Tolkien and Meaning: Part 2

One thing about “elves” without citing anything, or trying to sell you any belief or politics, is that what I find most interesting is that they appear to be a ‘people’ who within their own history in the books go through many changes, suffer and migrate and experience loss and gain, but in ways that are not based on anything specific I know of, nothing I can recite or footnote. They are not analogous to any specific religion or modern or archaic culture. This ‘race’ of people in the books are, in my opinion, more richly described and imagined than all others, and seemed ‘very important’ to Tolkien if this was the case. These ‘people’ also, even with all their flaws, (and also because it doesn’t matter whether you ‘believe in elves’ outside the material at all) obviously express something about ‘living’ even as a reader, as a ‘human being’ about what is possible, simply because he imagined it. 

He gives great detail and reason for why they are who they are, and why they do what they do, and as a ‘people’ beyond that they are richly described in every conceivable detail, they are imagined far more than anything I’ve ever read in any other ‘fiction.’  “Klingons” may have a ‘language’ and a ‘culture’ in Star Trek, but it is still very ‘surface level’ fiction. Their grunts and groans make no reference to anything else, there are ‘built in’ ironies in Elvish words, there are double entendres, and multiple meanings. Their ‘culture’ and ‘history’ is multilayered in ironies and resonances within the material itself. It is astoundingly “meaningful” in many many ways, astoundingly layered with ironies they reach across many books and this isn’t merely plot device. 

There are other ‘people’ such as Hobbits, which are more of an ‘amusing’ creation of sorts, and though there is a lot to them, we have barely a specific ‘Hobbitish’ vocabulary (no language exactly) and their history does not really reach that far back as far as we are told. We do not know as much about Hobbits as we can know about his Elves. One might bring up the possibility that Hobbits, Elves, Men are potentially relatable as ‘people’ and possibly in ways that we can recognize but as ’aspects’ of ourselves but also in ways that we can imagine but that we find we do not readily experience in our daily lives. 

We do not exactly live in the world that they do, but we are told we do live in the same world they do , but obviously under much different circumstances and a different time.  We are not simply different in physical characteristic, but we simply do not live under the circumstances which all these people are said to live or as they chose to live. 

It would seem this is of note, this is part of the narrative itself. “This was a long time ago…” This was something, as imagined, of another time, another place with all the different circumstances which go with that, and yet, once you begin to see how it plays out, this means that it can and does resonate with us today, because it resonates many different times throughout the books—throughout the “histories” which are described which take place. It is, in other words, pointed out that characters themselves are aware that this ‘happens.’  We are conceivably in this ‘fiction’ (as we read it ourselves) a ‘later untold period’  of the whole history of Middle Earth. We are literally ‘part of’ that history as readers. These are ‘legends’ but none we’ve ever heard of before, this is the pretext of it all. This may be obvious to you of course, but it is the wider implications I wish to write about here.

People experience different variations of events and circumstances, as life plays out, things that almost seem like ‘repetitions of history’ but with new and different meanings. As this happens, and characters throughout time come and go like the living and the dead, there are recognizable similarities which I can only assume is intentional.  If there was a statement in there about something, there is one possibility: that life has a way of carrying on like this, and that it has done so from the very Beginning which we know very little of. That we come from long lines of strangely changing roads which end up being kind of important to things which happened long ago, and that long ago things happened which set us up for what we’re going through now, but not as simply as ‘cause and effect.’  You may already know this and there’s nothing truly odd necessarily about this, but…

People lived out certain circumstances which come around again in similar ways.  History isn’t exactly repeating itself, but moments resonate with earlier moments in people’s lives. This is part of literary narrative of course, and certain things foreshadow things that later happen and so forth, but in this case, these aren’t merely things like one sees in one particular novel, or even across a trilogy. For instance, “The gun on the nightstand comes up later in the book,” or “the music box turns out to have been her father’s in the end,” but in this case entire historical periods across time resonate several times with unique outcomes which signify certain things. There are vast histories involving many characters in different time periods which come again and again in interesting similarities as singular narratives cut across time. To this particular example, I mean the Elves.  There are characters embedded in wider narratives of these ‘historical’ directions which go through changes, and though you do not get to know them any deeper than one might find of ‘characters’ or ‘personalities’ in common folklore’ or ‘legends’ these particular ‘fictional legends’ begin to go far outside the realm of ‘fictional legends’ and ‘fake parallel history’ into something which I would consider completely ‘new’ and different. This is a whole new literary idea that he’s toyed with. They are something that are like ‘science fiction’ with nearly ‘immortal’ characters living through vast distances of time, but they are also going way beyond any trope or simple subtext which you find in ‘science fiction.’  There is so much going on and yet it doesn’t fall apart when you dissect it. There are narratives within narratives, meanings which spread out in all directions from the microcosm of his invented languages to the widest possible contemplation of his larger histories.’  There is meaning in hundreds and hundreds of his invented words which actually relate to other things not only going on in these narratives but to all kinds of other weird little details where he says all kinds of different little things along the way, all connected, all making sense. These words of his are not simple direct-to-translation gibberish that he made up, they are words which have more to them than meets the eye. Beyond this on the macrocosmic scale, these ‘fictional legendary characters’ have their own mythologies and legends that they believe in and talk about amongst themselves. Legends with legends, this is quite bizarre if you think about it.  This ‘fake lore’ of Middle Earth has its very own legends, and the characters which people this fictional world have entire histories merely of these words of their languages based upon things which are in their own myths, their own beliefs and legends. There are ‘elves’ and ‘dwarves’ and other ‘mythical’ beings, but these ‘mythical’ beings have their own odd legends and lore. All the way back to the beginning of time itself. Who writes like that?  For most people a simple story with some characters, a timeline, a plot line, some arcs and some events which affect those characters is quite enough. They don’t explain the motivations of everybody and everything all the way back to the literal creation of the universe… that’s just absolutely astonishing that anybody would even try.  

This isn’t simply a tongue in cheek ‘alternate creation story’ and there it is in elaborate detail with every detail meaning something not just to you the reader, but for these characters, in this fictional story.  From the creation of the universe to as far as the most recent events which still imaginably would have to have taken place before our own recorded history. If as Tolkien says that ‘Numenor’ is actually supposed to be what we call “Atlantis” (it doesn’t matter if you believe in Atlantis or not) that means that this would (for lack of a better analogy, and one with no intentional direct implied meaning here) all take place somewhere during the first few paragraphs of the “Book of Genesis.”  In other words, what the Book of Genesis (all of a few scant pages in one very big thick book about a whole bunch of other stuff that you can debate later for whatever reasons ever happened or not) has barely anything to say about the “time period” it is alleged to take place or ‘happen’ Tolkien has written hundreds of thousands of pages depicting. Again, only as an analogy which I use to compare, not to imply one has anything to do with the other. “The story of Middle Earth” goes on for thousands and thousands of paragraphs while the “book of Genesis” has maybe 10 or 15.  That’s quite an imagination, and quite a bit of explaining purely for the sake of ‘entertainment.’  That’s a monumental exercise in ‘imagination’ if there ever was one, and unlike, for instance, “Star Wars” isn’t just about a specific set of characters who carry out and experience certain circumstances during a brief time period of even simply 30 or 40 years. This is an entire expansive narrative encompassing thousands of years and with great purpose and meaning. This isn’t a ‘series’ of hackwork pulp novels written without intention during an author’s career either, this Tolkien built and built and built for many years this vast and arguably ‘single’ yet vast narrative.  Also, I think this all can be taken in many ways beyond a ’literal physical’ history of some planet, whether it’s supposed to be ours or not.  Elves and Valar invented the first languages, but from moment number one when the ‘universe’ came into existence, a long succession of events took place which cannot be taken as ‘physical reality’ and as this is pointed out, it becomes something else once again, a mystery which none of these ‘academic’ “Tolkien Experts” have ever had much to say about.  There is supernatural shit going on that we’re being told has everything to do with ‘the Creation’ of the universe, but add that interesting twist that it has also everything to do with the origin of ‘language’ and ‘meaning,’ ’thought’ and some kind of ‘intention’ of a literally Tolkien-created “character” which is the “creator of the universe,” Iluvatar.  This isn’t a joke, and “Iluvatar” is a “character” in this story, but at a certain point, this ‘story’ isn’t a story the way we are conventionally used to as a story, and is a very unusual narrative that as literature we simply are not used to, yet this becomes later in the ‘series’ exactly what we are used to.  There is a shift and it transforms into several different styles of narrative. The Silmarillion, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are three separate styles of writing narratives, and yet all three are continuous, having everything to do with each other, and involve ‘characters’ which appear in all three.  It would be like characters from “The Bible” showing up later in a ‘fairy tale book’ style narrative, and then showing up in a third ‘epic saga.’  Rather than suggest this is somehow related to or indicative of ‘biblical’ influence or subtext, but rather generally a particular stylistic choice on behalf of the author.  One vision, different styles of tale-telling, and quite possibly incidental, accidental, but regardless of how it ended up that way, the ‘intention’ of meaning throughout has creatively expressed some very astonishing and unique things not found in the only comparatively “similar” works in existence of its time:  Not found in the 13 book The Wizard of Oz series, not found in Spencer’s The Faerie Queene, not found in anything by Homer, not found in the Bible, and not found in the Kalevala either.  This is not even a ‘clever’ amalgamation of those things either like a lot of people say, this is quite peculiar and quite different.  An author is entitled to his own unique style no matter how different or weird it may be, and in my opinion this works quite well and ingeniously to express these very unique things that Tolkien felt and wanted to either ‘get out of his system’ or ‘get on paper’ and out for whatever reasons. The reasons of any author, or writer. There are no exotic languages told of in The Bible, nor Oz, nor the Kalevala, nor The Faerie Queene and no such interconnected narratives which contain as much detail, not even the Bible. 

