By far the most interesting Tolkien reading we’ve done this quarter was The Debate of Finrod and Andreth(Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth), further referred to as The Debate. This blog post, unlike my previous ones, isn’t going to just make a single argument about some aspect of the Legendarium, but is more a consolidation of some reactions from this week’s readings in a loosely connected way.
The first reason I find this week’s reading particularly interesting is that they show how integral the legendarium was to Tolkien’s way of life. He grappled with the questions of Death and the desire for eternal life not in some real-world way, but rather by writing philosophical conversations with his characters in his books. He dealt with grief about his wife by drawing parallels to her as Luthien. Only on reading Letter 340 did I truly understand how much this story meant to JRR Tolkien. He particularly points out that this name isn’t just a ‘sentimental fallacy' and is ‘not comparable to quoting of pet names’. He laments that he cannot plead with Mandos, which just goes to show how much he truly believed in his Legendarium’s myths. This letter showed me that to Tolkien, the Legendarium wasn’t just a hobby, or an academic interest. It was the framework through which he understood his personal life and how he comprehended even Love. His sources weren’t just academic Old English words but also his very life and loved ones. I find this level of dedication to subcreation incredible, and I think Letter 340 is the best argument I have yet seen for taking this course: to study the depths of a brilliant and utterly singly-focused man’s life’s work.
The Debate again shows us Tolkien grappling with real-life questions of mortality through his fiction. This is my favourite reading, because it shows a side of the Legendarium that I never even knew existed: a part which questions the very nature of evil. Never before had I seen such candid descriptions of why Men were more susceptible to Melkor’s words. Never before had I heard such a clear and honest conversation between Elf and Man about what exactly makes them different. It fills in a lot of the philosophical questions the Legendarium raises. The Debate is honest about how being seduced by Melkor isn’t something that can happen only to ‘weak’ Men, but shows how Melkor’s words are convincing to even the strongest of Men. This is a level of honesty about evil that we don’t really see in much of the Legendarium: the honesty to discuss Evil in a non-antagonistic, but rather academic sense. One thing that I would like to note is that the argument for Melkor’s evil nature is always tautological, even in the Debate: the fact that he acted against the Creator Eru is all that makes him Evil, not his actions or anything else. This feels annoying to me, but is ultimately consistent with Tolkien’s view of a monotheist, Christian God.
The final(in more than one sense) question that needs to be answered then, is the question of the Gift of Men. Why is Death a gift to us, in Tolkien’s worldview? Tolkien isn’t particularly fond of death: he puts the immortal Elves at the centre of his stories and considers them the greatest (non-Ainur) beings on Middle-Earth. This attitude of the Eldar being ‘greater’ than Men was common among even the Elves, as noted by Finrod. Death is the cause of tragedy for every single romance between Elves and Men in Middle-Earth. It seems as though Men are cursed with Death! Tolkien acknowledges this bitterness with Arwen’s last words to Aragorn: ‘if this is the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive.’ Death is difficult. The death of a loved one is possibly the most difficult thing someone ever has to do in their life. Tolkien is painfully aware of this himself, and even Aragorn acknowledges the sorrow of death on his deathbed. Tolkien had seen enough death in his life, as a war veteran, and was certainly not naive enough to claim that this cause of sorrow and pain was somehow an unquestionable Gift.
Yet, it is the Gift of Men. I have but one reasoning for this, and the argument is somewhat as follows. Our fea exist in Arda when we are alive, as do the Elves. The Elves are forever bound to Arda, for their fea can’t leave. This means that Elves fundamentally never face uncertainty in their lives. The Valar protect them, and their destinies are safe and predictable. The only uncertainty they face is that of Dagor Dagorath, and what happens after the End of the World. This is solved for them, by their concept of Estel. Estel is an unquestioning Hope(or trust), that, no matter what, because they are the Children of Illuvatar, they will be taken care of. It’s an optimism based on trust in the Lord and nothing else. (Note how, on replacing ‘Eru’ with ‘the Lord’ in the previous sentence, how similar I made it sound to the Christian trust in Jesus and God.) However, Men cannot have this same level of trust and certainty in their future. Death is a fundamental unknown. Unlike the known unknown that is the future, the afterlife is an unknowable unknown, that cannot be deduced even in part from the current state of the world. This unknowable unknown is scary, and sad, because Melkor made it so. Melkor associated it with Darkness and hardship and misery. This is what Tolkien meant when he said that Men are more susceptible to corruption than the Elves: because the Elves lack this unknown unknown, it is impossible for Melkor to turn this uncertainty into fear.
