in J.R.R. Tolkien's Aesthetics b y M i c h a e l M e n i o n back to Tolkien pageINTRODUCTIONIn the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, Elves symbolize all that is good about art. Their creations are perfect: "product and vision in unflawed correspondence"Silm, xiii, and their motives are benevolent: "Art not Power" Silm, xiii. Moreover, Tolkien tells us that art can reflect certain universal truths, including the existence of God, from whom all other creation is merely derived. Through creative art, we become "sub-creators" within a broader framework of Creation. This philosophy illuminates the role of the Elves, begining in The Silmarillion with their divine awakening beneath the stars and ending with their tragic fading into the "fabled West". In addition to the story of Middle-earth, Tolkien also wrote letters, poetry, and short stories discussing the importance of art. In sharp contrast to the creative power of the Elves, we are also shown corrupted power, usually in the form of greed and domination. Like many of Tolkien's themes, the myth of the Elves is best understood in the context of twentieth-century "progress". Tolkien lived through the rise of the industrial complex and both World Wars, and he created the Elves to expose and explain (in the way of myth) the dwindling role of art in our own increasingly-mechanized world. This essay is meant as an introduction to the aesthetics of Tolkien's Art. CONCERNING NON MIDDLE-EARTH WRITINGS Tolkien was fascinated by the idea of art as a philosophical concept. Apart from the stories of Middle-earth, the fantasy author also wrote essays and poetry discussing the importance of art and myth in our culture. In Tolkien's view, art is so bound up with nature and reality that true wisdom can be found in its study. The problem in discussing it, he points out, is that the subject itself is largely a mystery. In a lengthy letter written to a prospective publisher, Tolkien confesses that much of "this stuff" refering to his works of fantasy, is "fundamentally concerned with the problem of the relation of Art (and Sub-creation) and Primary Reality" Silm, xiii, in other words, the relation between subject and object. The letter was foremost an argument for the inclusion of The Silmarillion with LotR. To make this case Tolkien had to attempt to explain his theory of art, his aesthetics. In the letter, he notes that "art and the creative (or as I should say, sub-creative) desire ... seems to have no biological function, and to be apart from the satisfactions of plain ordinary biological life, with which in our world, it is indeed usually at strife" Silm, xiii. The phenomena of art is poorly understood and made quite unwelcome in our scientific society. He also hints at this in the "Forward" to FotR, in reference to the general source of an author's inspiration. He says "the ways in which a story-germ uses the soil of experience are extremely complex, and attempts to define the process are at best guesses from evidence that is inadequate and ambiguous" FotR, 12.For Tolkien, the reason why art is so poorly understood is because its source is not to be found in this world. He believed that good art (like myth, which has survived through time) is a sort of natural manifestation of certain universal truths. He argues, quite simply, that our perpetual desire to create is a reflection of the existence of a First Creator. When we exercise our creative powers, we are actually "sub-creating" within the domain of Creation. Art is our inheritance and right from God. These ideas are presented in greater detail in his essay "On Fairy-Stories," published in his small collection Tree and Leaf. In the essay, Tolkien discusses our innate appeal (especially in children) to the pleasure of fairy-stories, a particular "sub-creative art which plays strange tricks with the world" Tree, 50 and which depends primarily on the motif of triumph over great adversity. He suggests that this genre of fairy-stories reflects and therefore proves the goodness of God; "The peculiar quality of 'joy' in successful Fantasy can thus be explained as a sudden glimpse of the underlying reality or truth ... it may be a far-off gleam or echo of evangelium in the real world" Tree, 64. Just as importantly, "in Fantasy he [the artist] may actually assist in the effoliation and multiple enrichment of creation" Tree, 66. At the same time, Tolkien hesitates to say too much, for this is a very "serious and dangerous matter. It is presumptuous of me to touch upon such a theme; but if by grace what I say has in any respect any validity, it is, of course, only one facet of a truth incalculably rich" Tree, 64.These beliefs are demonstrated in his twelve-stanza poem "Mythopoeia" (full text), also published in Tree and Leaf. In the poem, Tolkien defends his genre and attacks its opponents, beginning with an address: "To one who said that myths were lies and therefore worthless, even though 'breathed through silver'" Mythopoeia, referring to an ongoing dispute with C.S. Lewis, who later conceded the debate. "Mythopoeia" challenges the authority of science and champions the value of art, specifically fairy-stories. The creative process is characterized as, response of those that felt astir within, by