TOLKIEN FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LISTД A.F.TOLKIEN (2:5030/2.6) ДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДД A.F.TOLKIEN ДMsg : 156 of 200 From : loos@amber.mgh.harvard.edu 2:5030/2 Fri 20 Aug 93 07:06 To : All Mon 23 Aug 93 08:00 Subj : (1) Tolkien FAQ 1/2 (partially revised) ДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДД .REPLYADDR loos@amber.mgh.harvard.edu .REPLYTO 2:5030/2 uucp X-RealName: William D.B. Loos News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41 Nntp-Posting-Host: frodo.mgh.harvard.edu Sorry this is a bit late -- I posted it twice but evidently it's grown too large for the mailer to handle. Let's try it split in two. The work of revision continues. The process is slowed down by the unhelpful nature of the index in the Letters. I have deferred work on the more controversial questions, which will need a much fuller treatment, in particular the Ring-in-Numenor and Glorfindel questions. This has not been stored at the ftp site yet because I will probably be dividing it into smaller files and would like to accomplish that before permanent storage. William D.B. Loos loos@frodo.mgh.harvard.edu ======================================================================== ======================================================================== TOLKIEN FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST ******************************** * Last Updated August 14, 1993 * ******************************** Sections/questions marked: * have been revised since the last release. ** are new since the last release. Table of Contents I. Changes Since the Last Release (**) II. Acknowledgements (**) III. Note on Page References and Conversion Table (**) IV. Commonly Used Abbreviations (*) V. Frequently Asked Questions A) Tolkien And His Work (*) 1) Who was J.R.R. Tolkien anyway? (*) 2) Were the languages presented in _The Lord of the Rings_ real languages? (*) 3) What does it mean when people (or Tolkien himself) speak of him as having been the "editor" of _The Lord of the Rings_ ? (*) 4) How thoroughly realized was Tolkien's fiction that he was the "translator" of _The Lord of the Rings_ ? (*) 5) Why is Tolkien's work, _The Lord of the Rings_ in particular, so difficult to translate (into other languages of our world)? (*) 6) Did the events in _The Lord of the Rings_ take place on another planet or what? (*) 7) Was the northwest of Middle-earth, where the story takes place, meant to actually be Europe? (*) 8) Was the Shire meant to be England? (*) 9) What were the changes made to _The Hobbit_ after _The Lord of the Rings_ was written, and what motivated them? 10) Was there a change of tone between Book I and the rest of _The Lord of the Rings_ ? 11) Why did Tolkien fail to publish _The Silmarillion_ during the eighteen years which followed the publication of _The Lord of the Rings_ ? B) General History Of Middle-earth 13) What exactly happened at the end of the First Age? 14) In terms of the larger worldview, what exactly took place at the Fall of Numenor? C) Hobbits (*) 15) Were Hobbits a sub-group of Humans? 16) Did Frodo and the others (Bilbo, Sam, and Gimli) who passed over the Sea eventually die, or had they become immortal? (*) 17) Did Hobbits have pointed ears? (*) 18) When was Bilbo and Frodo's Birthday? To what date on our own calendar does it correspond? (*) 19) Was Gollum a hobbit? (*) 20) In _The Hobbit_, Bilbo called the spiders Attercop, Lazy Lob, Crazy Cob, and Old Tomnoddy. What do the words mean? 21) Were Elves reincarnated after they were slain? 22) Was Glorfindel of Rivendell (whom Frodo met) the same as Glorfindel of Gondolin, who was slain fighting a Balrog? (*) 23) Did Elves have pointed ears? 24) How were Eldar in Valinor named? E) Humans 25) What brought on the sinking of Numenor? 26) How could Ar-Pharazon of Numenor defeat Sauron while Sauron wielded the One Ring? 27) What happened to the Ring when Numenor was destroyed? 28) Where did the Southrons come from? Were they part of the Atani? F) Dwarves 29) What were the origins of the Dwarves? 30) If, as has been told, only Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were created, how did the race procreate? 31) Did Dwarf women have beards? G) Istari (Wizards) 32) Who were the Istari (Wizards)? 33) Of the Five Wizards, only three came into the story. Was anything known about the other two? 34) What happened to Radagast? H) Enemies 35) What was the relationship between Orcs and Goblins? 36) What was the origin of the Orcs? 37) What was the origin of Trolls? J) Miscellaneous 38) Who or what was Tom Bombadil? 39) Was there any definitive explanation given on what happened to the Entwives? 40) Who was Queen Beruthiel (who was mentioned by Aragorn during the journey through Moria)? ======================================================================== ======================================================================== CHANGES SINCE THE LAST RELEASE The changes indicated in the Contents were those needed to bring various sections to their final form. Unless otherwise noted, questions marked as revised were changed by the addition of references and of contributors (and stylistically: some were to some extent re-written) but not in content. This section and the Acknowledgements section are new. In the Note on Page References the explanation of which editions the page numbers refer to is new; it supplements the conversion table, which was already included. A few additions were made to the Commonly Used Abbreviations. Question 1 was significantly expanded. Question 3: several illustrative examples were added. Question 5: further examples were added. Question 6 was significantly expanded by the addition of several quoted excerpts. Question 7 also was. Question 8 had its conclusion slightly altered, an addtional point was noted, and several quotes were added. Question 9 was extended to clarify a complicated situation. Question 12, on canonicity, has temporarily been removed. Question 15 was extended by the inclusion of the relevant quotes. Question 17 was slightly expanded. Question 19 was slightly expanded by more carful referencing. Question 23 was extended by the inclusion of the relevant quote. ======================================================================== ======================================================================== ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following individuals made suggestions and contributions to this Frequently Asked Questions list: Wayne.G.Hammond@williams.edu (Wayne Hammond Jr) carl@class.gsfc.nasa.gov (Carl F. Hostetter) paul@ERC.MsState.Edu (Paul Adams) wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz (Bill Taylor) cpresson@jido.b30.ingr.com (Craig Presson) simen.gaure@usit.uio.no (Simen Gaure) abalje47@uther.Calvin.EDU (Alan Baljeu) sahdra@ecf.toronto.edu (SAHDRA KULDIP) ======================================================================== ======================================================================== NOTE ON PAGE REFERENCES Sources for quotations have been provided in the form of volume and page numbers; which edition is referred to in each case is listed below. For those cases when the proper edition is not available (and the conversion table below is not applicable) the page numbers have also been roughly located according to chapter, sub-section, or appendix, whichever is applicable. For example, RK, 57-59 (V, 2) refers to pages 57-59 of Return of the King and further locates the pages in chapter 2 of Book V. PLEASE NOTE the distinction in the case of _Lord of the Rings_ between *Volumes* and *Books*. LotR is comprised of three Volumes (FR, TT, and RK) and of six Books (I - VI), which are the more natural divisions of the story into six roughly equal parts. There are two Books in each of the Volumes. Other sample references are below. References to _The Hobbit_ are from the Ballantine paperback (the pagination has been the same since the 60's. All other references are to the HM hardcovers. Sample references follow: Hobbit, 83 (Ch V) == Hobbit, chapter V RK, 408 (App F, I, "Of Men", "Of Hobbits") == p 408 in Part I of Appendix F, the sections entitled "Of Men" and "Of Hobbits" Silm, 57 (Ch V) == Silmarillion, chapter V (BoLT and _The Annotated Hobbit_ treated similarly) UT, 351 (Three, IV, iii) == Unfinished Tales, Part Three, Chapter IV, sub-section iii (the Biography treated similarly) Letters, 230 (#178) == letter number 178. RtMe, 53-54 (3, "Creative anachronisms") == The Road to Middle-earth, in Chapter 3, sub-section "Creative anachronisms" CONVERSION TABLE In _The Atlas of Middle-earth_, Karen Wynn Fonstad provided a Houghton-Mifflin-to-Ballantine conversion table, which is reproduced below. The "table" is actually a set of formulae by which HM page numbers may be converted to Ballantine page numbers via arithmetic involving some empirically determined constants. Since these are discrete rather than continuous functions the results may be off by a page or so. HM Page Subtract Divide By Add ------------- -------- --------- ------- FR 10 to 423 9 .818 18 TT 15 to 352 14 .778 16 RK 19 to 311 18 .797 18 RK 313 to 416 312 .781 386 H 9 to 317 8 1.140 14 Silm 15 to 365 14 .773 2 Reference: Atlas, p. 191 (first edtion), p. 192 (revised edtion) ======================================================================== ======================================================================== COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS General: JRRT J.R.R. Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CT, CJRT Christopher Tolkien (son; editor of most posthumous works) A&U, AU George Allen & Unwin (original British publisher) UH Unwin Hyman (new name for A&U c. 1987(?)) HC HarperCollins (purchased UH c. 1992; current British publisher) HM Houghton Mifflin (American publisher) M-e Middle-earth SA Second Age TA Third Age SR Shire Reckoning Middle-earth Works: H The Hobbit LR, LotR The Lord of the Rings FR, FotR The Fellowship of the Ring TT, TTT The Two Towers RK, RotK The Return of the King TB, ATB The Adventures of Tom Bombadil RGEO The Road Goes Ever On Silm The Silmarillion UT Unfinished Tales Letters The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien HoMe History of Middle-earth BLT,BoLT Book of Lost Tales Lays The Lays of Beleriand Treason The Treason of Isengard Guide The Guide to the Names in the Lord of the Rings (published in _A Tolkien Compass_) Other Works: FGH Farmer Giles of Ham TL Tree and Leaf OFS On Fairy-Stories LbN Leaf by Niggle HBBS The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son SWM Smith of Wootton Major SGPO Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Sir Orfeo FCL The Father Christmas Letters Reference Works: Biography J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography; by Humphrey Carpenter (published in the US as Tolkien: A Biography) Inklings The Inklings: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Their Friends; by Humphrey Carpenter RtMe The Road to Middle-earth; by T.A. Shippey Scholar J.R.R. Tolkien, Scholar and Storyteller: Essays in Memoriam; edited by Mary Salu and Robert T. Farrell Atlas The Atlas of Middle-earth; by Karen Wynn Fonstad ======================================================================== ======================================================================== TOLKIEN AND HIS WORK 1) Who was J.R.R. Tolkien anyway? John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Englishman, scholar, and storyteller was born of English parents at Bloemfontein, South Africa on Jan. 3, 1892 and died in England on Sept. 2, 1973. His entire childhood was spent in England, to which the family returned permenantly in 1896 upon the death of his father. He received his education at King Edward's School, St. Philip's Grammar School, and Oxford University. After graduating in 1915 he joined the British army and saw action in the Battle of the Somme. He was eventually discharged after spending most of 1917 in the hospital suffering from "trench fever". [It was during this time that he began The Book of Lost Tales.] Tolkien was a scholar by profession. His academic positions were: staff member of the New English Dictionary (1918-20); Reader, later Professor of English Language at Leeds, 1920-25; Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford (1925-45); and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature (1945-59). His principal professional focus was the study of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) and its relation to linguistically similar languages (Old Norse, Old German, and Gothic), with special emphasis on the dialects of Mercia, that part of England in which he grew up and lived, but he was also interested in Middle English, especially the dialect used in the _Ancrene Wisse_ (a twelfth century manuscript probably composed in western England). Moreover, Tolkien was an expert in the surviving literature written in these languages. Indeed, his unusual ability to simultaneously read the texts as linguistic sources and as literature gave him perspective into both aspects; this was once described as "his unique insight at once into the language of poetry and the poetry of language" (from the Obituary; Scholar, p. 13). From an early age he had been fascinated by language, particularly the languages of Northern Europe, both ancient and modern. From this affinity for language came not only his profession but also his private hobby, the invention of languages. He was more generally drawn to the entire "Northern tradition", which inspired him to wide reading of its myths and epics and of those modern authors who were equally drawn to it, such as William Morris and George MacDonald. His broad knowledge inevitably led to the development of various opinions about Myth, its relation to language, and the importance of Stories, interests which were shared by his friend C.S. Lewis. All these various perspectives: language, the heroic tradition, and Myth and Story (and a very real and deeply-held belief in and devotion to Catholic Christianity) came together with stunning effect in his stories: first the legends of the Elder Days which served as background to his invented languages, and later his most famous works, _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_. References: Biography; Letters; RtMe (esp. ch 1, on philology); Inklings; Scholar. Contributors: WDBL, Wayne Hammond Jr ---------- 2) Were the languages presented in _The Lord of the Rings_ real languages? Most certainly they were, especially the Elven languages Sindarin and Quenya. "[These were] no arbitrary gibberish but really possible tongues with consistent roots, sound laws, and inflexions, into which he poured all his imaginative and philological powers..." (Obituary, in Scholar, p. 12). Furthermore, they were both derived from a "proto-Elvish" language, again in a linguistically realistic manner. [Sindarin was the "everyday" elvish language while Quenya was a kind of "elf-latin"; therefore, most Elvish words in LotR were Sindarin. Examples: most "non-English" (see Ques 4) place-names on the map (e.g. Minas Tirith, Emyn Beriad) were Sindarin, as was the song to Elbereth sung in Rivendell; Galadriel's lament was in Quenya.] The language of the Rohirrim *was* a real language: Anglo-Saxon (Old English), just as their culture (except for the horses) was that of the Anglo-Saxons. (It was, however, not the "standard" West Saxon Old English but rather the Mercian equivalent (RtMe, 94).) Most of the other languages in LotR were much less fully developed: Entish, Khudzul (Dwarvish) and the Black Speech (the language of Mordor, e.g. the Ring inscription). Adunaic, the language of Numenor, developed in 1946 while he was finishing up LotR, was said to be his fifteenth invented language. References: Biography, 35-37 (II,3), 93-95 (III,1), 195 (V,2); Letters, 175-176 (#144), 219 (footnote) (#165), 380 (#297); RtMe, 93 (4, "The horses of the Mark"); Scholar, 12 (Obituary). Contributor: WDBL ---------- 3) What does it mean when people (or Tolkien himself) speak of him as having been the "editor" of _The Lord of the Rings_ ? The fiction Tolkien sought to maintain was that _The Lord of the Rings_ (and _The Hobbit_ and the Silmarillion) were actually ancient manuscripts (written by Frodo and Bilbo, respectively) of which he was merely the editor and translator (a situation identical to much of his scholarly work). He never stated this directly but it is implicit in the way in which many sections of LoTR outside the story are written. Thus, the Prologue is plainly written as though by a modern editor describing an ancient time. Other examples are the introductory note to the revised edition of _The Hobbit_, the Preface to _The Adventures of Tom Bombadil_, and parts of the Appendices, especially the intro- ductory note to Appendix A, Appendix D, and Appendix F. Most inter- esting of all is the Note on the Shire Records, where Tolkien further simulates a real situation by inventing a manuscript tradition (the suggestion was that Frodo's original manuscript didn't survive but that a series of copies had been made, one of which had come into Tolkien's hands). This entire notion was by no means a new idea: many authors have pretended that their fantasies were "true" stories of some ancient time. Few, however, have done so as thoroughly and successfully as did Tolkien. The most effective component of his pretense was the linguistic aspects of Middle-earth, for he was uniquely qualified to pose as the "translator" of the manuscripts (on which see Ques 4). References: introductory note to _The Hobbit_ (precedes Ch I); FR, Prologue, Note on the Shire Records; RK, Appendix A, Appendix D, Appendix F; ATB, Preface. Contributor: WDBL ---------- 4) How thoroughly realized was Tolkien's fiction that he was the "translator" of _The Lord of the Rings_ ? Very thoroughly indeed. The scenario was that "of course" hobbits couldn't have spoken English (the story took place far in the past -- see Ques 6); rather, they spoke their own language, called Westron (but often referred to as the Common Speech). Tolkien "translated" this language into English, which included "rendering" all the Common Speech place-names into the equivalent English place-names. The object of the exercise was to produce the following effect: names in the Common Speech (which were familiar to the hobbits) were "rendered" into English (in which form they would be familiar to us, the English- speaking readers); names in other languages (usually Sindarin) were "left alone", and thus were equally unfamiliar to the hobbits and to us. Since the story was told largely from the hobbits' point of view, that we should share their linguistic experience is a desirable result (especially for Tolkien, who was unusually sensitive to such matters). In portraying the linguistic landscape of Middle-earth he carried this procedure much further. The main example was his "substitution" of Anglo-Saxon for Rohirric. The "rationale" was that the hobbits' dialect of Westron was distantly related to Rohirric; therefore, when hobbits heard Rohirric they recognized many words but the language nevertheless remained just beyond understanding (RK, 65 (V,3)). Thus, Tolkien attempted to further "duplicate" hobbit linguistic perceptions by "substituting" that language of our world (Anglo-Saxon) which has (more-or-less) the same relation to English that Rohirric had to the hobbit version of Westron. There were many other nuances in the intricate and subtle linguis- tic web he devised (always, he carefully explained, in the interests of "reproducing" the linguistic map of Middle-earth in a way that could be easily assimilated by modern English-speaking readers). Thus: a) Archaic English roots were used in those Common Speech place- names which were given long before the time of the story (e.g. Tindrock, Derndingle; see Guide). b) Some of the Stoors (who later settled in Buckland and the Marish) dwelt in Dunland at one time (Tale of Years, entries for