I decided to revisit Lord of the Rings, having recently read a collection of Tolkien’s letters and a book about the philosophy behind Tolkien’s writings. Lord of the Rings is one of two fiction sets that I regularly re-read, the other being Harry Potter which is still a distant second. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Peter Jackson’s trilogy in a while, so I was pleased that I didn’t imagine the characters as the actors in those movies. And I did read the books many times before watching the movies, so I have different associated imagery.
It took me a week to get through Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien’s descriptive writing is wonderful and I’m still enamored by the sagas of Middle Earth. Lothlorien jumped out at me a little more this time around so that’s what I’ll discuss in today’s post. The setting is paradoxically ethereal yet also down-to-earth (in an up-in-the-trees way). There seems something magical about the place to first-time visitors, and Sam mentions being interested in seeing ‘Elf-magic’.
Galadriel offers Sam and Frodo a look in her mirror, her version of ‘magic’. It’s Pensieve-like in a way – there’s a basin with some liquid that you look into – but the mirror is much more than memory storage. Galadriel can command the mirror to reveal certain scenes if one wanted to see something in particular. But she also says that the mirror can show things “unbidden”. It may reveal things that are strange and difficult to interpret, yet possible much more useful. One challenge is that you don’t know if the mirror is showing you “things that were, things that are, or things that yet may be”.
One drawback about being a scientist is automatic the unbidden thought that comes to me: How does it work? I suppose the scientist is the magician’s bane, constantly trying to reveal the mechanics of how and likely missing the more important aspects that magic is trying to convey. In any case, when Sam looks into the mirror he sees things that he cares about – although where these scenes are in the timeline is less certain. Frodo’s viewing is bound up with the ring of power he carries, its history, and the powers that strive for and against it. The mirror, it seems, can detect the viewer’s desire. What perhaps happens next is that it somehow taps into the multiverse and flashes through prominent scenes past, present, and future. It’s not so much that it transcends space and time, but rather it can flit back and forth roaming through the ‘block’ known to physicists as spacetime.
Somehow this seeing of what is normally inaccessible opens up other seeing possibilities. Frodo now recognizes that Galadriel carries one of the three Elven rings of power. Nenya, the ring of adamant, is associated with elemental water. Presumably it’s an important aid to Galadriel’s ‘magic’ mirror. Sam also gets a glimpse of what seems like a shining star between Galadriel’s fingers. The Elven rings were forged by Celebrimbor, the descendant of Feanor who most inherited his skill of jewel-making. But what exactly is a ring of power? That is a longer subject for another time.
As the fellowship departs Lothlorien, they are given gifts. The ‘magic’ of the Elves manifests itself in the cloaks that blend in with their surroundings, the light yet cunning boats, the strength-giving waybread, the Elven rope that seems to understand the user’s needs. These are all made from materials of earth and plants; the earthiest of these is Sam’s box of earth which will yield a seemingly magical garden with a mallorn tree in its center. The knowledge of using natural materials to craft the best sort of cloak, boat, and rope, is a subtle sort of magic. As the ‘eldest race’, the Elves have been around a long time and have learned to coax the secrets of the natural world of Middle Earth. There are no large mechanical devices and machines such as found in Orthanc as Saruman raises his army with his technological ‘magic’ that cares not for the earth. Saruman’s downfall is swift. Perhaps ours will be too.
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