deep monition movements that were kin to life and death of trees, of beasts, of stars Mythopoeia.These lines equate the creative process with nature and spirituality. Art also offers insight by, digging the foreknown from experience and panning the vein of spirit out of sense Mythopoeia.In other words, successful art offers a glimpse of underlying reality. In part, this is achieved through defamiliarization, whereby, as he tells us in his essay, "fundamental things ... are made all the more luminous by their setting"Tree, 55, and again in his poem, illuminating Now and dark Hath-been with light of suns as yet by no man seen Mythopoeia."Now and dark Hath-been" are respectively the truths around us that we may have become blind to and the truths of the past that are lost or forgotten. These "fundamental things " can be clarified or illuminated through art, especially by "light of suns as yet by no man seen" such as in worlds of fantasy."Mythopoeia" introduces the symbolism of the Elves in discussing mankind's original emergence as sub-creators: Great powers they slowly brought out of themselves and looking backward they beheld the elves that wrought on cunning forges in the mind, and light and dark on secret looms entwined Mythopoeia. In the story of Middle-earth (as we shall see) the Elves precede mankind as the ideal sub-creators, the first "Children of God," artists to be emulated by our own race. This was done (symbolically through the long-lived Numenorean Men) but from those earliest days, the role of art only diminished, paralleled in the diminishing of the Elves. This forms the mythic structure of the entire story, which leads implicitly, tragically, into our mechanized twentieth century. The poet of "Mythopoeia" tells us boldly: I will not walk with your progressive apes, erect and sapient. Before them gapes the dark abyss to which their progress tends -- if by God's mercy progress ever ends, and does not ceaselessly revolve the same unfruitful course with changing of a name Mythopoeia.Tolkien rejected the widely accepted discourse on scientific thought. He is saying "progress" is nothing more than a "changing of a name" for the ongoing destructive tendencies of mankind, which have only been heightened by modern technology: "the dark abyss to which their progress tends". Tolkien, of course, lived through both World Wars. In the first, he suffered the loss of many friends, and during the second, while his son was in the Royal Air Force, he wrote most of LotR. This helps explain his strong rejection of "progress", as well as his vigorous defense of his literary pursuit: I bow not yet before the Iron Crown, nor cast my own small golden scepter down Mythopoeia.Tolkien perceived that the value of art was being lost, that everywhere nature was being replaced by machines. Yet, the poet assures us, man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed. Dis-graced he may be, yet is not dethroned, and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned, his world-dominion by creative act: not his to worship the great Artefact Mythopoeia.In other words, rather than just producing machines (the "Artefact", the "Iron Crown") humankind still has art and the ability to create art. The poet says "We make still by the law in which we're made" Mythopoeia. Tolkien believed that artists (such as himself) were now needed more than ever: They have seen Death and ultimate defeat, and yet they would not in despair retreat, but oft to victory have turned the lyre and kindled hearts with legendary fire Mythopoeia.By defining art and the role of the artist in these ways, and by criticizing technological progress of the twentieth century, Mythopoeia is Tolkien's systematic defense of myth and fantasy.This lifelong sentiment is mirrored in his short story "Leaf By Niggle", published with "Mythopoeia" and "On Fairy-Stories" in Tree and Leaf. Niggle is a dreamy painter who is always defending his art from the scorn and ignorance of demanding neighbors and social pressures (significantly, not unlike Tolkien himself). His only care is to complete his greatest project before he must embark on an inevitable journey**--death. Niggle's painting is an elaborate tree; "It had begun with a leaf caught in the wind, and it became a tree; and the tree grew, sending out innumerable branches, and thrusting out the most fantastic roots" Tree, 76 until "the canvas became so large that he had to get a ladder" Tree, 76. Niggle's Tree represents the entire world of Middle-earth, and Niggle represents Tolkien creating it. Interestingly, this painting is never finished or fully appreciated until Niggle reaches the Afterlife and finds it there complete. In parallel, The Silmarillion, the core of Tolkien's 'Tree', was never finished for publication or fully appreciated during his lifetime. "Leaf By Niggle" demonstrates Tolkien's general frustration with the common ignorance toward art and its value. CONCERNING THE SILMARILLIONDiscussing Elves and art in the story of Middle-earth must begin with The Silmarillion. The tale of the Three Silmarils (magic Elven jewels) is a brilliant and often overlooked work. The common misconception is that LotR is a singular stand-alone story, with The Hobbit usually included out of fondness, while 'all