TA 1150 and 1630 (RK, App B)); the men of Bree also came from that region originally (RK, 408 (App F, I, "Of Men", "Of Hobbits")). "Since the survival of traces of the older language of the Stoors and the Bree-men resembled the survival of Celtic elements in England" (RK, 414 (App F, II)), the place-names in Bree were Celtic in origin (Bree, Archet, Chetwood) (see also Guide). Similarly, the names of the Buckland hobbits were Welsh (e.g. Madoc, Berilac). c) Among hobbits some of the older Fallohide families liked to give themselves high-sounding names from the legendary past (an example of hobbit humor). Tolkien "represented" such names by names of Frankish or Gothic origin (Isengrim, Rudigar, Fredegar, Peregrin). These matters and much else is explained in detail in Appendix F. References: RK, Appendix F; Guide; Letters, 174-176 (#144), 380-381 (#297); RtMe, 88-89 (4, "Stars, shadows, cellar-doors: patterns of language and of history"). Contributor: WDBL ---------- 5) Why is Tolkien's work, _The Lord of the Rings_ in particular, so difficult to translate (into other languages of our world)? Because his interest in, skill with, and love of language are man- ifest at every level and indeed in almost every word of LotR, thereby producing a result difficult if not impossible to duplicate. Question 4 describes how Common Speech names were "rendered" into English. The Guide to the Names in _The Lord of the Rings_, Tolkien's instructions for translators, does attempt to address this. In it he goes down the list of names in the index and specifies which should be translated (being Common Speech) and which should be left alone. It would require skillful translation to get even this far, but that would only be the beginning. Reproducing the other linguistic intri- cacies described in Question 4 would be well-nigh impossible; for example, Rohirric would have to be replaced with some ancient language whose relation to the language of translation was the same as that of Anglo-Saxon to modern English. On another level, there is the diction and style of everything said and told. The language used has a strong archaic flavor; it is not an exact recreation of how Anglo-Saxon or medieval people actually spoke but rather is as close an approximation as he could achieve and still remain intelligible to modern readers. This was not accidental but rather was deliberately and carefully devised. (See Letters, 225-226 (#171)). There were, moreover, variations in the style in which characters of different backgrounds spoke the Common Speech ("represented" as English) (e.g. at the Council of Elrond, FR, II, 2; see also RtMe 90-93). There were variations in the style of individual characters at different times (RK, 412 (App F, II)). There was even an attempt to indicate a distinction between familiar and deferential forms of pronouns (which doesn't exist in modern English) by use of the archaic words "thee" and "thou" (RK, 411 (App F, II); for an example, see the scene with Aragorn and Eowyn at Dunharrow, RK, 57-59 (V, 2)). Finally, there was Tolkien's poetry, which was often far more complicated than it appeared, and which in many cases is very probably untranslatable. (The extreme case is Bilbo's Song of Earendil, FR, 246-249 (II,1); T.A. Shippey has identified five separate metrical devices in this poem: RtMe, 145-146). References: RK, Appendix F, 57-59 (V, 2); FR, "The Council of Elrond" (II, 2), 246-249 (II,1); Guide; Letters, 225-226 (#171), 250-251 (#190) [on the Dutch translation], 263 (#204) [on the Swedish translation]; RtMe, 90-93 (4, "'The Council of Elrond'"), 145-146 (6, "the elvish tradition"). Contributor: WDBL ---------- 6) Did the events in _The Lord of the Rings_ take place on another planet or what? No. Tolkien's intention was that was that Middle-earth was our own world, though his way of stating this idea was somewhat unusual: he spoke of having created events which took place in an *imaginary time* of a real place. He made this fully explicit only in Letters, but there were two very strong indications in the published _Lord of the Rings_, though both were outside the narrative. The first was in the Prologue. It is there stated: "Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed; but the regions in which Hobbits then lived were doubtless the same as those in which they still linger: the North-West of the Old World, east of the Sea." (FR, 11). Since no other reference is made to this matter either in the Prologue or in the main narrative, it makes little impression on most readers, but is clear enough once pointed out. The second was in Appendix D, which presents lore on calendars in Middle-earth. The discussion begins as follows: The Calendar in the Shire differed in several features from ours. The year no doubt was of the same length (*), for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to the memory of the Earth. (*) 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds. (RK, 385 (App D)) The quote is clear enough in and of itself, but that the year length specified in the footnote is the precise length of our own year must surely remove all doubt. There follow excerpts from three letters wherein the matter is further discussed. 'Middle-earth', by the way, is not a name of a never-never land without relation to the world we live in .... And though I have not attempted to relate the shape of the mountains and land-masses to what geologists may say or surmise about the nearer past, imagina- tively this 'history' is supposed to take place in a period of the actual Old World of this planet. Letters, 220 (#165) I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. ... The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified by the enchantment of distance in time. Letters, 239 (#183) ... I hope the, evidently long but undefined, gap(*) in time between the Fall of Barad-dur and our Days is sufficient for 'literary cred- ibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known or surmised of 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary *time*, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for *place*. I prefer that to the con- temporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. However curious, they are alien, and not lovable with the love of blood-kin. Middle- earth is ... not my own invention. It is a modernization or alteration ... of an old word for the inhabited world of Men, the _oikoumene_ : middle because thought of vaguely as set amidst the encircling Seas and (in the northern-imagination) between ice of the North and the fire of the South. O. English _middan-geard_ , mediaeval E. _midden-erd_, _middle-erd_ . Many reviewers seem to assume that Middle-earth is another planet! Letters, 283 (#211) The footnote in the first sentence of the last-quoted excerpt offers a fascinating insight: (*) I imagine the gap to be about 6000 years: that is we are now at the end of the Fifth Age, if the Ages were of about the same length as S.A. and T.A. But they have, I think, quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the Sixth Age, or in the Seventh. Letters, 283 (#211) A final note is that not only is the place our own world but also the people inhabiting it are ourselves, morally as well as physically: ... I have not made any of the peoples on the 'right' side, Hobbits, Rohirrim, Men of Dale or of Gondor, any better than men have been or are, or can be. Mine is not an 'imaginary' world, but an imaginary historical moment on 'Middle-earth' -- which is our habitaion. Letters, 244 (#183) References: FR, 11 (Prologue); RK, 385 (Appendix D); Letters, 220 (#165), 239, 244 (#183), 283 (#211). Contributors: WDBL, Carl F. Hostetter, Bill Taylor ---------- 7) Was the northwest of Middle-earth, where the story took place, meant to actually be Europe? Yes, but a qualified yes. There is no question that Tolkien had northwestern Europe in mind when he described the terrain, weather, flora, and landscapes of Middle-earth. This was no doubt partially because NW Europe was his home and therefore most familiar to him and partially because of his love for the "Northern tradition". As he said himself: "The North-west of Europe, where I (and most of my ancestors) have lived, has my affection, as a man's home should. I love its atmosphere, and know more of its histories and languages than I do of other parts; ..." (Letters 376 (#294)). Thus, the environment of Middle-earth will seem familiar to dwellers of that region of Europe (see the second letter excerpted in Question 6 (#183)). However, the geographies simply don't match. This was the result not so much of a deliberate decision on Tolkien's part to have things so but rather a side-effect of the history of the composition: the question did not occur to him until the story was too far advanced and the map too fixed to allow much alteration: ... if it were 'history', it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeo- logical or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now called Europe; though the Shire, for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region [FR, 11]. I could have fitted things in with greater versimilitude, if the story had not become too far developed, before the question ever occurred to me. I doubt if there would have been much gain; ... Letters, 283 (#211) ... As for the shape of the world of the Third Age, I am afraid that was devised 'dramatically' rather than geologically, or paleonto- logically. I do sometimes wish that I had made some sort of agree- ment between the imaginations or theories of the geologists and my map a little more possible. But that would only have made more trouble with human history. Letters, 224 (#169) The remark that there probably would not "have been much gain" is characteristic and perhaps indicates Tolkien's own approach, which would seem to have been to focus on the environmental familiarity at the "local" level (in the sense that any particular scene might have come from somewhere in Europe) and to simply overlook