Things like this appear in the text to me, and what might seem obvious, has with it more unusual implications than one might first expect. The Elves are the first ones, the “First Born” which came before ‘men’ (which we assume is ‘us,’ the human race.) Yet, in our real world, we know of no “Elves,” and this very idea itself is mysterious, how does one relate to that? These “Elves” of his are not funny little leprechauns or tiny mischievous pixies, they have some strange things in common, but they are far from those common notions. There’s a clear indication right there that Tolkien has said ‘something else’ quite different than we know. If anything, the Elves carry out something which we clearly can relate to, they aren’t aliens, and they actually live an ideal, and also experience certain flaws, and we are not so alien from these flaws,( and I would say, we are also not so alien from their ‘higher ideals’ either.)  We as a ‘collective’ in this day and age are nothing like the Elves, but those who see how imaginable their ‘fictional lives’ were, can also clearly see that it wouldn’t be impossible to live quite a bit more like them, to end up being able to relate more to them. 

His created “Elvish” language is as he says in his narrative, basically ‘the first language.’  (There were the Valar of course ad supposedly had their own original language, and “Quenya” the Elvish language is even said to be a later derivative of one or ones he doesn’t show us, but for all intents and purposes might as well be as far as we know the earliest language “ever created.”)  Quenya, though clearly perhaps the final development of perhaps several we don’t learn much about, we’ll take as ‘the first’ even if it is merely ‘one of the first’ because it seems to be implied that the other languages come from it. This is what is called an “Ur” language, from the prefix ur- or ‘early’ or ‘earliest,’ as in the ultimate ‘earliest,’ the one from which everything else came from. This idea is that all other languages are mutations or variations in their root words. It’s an idea unto itself in ‘etymology’ and a mysterious one at that. The idea that there could have been ‘one language’ in some ancient time which we honestly cannot trace is something that etymologists or philologists speculate on endlessly. Where did our language come from? Our languages.  All languages.  Tolkien illustrates this as an idea in his books, IN GREAT DETAIL.  The Elf-tongue is THE ur-language, the origin of language. This is a mythical thread within these many tales. (It isn’t the only one, and I’m not saying this IS what it is ALL about, only one very interesting and astonishing thread.)  It could very well be that not only is this his own idea of what that was, but it is also a statement about it, a ‘point of view’ about it. As a philologist, he would likely have an idea about this, he might have a big opinion on it, and this could be what this is. “If there was an ur-language, what would it be, and where would it come from?”  Not only this question, but also what would any of that mean in the context of meaning itself? He literally goes on to imagine and illustrate the importance of this origin, where it came from, and what it ‘meant’ to those who ‘spoke’ this language. This isn’t a series of grunts from some caveman who would go on to develop those grunts into a fluid vocabulary, there is no mention of ‘primitive’ creatures slowly aquiring language over a period of thousands of years, this is about “Elves.” (and also some strange set of beings before them, and another set of strange beings before them who are described as ‘thoughts.’)  Weird man, this is getting real weird. 

The world comes into being from thoughts, from some sort of ‘thought-beings’ and then some other beings, (Valar) and then these weird beings called “elves” or (one of a hundred other titles) Vanyar, take your pick, known as the ‘first speakers’ which appear pretty much like ‘men’ or if anything ‘hominids’ or ‘hominoids’ of some sort, with two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears, etc. “Mammals.” These beings and their lives and culture seem to be focused on two things if you want to boil it down: language and nature. Words and trees. Speech and plants. There are other factors like water and what one might call ‘the forces of nature’ or ‘earth elements,’ but these have more to do with those beings called the “Valar.”  The Elves then exist and being interacting with those forces, the dirt, the water, the plants, and so forth, and begin to ‘do something’ with those things like ‘create’ things. However at the center of it all is language and trees or plants. I’m not saying, once again, that this is the absolute crux of it all, but this, I believe is clearly a very important thread in there, and makes its way all the way to the end of “Lord of the Rings.”  This is the ‘funny thing’ about the whole cosmological cycle is that while the “One Ring” is clearly more than fashioned metal, many ‘ideas’ as is stated in the very first chapters of THE SILMARILLION, become other new and different things. “Thoughts” become beings, ‘ideas’ become things, and ‘other things’ also become ‘other ideas.’ The One Ring is also an ‘idea’ and as the Ainur are also ‘ideas’ and it’s wacky because the Elves are also ‘ideas’ and we come to ‘men’ or ‘human beings’ and whatever they are could very well be a larger concept similiarly such as ‘purpose’ or ‘finding purpose’  to the reader.  It isn’t merely a soap-opera plot taking place about fictitious people in a fictional history.

The Elves are both ‘characters’ as well as ‘ideas’ just as the One Ring is a ‘ring’ and a piece of metal, as it is a ‘broader idea’ but it may not necessarily be what we call a metaphor. The One Ring isn’t necessarily ‘representative’ of some hidden subtext like ‘atom bomb’ or ‘atomic energy’ or ‘genetics’ but a larger ‘idea’ in which those things may or may not conceivably be applied, but not necessarily. As it is in a much larger context that the One Ring might be understood, but things like the Silmarillion must be taken into account. The One Ring, the Three Jewels, the Two Trees, are more than rings, jewels and trees, but they are not simply reduced to a pretext outside the books, as in ‘atomic energy,’ ’two magic trees of the Bible,’ or ‘three metaphysical symbols’ it all operates within the whole encompassing saga and all its ‘ideas’ and details.  It may have even more to do with language and ‘meaning’ more than anything else and how we percieve, understand, and react and respond to such things as ‘thought,’ ‘meaning’ and ‘ideas.’ This is what is so fascinatingly bizarre about all this is that if you look long enough at what’s there instead of stuff outside the books, you see an awful lot written about language and the importance of ‘meaning.’  What do the “Two Trees” mean to the Elves, and how is it so important that trees and plants are so often regarded and placed in situations where literary device and ‘meaning’ is applied. White Trees, strange organic elves wearing green, tree-people, and everything else one can think of plants and trees being implemented into situations and things. 