the rest', especially The Silmarillion, is periphery, unnecessary, mere trivia for the fanatics. Yet the larger story is most coherent when these three separate parts are combined. Understanding many crucial aspects of LotR depends on knowledge from The Silmarillion, such as the inclusions of Tom Bombadil, the Balrog, and the Ents (all of which can otherwise seem as little more than arbitrary plot contrivances to progress the story), as well as the relevance of Aragorn's heritage (the Numen-who?), and the central theme of the Diminishing of the Elves which is necessary in understanding their actions (and inactions) throughout LotR, not to mention the final scene of the novel. Biographers have called The Silmarillion"the work of his heart" Shippey, 226. We should also remember that Tolkien spent most of his life producing this collection of fictional myth (his personal 'Tree'). His son Christopher tells us that it began "in battered notebooks extending back to 1917 ... and throughout my father's long life he never abandoned it, nor ceased even in his last years to work on it" "Forward", Silm, vii. Emphasizing the importance of The SilmarillionTolkien describes the balance of his corpus: "As the high Legends of the beginnings are supposed to look at things through Elvish minds, so the middle tale of the Hobbit takes a virtually human point of view - and the last tale blends them" Silm, xiii. In this sense, The Silmarillionbrings unity to his writings. We also know that Tolkien intended that it be printed, "in conjunction or connexion" with LotR "as one long Saga of the Jewels and the Rings"Silm, vii. However, likely due to a combination of the work's difficult nature and constant discouragement from peers and publisher "Forward", FotR, 9 Tolkien never finished The Silmarillion in a printable form. Christopher tells us, "On my father's death, it fell to me" "Forward", Silm, vii, and (with the help of Guy Kay) The Silmarillion was finally published in 1977, four years after Tolkien's death. For these reasons, we should not underestimate the importance of any themes found in The Silmarillion, especially its main theme of Elves and Art.In the opening of The Silmarillion, before we even meet the Elves (for they do not yet exist), the core symbolism is dramatically introduced. We learn of the One God, called Iluvatar, and his first creations, the Ainur or lesser gods. We are told a mythical account of the creation of the world--of interest because it is told entirely in terms of art. In "The Music of the Ainur", the world is 'sung' into being by a chorus of gods, inspired by their own creator Iluvatar. When the song is complete, Iluvatar then makes their musical creation into reality and gives the Ainur--the artists--the option of entering into their work. Those that do so become the Valar, the god-like first inhabitants of Arda (which later becomes Middle-earth and indeed our own world). By portraying the creative powers of the gods in artistic expressions--music--and with the world itself as the first sub-creative act, Tolkien effectively introduces the link between art and the divine.Significantly, the sacred task of the Valar, in occupying the world of Arda, is to make it ready for the coming of the Elves, who are called (along with Men who will come after) the Children of Iluvatar. They are opposed, however, by the most powerful of the Valar, the evil Morgoth, who succeeds in corrupting the world with his shadow. When the Elves do arrive, in a mystical awakening beneath the stars, they must then embark on a great exodus to the untainted holy lands of Valinor, where the Valar have withdrawn and made their homes. From there, the story chronicles the Fall of the Elves. The crafting of the Silmarils (and their coveting) leads to the first Elf-slaying and their Exile from Valinor back to Middle-earth, and all the wars and tragedies that befall. The story is the sorrow of the Elves. We should remember that even though the Elves have Fallen (expelled from Valinor), they are redeemed by the end of The Silmarillion, and they remain throughout Tolkien's work the most virtuous and just beings short of the divine. This is supported in the language used to describe them throughout (as will be shown) and also, because they are the direct creation of Iluvatar--whereas all other races (except Man) and even Middle-earth itself are the creations of lesser gods, the products of _sub_-creation--Elves, as primary creations, are more closely linked to divinity.Their role, especially in The Silmarillion, is explained in a letter to a publisher (mentioned above). Tolkien says plainly, "Their 'magic' is Art, delivered from many of its human limitations: more effortless, more quick, more complete (product and vision in unflawed correspondence)" Silm, xiii-xiv. In other words, Elves are ideal artists; their creations are in complete harmony with the nature of the object they represent. As "Children of God," this is appropriate because the powers of Iluvatar himself are also expressed in terms of art. The letter goes on: "By the making of gems the sub-creative function of the Elves is chiefly symbolized" Silm, xv. He is referring of course to the Silmarils, the "most renowned of all the works of the Elves" Silm, 67. Feanor, "the