the lack of "global" identity. On the other hand, he made some attempt to address the difficulty in the quote from the Prologue (FR, 11), where it was said: "Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed...". The conclusion is that it is a matter for each individual reader as to how important is the lack of geographical fit and where one comes down on the continuum between "Middle-earth was northwestern Europe" and "Middle-earth might as well have been northwestern Europe" (or, as Tolkien might have said, "Middle-earth 'imaginatively' was northwestern Europe"). [Thus, recent attempts to force the M-e map to fit the map of the Eurasian land mass, such as in _Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia_ by David Day, should be discounted.] In one letter he provided indications to help in visualizing the circumstances of various locales, but this does not help in resolving the above matter, since again northwestern Europe was used for comparison rather than equation: The action of the story takes place in the North-west of 'Middle- earth', equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean. ... If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence. The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy. Letters, 375-376 (#294) References: FR, 11 (Prologue); Letters, 376 (#294), 239 (#183), 283 (#211), 224 (#169). Contributors: WDBL, Carl F. Hostetter ---------- 8) Was the Shire meant to be England? In this case, the balance between "actually *was*" and "was based upon" is entirely tipped towards the former. There is no hint that the Shire was in any sense supposed the be the country now called England in an ancient state. On the other hand, there is plainly a very strong resemblance between the Shire and the rural England of about a century ago. More precisely, the Shire plainly could not *be* England in any literal sense: England is an island, and even changes in "the shape of all lands" (FR, 11) is insufficient to explain such a discrepancy (especially since even the westernmost part of the Shire was some 200 miles from the Sea). Nevertheless, the Shire was more exactly based on England than any other part of Middle-earth was based on any part of our world: the climate, place-names, flora and fauna, terrain, food, customs, and the inhabitants themselves, were all English. In effect the Shire was an idealized version of the rural England of Tolkien's childhood. Some of his comments on the matter were: [The Shire] is in fact more or less a Warwickshire village of about the period of the Diamond Jubilee ... Letters, 230 (#178) But, of course, if we drop the 'fiction' of long ago, 'The Shire' is based on rural England and not any other country in the world... [Later in the same letter he implied that the Shire was "an imag- inary mirror" of England.] Letters, 250 (#190) There is no special reference to England in the 'Shire' -- except of course that as an Englishman brought up in an 'almost rural' village of Warwickshire on the edge of the prosperous bourgeoisie of Birmingham (about the time of the Diamond Jubilee!) I take my models like anyone else -- from such 'life' as I know. Letters, 235 (#181) See also RtMe 31-33 for a fascinating suggestion that certain compo- nents of Tolkien's early philological studies may have contributed to his later conception of the Shire. Shippey has also suggested that Tolkien's motivation in changing Gandalf's supper request in ch 1 of _The Hobbit_ from "cold chicken and tomatoes" in the first edition to "cold chicken and pickles" in the revised edition was linguistic: that to Tolkien's extraordinarily sensitive ear "tomato" sounded out of place in a country that was a mirror of English, since tomato only entered the language in the sixteenth century and moreover originally came from some Caribbean language. Likewise, tobacco, used in _The Hobbit_, was changed to "pipeweed", and "potatos" were usually spoken of only by Sam, who called them "taters" (RtMe, 53-54; Annotated Hobbit, 19). * * * Finally, great care must be taken not to confound the idea of the Shire's having been based on England with a concept found in Tolkien's earliest writings, that Tol Eressea (Elvenhome) eventually *became* England. This appeared during his early work on the Book of Lost Tales (which eventually evolved into the Silm). Very probably it had been supplanted even before he stopped work on the Lost Tales (1920) (BoLT I, 22-27). In any case, it had long since been abandoned by the time LoTR was begun in 1937, and plays no part in the 'history' of Middle-earth as presented in LotR, Silm, _The Hobbit_, etc. References: FR, 11 (Prologue); Letters, 230 (#178), 235 (#181), 250 (#190); RtMe, 31-33 (2, "Survivals in the West"), 53-54 (3, "Creative anachronisms"); BoLT I, 22-27 (I, "Commentary on _The Cottage of Lost Play_"); Annotated Hobbit, 19 (ch 1, note 7). Contributors: WDBL, Wayne Hammond Jr, Bill Taylor ---------- 9) What were the changes made to _The Hobbit_ after _The Lord of the Rings_ was written, and what motivated them? [This question refers to the major revisions made to the Gollum chapter, "Riddles in the Dark", not to the multitude of minor changes made elsewhere.] In the original 1937 edition of _The Hobbit_ Gollum was genuinely willing to bet his ring on the riddle game, the deal being that Bilbo would receive a "present" if he won. Gollum in fact was dismayed when he couldn't keep his promise because the ring was missing. He showed Bilbo the way out as an alternative, and they parted courteously. As the writing of LotR progressed the nature of the Ring changed. No longer a "convenient magical device", it had become an irresistable power object, and Gollum's behavior now seemed inexplicable, indeed, impossible. In the rough drafts of the "Shadow of the Past" chapter Gandalf was made to perform much squirming in an attempt to make it appear credible, not wholly successfully. Tolkien resolved the difficulty by re-writing the chapter into its present form, in which Gollum had no intention whatsoever of giving up the Ring but rather would show Bilbo the way out if he lost. Also, Gollum was made far more wretched, as befitted one enslaved and tor- mented by the Ruling Ring. At the same time, however, Bilbo's claim to the Ring was seriously undercut. [ Care must be taken in examining this last point. There are two issues involved, well sumarized in the Prologue: "The Authorities, it is true, differ whether this last question was a mere 'question' and not a 'riddle' ... but all agree that, after accepting it and trying to guess the answer, Gollum was bound by his promise" (FR, 21). Thus, it was Bilbo's winning of the game that was questionable. Given that he had, albeit on a technicality, he was fully entitled to the prize, which, in the old version, was the ring. In the new version, however, he had no claim to the Ring at all, whether he had won or not, because the Ring was not the stake of the game. ] The textual situation thus reached was that there now existed two versions of the episode. Tolkien deftly made this circumstance part of the story by suggesting that the first time around **Bilbo was lying** (under the influence of the Ring) to strengthen his claim. (Bilbo had written this version in his diary, which was "translated" by Tolkien and published as "The Hobbit"; hence the error in the early editions, later "corrected".) This new sequence of events inside the story is laid out clearly in "Of the Finding of the Ring" (Prologue) and is taken for granted thereafter for the rest of the story (e.g. in "The Shadow of the Past" and at the Council of Elrond). _The Hobbit_ as now presented fits the new scenario remarkably well, even though Tolkien, for quite sound literary reasons, left this entire matter of Bilbo's dishonesty out (it was an entirely irrelevant complication which would have thrown everything out of balance). The present attempt to step back and view the entire picture is made more involved by the fact that there were two separate pieces of dishonesty perpetrated by Bilbo. The first, made explicit, was that when he initially told his story to Gandalf and the Dwarves he left the ring out entirely -- this no doubt was what inspired Gandalf to give Bilbo the "queer look from under his bushy eyebrows" (H, 99). Later, (after the spider episode) he revealed that he had the Ring, and it must have been at this point that he invented the rigamarole about "winning a present" (an incred- ible action, given the circumstances). There is, however, no hint in the text of this second piece of dishonesty (as noted above, it would have been a grave literary mistake). Readers are therefore given no indication that when "Balin ... insisted on having the Gollum story ... told all over again, with the ring in its proper place" (H, 163) that Bilbo didn't respond with the "true" story, exactly as described in Ch V. In this regard, "Of the Finding of the Ring" in the Prologue is a necessary prelude to LotR. References: Hobbit, 99 (Ch VI), 163 (Ch VIII), "Riddles in the Dark" (Ch V); Annotated Hobbit, 104 (Ch VI, note 2), 176 (Ch VIII, note 11), 325-367 (Appendix A: the original version is given here); FR, "Of the Finding of the Ring" (Prologue); Biography, 203 (V, 2); RtMe, 59-60 (3, "The Ring as 'Equalizer'"); The Return of the Shadow (HoMe VI), 75, 79-81, 84-87 (First Phase, III), 261-265 (Second Phase, XV). Contributors: WDBL, Wayne Hammond Jr ---------8<---------8<---------cut here---------8<---------8<--------- ---------- 10) Was there a change of tone between Book I and the rest of _The Lord of the Rings_ ? Yes. Originally, the world of the Hobbit was not the same as the world of the Silmarillion (Tolkien threw in a few names from it, like Gondolin and Elrond, for effect, but there was no explicit connection). Thus, when he began LotR, he thought he was writing a sequel to _The Hobbit, and the tone of the early chapters, especially Ch 1, reflect this (it has the same "children's story" ambience as _The Hobbit_). With the coming