreams and visions have a more defined purpose, but are still very abstract. Frodo saw things that seem to be a part of the Fall of Numenor: visions of “The Sea,” “A great storm,” “the black outline of a tall ship with torn sails riding up out of the West… Then a fortress with seven tower… and a banner bearing the emblem of a white tree,” (LotR, II:VII:354-355). This vision in the mirror are scenes which no doubt confused Frodo and puzzled the reader. Why would Frodo be seeing visions of a story long past and a history he may never learn? Perhaps the vision of the dilapidated ship was never meant for Frodo, but for the reader and Tolkien himself. The book also recounts, “Far away a figure came slowly down the road, faint and small at first … Suddenly Frodo realized it reminded him of Gandalf. He almost called aloud the wizard’s name, and then he saw that the figure was clothed not in grey but in white” (LotR, II:VII:354). The uncertainty the vision presents, along with Tolkien’s own admitted surprises suggests that this was a crossroads of sorts for the tale. Tolkien used Frodo’s vision to introduce Gandalf’s parallel’s with, and eventual evolution into, Saruman. Not only that, but this was probably a good place to connect Saruman’s tale with that of the Numenorean’s using the palantiri found in Orthnac. Tolkien admits, “1 knew nothing of the Palantíri, though the moment the Orthanc-stone was cast from the window, I recognized it, and knew the meaning of the 'rhyme of lore' that had been running in my mind: seven stars and seven stones and one white tree” (Letters, 163). With the vision in Galadriel’s Mirror, several things connected at once, even if the reader or Frodo didn’t know it.
Tolkien uses dreams in a similar fashion in The Lost Road with the characters of Alboin and his son Audoin. Throughout the story, Alboin receives dreams that begin to teach him a language and eventually leads him to discovering that he is a sort of reincarnation of Elendil, and soon he finds himself back in time, reliving the Fall of Numenor. In his dreams, Elendil “discovers” a story and a past bit by bit, not actively creating it himself, much like how Tolkien “discovered” the true story of The Lord of the Rings as he was writing it. Unlike Abloin, however, Tolkien did not travel to the past to live out his discovery, but this still follows the same vein of sub-creation, and the windows into that process is dreams. Probably the most on-the-nose example is the dream of Faramir and the Great Wave. Tolkien himself said that, “when Faramir speaks of his private vision of the Great Wave, he speaks for me,” and also that, “As far as any character is 'like me' it is Faramir” (Letters 180). This is probably the closest we get to a confirmation of an author insert in Tolkien’s legendarium, but that is not the purpose this dream was given to Faramir. This was Tolkien coming out through the text, his being burst through into the story through dreams. He becomes so much more involved this way.
[LT]
5 comments:
It is indeed very interesting that Tolkien’s writing process actually resembles the process of dreaming. Although he did not literally dream when he wrote those great stories, he indeed sometimes received epiphany from the dreams of his fictional characters. Because of such unique experience, it is impossible for him not to incorporate this element of dreaming into his other works. At the same time, since he was indeed inspired by the dream of a character in his book, this could further reinforce his belief that the Middle Earth might truly existed as a part of human history. Similarly, his reception of Frodo’s revelatory dream also set himself as an example of the elf-friend figures in his story who received dreams about the fairy world. As a result, we can see that all the major themes, such as elf-friend, dream, and his “invention” of the legendarium were all closely tied to each other. This interesting dynamic really marks a huge characteristic of his work.
Meanwhile, I wonder whether other writers also the same experience as Tolkien once had. I know that Murakami Haruki mentions about how a conversation of his characters revealed to him the rest of the story’s plot. Therefore, it is possible that being inspired by fictional character is a common experience of the highly creative individuals like Tolkien and Murakami.
-R C
It is one thing to claim that your stories come to you in dreams, but surely it is another to claim that your characters' experience is folded into your own such that the two, as it were, are in fact one. Can we use Frodo's dreams to prove something about Tolkien's own experience? Saying it like that, the answer would seem to be, why not? Aren't characters their authors' creations? But if so why does it sound somewhat loopy (apologies to JRRT) to claim that the stories came in dreams—and that the dreams pointed to something real? RLFB
This interweaving of Tolkien and his characters' experiences with dreams is very portentous. I especially like your pointing to the Galadriel's Mirror episode as one of the interpretative keys for this. Galadriel's guidance to Frodo about what he may see is very suggestive but does not exactly clarify the nature of dream-visions. What do you make of Ramer's suggestion in the Notion Club Papers that dreams can be actively sought and cultivated? That seems to complicate the way Tolkien sometimes presents dreams, and therefore parts of his sub-creation, as gifts received passively.
LJF, sorry!
Tolkien's claims of "discovery," which you highlight so well in your post, are truly perplexing to me. I mean, he's the author! How could he have composed the rhyme of lore without knowing what it referred to? Is he implying that these things existed in the world before he thought of them? It could be, if we are to take Middle-Earth as a living, continually existing Faerie realm. This is after all what the characters experience, and I agree with your point that through dreams we, alongside Frodo, can discover what happened to Gandalf, the Akallabeth, and sailing west. But perhaps the claims of revelation should be interpreted more figuratively, as a window into Tolkien's writing process. It makes more sense to me that he would get to Bree in composing the story and feel that Gandalf should not be there, then pause and invent the reason for it, rather than somehow realize that the reason already existed. Alas, I am not a genius author and I do not know the marvelous ways that dreaming and epiphany work.
- ᛸᚻᚹ
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