chief artificer of the Elves had imprisoned [i.e. - reproduced] the Light of Valinor in the supreme jewels" Silm, xvi and when Valinor is darkened by the attack of Morgoth and Ungoliant the Spider, the "Light thus lived thereafter only in these gems" Silm, xvi. Feanor's art--as "product and vision in unflawed correspondence"--literally embodies the divine, the last trace of paradise on Middle-earth. Thus the Silmarils profoundly define Elves as ideal sub-creators. With the connection to the pure Light of Iluvatar (never again regained) the Silmarils also become the ideal symbol, the model for all subsequent and lesser acts of sub-creation, all of which ultimately strive for the essence of God. The harmony between subject and representation is crucial to this symbolism, but so too is motive, for here lies the dark side of creative wills and one of the most recurring themes in Tolkien's works--desire for power. Tolkien believed that our ability to sub-create could manifest itself in one of two ways: either the pursuit of art, or the pursuit of power. In this context, he tells us "'power' is an ominous and sinister word in all these tales, except as applied to the gods" Silm, xix. And once again, we can see that Elves portray the ideal, for their creations are passive or benevolent, and their motive, Tolkien assures us, "is Art not Power, sub-creation not domination and tyrannous re-forming of Creation" Silm, xiii-xiv. In opposition to this, "the Enemy in successive forms is always 'naturally' concerned with sheer Domination, and so the Lord of magic and machines" Silm, xiii-xiv. But "the problem" Tolkien tells us, "that this frightful evil can and does arise from an apparently good root, the desire to benefit the world and others--speedily and according to the benefactor's own plans--is a recurrent motive" Silm, xiii-xiv. This theme runs equally through The Silmarillion and LotR. The creative will, Tolkien explains, can "lead to the desire for Power, for making the will more quickly effective, - and so to the Machine (or Magic). By the last I intend all use of external plans or devices (apparatus) instead of developments of the inherent inner powers or talents - or even the use of these talents with the corrupted motive of dominating" Silm, xiii. This is what he calls, "bulldozing the real world, or coercing other wills" Silm, xiii. The first example of this is seen in the "The Music of the Ainur", the very beginning of The Silmarillion, as the evil of Morgoth and Sauron is prefigured in aggressive and subversive melodies disrupting the holy chorus. Another way to abuse creative will is to become "possessive, clinging to the things made as 'its own'" Silm, xiii, as when "sub-creator wishes to be the Lord and God of his private creation" Silm, xiii. This abuse leads to the crisis of The Silmarillion. Tolkien tells us, "The fall of the Elves comes about through the possessive attitude of Feanor and his seven sons to these gems" Silm, xvi for after Valinor has been darkened, Feanor refuses to sacrifice his art to help restore the Light, and this leads to the Exile, the first Elf-slaying, and their long sorrow. The novel is rich with reference to art, especially the chapter called "Of Beren and Luthien," which Tolkien describes as "chief of the stories of The Silmarillion, and one of the most fully treated" Silm, xvii. This is the tale of the first union between Man and Elf and their quest to regain the stolen Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth. This quest becomes "the greatest deed that has been dared by Elves or Men" Silm, 180. Significantly, Luthien is "the fairest of all the Children of Iluvatar that was or shall ever be" Silm, 56, and "the most beautiful of all the Children of Iluvatar" Silm, 165, and "in her face was a shining light" Silm, 165, reminding us of the Light of Iluvatar. Luthien is the daughter of the Elven King Thingol and the Maia spirit Melian--"of the race of the Valar" Silm, 55. These connections to the divine help explain her important role. Consider the nature of her magic: "the song of Luthien released the bonds of winter, and the frozen waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where her feet had passed" Silm, 165. Her art embodies the power of nature, and its potency is later revealed when she challenges Morgoth himself. The first such confrontation is actually with Sauron (Morgoth's lieutenant) and although Luthien is not at first present, Beren her mortal lover is accompanied by another legendary Elf, King Finrod Felagund, nephew of Feanor. In what is described as a "renowned" Silm, 170 contest, "Felagund strove with Sauron in songs of power" Silm, 171. In other words, it is a duel of their arts. From his stronghold, Sauron strikes first: He chanted a song of wizardry, Of piercing, opening, of treachery, Revealing, uncovering, betraying" Silm, 171, and down a few lines: The chanting swelled, Felagund fought, And all the magic and might he brought Of Elvenesse into his words" Silm, 171.But in the end--after a reference to the curse of Feanor's blood--"Finrod fell before the throne" Silm, 171 and both he and Beren are taken prisoner. This reminds us of "The Music of the Ainur", with the powers of good and evil incarnated into song and