of the Black Riders and Gandalf's discussion of Middle-earth history and the Ring a change began towards a loftier tone and a darker mood, though much less serious elements remained (e.g. Tom Bombadil). After the Council of Elrond LotR was overtly a sequel to the Silmarillion. Oddly, Tolkien added new details but never changed the overall tone of Book I. He later claimed that the change in tone was intentional, that it was meant to reflect the changing perceptions of the hobbits as they became educated about the Wide World. This was certainly not his intention as he was writing. On the other hand, the tone of "The Scouring of the Shire" is very different from that of "A Long-expected Party", possibly indicating the altered perspective of the observers. ---------- 11) Why did Tolkien fail to publish _The Silmarillion_ during the eighteen years which followed the publication of _The Lord of the Rings_ ? No definitive answer is possible, but a several serious obstacles can be listed. They included: a) Technical difficulties. Tolkien's unmethodical habits of revision had made the manuscripts chaotic; it seemed impossible to make everything consistent. Characters introduced in LotR had to be worked in. Beyond these detailed questions, he contemplated many alterations, even to fundamental features of his mythology. b) The problem of depth. In LotR, his references to the older legends of the First Age helped produce the strong sense of historical reality. In the Silmarillion, which told the legends themselves, this method wouldn't be available. c) The problem of presentation. LotR had been basically novelistic, presenting the story sequentially from one character or another's point of view. But the Silmarillion was and was meant to be a bundle of tales which had more in common with the ancient legends he studied than with LotR. He feared that if he presented it as an annotated study of ancient manuscripts that probably many readers would have difficulty enjoying the tales as stories. d) No Hobbits. He feared (correctly) that many people expected another _Lord of the Rings_, which the Silmarillion could never be. ---------- GENERAL HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH 13) What exactly happened at the end of the First Age? The Noldorin Elves had made war on Morgoth (referred to as "the Great Enemy" by Aragorn in "A Knife in the Dark") to recover the three Silmarils, which he had stolen, and had been totally defeated. The Valar then used their full power against Morgoth. In the resulting cataclysm Beleriand, the land in which the tales of the Silmarillion took place, was destroyed and sank under the Sea. There are thus various references to "lands under the waves". On the LotR map, Beleriand would have been far to the west, beyond the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin), which also appear at the far right of the Silm map. It is difficult to make an exact correlation because the mountain range was much altered, having been split when the Gulf of Lune created. Nogrod and Belegost, the ancient dwarf-cities, are located on the Silm map, and existed as ruins in the Third Age, but where they fall on the LotR map is not known (they were said to be "near Nenuail", which is only slightly helpful). Lindon was definitely the same land as Ossiriand, where Beren and Luthien once dwelt. [_The Atlas of Middle-earth_ includes a map showing how Eriador and Beleriand lay relative to each other.] ---------- 14) In terms of the larger worldview, what exactly took place at the Fall of Numenor? The world was changed from a flat medieval world to the round world of today. Middle-earth was meant to be our own world (Ques. 6), and Tolkien's overall conception was of a progression, with "Mythological Time" changing into "Historical Time". The events accompanying the Fall of Numenor were a major step in the process. Originally, the "fashion" of Middle-earth was the flat world of the medieval universe. Valinor (the equivalent of Heaven in that the "gods" dwelt there) was physically connected to the rest of the world and could be reached by ship. When Numenor sank (see Ques 25) "the fashion of the world was changed": the flat world was bent into a round one, with new lands also being created; and Valinor was removed "from the circles of the World", and could no longer be reached by ordinary physical means. The Elves alone were still allowed to make a one-way journey to Valinor along "the Straight Road". (An elven ship on such a journey would grow smaller and smaller with distance until if vanished rather than sinking over the horizon as a human ships do.) References to "bent seas", "bent skies", "the straight road", "straight sight", "the World Made Round", and the like all refer to the change in the world's "fashion". (The palantir at Emyn Beriad "looked only to the Sea. Elendil set it there so that he could look back with 'straight sight' and see Eressea in the vanished West; but the bent seas below covered Numenor for ever." (RK, p. 322) ---------- HOBBITS 15) Were Hobbits a sub-group of Humans? Yes, beyond question. There were three statements to this effect. The first, from the Prologue, is probably less definite because it was intended to be the editor speaking. It is plain indeed that in spite of later estrangement Hobbits are relatives of ours: far nearer to us than Elves, or even than Dwarves. Of old they spoke the languages of Men, after their own fashion, and liked and disliked much the same things as Men did. But what exactly our relationship is can no longer be discovered. The beginning of Hobbits lies far back in the Elder Days that are now lost and forgotten. FR, 11 (Prologue) The Hobbits are, of course, really meant to be a branch of the specifically *human* race (not Elves or Dwarves) -- hence the two kinds can dwell together (as at Bree), and are called just the Big Folk and Little Folk. They are entirely without non-human powers, but are represented as being more in touch with 'nature' (the soil and other living things, plants and animals), and abnormally, for humans, free from ambition or greed of wealth. Letters, 158 (footnote) (#131) Firstborn, The. Title of the Elves. Translate. ('Firstborn', since the Elves appeared in the world before all other 'speaking peoples', not only Men, but also Dwarves, of independent origin. Hobbits are of course meant to be a special variety of the human race). Guide, entry for "The Firstborn" References: FR, 11 (Prologue, "On Hobbits"); Letters, 158 (footnote) (#131); Guide, entry for "The Firstborn". Contributors: WDBL, Paul Adams ---------- 16) Did Frodo and the others (Bilbo, Sam, and Gimli) who passed over the Sea eventually die, or had they become immortal? They remained mortal. Tolkien's conception was that a creature's natural lifespan was intrinsic to its spiritual and biological nature, and that this could not be altered save by a direct intervention of the Creator. There were three occasions when this did happen (Luthien, Tuor, Arwen), but it did not in the cases of Frodo & Co. Tolkien stated explicitly in more than one letter that Frodo's journey over the Sea was only a *temporary* healing, and that when the time came he and the others would die of their own free will. ---------- 17) Did Hobbits have pointed ears? Only slightly. Tolkien described Bilbo thusly for purposes of illustration in a letter to Houghton Mifflin (c. 1938): I picture a fairly human figure, not a kind of 'fairy' rabbit as some of my British reviewers seem to fancy: fattish in the stomach, shortish in the leg. A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'; hair short and curling (brown). The feet from the ankles down, covered with brown hairy fur. Clothing: green velvet breeches; red or yellow waistcoat; brown or green jacket; gold (or brass) buttons; a dark green hood and cloak (belonging to a dwarf). Letters, 35 (#27) The Annotated Hobbit cites this letter and includes a reasonable illustration based upon it. [Note that Tolkien's use of the word "elvish" here refers to the elfs of popular folklore, who were often pictured with pointed ears. The Elves of Middle-earth (except for the Silvan Elves in The Hobbit) were at the time of this letter known to only a few people.] References: Letters, 35 (#27); Annotated Hobbit, 10 (Ch I, note 2). Contributor: WDBL ---------- 18) When was Bilbo and Frodo's Birthday? To what date on our own calendar does it correspond? The date on the Shire calendar was September 22 (FR, 29). Both the different definitions of the months and the different correlation of their calendar with the seasons (the summer solstice fell on Mid- year's Day, the day between June and July, not on June 21 as on our calendar (RK, 388 -- Appendix D)) must be Taken into account. The discrepancy in September is found to be 10 days, giving September 12 on our calendar as the equivalent date. (This result has some signi- ficance for the story. Events occur ten days earlier in terms of the seasons than the dates would suggest to us: when sleeping outdoors in autumn, ten days can make a large difference.) [In Appendix D Tolkien gives detailed information about long-term inaccuracies in the Shire Reckoning, which they dealt with differently than we do. Based on this, it is possible to conclude that the SR at the time of the story had accumulated either two days or four days of error, depending on how careful the Hobbits were about making long- term corrections, which we aren't told. This result would make the equivalent date either September 14 or September 16, but other consi- derations raise questions about the accuracy of such calculations, so September 12 is probably the most straightforward choice.] References: FR, 29 (I,1); RK, Appendix D. Contributors: WDBL, Paul Adams ---------- 19) Was Gollum a hobbit? Yes, beyond all doubt. Gandalf's opinion alone: "I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors" (FR, 62) should be sufficient to settle this, but it is confirmed in several other places. The Tale of Years (RK, Appendix B) has the following entry for the year TA 2463: "About this time Deagol the Stoor finds the One Ring, and is murdered by Smeagol." (RK, p. 368). Since it was explained in the Prologue that Stoors were one of the three branches of hobbits (FR, 12), it is clear that the compiler of this entry, evidently either Merry and/or Pippin's heirs (FR, 24-25), accepted this conclusion. In "The Hunt for the Ring" (UT, Three, IV) it is told that Sauron concluded from his interrogation of Gollum that Bilbo must have been the same sort of creature (UT, 342) (indeed, Gandalf concluded the same thing from his talks with Bilbo (FR, 63)). The following passing reference shows that the author of "The Hunt for the Ring" accepts Gollum's hobbit origin: "Ultimately indomitable [Gollum] was, except by death, as Sauron guessed, both from his halfling nature, and from a cause which Sauron did not fully comprehend ..." (UT, 337). Perhaps Gandalf's archaic diction contributed to the uncertainty. When a reader suggested that perhaps '(1) Smeagol's people were *not* "of hobbit-kind" as suggested by Gandalf', Tolkien dismissed the suggestion. He added: With regard to (1) Gandalf certainly says at first 'I guess' (FR, 62); but that is in accordance with his character and wisdom. In more modern language he would have said 'I deduce', referring to matters that had not come under his direct observation, but on which he had formed a conclusion based on study. ...But he did not in fact doubt his conclusion: 'It is true all the same, etc.' (FR, 63). Letters, 289-290 (#214) References: FR, 12, (Prologue), 24-25 (Prologue, "Note on the Shire Records"), 62-63 (I,2); RK, Appendix B; UT, 337 (Three, IV, i), 342 (Three, IV, ii); Letters, 289-290 (#214). Contributors: WDBL, Craig Presson ---------- 20) In _The Hobbit_, Bilbo called the spiders Attercop, Lazy Lob, Crazy Cob, and Old Tomnoddy. What do the words mean? Notes in _The Annotated Hobbit_ identify Attercop, Lob, and Cob as being taken from similar words in Old and Middle English for "spider" (indeed, the word for "spider" in modern Norwegian is "edderkopp"). The Oxford English Dictionary definition of Tomnoddy is given as "a foolish or stupid person." (Annotated Hobbit, 170-171) As is well known, Tolkien used "Lob" again later. During the writing of Book IV he wrote to Christopher: "Do you think Shelob is a good name for a monstrous spider creature? It is of course only 'she + lob' ( == 'spider' ), but written as one, it seems to be quite noisome... Letters, 81 (#70) References: Hobbit, Ch VIII; Annotated Hobbit, 170-171 (Ch VIII, notes 8,9,10); Letters, 81 (#70). Contributors: WDBL, Paul Adams, Simen Gaure ---------- ELVES 21) Were Elves reincarnated after they were slain? Yes. In addition to a number of general statements to this effect at least two Elves are specifically said to have been "re-embodied" after being slain: Finrod Felagund and Glorfindel (see Ques. 22). ("Re-embodied" is used rather than "reincarnated" because in the case of Elves (unlike what's usually meant in a human context) the spirit was reborn in a body resembling the original and furthermore all its former memories would be substantially intact). ---------- 22) Was Glorfindel of Rivendell (whom Frodo met) the same as Glorfindel of Gondolin, who was slain fighting a Balrog? Yes. This result was, however, unplanned. Glorfindel entered LotR very early in its development, when Tolkien still thought he was writing a sequel to _The Hobbit_ (as opposed to the Silmarillion). Thus, he felt free to casually borrow names from the Silmarillion for effect (he had also done so in _The Hobbit_ -- Elrond is the main example). Even after the world of LotR (and _The Hobbit_) had been identifed as a later age of the Silmarillion world he retained the name, not noticing the questions raised by the death of a "Glorfindel" at the sack of Gondolin. Later, however, he did address this matter. Christopher reports that after much thought he decided that Glor- findel of Rivendell was indeed Glorfindel of Gondolin: he had been released from Mandos and returned to Middle-earth during the Second Age. ---------- 23) Did Elves have pointed ears? They were evidently somewhat pointed; more so that human ears, at any rate. The only place this matter is addressed directly is in The Etymologies, published in The Lost Road. There, the following two entries for the element 'las' are given [Q == Quenya, N == Noldorin]: Las (1) *lasse 'leaf': Q lasse, N lhass; Q lasselanta 'leaf-fall, autumn', N lhasbelin (*lassekwelene), cf. Q Narquelion [ KWEL ]. Lhasgalen 'Greenleaf' (Gnome name of Laurelin). (Some think this is related to the next and *lasse 'ear'. The Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than [human].) Las (2) 'listen'. N lhaw 'ears' (of one person), old dual *lasu -- whence singular lhewig. Q lar, lasta- 'listen'; lasta 'listening, hearing' -- Lastalaika 'sharp-ears', a name, cf. N Lhathleg. N lhathron 'hearer, listener, eavesdropper' ( < *la(n)sro-ndo ) ; lhathro or lhathrando 'listen in, eavesdrop'. (The Lost Road, 367) Some have rejected the conclusion on the grounds that these entries were written before LotR was begun and therefore may not apply to it. It is thus significant that the element 'las' retained both its meanings, as is shown by examples in LotR itself, such as Legolas ('Green leaf') (TT, 106, 154), 'lassi' (== "leaves") in Galadriel's Lament (FR, 394), and Amon Lhaw (Hill of Hearing) (FR, 410). References: FR, 394, (II, 8), 410 (II,9); TT, 106 (III,5), 154 (III,8); Letters, 282 (#211); The Lost Road (HoMe V), 367 ("The Etymologies"). Contributor: WDBL ---------- 24) How were Eldar in Valinor named? They had two given names ('essi'), one bestowed at birth by the father, the other later by the mother. The mother-names were said to have great significance, because "mothers of the Eldar had insight into the characters and abilities of their children", and foresight to boot. Eldar might also acquire an 'epesse', or 'after-name', which could be given by anyone and which was usually "a title of admiration or honour". Some elves were best-known by their epesse. The two most familiar were 'Gil-galad' ('Star of Radiance'), whose real name was 'Ereinion' ('Scion of Kings'); and 'Galadriel' (the Sindarin form of the Telerin 'Alatariel' and the Quenya 'Altariel' : 'maiden crowned with a radiant garland' ) -- her given father- and mother-names were, respectively, 'Artanis' ('noble woman') and 'Nerwen' ('man-maiden'). ---------- HUMANS 25) What brought on the sinking of Numenor? The Numenor story was Tolkien's re-telling of the Atlantis legend (the tale publshed in _The Silmarillion_ was entitled "The Akalabeth", which may be translated as "Downfallen"). Numenor was an island far to the West, a "land apart" given to the heroic Edain (humans) of the First Age who had aided the Noldor in the wars against Morgoth (see Ques. 13). [The Line of Kings of Numenor was descended from Elrond's brother Elros, who chose to be mortal; it led indirectly to Elendil the Tall, first King of Arnor and Gondor, and thus eventually to Aragorn son of Arathorn.] The theological situation was the "standard" one of a Ban and a Fall. The Numenoreans, despite having been granted a longer lifespan than other, humans, nevertheless had to remain mortal. They had also been ordered not to sail West to the Undying Lands (Valinor). After awhile (perhaps inevitably, as their power and wealth grew) the Numenoreans began to envy the Elves and to yearn for immortality themselves (so as to enjoy their situation longer). They managed to convince themselves that physical control of the Undying Lands would somehow produce this result (it would not have); however, they also retained sufficient wisdom not to attempt any such foolish action. Significantly, the more obsessed they became with death the more quickly it came as their lifespans steadily waned. Near the end of the Second Age King Ar-Pharazon the Golden pridefully challenged Sauron for the mastery of Middle-earth. The Numenoreans won the confrontation (see Ques. 26) and took Sauron to Numenor as a prisoner. Still wielding the One Ring, he swiftly gained control over most of the Numenoreans (except for the Faithful and their leaders, Amandil and his son Elendil). As King Ar-Pharazon's death approached ("he felt the waning of his days and was besotted by fear of death"; RK, p. 317) Sauron finally convinced him by deception to attack Valinor. This was a mistake. A great chasm opened in the Sea and Numenor toppled into the abyss. (Tolkien had a recurrent dream about this event; in LotR he gave it to Faramir, who described it in "The Steward and the King".) [See also Ques 14] ---------- 26) How could Ar-Pharazon of Numenor defeat Sauron while Sauron wielded the One Ring? He did not actually defeat Sauron himself. The invasion fleet of the Numenoreans was so powerful that Sauron's *armies* deserted him. Sauron merely pretended to humble himself; to be carried back to Numenor as a supposed hostage was exactly what he wanted. His plan was to weaken Numenor as a war power by maneuvering them into sending a fleet to attack Valinor, where it would presumably be destroyed. He succeeded up to a point, but the result was disastrously more violent than he foresaw, and he was caught in the Fall of Numenor. Only his physical body perished since by nature he was of the spiritual order. Tolkien: "That Sauron was not himself destroyed in the anger of the One is not my fault: the problem of evil, and its apparent toleration, is a permanent one for all who concern themselves with our world. The indestructibility of *spirits* with free wills, even by the Creator of them, is also an inevitable feature, if one either believes in their existence, or feigns it in a story." (Letters, p. 280). ---------- 27) What happened to the Ring when Numenor was destroyed? Nothing. Sauron carried it back to Middle-earth, though there might be some question as to how he managed it. Tolkien said he did, and Tolkien should