How then, does an unmarred Man, a Child of Illuvatar, deal with death? The answer is the same as that for the Elves, but much harder: Estel. Estel is difficult for Men: Men do not interact with the Valar on a daily basis. Men don’t have the fortune of having guidance from Eru, even through his Ainur. Men have a fundamental uncertainty in their near future, of death. This makes faith in Eru difficult, if not impossible. This makes Men susceptible to Melkor. But it is possible to not fear death. To believe, that, like the Elves, the uncertainty that awaits Men is Good, too. For if, after death, the fea of Men have no place on Earth, they must go out of this World, and be united with the Creator, Eru. This is what Estel means for Men: to have the faith that our afterlife is fundamentally Good, because it is ordained by Eru, our Creator, and because we are Children of Illuvatar. Thus, our fate is fundamentally the same as that of the Elves: to become one with Eru and a part of Arda Healed. The only difference is, that we do it quicker. This way, we do not have our experiences marred by memory and tragedy, like the Elves necessarily do.
The reason Death is a Gift, then, is because it unites us with the One.
-Rohan Kapoor
The first reason I find this week’s reading particularly interesting is that they show how integral the legendarium was to Tolkien’s way of life. He grappled with the questions of Death and the desire for eternal life not in some real-world way, but rather by writing philosophical conversations with his characters in his books. He dealt with grief about his wife by drawing parallels to her as Luthien. Only on reading Letter 340 did I truly understand how much this story meant to JRR Tolkien. He particularly points out that this name isn’t just a ‘sentimental fallacy' and is ‘not comparable to quoting of pet names’. He laments that he cannot plead with Mandos, which just goes to show how much he truly believed in his Legendarium’s myths. This letter showed me that to Tolkien, the Legendarium wasn’t just a hobby, or an academic interest. It was the framework through which he understood his personal life and how he comprehended even Love. His sources weren’t just academic Old English words but also his very life and loved ones. I find this level of dedication to subcreation incredible, and I think Letter 340 is the best argument I have yet seen for taking this course: to study the depths of a brilliant and utterly singly-focused man’s life’s work.
The Debate again shows us Tolkien grappling with real-life questions of mortality through his fiction. This is my favourite reading, because it shows a side of the Legendarium that I never even knew existed: a part which questions the very nature of evil. Never before had I seen such candid descriptions of why Men were more susceptible to Melkor’s words. Never before had I heard such a clear and honest conversation between Elf and Man about what exactly makes them different. It fills in a lot of the philosophical questions the Legendarium raises. The Debate is honest about how being seduced by Melkor isn’t something that can happen only to ‘weak’ Men, but shows how Melkor’s words are convincing to even the strongest of Men. This is a level of honesty about evil that we don’t really see in much of the Legendarium: the honesty to discuss Evil in a non-antagonistic, but rather academic sense. One thing that I would like to note is that the argument for Melkor’s evil nature is always tautological, even in the Debate: the fact that he acted against the Creator Eru is all that makes him Evil, not his actions or anything else. This feels annoying to me, but is ultimately consistent with Tolkien’s view of a monotheist, Christian God.