striving against each other.The symbolism continues with the arrival of Luthien--"she sang a song that no walls of stone could hinder" Silm, 174, and with the help of a divine companion, Sauron is defeated and Beren and Luthien are reunited. Together they resume their dangerous quest, passing deep into the heart of the Enemy's land, and finally, alone, they penetrate the mighty black fortress of Angband and confront the Dark Lord Morgoth, who is wearing the stolen Silmarils in his Iron Crown. There, Luthien "began a song of such surpassing loveliness, and of such blinding power, that he listened perforce; and a blindness came upon him" Silm, 180. If only temporarily, the perfection of Luthien's art overcame the will of Morgoth, the most powerful of the Valar. Crucially, in reaction to the purity of Luthien's singing, the Silmarils--symbol of divinity--"blazed forth suddenly with a radiance of white flame" Silm, 181 weakening Morgoth and giving the heroes just enough time to free one of the Silmarils from the Iron Crown and escape with their prize. By connecting Luthien to the divine, portraying her power through song, showing the conflict between idealized art and its fallen counterpart, and finally by linking the art of Luthien to the divinity of the Silmarils, this chapter embodies the main themes of Tolkien's aesthetics. Here we are reminded of the line from "Mythopoeia" in which the poet, speaking as an artist, declares, "I bow not yet before the Iron Crown,"--both the Iron Crown of Morgoth and the Iron Crown of 'Progress'.Through the course of the story and very many years this Silmaril, freed by Beren and Luthien, comes into the possession of Earendil the Mariner, also called Earendil the Bright and the Blessed Silm, 325, also the father of Elrond. In the climax, after all the tragedies of the First Age, salvation is finally and crucially achieved by this Silmaril. For with this last remnant of untainted Light from Valinor, Earendil becomes the first Elf since the exile to navigate successfully through the darkness back into the lost West and hidden Valinor. After this great feat, the gods listen to the desperate plea of Earendil and decide to take pity on the Elves. The hosts of the Valar march on Middle-earth for the last time, and the Dominion of Morgoth finally comes to an end. After the War of Wrath, the Dark Lord is cast outside of the world (though his lieutenant Sauron remains). Thus, by virtue of their greatest work of art, the Elves regain their place in the divine West. This redemption triggers their long return to Valinor which only comes to an end in LotR. Appropriately, Earendil in his hallowed ship with the Light of the sole-remaining Silmaril is transfigured into the heavens as a new star, (which later guides Sam and Frodo) called "the Star of High Hope" Silm, xxii, reinforcing the association between Elves and stars and divinity.These themes continue in the remaining two books included in The Silmarillion. The first, on the Second Age, reveals how the Men of Numenor, as the closest followers of the Elves, achieve their own golden age before losing it in a fall similar to that of the Elves. Tolkien explains: "their long life [longer than average men] aids their achievements in art and wisdom, but breeds a possessive attitude to these things" Silm, xxii. This is what Sauron exploits to bring about their rebellion against the West and the destruction of Numenor, all reminiscent of Feanor and the first rebellion against the Valar. And, of course, in the final part, on the Third Age, we learn how the Elves create the Rings of Power, intending them to be used only for creation--not as tools of destruction for Sauron. Yet all the races are deceived by Sauron's mechanisms and fall into greed, ambition, and war. Significantly, while the One Ring is forged exclusively by Sauron and the Seven and the Nine also suffer his corruption, the Three remain "unsullied, for they were forged by Celebrimbor alone, and the hand of Sauron had never touched them" Silm, 288. These are Narya, Nenya, and Vilya (Fire, Water, and Air), "the last that had been made, and they possessed the greatest powers" Silm, 288. But because they are conceived within the broader framework of Sauron's deception, "they also were subject to the One" Silm, 288. In fact, their survival depends on the survival of the One. When Sauron first puts the One Ring on his finger, however, the Elves immediately sense him and remove their own rings, lest the enemy become "master of them, and all that they wrought" Silm, 288. Only after the One is lost at the end of the Second Age can the Elves again use their rings. Their power, we are told, is to "ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world" Silm, 288 and it is by this power that many of the Elves are able to extend their return to Valinor and maintain their refuges of Rivendell and Lothlorien. Much later, Elrond tells us, "Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained" FotR, 351. So, by the Three Rings (as with the Three Silmarils) the Elves are shown once more as idealized artists, free of corrupt motive. Yet, just as the Silmarils began their long sorrow, so the Rings complete it. At the end of the Third Age, the Elves know that their time on Middle-earth