Elves, the Firstborn, the Elder Child. Strong, beautiful, wise. Waking under star and speaking with the gods; gazing upon the light that dwells in the West; falling in pride and yet saved by hope—that Men might do what they cannot and bring them back to the light.
Men, the Secondborn, the Younger Child. Followers, strangers, short-lived. Waking under Shadow yet with faces toward the sun; destined to inherit the world; falling in fear and yet saved by hope—trust in Eru that Arda will be restored, and that death is not the end but rather indicative of their freedom from and purpose within the world.
The primary relationship between Elves and Men is one of siblinghood. They are two halves of a family tree that intertwine with one another, the first enriching the second until only Men are left in Middle-Earth, carrying on the family line through the joining of both races. Though by the end of the Third Age, Men and Elves are mostly estranged (and by present day, they have faded away entirely) this was not always so. The conversation between Finrod and Andreth points to both the friendship between the two races as well as their underlying kinship. They learn much from one another, Finrod of the human tradition that immortality was their original lot until lost through some means of the Shadow, Andreth of Elvish death, and the final end that awaits the Elves once Arda fails. But even while they learn from each other, they also give each other insight that points them toward truth. When Finrod suggests that Arda is not humanity’s true home, Andreth is moved; something within her rises to that suggestion. When Andreth discusses Man’s interaction with Arda, Finrod sees a vision of healing that gives him joy and hope. Elf and woman are able to affect each other so deeply because they are ultimately brother and sister.
In Genesis, God establishes his covenant with the younger son, though everyone would expect the firstborn to receive the promise, and brother is momentarily (or permanently) estranged from brother. Ishmael is passed over for Isaac, Esau for Jacob. Even Abel pleases God more than his older brother Cain (and earns a premature demise for his troubles). This family that God chooses is one that he will use to bring his creation back to himself. As children of the promise, Israel is meant to bless the other nations; they are God’s chosen instrument for world renewal.
Men, the Secondborn, similarly become the children of the promise. Of course, the promise is never stated outright, and Eru, unlike the Judeo-Christian God, hardly bothers to speak to his creation, but it is Men, not Elves, who inherit Arda. And humans come into more than just an inheritance: Finrod’s vision presents a world that has been restored by men—through them, Arda Marred becomes Arda Remade. It suggests that Men are not at home in Arda because their hearts belong to this healed future, while the Elves love the world too much and remain firmly within it. Because Men have the gift of free will, they are able to act beyond the Music, which patterns Arda Marred, and can remake the world into something new. It is Men who are the ones said to join in the Second Music at the end, while the fate of Elves is unknown. It is Men who will perhaps save the Elves from their never-ending sorrow.
While this purpose of Man aligns with mankind’s gifts from Eru, what has actually taken place does not seem so hopeful. Just as younger siblings imitate the older, so Men follow in the footsteps of the Elves. The there-and-back motion of the Noldor who go to the light and then flee from it is mirrored in the path of the Númenóreans. Physically, both move West and then return East, but even in name, there are echoes of their parallel movements from light. Flieger notes the spectrum of light present in the naming of the elves—the High Elves, the Twilight Elves, and the Dark Elves (Splintered Light). Similarly, Faramir calls the descendents of the Númenóreans the High, while the Rohirrim are Men of the Twilight, and their enemies are the Men of the Darkness. Just as the Noldor, upon returning, become more and more like the Sindar, their Twilight brethren, so Faramir notes that the men of Gondor are becoming increasingly like the men of Rohan (LotR IV.5).
Yet, as the children of the promise, descent into darkness is not to be the fate of mankind. Flieger suggests that the interaction between Men and Elves is one of crossing paths—Elves are moving away from the light while Men move toward it, and their interactions mutually benefit each other: “Elves need Men just as much as Men need Elves. Elves, going toward darkness, will set Men’s feet on the path to the light. With that accomplished, Men—less visibly great than Elves but with immeasurably greater potential, may be able to turn back and assist Elves into the light” (Splintered Light 145). But how do Men return to the light having trod for so long beneath the Shadow?
The answer, it seems, lies in the union between Elves and Men, and here is where the biblical motif takes a turn. Instead of simply superseding the other, the younger brother can only gain the promise with the help of the elder, and he acts on behalf of them both. Through the “ennoblement of the Human Race” (Letter 153), a new light is found within humanity: “this indwelling light [...] is at last to replace the tangible, external light” (Splintered Light 145). In other words, this is the moment in which the metaphor made literal returns to being a metaphor. Humanity is the new light. The West, the (pen)ultimate source and symbol of light throughout the legendarium, is ultimately rejected by the Half-Elven—when Aragorn and Arwen agree to marry, they reject the West as well as the East: “And there upon that hill they looked east to the Shadow and west to the Twilight, and they plighted their troth and were glad.” Twilight, which once covered only Middle-Earth, now encompasses the West, the Blessed Realm itself. Hope will not come from the Valar. Hope comes from trust in Eru beyond Arda and his intent to use Men within Arda in order to bring about the renewal of the world.
KY
Men, the Secondborn, the Younger Child. Followers, strangers, short-lived. Waking under Shadow yet with faces toward the sun; destined to inherit the world; falling in fear and yet saved by hope—trust in Eru that Arda will be restored, and that death is not the end but rather indicative of their freedom from and purpose within the world.