There are plenty of intrigues taking place, relationships and so forth, but once again, going back to the ‘language’ the emphasis on its connection with nature is unavoidable.  Trees, knowledge, wisdom, trees as ‘living spaces of the elves,’ and as symbols of all kinds appear throughout these books, and not by accident. Trees and plants have been associated with ‘language’ and writing for all kinds of reasons in history, and again, not by accident. This is once again, not the only narrative taking place, as there are threads about ‘digging into the earth,’ ‘mining,’ and using rock, elements, metals and minerals of different kinds and the cultures surrounding such things, going all the way back to the beginning of time even to the ‘being’ which represents that called Aulë which is an ‘idea’ unto itself. All these things have their ‘cosmic’ historical interactions and resonances throughout the ‘timeline’ of these stories, and language continuously factors into it all as the names of things have as much to tell you about what’s being described as any element of plot or motivation of character. These are not merely ‘medieval romances’ about dudes in armor with swords fighting monsters, nor about the love-affairs of elves and men. 

(Continued in Part 3)

Tolkien and Meaning: Part 1

A more juvenile title for this could be rather “What Tolkien Means To Me,” like a second grade homework assignment.  I can’t tell you what “Tolkien means” or his works, three fat thick books of Lord of the Rings, a smaller one, and a very esoteric dense book called the Silmarillion, and all his other Middle Earth related books, that’s simply too much, and too many to even try to sum up, and I wouldn’t presume to make claims because though I’ve read the main 4 works, a few times, and read through the others, as I go through them (often) I find I have to focus on only one thing or another.  Like “Elves” for instance. My knowledge of his Elves far surpasses anything about his Dwarves, and the tales of the Atani (Men/Humans) I know even less of.  As my own attention drifts simply by attempting to take in the vast stories and lore of multiple times, places which have multiple names, and languages, I find it hard to believe that anyone in existence could know it all. Every detail. Enough to begin to process the all encompassing saga. This is not to say it isn’t fun to try.  It took a lifetime for Tolkien to build, and it would take a lifetime to sort every single detail out, enough to pretend to make broad declarations about his ‘subconscious subtext’ and whether or not it has any strain of secret intentions about religion or politics… perhaps if you became a monk and studied it like scriptures every day, perhaps…

So I can’t tell you ‘what it’s all about,’ for even if I did know it all, one would then also have to be a master of vocabulary and who would presume to try to beat J.R.R. Tolkien, a man who knew many languages, and made several, though incomplete, this is considerably more skillful than anything I could possible create. I can tell you what it ‘means to me’ and as for any reader of such vast works, like Milton, or Joyce, or Homer, one can only ‘draw from’ certain parts something to be gained, something to be inspired by, something to provoke, something to think about.  Books such as these become ‘favorites’ because people will go back to them again and again, finding different things, sometimes something new. 

I do know a bit about the folklore of the British Isles, and parts of Europe, and specifically the folklore dealing with ‘elves’ and I can tell you that it isn’t exactly the same as Tolkien’s. To say that he ‘got it all from’ the common “Fairy Folklore” or “paganism” or “catholicism” is absurd. He’s got things in there that go far beyond the common folklore of this kind from Ireland to Norway, from Wales to Finland, from Scotland to France. This is why there isn’t a book out there that I would spend a penny on which presumes to tell me where they believe “he got it from” or uses other material, political or religious to tell me what “he really meant.”  

What I find in Tolkien, from the Silmarillion all the way to Unfinished Tales and the Lost Road, etc, is a whole new creative narrative that is saying something which he may have believed in as a writer, and that it was not something ever-present in the world around him, that ‘came from around him’ or that there’s some secret religion or political ideology that he’s trying to sell. I don’t think he is, and a good writer doesn’t, they search for something which was previously beyond words, some deep truth that might be within them that they do not find in words outside them. They do things like attempt to write it in poetry, in song, in epic sagas, in stories, dramas, and fantasies. They express. I do not believe (upon gazing at all this material of his) that he was just ‘spinning some crap to hide common religious messages and political ideal.’  I believe he found something more profound than those things, and we get quite a bit of it in his writings. 

Perhaps it is the order or collection or configuration of his writings which seems to imply this to me. It’s one thing to create sci-fi worlds and fantasy places, but there’s something odd about all this he created, stranger than sci-fi, more peculiar and curious than ‘fantasy fiction.’  I’ve noticed a lot of odd things as I’ve read, and though I will continue to process it, I also continue to learn quite a bit just while researching just what it is this material seems to provoke. These things are not the same things everybody else is probably ‘digging up,’ and I couldn’t expect them to. While I have not much interest in Dwarves, therefore I don’t look into them much, nor their language, etc, and what I do take an interest in, as narrow as that may be, there’s still so much to go through and even this is part of the enjoyment of it.  I wouldn’t waste a second playing a ‘Middle Earth’ video-game or role-playing game when I could be learning more, and I believe this is part of what it means to ‘read Tolkien,’ you have to be interesting in “learning.” One “learns” about the Elves, or Dwarves and because it is all so vast, one will have to focus in on something in particular and go from there. Trying to process it all (and I mean all, the Silmarillion, everything) would seem impossible. 

One must find this kind of ‘learning’ fun, and it is this very thing which I think is part of the appeal, I seem to like the Silmarillion more than the other books, which I still continue to refer back to anyways. The richness of the material isn’t even that there is so much of it, there is clearly more than the surface in there, there’s plenty there to mull over and think about, in many many ways. It isn’t just a plot and some interesting characters, there’s more.  What may not draw the surface-skimmers, the overly-simplistic ‘fans’ of the movies, and the games and pop-culture is that they don’t give a shit that there might be anything else ‘in there’ that means anything. As far as they’re concerned, it’s just a bunch of fantasy fiction about dragons and swords and people killing each other and saving the world.

For people that are possibly similar to me, there is something more that draws out certain expression which we seem to relate to in ways that are not ordinary. What I don’t find anybody writing about out there is this exact thing, and one cannot simply start citing Bible Passages and pagan mythology to explain it all away, or some political tract. I don’t think he’s writing about things like that. It requires talking about the material, thinking about it, from it’s own angle and perspective, within it’s very own world and the context which that is in. It certainly does mean something outside itself, for otherwise we wouldn’t be able to relate to it all. What is there, and what it means, still suggests that rather, what one is specifically looking at, on one aspect or another, and not everybody is looking at the exact same things either. So what one finds, one scrap, one piece, one single meaning to them is far more interesting to me than the pedantic rantings of phony ‘Tolkien Professors’ and fake academic writers who’d like to make bold condescending statements like “Tolkien was a Conservative” or “Aragorn is Jesus” or “Gandalf is Jesus” or “Tolkien was a Tree-Hugging Hippie” or “Tolkien was a Secret Pagan.” This is all absurd. Telling me “what it’s ALL about” as I said seems impossible to accomplish, no more possible than one man telling me what every passage in the Bible means.

Rather, I think people can offer up what they themselves have found in their own limited scans of the material, and if they can muster the vocabulary, offer up that inexplicable truth that they believe they might have found, which likely is far greater than religion or politics, having more to do with something one finds in poetry, a ‘greater truth,’ which writers aspire to behold and express. What does Tolkien ‘mean to you?’  Certainly not an unthinkable task nor an impossible expectation as the assumption is that somebody should be getting something out of it more than what happens in the plot, or the physical details of descriptions. The insult to the intelligence on the part of Tolkien Preachers is the same as it is with all others, they stand on a pedestal and recite their authority on the matter, and then tell you ‘what he really meant’ as absolutes and with their own secret inference which is “join the Catholic church,” or “become a neo-pagan” or “become a Republican” or “send your checks to the nearest Environmental group.” Or something as cynical as “buy MY book.” 

I won’t buy such books, as there is never anything in them of any value. They tell me nothing and distort the very outside reference material they’re using to spin Tolkien’s words. Nothing could be more offensive, but it is happening, widely, and one might even say at this point, “everybody’s doing it” or that “it’s gone mainstream” as if this is how to experience Tolkien. By playing video-games or role-playing games, or by watching shitty movies, or by reading, writing, and selling weird books by authors who want to ride the coat-tails of a popularity of the material so they can sell their own brand of politics and religion. This is because they are neither clever or intelligent to write their own material, because they can’t, they won’t and it isn’t because they’re ‘more nerdy’ than you are, it is because in fact they care less about the material than you do. 