know: "Though reduced to 'a spirit of hatred borne on a dark wind', I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended." (Letters, p. 280). In fact, as far as we know all the spiritual beings (Valar and Maia) were perfectly capable of manipulating physical objects. ---------- 28) Where did the Southrons come from? Were they part of the Atani? Yes. All humans, East, West, North, or South, were. Humans first appeared in the east and spread westwards, with some eventually crossing the Blue Mountains into Beleriand. The entry for Atani in the Silmarillion index reads: Atani 'The Second People', Men (singular Atan). Since in Beleriand for a long time the only Men known to the Noldor and Sindar were those of the Three Houses of the Elf-friends, this name (in the Sindarin form Adan, plural Edain) became specially associated with them, so that it was seldom applied to other Men who came later to Beleriand, or who were reported to be dwelling beyond the Mountains. But in the speech of Iluvatar the meaning is 'Men (in general)'. [Humans were 'the second people' because Elves were the Firstborn.] ---------- DWARVES 29) What were the origins of the Dwarves? They were made by Aule, the smith and craftmaster of the Valar. This was against Eru's Plan: Aule had neither the authority nor indeed the power to create other souls (the result of his efforts was a group of what amounted to puppets). However, because he repented his folly at once and because his motives had been good (he desired children to teach, not slaves to command) Eru gave the Dwarves life and made them part of the Plan. The Elves were still to be the "Firstborn", though, so the Dwarves had to sleep until after the Elves awoke. ---------- 30) If, as has been told, only Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were created, how did the race procreate? In the _Silmarillion_ account of the making of the Dwarves, only the Seven Fathers are mentioned. In Letter no. 212 (p 287), however, Tolkien speaks of thirteen dwarves being initially created: "One, the eldest, alone, and six more with six mates." Thus, it seems that Durin really did "walk alone" as Gimli's song said. ---------- 31) Did Dwarf women have beards? It seems they did. In Appendix A it was said: "They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a journey, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other peoples cannot tell them apart." Since beards were part of the appearence, not the garb, of dwarf-men, we must conclude that dwarf-women did in fact have beards. ---------- ISTARI (Wizards) 32) Who were the Istari (Wizards)? The Wizards were Maiar (spiritual beings of lower "rank" than the Valar) sent to Middle-earth by the Valar in human form as Messengers to help in the struggle against Sauron: the term "incarnate angel" is approximately correct. Being incarnated limited their power, and intentionally so, because their mission was to organize the resitance and to inspire the peoples of Middle- earth to help themselves, not to do the job for them. Their main temptation, then, was to try to speed up the process by dominating other free wills -- a principle reason for their mission was to prevent such actions by Sauron. It was said that there were Five Wizards in the Order, but only three came into the story: -- Saruman ('Man of Skill') the White [Sindarin: Curunir ('Man of Skill'); Quenya: Curumo] -- Gandalf ('Elf of the wand') the Grey (later the White) [Sindarin: Mithrandir ('Grey Pilgrim'); Quenya: Olorin] -- Radagast the Brown [Quenya: Aiwendel] Gandalf was the only one who remained true to his missison, and in the end succeeded in bringing about Sauron's defeat. He was also the keeper of the Elven Ring Narya, the Red Ring (the Ring of Fire). ---------- 33) Of the Five Wizards, only three came into the story. Was anything known about the other two? Very little. No names given them in Middle-earth are recorded, just the title Ithryn Luin, 'The Blue Wizards' (for they were clad in sea-blue) (their names in Valinor were Alatar and Pallando). When the Istari first arrived in Middle-earth, Saruman and the Blue Wizards journeyed into the east, but only Saruman returned. The Essay on the Istari says: "whether they remained in the East, pursuing there the purposes for which they were sent; or perished; or as some hold were ensnared by Sauron and became his servants, is not not known." (UT, p. 390) Tolkien speaking as himself was only barely more explicit. In a letter he said that he knew "nothing clearly" about the other two: 'I think they went as emissaries to distant regions, East and South, far out of Numenorean range: missionaries to enemy-occupied lands, as it were. What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret cults and "magic" traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron.' (Letters, p. 280). ---------- 34) What happened to Radagast? Radagast was said to also have failed his mission, but it's tempting to think that his "failure" was not as bad as that of the others. The Essay on the Istari: "Indeed, of all the Istari, one only remained faithful, and he was the last-comer. For Radagast, the fourth, became enamoured of the many beasts and birds that dwelt in Middle-earth, and forsook Elves and Men, and spent his days among the wild creatures." (UT, p. 390) Radagast certainly never became evil. The above quote suggests, however, that his mission was not just to relate to wild creatures but also to build bridges between them and Elves and Men. He did, in fact, have his friends the birds gather much information, but since they were reporting to Saruman as the head of the Council that wasn't altogether helpful. On the other hand, it has often been suggested (though there is no direct textual evidence of any kind) that the way Eagles kept showing up at opportune times may have been partially his work. We know nothing of what happened to Radagast after the end of the Third Age. It seems conceivable, though, given the more ambiguous nature of his failing, that he might have been allowed back to Valinor eventually. ---------- ENEMIES 35) What was the relationship between Orcs and Goblins? They are different names for the same race of creatures. Of the two, "Orc" is the correct one. This has been a matter of widespread debate and misunderstanding, mostly resulting from the usage in _The Hobbit_ (Tolkien had changed his mind about it by LotR but the confusion in the earlier book was made worse by inconsistant backwards modifications). There are a couple of statements in _The Hobbit_ which, if taken literally, suggest that Orcs are a subset of goblins. If we are to believe the indications from all other areas of Tolkien's writing, this is not correct. These are: some fairly clear statements in letters, the evolution of his standard terminology (see next paragraph), and the actual usage in LotR, all of which suggest that "Orc" was the true name of the race. (The pedigrees in _Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia_ are thoroughly innaccurate and undependable.) What happened was this. The creatures so referred to were invented along with the rest of Tolkien's subcreation during the writing of the Book of Lost Tales (the "pre-Silmarillion"). His usage in the early writing is somewhat varied but the movement is away from "goblin" and towards "orc". It was part of a general trend away from the terminology of traditional folklore (he felt that the familiar words would call up the wrong associations in the readers' minds, since his creations were quite different in specific ways). For the same general reasons he began calling the Deep Elves "Noldor" rather than "Gnomes", and avoided "Faerie" altogether. (On the other hand, he was stuck with "Wizards", an "imperfect" translation of Istari ('the Wise'), "Elves", and "Dwarves"; he did say once that he would have preferred "dwarrow", which, so he said, was more historically and linguistically correct, if he'd thought of it in time ...) In _The Hobbit_, which originally was unconnected with the Silmarillion, he used the familiar term "goblin" for the benefit of modern readers. By the time of LotR, however, he'd decided that "goblin" wouldn't do -- Orcs were not storybook goblins (see above). (No doubt he also felt that "goblin", being Romance-derived, had no place in a work based so much on Anglo-Saxon and Northern traditions in general.) Thus, in LotR, the proper name of the race is "Orcs" (capital "O"), and that name is found in the index along with Ents, Men, etc., while "goblin" is not in the index at all. There are a handful of examples of "goblin" being used (always with a small "g") but it seems in these cases to be a kind of slang for Orcs. Tolkien's explanation inside the story was that the "true" name of the creatures was Orc (an anglicized version of Sindarin *Orch* , pl. *Yrch*). As the "translator" of the ancient manuscripts, he "substituted" "Goblin" for "Orch" when he translated Bilbo's diary, but for The Red Book he reverted to a form of the ancient word. [The actual source of the word "orc" is Beowulf: "orc-nass", translated as "death-corpses". It has nothing to do with cetaceans.] ---------- 36) What was the origin of the Orcs? A fundamental concept for Tolkien (and the other Inklings) was that Evil cannot create, only corrupt (the Boethian, as opposed to the Manichean, concept of evil). In Letter 153 he explained that to a first approximation, Treebeard was wrong ("Trolls are only counterfeits, made by the Enemy in the Great Darkness, in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves." TT, p. 89) and Frodo was right ("The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own. I don't think it gave life to Orcs, it only ruined them and twisted them ..." RK, p. 190). (Tolkien: "Treebeard is a *character* in my story, not me; and though he has a great memory and some earthy wisdom, he is not one of the Wise, and there is quite a lot he does not know or understand." Letters, p. 190; "Suffering and experience (and possibly the Ring itself) gave Frodo more insight ..." Letters, p. 191.) ("To the first approximation" [above] because in that same letter Tolkien made some subtle distinctions between "creating" and "making", which cannot be gone into here.) Tolkien stated explicitly in that letter (and several other places) that the Orcs are indeed "a race of rational incarnate creatures, though horribly corrupted". Also that "In the legends of the Elder Days it is suggested that the Diabolus subjugated and corrupted some of the earliest Elves, before they had ever heard of the 'gods', let alone of God." (Letters, p. 191). In fact, _The Silmarillion_ does state that Orcs were Avari (Dark Elves) captured by Morgoth (p. 50, 94), though strictly speaking, the idea is presented as the best guess of the Eldar, no more. Some have rejected the statements on those grounds, that the Elvish compilers of _The Silmarillion_ didn't actually *know* the truth but were merely speculating. But since Tolkien himself, speaking as author and sub-creator, more-or-less verified this idea, it's probably safe to accept it, as far as it goes. It has been widely noted that this conception leaves several questions unresolved. 