The primary relationship between Elves and Men is one of siblinghood. They are two halves of a family tree that intertwine with one another, the first enriching the second until only Men are left in Middle-Earth, carrying on the family line through the joining of both races. Though by the end of the Third Age, Men and Elves are mostly estranged (and by present day, they have faded away entirely) this was not always so. The conversation between Finrod and Andreth points to both the friendship between the two races as well as their underlying kinship. They learn much from one another, Finrod of the human tradition that immortality was their original lot until lost through some means of the Shadow, Andreth of Elvish death, and the final end that awaits the Elves once Arda fails. But even while they learn from each other, they also give each other insight that points them toward truth. When Finrod suggests that Arda is not humanity’s true home, Andreth is moved; something within her rises to that suggestion. When Andreth discusses Man’s interaction with Arda, Finrod sees a vision of healing that gives him joy and hope. Elf and woman are able to affect each other so deeply because they are ultimately brother and sister.
In Genesis, God establishes his covenant with the younger son, though everyone would expect the firstborn to receive the promise, and brother is momentarily (or permanently) estranged from brother. Ishmael is passed over for Isaac, Esau for Jacob. Even Abel pleases God more than his older brother Cain (and earns a premature demise for his troubles). This family that God chooses is one that he will use to bring his creation back to himself. As children of the promise, Israel is meant to bless the other nations; they are God’s chosen instrument for world renewal.
Men, the Secondborn, similarly become the children of the promise. Of course, the promise is never stated outright, and Eru, unlike the Judeo-Christian God, hardly bothers to speak to his creation, but it is Men, not Elves, who inherit Arda. And humans come into more than just an inheritance: Finrod’s vision presents a world that has been restored by men—through them, Arda Marred becomes Arda Remade. It suggests that Men are not at home in Arda because their hearts belong to this healed future, while the Elves love the world too much and remain firmly within it. Because Men have the gift of free will, they are able to act beyond the Music, which patterns Arda Marred, and can remake the world into something new. It is Men who are the ones said to join in the Second Music at the end, while the fate of Elves is unknown. It is Men who will perhaps save the Elves from their never-ending sorrow.
While this purpose of Man aligns with mankind’s gifts from Eru, what has actually taken place does not seem so hopeful. Just as younger siblings imitate the older, so Men follow in the footsteps of the Elves. The there-and-back motion of the Noldor who go to the light and then flee from it is mirrored in the path of the Númenóreans. Physically, both move West and then return East, but even in name, there are echoes of their parallel movements from light. Flieger notes the spectrum of light present in the naming of the elves—the High Elves, the Twilight Elves, and the Dark Elves (Splintered Light). Similarly, Faramir calls the descendents of the Númenóreans the High, while the Rohirrim are Men of the Twilight, and their enemies are the Men of the Darkness. Just as the Noldor, upon returning, become more and more like the Sindar, their Twilight brethren, so Faramir notes that the men of Gondor are becoming increasingly like the men of Rohan (LotR IV.5).
Yet, as the children of the promise, descent into darkness is not to be the fate of mankind. Flieger suggests that the interaction between Men and Elves is one of crossing paths—Elves are moving away from the light while Men move toward it, and their interactions mutually benefit each other: “Elves need Men just as much as Men need Elves. Elves, going toward darkness, will set Men’s feet on the path to the light. With that accomplished, Men—less visibly great than Elves but with immeasurably greater potential, may be able to turn back and assist Elves into the light” (Splintered Light 145). But how do Men return to the light having trod for so long beneath the Shadow?
The answer, it seems, lies in the union between Elves and Men, and here is where the biblical motif takes a turn. Instead of simply superseding the other, the younger brother can only gain the promise with the help of the elder, and he acts on behalf of them both. Through the “ennoblement of the Human Race” (Letter 153), a new light is found within humanity: “this indwelling light [...] is at last to replace the tangible, external light” (Splintered Light 145). In other words, this is the moment in which the metaphor made literal returns to being a metaphor. Humanity is the new light. The West, the (pen)ultimate source and symbol of light throughout the legendarium, is ultimately rejected by the Half-Elven—when Aragorn and Arwen agree to marry, they reject the West as well as the East: “And there upon that hill they looked east to the Shadow and west to the Twilight, and they plighted their troth and were glad.” Twilight, which once covered only Middle-Earth, now encompasses the West, the Blessed Realm itself. Hope will not come from the Valar. Hope comes from trust in Eru beyond Arda and his intent to use Men within Arda in order to bring about the renewal of the world.
KY
2 comments:
This is a really beautiful reflection! I had not made the connection between the Elf-Man relationship and the motif of younger brothers inheriting God's covenant in Genesis. Yet the Elves are not merely Esau or Ishmael figures who are left behind by the continued motion of Providence: both are essential to the human condition in some mysterious way. As you say, "When Finrod suggests that Arda is not humanity’s true home, Andreth is moved; something within her rises to that suggestion. When Andreth discusses Man’s interaction with Arda, Finrod sees a vision of healing that gives him joy and hope." I think you could say more about Letter 181 and its claim that Elves and Men reflect twin aspects of the specifically *human* predicament.
How do the marriages of Elves and Men fit into the covenantal motif that you raise? Is it too much to see in them a type of the marriage of God and man that takes place in communion?
~LJF
Like LFJ, I had never made this connection between Elves and Men and the siblings of the covenant. This brings a whole new dimension to their movement towards and away from the Light! Nor had I noticed the way in which Arwen and Aragon look outside of the East-West movement in which the Elves and Men have hitherto been engaged (trapped?). I wonder, too, about the way the marriages play into this dynamic. Lovely. RLFB
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