(Continued in Part 2)

Relating to the Elves Part 2: Beloved Beech Trees

So you’ve taken your first step towards understanding Elves, but wait, we’re not done.  There can’t be enough said about… Beech Trees.  That’s right, it isn’t enough to know that you can eat Beech nuts and make cooking oil from them.  There’s this deeper level to why Elves seem to like trees so much, their minds are full of the arch-concept of what a ‘tree’ is.

There is something important to elves in what they might call lúmequenta, the memory of the origin of all things, and the very ‘idea’ of trees is central to this. There is the nyárë of two trees in particular. “The Two Trees of Valinor” they call them. It is told in the Aldudénië, “Lament for the Two Trees” “Of the deeds of that day much is told in the Aldudénië, that Elemmírë of the Vanyar made and is known to all the Eldar. Yet no song or tale could contain all the grief and terror that then befell.” 

These two trees might not be considered “trees” of the kind that we know growing upon Arda today, but they seem to imply some sort of higher idea or concept, nevertheless, and before the ‘grief and terror that then befell,’ were these two very important “trees…”

“The one had leaves of dark green that beneath were as shining silver, and from each of his countless flowers a dew of silver light was ever falling, and the earth beneath was dappled with the shadow of his fluttering leaves. The other bore leaves of a young green like the new-opened beech; their edges were of glittering gold. Flowers swung upon her branches in clusters of yellow flame, formed each to a glowing horn that spilled a golden rain upon the ground; and from the blossom of that tree there came forth warmth and a great light.”

So it is described as like a Beech Tree, and this is the first mention of a specific tree, (a real tree other than Mallorn) likely because they are so fond of them, but it is not exactly a “Beech Tree.”  However the importance is noted.  And once again, this importance and reference to Beech Trees is mentioned again, “The pillars of Menegroth were hewn in the likeness of the beeches of Oromë, stock, bough, and leaf, and they were lit with lanterns of gold. The nightingales sang there as in the gardens of Lórien; and there were fountains of silver, and basins of marble, and floors of many-coloured stones.”

So important is this tree that either it is literally the inheritor of all they hold sacred and dear, or because of its importance, their tales constantly refer to it in order to connect what they understand as a “Beech Tree” with this tale of the Elder Days that they all love so much. 

“And when Valinor was full-wrought and the mansions of the Valar were established, in the midst of the plain beyond the mountains they built their city, Valmar of many bells. Before its western gate there was a green mound, Ezellohar, that is named also Corollairë; and Yavanna hallowed it, and she sat there long upon the green grass and sang a song of power, in which was set all her thought of things that grow in the earth. But Nienna thought in silence, and watered the mould with tears. In that time the Valar were gathered together to hear the song of Yavanna, and they sat silent upon their thrones of council in the Máhanaxar…

And as they watched, upon the mound there came forth two slender shoots; and silence was over all the world in that hour, nor was there any other sound save the chanting of Yavanna. Under her song the saplings grew and became fair and tail, and came to flower; and thus there awoke in the world the Two Trees of Valinor. Of all things which Yavanna made they have most renown, and about their fate all the tales of the Elder Days are woven.

The one had leaves of dark green that beneath were as shining silver, and from each of his countless flowers a dew of silver light was ever falling, and the earth beneath was dappled with the shadow of his fluttering leaves. The other bore leaves of a young green like the new-opened beech; their edges were of glittering gold. Flowers swung upon her branches in clusters of yellow flame, formed each to a glowing horn that spilled a golden rain upon the ground; and from the blossom of that tree there came forth warmth and a great light. Telperion the one was called in Valinor, and Silpion, and Ninquelótë, and many other names; but Laurelin the other was, and Malinalda, and Culúrien, and many names in song beside.”

The Elves clearly have placed a great importance, for whatever reasons upon the Beech Tree, and connected it with a particular ‘conceptual’ or ‘mythical’ tree of the ancient origin of all things, and perhaps because it somehow embodies this idea which comes from these mythical or ‘conceptual’ pre-history, primal trees. (Or at least one of them.)  This story of the Beginning is something that in their existence they are clearly ‘ever-conscious’ of, and it reveals a connection of all that is (Eä) and the living world that surrounds them in their daily life.  

“Not far from the gates of Menegroth stood the greatest of all the trees in the Forest of Neldoreth; and that was a beech-forest and the northern half of the kingdom. This mighty beech was named Hírilorn, and it had three trunks, equal in girth, smooth in rind, and exceeding tall; no branches grew from them for a great height above the ground.”

The Beech Tree is once again referred to of great importance, not even the Oak Tree is so referred to. It would seem that there can be no doubt as to which tree is not only their ‘favorite’ but one they clearly identify with above other trees. 

In the HISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH VOL 5 THE LOST ROAD AND OTHER WRITINGS

THE ETYMOLOGIES we find variations of nomenclature regarding the Beech: 

BERETH- T bredele beech-tree; Ilk. breth (*b'retha) beech-mast,
but the beech was called galbreth [CALAD] in Falasse, and neldor in Doriath (see NEL). The beech-tree was probably originally called *pheren, Q feren or ferne (pl. ferni), ON pheren; but in EN fer pl.
ferin was usually replaced by the Ilk. breth mast, whence EN brethil beech-tree; cf. Brethiliand, -ian 'Forest of Brethil' [see PHER).

NEL- three. NEL-ED- three: Q nelde; N neledh later neled (after canad four). Prefix nel- tri-. nelthil triangle (neltildi)
[TIL]. Doriathrin neldor beech. Cf. Neldoreth name of a forest
in Doriath, properly name of Hirilorn the great beech of Thingol with three trunks = neld-orn? [see OR-NI]. The N name is brethel, pl. brethil (cf. Forest of Brethil); see BERETH [where brethil is given as the singular). The proper Dor. name was galdbreth > gal- breth [GALAD].

OR-NI- high tree. Q orne tree, high isolated tree. N, Dor. orn. In Doriath used especially of beech, but as suffix in regorn etc. used of any tree of any size. In N used of any large tree - holly, hawthorn, etc. were classed as toss (tussa) bush [TUS]: thus eregdos = holly [EREK]. N orn has pl. yrn.

PHER-, PHEREN- beech. Q feren or ferne (pl. ferni) beech-tree; ferna mast, beechnuts; ferinya beechen. T ferne. ON pheren beech; pherna mast; Exilic fer was usually replaced by brethil (see BERETH).

As far as what they call the Beech Tree in various developments of language, whether NELDOR or PHEREN or FERNÊ or BRETHIL (which also seems to have been used to refer to ‘Silver Birch’) many names flow into other names and are the basis for other names, and bear relationships to other names, further imprinting the ‘importance’ of a concept or thing, and in this case, “BEECH” continually appears to be of considerable significance. 

It is also likely that wherever you find Beech Trees growing, Elves might not be far away.  Beech Trees grow in MIRKWOOD, “About four days from the enchanted stream they came to a part where most of the trees were beeches. They were at first inclined to be cheered by the change…” (The Hobbit) and just outside Thranduil’s cave: “There the great beeches came right down to the bank” (The Hobbit) and of course, the Wood-Elves of Mirkwood, “The beeches were their favourite trees.”  (The Hobbit).

And in OSSIRIAND, “But they were called by others Green-elves, Laiqendi, because they loved the green wood, and green lands of fair waters; and the house of Denethor loved green above all colours, and the beech above all trees.”

And NELDORETH, “To the beeches of Neldoreth I came in the Autumn. Ah! the gold and the red and the sighing of leaves in the Autumn in Taur-na-neldor!”

And as for LOTHLORIEN, it would seem that if at least one kind of their ‘Elven-Brooches’ are the shape of the Beech Leaf, one might surmise that Beech Trees grow there.

And west of RIVENDELL, in the “Trollshaws” Upland Woods it is most likely there would have to be Beech Trees growing since the three trolls Bilbo ran into were burning a fire with Beech logs. 

Above all other trees mentioned or referenced, the Beech Tree is mentioned and referred to the most and used to describe various things of importance.  