1) Re: procreation, _The Silmarillion_ says that "the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Iluvatar" (p. 50), but nevertheless people continue to raise questions. For one thing, there was never any hint that female Orcs exist (there were two apparent references to Orc children, but both were from _The Hobbit_ , and therefore may be considered suspect). 2) There is the question of why, if Orcs were corrupted Elves, their offspring would also be Orcs (rather than Elves -- a somewhat horrifying thought). This question leads to discussions of brainwashing vs. genetics, which are not altogether appropriate to the world of Middle-earth. 3) Finally there is the question of whether Orcs, being fundamentally Elves, go to the Halls of Mandos when they are slain, and whether, like Elves, they are reincarnated. (This last would explain how they managed to replenish their numbers so quickly all the time.) There is also some reason to think that Orcs, like Elves, are immortal. (Gorbag and Shagrat, during the conver- sation which Sam overheard, mention the "Great Seige", which presumably refers to the Last Alliance; it is possible to interpret this reference to mean that they were there and actually remembered it themselves.) ---------- 37) What was the origin of Trolls? No one seems to know. Apparently, though, they were "made" (as opposed to "created" -- see Ques 36) by Melkor. Said Tolkien: "I am not sure about Trolls. I think they are mere 'counterfeits', and hence ... they return to mere stone images when not in the dark. But there are other sorts of Trolls, beside these rather ridiculous, if brutal, Stone-trolls, for which other origins are suggested." (Letters, p. 191) "Counterfeits" here means more-or- less that the Trolls have no independant life of their own but are puppets animated in some way by an external Evil Will. As for the other kind of Troll, the Olog-hai, no reference to their origin has been found, except for Appendix F: "That Sauron bred them none doubted, though from what stock was not known." However, they were definitely true Trolls, not large Orcs. The Troll adventure in _The Hobbit_ should probably not be taken too literally as a source of Troll-lore -- it seems clear that it was much modified by the translator's desire to create familiarity. Thus, it seems unlikely that Trolls in Middle-earth spoke with Cockney accents, just as it seems unlikely that one of them would have been named "William". ---------- MISCELLANEOUS 38) Who or what was Tom Bombadil? This question has been a widely debated, sometimes far too vehemantly. Part of the difficulty is the complexity of Tom's literary history. Tom was originally a doll (with blue jacket and yellow boots) owned by Tolkien's son Michael. The doll inspired a story fragment, such as he often invented for his children's amusement. That fragment was in turn the basis for the poem "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil", published in 1933, which also introduced Goldberry, the barrow wights, and Old Man Willow (the poem was the source of the events in Chapters 6 through 8 of Book I). In a contemporary letter (1937) Tolkien explained that Tom was meant to represent 'the spirit of the (vanishing) Oxford and Berkshire countryside'. (Letters, no 19) Tolkien introduced Tom into LotR at a very early stage, when he still thought of it as a sequel to _The Hobbit_, as opposed to _The Silmarillion_ (see Ques 10). Tom fit the original (slightly childish) tone of the early chapters (which resembled that of _The Hobbit_), but as the story progressed it became higher in tone and darker in nature. Tolkien later claimed that he left Tom in he decided that however portrayed Tom provided a necessary ingredient (see last paragraph). Some very cogent reasons are produced in a couple of wonderful letters (Letters, nos 144 & 153). As to Tom's nature, there are several schools of thought. a) He was a Maia (the most common notion). The reasoning here is plain: given the Middle-earth cast of characters as we know it, this is the most convenient pigeonhole in which to place him (and Goldberry as well) (most of the other individuals in LotR with "mysterious" origins: Gandalf, Sauron, Wizards, and Balrogs did in fact turn out to be Maiar). b) He was Iluvatar. The only support for this notion is on theological grounds: some have interpreted Goldberry's statement to Frodo (F: "Who is Tom Bombadil?" G: "He is.") as a form of the Christian "I am that am", which really could suggest the Creator. Tolkien rejected this inter- pretation quite firmly. c) T.A. Shippey (in _The Road to Middle-earth_) and others have suggested that Tom is a one-of-a-kind type. This notion received indirect support from Tolkien himself: "As a story, I think it is good that there should be a lot of things unexplained (especially if an explanation actually exists); ... And even in a mythical Age there amust be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)." (Letters, p. 174) There are scattered references to other entites which seem to fall outside the usual picture. Whichever of these is correct, Tom's function inside the story was evidently to demonstrate a particular attitude towards control and power. "The story is cast in terms of a good side, and a bad side, beauty against ruthless ugliness, tyranny against kingship, moderated freedom against compulsion that has long lost any object save mere power, and so on; but both sides in some degree, conservative or destructive, want a measure of control. But if you have, as it were taken 'a vow of poverty', renounced control, and take delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself, watching, observing, and to some extent knowing, then the question of the rights and wrongs of power and control might become utterly meaningless to you, and the means of power quite valueless." (_Letters_, p. 178). Tom represented "Botany and Zoology (as sciences) and Poetry as opposed to Cattle-breeding and Agriculture and practicality." (Letters, p. 179). ---------- 39) Was there any definitive explanation given on what happened to the Entwives? No. At least, there was nothing within _The Lord of the Rings_. In a couple of letters Tolkien denied having any "definite" knowledge but his tentative suggestions were on the whole pessemistic. For one thing, he made the destruction of the Entwives' land seem more deliberate than had Treebeard, who merely said that "war had passed over it" (TT, p. 79). "I think that in fact the Entwives had disappeared for good, being destroyed with their gardens in the War of the Last Alliance (Second Age 3429-3441) when Sauron pursued a scorched earth policy and burned their land against the advance of the Allies down the Anduin ... Some, of course, may have fled east, or even have become enslaved: tyrants even in such tales must have an economic and agricultural background to their soldiers and metal-workers. If any survived so, they would indeed be far estranged from the Ents, and any rapprochement would be difficult -- unless experience of industrialized and militarized agriculture had made them a little more anarchic. I hope so. I don't know." (Letter no 144) ---------- 40) Who was Queen Beruthiel? (Aragorn mentioned her during the journey through Moria.) The reference is to Book II, Ch 4 "A Journey in the Dark": " 'Do not be afraid!' said Aragorn. There was a pause longer than usual, and Gandalf and Gimli were whispering together; ... 'Do not be afraid! I have been with him on many a journey, if never on one so dark; ... He is surer of finding the way home in a blind night than the cats of Queen Beruthiel.' " (FR p. 325). This is a striking case of Tolkien's creative process. It seems that the name meant nothing when it first appeared: it just "came" as he was writing the first draft of the chapter. Later, however, he "found out" whom she "actually" was, his conclusions being reported in UT. She was the wife of King Tarannon of Gondor (Third Age 830-913), and was described as "nefarious, solitary, and loveless" (Tarannon's childlessness was mentioned without explanation in the annals). "She had nine black cats and one white, her slaves, with whom she conversed, or read their memories, setting them to discover all the dark secrets of Gondor,... setting the white cat to spy upon the black, and tormenting them. No man in Gondor dared touch them; all were afraid of them, and cursed when they saw them pass." Her eventual fate was to be set adrift in a boat with her cats: "The ship was last seen flying past Umbar under a sickle moon, with a cat at the masthead and another as a figure-head on the prow." It is also told that "her name was erased from the Book of the Kings (`but the memory of men is not wholly shut in books, and the cats of Queen Beruthiel never passed wholly out of men's speech')." (UT, pp 401-402) |