The final(in more than one sense) question that needs to be answered then, is the question of the Gift of Men. Why is Death a gift to us, in Tolkien’s worldview? Tolkien isn’t particularly fond of death: he puts the immortal Elves at the centre of his stories and considers them the greatest (non-Ainur) beings on Middle-Earth. This attitude of the Eldar being ‘greater’ than Men was common among even the Elves, as noted by Finrod. Death is the cause of tragedy for every single romance between Elves and Men in Middle-Earth. It seems as though Men are cursed with Death! Tolkien acknowledges this bitterness with Arwen’s last words to Aragorn: ‘if this is the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive.’ Death is difficult. The death of a loved one is possibly the most difficult thing someone ever has to do in their life. Tolkien is painfully aware of this himself, and even Aragorn acknowledges the sorrow of death on his deathbed. Tolkien had seen enough death in his life, as a war veteran, and was certainly not naive enough to claim that this cause of sorrow and pain was somehow an unquestionable Gift.
Yet, it is the Gift of Men. I have but one reasoning for this, and the argument is somewhat as follows. Our fea exist in Arda when we are alive, as do the Elves. The Elves are forever bound to Arda, for their fea can’t leave. This means that Elves fundamentally never face uncertainty in their lives. The Valar protect them, and their destinies are safe and predictable. The only uncertainty they face is that of Dagor Dagorath, and what happens after the End of the World. This is solved for them, by their concept of Estel. Estel is an unquestioning Hope(or trust), that, no matter what, because they are the Children of Illuvatar, they will be taken care of. It’s an optimism based on trust in the Lord and nothing else. (Note how, on replacing ‘Eru’ with ‘the Lord’ in the previous sentence, how similar I made it sound to the Christian trust in Jesus and God.) However, Men cannot have this same level of trust and certainty in their future. Death is a fundamental unknown. Unlike the known unknown that is the future, the afterlife is an unknowable unknown, that cannot be deduced even in part from the current state of the world. This unknowable unknown is scary, and sad, because Melkor made it so. Melkor associated it with Darkness and hardship and misery. This is what Tolkien meant when he said that Men are more susceptible to corruption than the Elves: because the Elves lack this unknown unknown, it is impossible for Melkor to turn this uncertainty into fear.
How then, does an unmarred Man, a Child of Illuvatar, deal with death? The answer is the same as that for the Elves, but much harder: Estel. Estel is difficult for Men: Men do not interact with the Valar on a daily basis. Men don’t have the fortune of having guidance from Eru, even through his Ainur. Men have a fundamental uncertainty in their near future, of death. This makes faith in Eru difficult, if not impossible. This makes Men susceptible to Melkor. But it is possible to not fear death. To believe, that, like the Elves, the uncertainty that awaits Men is Good, too. For if, after death, the fea of Men have no place on Earth, they must go out of this World, and be united with the Creator, Eru. This is what Estel means for Men: to have the faith that our afterlife is fundamentally Good, because it is ordained by Eru, our Creator, and because we are Children of Illuvatar. Thus, our fate is fundamentally the same as that of the Elves: to become one with Eru and a part of Arda Healed. The only difference is, that we do it quicker. This way, we do not have our experiences marred by memory and tragedy, like the Elves necessarily do.
The reason Death is a Gift, then, is because it unites us with the One.
-Rohan Kapoor
2 comments:
Nice reflection on a difficult but essential topic, and its centrality to Tolkien’s own life.
You note that the tautology of Melkor as Evil is annoying to you, but I would press you to find an alternative, especially if Eru, like the Christian God, is considered to be the ultimate Good and Goodness itself. Can the “cause” of Good or Evil ever be anything other than “tautological”? Are any actions inherently evil, or are they evil only with respect to a rebellion from the Good (Creator)?
I like your analysis of the gift and Estel quite a bit. I wonder if the future of the Elves really is less unknowable than that of Men, or if it is more a function of time, since the Elves know as much about the after-universe as Men know about the afterlife! Estel, as you put it, is simply more difficult for men, making them more easily corruptible. There is a connection then, between despair (of mortality) and corruption. Are hopeful Men less corruptible? -LB
Very nice meditation! I am happy that you used this post as an opportunity to grapple with your own reactions to Tolkien's Debate and the questions his wrestling with Death raised for you. Can human beings ever find satisfying answers to the unknowable unknowable? Are we satisfied with the comparison with the Elves? Your emphasis on Estel (Hope) is important: notice how the characters in LotR talk about whether they have hope and how this enables them to act (or not). RLFB
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