However, if you happen to live in the American West, you’re not likely to find any Beech Trees, and they also do not grow everywhere on the planet. There is the European Beech, Fagus sylvatica, and then there is the American Beech, Fagus grandifolia. (Among others http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Fagaceae/Fagus/ ) This is not to say that some city somewhere might not have planted them down town, but they’re not universally distributed in the wild everywhere. They can grow particularly wide, with trunks of up to 30 feet in diameter, the perfect type of tree to build a tree house, like the one Luthien lived in.  Beech Trees were said to have been possibly the first trees to be used as ‘books’ but it isn’t known whether this refers to their pulp, or the fact that they were commonly used to carve letters, words, messages into. The smooth gray bark is very unique, and runes and ancient carvings have been found on them. They were used as ‘trysting trees’ meant to be familiar trees for communication, both for carving messages and as meeting places. They were the ‘book trees’ the “Beech” “boche, boke, and bike” trees where information could be stored, transferred, transmitted.  Today, they are the likeliest of trees that kids will carve their initials into because the smooth bark allows easy carving and display.  

The Beech tree could conceivably be seen as a ‘tree of language’ or a ‘tree of script,’ the ‘book tree’ where stories could be told, would be told, and where people would meet to exchange information.  The Elves were called the Quendi, the first speakers, the inventors of language and story, therefore it is possible that if there were one tree to identify with, it would be the tree we know most associated with language, writing, script, communication, and stories. The Beech represents an ‘idea tree’ like no other, and it is also conceivable that it is linked with the ‘first trees’ the ‘Two Trees’ of Valinor in that by way of conceptual transmission, it is the conceptual offspring of one of these two trees. The idea of “meaning” associated with trees is of vital importance, and these original “Two Trees” highly suggest some sort of ‘original meaning’ or significant symbol of primal ‘meaning.’  While the ‘Two Trees’ are more likened to a more generalized primal concept of the light of the sun and the moon, and all the symbolism that suggests, the eventual ‘growth’ of the very ‘idea’ of ‘meaning’ then becomes their offspring significantly tied or linked to the creation of actual trees. The connection between trees and ‘meaning,’ or ‘language’ or ‘script’ or ‘knowledge’ is pretty clear.  

Within the mind of an Elf, there can be no greater symbol for ‘meaning’ than trees, and that either means one or both of the original ‘Two Trees’ or the eventual manifestation of a tree like the Beech Tree, or the mythical Mallorn.  There is an abundance of links not only in Elvish language to trees, plants, flowers and growing things to the invention of words and their derivatives, but also human language. The connection and association of names of organic things to writing, communication, memory, record keeping, language, and even speech seems ubiquitous.  It may be an eternal mystery as to ‘why’ this is, or why this ever came about, but for the Elves, it is quite clear and they are most contemplative about the origins of such things. When one begins to investigate the origins of words, one begins to find a never ending rabbit hole of links to words which describe trees, plants, roots, branches, leaves, and they essentially ‘grow’ from there inexplicably.  What one ends up with is almost a self-replicating narrative which begins to tell itself, and something we can’t quite call ‘history,’ but rather ‘lore’ emerges which the Elves call nólë, or nolwë, the wisdom of the secret lore. The ‘rabbit hole’ as we humans would call it is the inexplicable weirdness which occurs when one begins to follow the branches of the words, whether it be from nolwë to noldor, or neldor, and follow along the implications of the meanings and how they change, we can not only apply this to Elvish language, but to our own, from buk to boke to buck to book, around to bece and bucca, to beech.  Strange ideas begin to emerge that connect ‘idea’ and ‘thought’ and ‘word’ to plants, trees and mysterious beings which have thousands of names, elves being only one of these names. 

Throughout the Silmarillion, Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit, there are hundreds of strange words and word associations, and one can follow the phonetics, the spelling, the meaning and the implementation up and down the narrative and uproot far stranger narratives and meanings which aren’t so much hidden nor contain hidden allegorical meanings, but sub-meanings within themselves, self-referential concepts which in fact inspire a seeker to uncover deeper meanings which are in all things, not just the books. It does not offer so much  the ‘answers’ but a curious example of how one might like to go in search of answers… something which can be applied outside the books. For the Elves, this is a given, it is a matter-of-fact way of thinking, it is part of their culture… it is NOT part of our culture, short of a few odd individuals like perhaps Tolkien himself who indulges in playing around with these sort of ideas.  His Elves are a dream of a ‘people’ that are able to make these sorts of connections, and a vague inference that it might have been a long long time ago, somebody once used to believe in such things, but who can know, it would be never anything to us but a ‘myth.’  The good thing is, we don’t have to dig up ancient DNA to prove anything, all one need do is relate to the Elves, and one can begin on their own to do this. The ‘connection’ to the trees and all they mean can be uncovered and the ‘purer’ narratives of ‘meaning’ can be pursued. The benefit of all this of course is that it is all very ‘practical’ and not so mystical at all, for the very real connections to the very real things such as plants and trees and the contemplation of their very real nature effectively opens one’s mind to this mystery of meaning and language, no magic spells required.   

An Elf loves his Beech Tree, either as a reminder of his way of life, or that there could be meaning in life that is both profound and practical.  He is the maker of meaning, and the seeker of meaning, the finder of meaning, the inheritor of meaning beyond himself in the outside world. The universe itself, Eä,  contains meaning, pours forth meaning, and reveals meaning, and manifests meaning within the many things that can be found, things which are physical and things which are not. The Valar, as ideas themselves, suggest the very ‘idea’ that from them came other ‘ideas’ whether they be trees or intangible concepts, and the weirdness of expounding all of this through writing, speaking and communicating is all part of the process and nothing less that a ‘way of life.’  The further one is removed from all this, from this process, the more life becomes ‘meaning-less.’  

So, Atani, a tree is more than a tree, to an Elf… a Beech Tree is more than a Beech Tree… I imagine that when an Elf looks upon a Beech Tree, they see something not only more ‘profound’ they see another world than you do… 

Relating to the Elves: Part 1

“The beeches were their favourite trees.” 

(--The Hobbit, about Elves)

Reality of the Fantasy Series

In this day and age it can be pretty difficult relating to people—let alone Elves, and what most people seem to get wrong in ‘relating’ or understanding somebody is they first size up what that person looks like. I’m not going to do that.  If you were to ever happen to run into an Elf, specifically “Tolkien Elves” or Quendi (their variable tribes, and groups to be sorted later) you might not want to check to see if they have pointed ears, nor stare at their hair or check to see what kind of knife they might have, you might actually want to greet them, you know, ‘whassup?’  Or rather, “Gi suilon!” (I greet you!) 

A good thing to do when meeting anybody of course, but you might then like to make a respectful attempt to acknowledge something they appreciate… and there can be no better thing than starting up a conversation about something they particularly like, a common frame of reference, something ‘real’ that both parties can point to and look at, and that can be no better thing than Beech Trees.

Elves loved trees. Real trees. The very same trees that exist today in our world. By name. There are over 100 real world trees and plants mentioned in Tolkien's books, and that means that not only do these 'people' identify with them the same we we do, such as eating, utilizing them, there's something expressed that is no doubt just as 'real' for this fantasy as it would be for the real world of our very own. So that means we can also identify with them.

Yeah, as one of the Atani, you couldn’t give a shit about Beech Trees, yes, I know, but if you’re thinking of even attempting to relate to Elves, you better at least give it a shot. It’s likely they already think you’re an asshole anyways and this would be your opportunity to make a good impression.

The Elves call them ‘feren’ (phernê) and you might want to know a few things about them before you shoot off your mouth. (fernë in Quenya) Trees are important to Elves, and especially Beech. Why would that be? As one of the Atani, trees mean nothing to you, unless you’re cutting them down to burn shit, or make weapons, but Elves don’t see it that way, they see trees differently, and so you better get a few things straight in your head. 

Now the Beech Tree (Fagus; as in “phay-gus”) is a tree, and that’s basically as far as your Atani mind understands it, it’s main use is for firewood, easy to split with an axe, it burns for a long time and produces a nice calm flame. Beech chips have been known to be used in brewing beer, and today the Atani use the wood to make weapons, the ones that shoot lead projectiles, for the ‘stocks’ of their ‘guns.’ Not something you want to bring up I’m afraid, so don’t even try.  

Now nobody knows all the details about why they like Beech Trees so much, but we do know that the Forest of Neldoreth also called Taur-na-neldor is a forest of Beech Trees where Beren met Luthien (some famous Elvish lore) and there was this Beech Tree called Neldor or Hírilorn “Tree of the Lady” where Luthien was kept by her father.  There are 17 references to Beeches in “Lord of the Rings”/“The Hobbit” together, and 8 in the Silmarillion, and 2 in “The Children of Hurin.”  

Elves live pretty close to what humans call “Nature” though no such word is ever used in Tolkien’s books.  One might rather use the term Eä, but ultimately, the Elves seem to appreciate the ‘growing things’ of this world. They likely know a lot more about them, and so knowing a little more about them and engaging in the appreciation of such things is probably the best idea. 

The first thing you might want to consider is a concept that Elves are also very fond of and that is also the concept of Lambelë, and that means our words for Beech could be something to consider and be very ‘excited’ about. “Beech” comes from words like ‘buche,’ and ‘buke,’ and ‘boke,’ and to an Elf, this is fascinating, because it’s where we get the word “book” from.  The word “fagus” (phagus)(phaya) has to do with ‘eating,’ or ‘edibility,’ and so combine those concepts and you’ll get a weird new concept like ‘eating books’ or something, but I suppose it would depend on the Elf you’re talking to as to whether or not they like to entertain such odd notions. 

The edibility of Beech is good to know, the ‘beech nuts’ can contain 19.4-21.8% protein, 18-20.3% carbohydrate, and a whopping 50-53.5% fat, while one can eat a handful in the fall, in order to utilize large amounts for food, one must process them as one would with acorns, which is to ‘leech’ the tannins out of them by soaking ground up powder or flour of beech nut. Tannins aren't that good for your insides, it’s what leather-workers use to make leather last. So unless you want a rawhide stomach, you better do as the native Americans did and soak the tannins out of them, they also contain a toxic substance, a saponin glycoside, which -- while not fatal -- can cause gastric problems so you also would probably be served roasting them like chestnuts, as this will destroy this toxin as well as enhance their flavor.  If you’re going to run around outside and live like Elves and eat this stuff, you gotta know these things.  

“The leaves were used to help heal burns and scouling, to restore frostbitten extremities, and to heal sores.  The north side of the bark was used as a wash for poison ivy. The bark was also used for pulmonary troubles. Sometimes the bark was used for abortions when the mother was suffering.  Nut meat mixed with bear grease was used to prevent mosquitoes. They chewed the nuts to prevent worms.  They also used beech trees in mixtures to prevent gall, and as a blood purifier.” http://sciweb.hfcc.net/kelly/nature/woody/trees/abeech/abeech.html

Now, the Beech tree can get pretty big, a good candidate for building tree-houses in them, and many Elves do like their tree-houses, also Beech trees actually benefit other trees that grow around them, by conserving the productive capacity of the soil better than any other kind of tree, they’re ‘good guys.’ 

As they grow really old, they start to look like the trees we all imagine in fantastic places like “Middle Earth.”  

There’s some info here about Beech that humans might find useful: Beech. http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/beech-27.html

The Leaves of Lorien

And whatever you do, do NOT show him/her your “Peter Jackson” Lord of the Rings “brooch” you bought off the internet, because it will just piss him/her off.  The “Leaves of Lorien” brooch was a Beech-Leaf not that of Ivy or Hedera which appears to be the model for the ‘collectible trinket’ marketed by the movie franchise. (Not to insult Hedera of course, there’s nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t the Leaves of Lorien that we know). 

“And look at this! He held up a thing that glittered in the sunlight. It looked like the new-opened leaf of a beech-tree, fair and strange in that treeless plain.

'The brooch of an elven-cloak!' cried Legolas and Gimli together.

'Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall,' said Aragorn. 'This did not drop by chance: it was cast away as a token to any that might follow. I think Pippin ran away from the trail for that purpose.’”

Now by saying something like, “Hey there, Gi suilon, look at the size of that Beech Tree, amazing isn’t it?” Or by talking about Beeches, perhaps asking them about them might be the best way to get to know an Elf.  You might want to discuss the higher concepts of what ‘trees’ mean to them and ask just what is it about trees they hold so dear, rather than say, “It’s a tree, dude, what’s the deal.” 

A Survey of the Peoples of Middle Earth

         

Before I begin writing about the Elves, I’d like to make a few observations about the denizens of middle earth… well, ‘modern earth,’ perhaps…  Many people might say my opinion doesn’t count for anything, especially the ‘Tolkien Police,’ so I offer up certain observations which I want you to consider, and determine your own standing in the landscape of ‘enthusiasts’ which are out there. Not everybody likes the exact same things, and have come into it all from a variety of different sources, and not everybody thinks the same things, just as it is with nearly anything else in this world…

Tolkien Purist:  I’m not even sure what a “Tolkien Purist” really is, I assume this is another word for                “Tolkien Police” which means certain people who think they know everything there is to know about every word that has been published by J.R.R. Tolkien. Who decides what I don’t know, but there are so many ‘societies’ of ‘official’ sounding self-titled people that you can’t really trust them. These are not the same people as “The Tolkien Estate” nor are they their spokesmen or lawyers even though they may sound like they want to be.  This is more of a nebulous accusatory term than an actual name of any people, and is usually of a negative connotation. 

Reader:  a reader is simply the humble person who buys one or more of the books and reads them. They may or may not have seen the movies, but as time goes on more and more people have seen the Peter Jackson films, it is inevitable, but the reader ultimately goes on to read the books anyways. The readers read, it’s what they do, and they would choose to read more than to play games. 

Shippers:  These are people who usually express themselves with memes and often fan-fiction, but not necessarily only fan-fiction. They create web pages, websites, Facebook pages and make gaudy photoshops featuring unlikely ‘romantic’ pairings of different characters of the movies and books. I cannot imagine what causes people to do this, but it happens in every other fictional ‘franchise’ and in my opinion, the people who do this miss out on what’s really there in the actual books.

Fetishists:  These are people who go way beyond fan-fiction and shipping all the way to creating pornographic materials based on Tolkien’s works, and photoshop weird scenes involving characters from either the movies or the books. They sexually fetishize fantasy creatures and write pornographic ‘fan-fiction’ and hyper-sexualize everything that takes place in the books and films. 

Fan-fictioners: These are people who are either not satisfied with how the actual stories went, or they want to make imaginary ‘sequels’ or try their hand at pretending to be the original author, or they can’t seem to create their own characters or fictional places so they use those created by the original author. You will find them in every other fictional franchise as well.  Not necessarily to be confused with ‘shippers’ though ‘shippers’ may in fact write their own fan-fiction. Also, many of these people simply like to put themselves into the fictional universe and this is part of a fantasy or role-play. 

Role-Players: Not to be confused with Gamers or even Role-Playing Gamers. The role-player is someone who goes online and engages in the strange activity of pretending to be a character in Middle Earth, but in an un-structured way. They either pretend to be one of the original characters, but sometimes make up their own. (For example: Legolas Evenstar or Gandalf Half-Elven or Sauriel). They create ‘avatars’ and find other like-people and often end up engaging in both ’shipping’ and ‘fan-fiction.’ I don’t know exactly what causes people to do this but I believe it comes from the same impulse that causes them to play video games and role-playing games. These people seem to either want to live some part of their life in Middle Earth, or wish they could be because their own lives are simply lacking in something. 

Role-Playing Gamers: These are people who either invent their own games or play already-invented ‘games’ which feature the characters and places and situations in the books and movies. They either make up rules or ‘play’ by accepting previously existing ‘rules,’ of many different types of ‘role-playing games.’ They do not necessarily ‘dress up’ but sometimes they do (see LARPers and CosPlayers). These seem to be people who fail to assimilate the ideas that exist in the ‘literature’ which has been written and like fan-fictioners, shippers, and role-players, are not satisfied with how their own life engages with the material in the books. For the most part, in my observation, role-playing games are a contest of dominating personalities rather than winning ‘games.’ RPGs are a means for sociopaths to assert themselves and it doesn’t really matter which context, which ‘franchise’ they operate in (Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.)

Gamers:  These are people who may end up in many categories, they may be role-players, role-playing gamers, fan-fictioners, etc, but mainly, they play video games. There are various “Lord of the Rings” video games in existence, and the video games offer them even a way to waste their time asserting themselves and engage in fantasies which are provided with a wealth of rules and systems which give the impression of an ordered ‘alternate’ reality or experience of life, one that seems to be arbitrary, but still offers the same situations as the role-playing games. What appears to be a ‘contest’ of skill or memorization ends up being another contest of asserting dominant personalities. If they play video games against the computer, it mainly serves as an alternate reality-play and creates a fantasy of ‘being in Middle Earth’ as much as technically possible.

Cosplayers:  To be honest, I still haven’t figured out what a cosplayer really is. This isn’t necessarily “Live Action Role Playing” or is it? Cosplayers either buy or create their own costumes, show up at conventions, but do they really ‘role-play’ is it a ‘game’ or is it simply ‘role play?’ Is it sexual fantasy, or is it actually like kids dress up and ‘pretend’? I haven’t a clue, but it would seem that “LARPers” are in a sense ‘cosplaying,’ but at the same time ‘role-playing,’ but at the same time ‘gaming.’  The mutations of ‘fantasy’ on all these levels really gets confusing, and what motivates these people is likely, they fail to see what is there, and cannot process or assimilate information or ideas which are presented in the books the way “readers” do or others…

LARPers:  I believe these people not only dress up but create literal actual ‘games’ with some sort of structure, but I find it hard to believe that anyone carries out such activity in the modern world. It seems like an awful lot of work for ‘fantasy’ play, but then again, I imagine they still exist…  Many of these people are ‘re-enacters’ who often are obsessed with medieval weapons, swords, costumes, and medievalism, and show up at ‘renaissance festivals/fairs’ and assert their sociopathic personalities upon other people by playing certain roles. They are often loud, obnoxious people whose fantasy ‘roles’ are always boisterous, invade the personal space of other people, and ignore the boundaries of others. They do not “LARP” or role-play characters which are quiet, introspective, or reserved.

Medievalists:  These people usually end up engaging in LARPing, and role-playing games, but also likely play video games, and consume a lot of other ‘fantasy’ novels, movies and ‘franchises.’  They often combine them all, and assimilate them all into one view of all of them which they draw from in their lives. They also like weapons, heraldry, anglophilia, and sometimes dream of living in a feudalistic society, and the works of Tolkien are really not deeply contemplated. They like the structure, and the ‘idea of the ideas’ but not the ideas themselves. They often like to try to make Tolkien’s writings seem like they are promoting the things they like to believe in, and are most attracted to the macho-fantasies which certain characters and groups of people in the books most personify.  These are people more interested in Knights, armor, and catholic style archaic military fantasy. These are not necessarily people who would end up becoming ‘neopagans’ or wiccans, but they might end up becoming ‘racists’ and fascists.  They see Tolkien’s works as re-arrangements of their favorite myths like Beowulf or Wagner’s ring cycle. Medievalists also may or may not be Christians, may or may not be cosplayers, in that they spend a lot of time perhaps engaged in real-world activities like making swords, knives, or selling armor or medieval products.

Neopagans:  These are people who see elements of Tolkien’s works as being derived from ancient ‘pagan’ mythology and become obsessed with the details and concepts which only appeal to their belief that Tolkien was promoting paganism. They are obsessed with the calendars, the Valar, and any mention of magic or sorcery, and they always like to dig up whatever myths they believe Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion are based upon. They can be ‘wiccans,’ or consider themselves ‘ritual magicians’ like to spell ‘magic’ differently, and sometimes, but not always, become interested in herbalism, but not necessarily for any actual physiological health benefits. They like ‘spells’ and ‘magic’ and ‘the occult’ and other things which many people see as ‘more fantasy.’ They may or may not be “Odinists” and be obsessed with Norse mythology. 

Christian Evangelists:  These are people who emphasize the ‘catholicism’ of J.R.R. Tolkien and often bring up “C.S. Lewis” all the time. They see the Lord of the Rings and the works of Tolkien as ‘christian allegory’ and often dig into the personal past of J.R.R. Tolkien, World War I, and his other life experiences to ‘prove’ that he was promoting a christian view of the world. They see Frodo as Christ, Sauron as Satan and view the writings of Tolkien as purely a “christianized” literary creation. They like to downplay anything that doesn’t serve this view. 

Otherkin/Otherkind: These are a stange bunch of people who like to believe they are reincarnations of “elves,” “werewolves” and “vampires” and have basically become unhinged not only from ‘fantasy franchises’ but reality itself. They may also take part in any of the above, and can be everything from shippers to neopagans, medievalists to gamers, and while for Tolkien, likely are most interested in ‘elves’ but whose ‘beliefs’ most often would not ‘adhere’ or line up with anything Tolkien himself wrote, not simply in terms of ‘canon’ but in terms of characterization. 

Experts:  These are people who are self-titled ‘authorities’ on the names, places, situations and everything that can be memorized and while may eventually be considered ‘purists’ this is not necessarily the case. Many of the ‘experts’ will serve as marketing tools for the filmmakers, sell their own weird ’Tolkien Institutes’ and promote all kinds of shit that you have to pay for. They write books about Tolkien himself, they try to explain where it all came from, and often have lots of letters following their names, and have degrees in folklore, literature, english, linguistics, and call themselves “professors.” They may become what we call ‘the Tolkien Police,’  but usually it is the followers of these kinds of people who become ‘the Tolkien police’ citing their works as ‘authority’ when trying to criticize people’s notions about Tolkien and his writings.

Peter Jackson Fans:  Movie fans of the adaptations of Tolkien’s works tend to mostly not read the books and likely will not make it through ‘the Silmarillion.’ They enjoy fart jokes, Tauriel, Radagast, and other absurdities in the movies and regard them as being more ‘realistic’ than the books. However, there are many ‘experts’ which have expressed the fact that they liked the Hobbit movies better than the book because it is ‘more epic.’ Any of the above, with the possible exception of ‘readers’ may be Peter Jackson fans. Sometimes ‘Peter Jackson Fans’ seem to be schizophrenic when it comes to liking the books and movies, selectively choosing for themselves which is more appealing, and can even be ‘offended’ by some things which they experienced in the movies, while still praising them above the books. Peter Jackson Fans always revere the films above the ‘boring, tedious and hard to follow books.’ 

Spinners:  Often, ‘spinners’ are people with academic credentials, or are in the process of writing university thesis or obtaining degrees, but sometimes they are simply authors, writers or call themselves ‘experts’ and have websites. They may or may not be medievalists, neopagans or christians, but like to write lengthy essays about some subject or another which pretends to be about Tolkien or his writings but in fact are actually the promotion of a religious or political idea. They may post them on the internet for free, or try to sell them to you, they are not necessarily the for-profit ‘experts.’ They concoct highly footnoted screeds about how Tolkien was promoting Norse mythology, or the Bible, or some little detail of paganism or that he was a racist, or promoted fascism, or that he was writing about World War II, or World War I, or that it was an allegory against communism, or that it was promoting Anglo-Saxon culture, or any number of other pet-obsessions that are political or personally religious to the spinner.  They generally try to connect different ideas, stories or concepts that can be found in the Silmarillion, Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit to their pet-theories and attempt to use it to promote their personal agendas.  Spinners are in fact the worst of all of these denizens of Middle Earth because they clearly do not ‘enjoy’ Tolkien nor read what is actually there, but rather use his writings to make people believe in whatever crap they believe in that has nothing to do with his writings at all. Many spinners are also ‘cash grabbers.’ 

Cash Grabbers:  These are people who attempt to ride the coat-tails of the success of Tolkien’s books and more recently, the movies, and create all kinds of bizarre schemes to hook people into buying their products, they make podcasts, write pointless diatribes about ‘where Tolkien got his ideas’ and publish all kinds of materials which offer no greater understanding of the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, most often under the guise of ‘scholarship.’ They also may create worthless books with lots of illustrations based upon the works of Tolkien, and manufacture and sell all kinds of trinkets and junk ‘inspired by Tolkien’ and endlessly network and market their bullshit across the internet. Some may consider themselves ‘experts,’ others, ‘neopagans,’ others sell Evangelist books hoping to hook you into their church, some create fan-films, and others make jewelry and weapons. They create ‘online games,’ and find virtually any and all means to ‘create a product’ which somehow they can market through the ‘fans of J.R.R. Tolkien.” These people are the Orcs of this little universe, but their schemes come and go all the time, while the Spinner’s garbage continues to resurface over and over again causing strife and debate amongst the fans, pitting one group against another, and engaging people in petty religious feuds over nothing.

The Members: These are people who belong to various “Tolkien” fan organizations who try to dictate from their long-standing memberships and ‘investments’ in time and money and relationships with these organizations, to fans and try to sell them ‘memberships’ and other services which only seek to perpetuate these hierarchies from which they can continue on their pedestals. They create new organizations all the time and can also be ‘Tolkien Police’ and ‘experts’ as well as ‘cash grabbers’ and ‘spinners,’ and are often very much like ‘role playing gamers’ in that they rather enjoy asserting their personalities and gain their satisfactions not from Tolkien material but in dictating, denouncing and asserting themselves on ‘fans’ of Tolkien. Their main objective is simply to enjoy the power to be considered an authority, though they may not necessarily know very much. They are not necessarily ‘purists’ but they may seem to behave as such. They generally elevate their organizations above all other ‘denizens’ and if they happen to be of some stature in those organizations or the founders they often make their ‘pronouncements’ as though they were coming straight from the “Tolkien Estate” themselves, though never stating it as such.  

So why point all this out? Is playing a game based on Lord of the Rings a bad thing? Making your own costume? Writing a fan-fiction? Writing an essay? Belonging to a “Tolkien Organization”? Publishing a book about Tolkien? Are these all bad things, and am I acting in a way as ‘the Tolkien Police?’ The answer is not necessarily at all, but what I would like to suggest is how far have you gone to becoming one of these people?  No sociopath in the world would admit it, and all of them would have an absolute visceral reaction to reading the above entries if their subconscious recognized themselves as being one of them. They will attack and defend their egos like cornered wild animals, and then everyone else is left with the question, what are you in fact pointing out here, and why, and what are YOU promoting, Misfit of Mirkwood?

I point these things out simply because I have noticed them, but also because I have rarely noticed something else: rarely do I see an individual write something which is entirely about the material itself. It almost seems taboo. You will be attacked by every one of these folks, short of perhaps fan-fictioners who don’t really care to adhere to any sort of ‘rules’ as passed out by any of these other individuals, content to remain in their own fantasy worlds…but without referencing Anglo-Saxon culture, or paganism, or one of the ‘experts,’ or directly linking something with Christianity or fascism, or anti-fascism, or anything else, rarely do I see anybody write what reading the Silmarillion ‘makes them feel,’ without citing and referencing all these other things. What about the material itself, and how does it affect your ‘real life’ deeply, personally, and effectively in real ways? Is it all just fantasy?  Why do you have to bring up what you’ve heard about archaic religions and medieval practices? Why do you have to cite Tolkien’s personal life?  Why do you feel you need to adhere to the hierarchies and rules created by gamers, societies, clubs, and experts? What about the material itself? Does it speak to you at all without all those other things? I am one of the few people that I know of, a freak,  that seems to gain something from the material and is inspired soley by what actually seems to be written by itself, and I don’t need to engage in all these other things. I am a freak.

Are you a freak?  Can one express anything outside these strange social conventions? Can one go beyond ‘reader’ and not become one of these other types of people? Can one become interested in concepts expressed by Tolkien about Elves and Eä and so forth without becoming a crazy “Otherkin” or a neo-pagan? Can one do this without becoming one of the “Tolkien Police” or by creating yet another ridiculous ‘hierarchy’ of more experts, more rules, or more silly games? Will they all burn me at the stake for saying such things? Is there something to be gained from the actual works by J.R.R. Tolkien in real life that doesn’t involve all these distracting surrogate activities and consumption of products?  The answer, I assert is yes.  One can creatively cite Tolkien without role-playing, and behold and summon the terms and phrases of Tolkien without becoming fan-fiction, nor treading upon copyright or assailing ‘canon.’  If you can entertain this thought, perhaps we can now, finally, take this to a whole new level, which can leave all this nonsense behind, not for all of us, not for the world, these people will all still be out there, and I have no desire to change their minds about anything they do—I am not the Tolkien Police…

There is something out there, deep in Mirkwood, some strange ‘ideas’ which come straight from the books, and they reside in the unusual realm where poetry was born, which have been hidden, seemingly for a long time, but may in fact be uncovered if you look for them, but they cannot be found in video game levels, nor in the rantings of podcasters, or the lectures of experts, nor in the bowels of romantic fan fiction, nor in the cgi of movies, nor in the libraries of occult books, Anglo-Saxon histories, nor even in other old folktales. 

For I am actually suggesting that Tolkien said something ‘new’ that isn’t in all those other things. I’m saying he did something ‘novel’ and expressed something ‘different,’ that he wrote something ‘unique’ and something ‘modern’ and ‘contemporary.’ He actually pointed to something that nobody else managed to express, the dream of course of every writer. I’m saying by engaging in all these other things, you might miss it.  It isn’t just me, who is going to point it out, there’s much more in there than I’ve located, Mirkwood is deep, and rich and full of things that nobody has yet uncovered, that you can also uncover. However, these things in there, I’m saying that they ‘mean something’ and are far more useful and profound than what people seem to be really finding, and in order to reach them, you have to reach beyond all those other things…  Tolkien left an ‘artifact’ on our doorstep which is far richer than ‘source material’ for a movie franchise… it is far more than a re-arrangement of old myths, it is far more interesting than religious beliefs, far more applicable to life than politics, far more of a gift than you might have ever really imagined. 

Other writers have given us other unique gifts, Tolkien isn’t the only one, and he’s not the savior, but what I’m going to do here is look closer… can you? The real question for the Tolkien Police is whether or not “I’m saying that he said it” or whether or not he really “said it.”  The true test is the high value of what the material gives you, in realms beyond the usual mundane stuff that the internet is full of.  There’s some pretty ‘out-there’ ideas in the Silmarillion… and if Tolkien believed that the old Norse myths were ‘telling it’ the way he saw it, he’d have been satisfied with them and not spend over half his life writing about this ‘other thing’ that he saw.  What people are ‘debating’ isn’t about what’s there, they’re debating whether it’s “christian” or “pagan,” whether it’s “fascist” or “anti-communist,” whether it’s “anti-capitalist” or “monarchist,” or whether it’s “based on” this or that or the other thing, they’re not really discussing the ideas themselves and how they relate to them. And if they can only relate to them through paganism, christianity, racism, fascism, politics or as the ‘residue of the personal life of the author,’ well… continue on with your clubs, your games, your money-making schemes, your conventions and your propaganda because you obviously don’t even want to look. 

Let go of the ‘narratives’ that you’ve been exposed to ‘about Tolkien’ coming from DVD Special Features… from History Channel documentaries, from Hollywood adaptations, and from the many books out there written by so-called experts, and open the original books again.  You don’t need “Tolkien Police” or “Tolkien Purists” to tell you what to think about what you’re reading.  The books do reach out to the modern person, and their thoughts, feelings and do have the power to affect your real life, and you don’t need footnoted analysis from professors to explain it to you… I’m asking you to think, and I’m asking you to tell me what YOU think… because these books can have a much greater and more profound impact on your life than you might imagine… if you go outside the boundaries of the gate-keepers and into the text itself, and into your own personal life. What does it mean to you, not them, what does it say to you, not them, what does it imply to you, not them, and what does it make you then see, outside, in real life, not in virtual reality games, or movies, or the confines of rigorous footnoted books about history and comparative mythology… it’s more important than all of that.