is over, no matter if Sauron regains the One Ring, forcing the Elves to remove their own, or if the quest to destroy the One Ring succeeds. Either way "the Three must then fail and all things maintained by them must fade, and so the Elves should pass into the twilight and the Dominion of Men begin" Silm, 298. CONCERNING THE HOBBITAll these themes are introduced in The Silmarillionand expressed primarily therein, though they can be traced through the rest of Tolkien's works. Consider the first encounter with Elves in The Hobbit, deceptively simple: "'Hmmm! it smells like elves!' thought Bilbo, and looked up at the stars. They were burning bright and blue. Just then there came a burst of song like laughter in the trees" Hobb, 45. Immediately the Elves are associated with the stars and song--divinity and art--both now to be expected. Then we are given four merry stanzas, and the narrator says, "So they laughed and sang in the trees; and pretty fair nonsense I daresay you think it. Not that they would care; they would only laugh all the more if you told them so. They were elves of course" Hobb, 46. They would laugh, presumably, because of our ignorance toward their art. And Elrond in Rivendell is described in terms of the highest reverence: "He was noble and fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer ... Evil things did not come into that valley" Hobb, 48. CONCERNING THE LORD OF THE RINGSThe role of the Elves is demonstrated in their first encounter in LotR. One of the Black Riders is about to discover the Hobbits fleeing through the Shire, "But at that moment there came a sound like mingled song and laughter. Clear voices rose and fell in the starlit air. The black shadow straightened up and retreated" FotR, 113. As we have seen, "song" and "stars" are loaded with references to art and divinity, and this passage also sets up the distinction between the two opposing motives behind magic. The Black Rider and the circumstances of his retreat demonstrate Good versus Evil, Art versus Dominance, as Sauron's dark liutenent is driven away by the singing of the Elves.Sam Gamgee, who seems on more than one occasion to express a childlike clairvoyance, remarks on this encounter, "But it was the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean" FotR, 118, hinting at some degree of sensibility to the value of Elven art. Also, he seems to perceive the enormity of their past: "They were quite different from what I expected - so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were" FotR, 124, suggestive of the tragic myths of The Silmarillion.Not much later, Strider sings to the Hobbits about the legend of Beren and Luthien: When winter passed, she came again And her song released the sudden spring ... He saw the elven-flowers spring About her feet, and healed again He longed by her to dance and sing" FotR, 258.These lines paraphrase the themes encountered in "Of Beren and Luthien" in The Silmarillion, stressing the beauty and power of Elven art. The song is also meant to associate the union of Strider and Arwen with Beren and Luthien, and in so doing to elevate Arwen to a similar level of reverence. This is seen later in the language used to describe Arwen: "Such loveliness in living thing Frodo had never seen before nor imagined in his mind" FotR, 298.These aesthetics are most strongly present in Lothlorien. Beholding the sight of Cerin Amroth, "Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder. It seemed to him that he had stepped through a window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language had no name ... No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lorien there was no stain" FotR, 455. The "vanished world" of course is the First Age. Perceptively, Sam says "this is more elvish than anything I ever heard tell of. I feel as if I was inside a song, if you take my meaning" FotR, 455. Again, the magic of the Elves is art, and Sam seems attuned to this. Celeborn and Galadriel are described as, "grave and beautiful ... no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory" FotR, 461. Galadriel then reflects upon the distant past, explaining that they have dwelt in Lorien "years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through the ages of the world we have fought the long defeat" FotR, 463. To Frodo, she seems "present and yet remote, a living vision of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of Time" FotR, 485. Such language is appropriate for the only remaining characters from the First Age of The Silmarillion.Also, in Lorien, the distinction between idealized and corrupted art is explored. Galadriel, speaking to Sam about her Mirror, says, "this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem also to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy. But this, if you will, is the magic of Galadriel" FotR, 469. Remember that "Their 'magic' is Art" Silm, xiii and while nothing could be more contrary to the "magic" of the enemy, both are derived from the same source (the inheritance of creation) and this causes the problem of distinction. Discussing this very question, in an already cited letter to a publisher, Tolkien says, "I have not used 'magic' consistently, and indeed the Elven-queen Galadriel is obliged to remonstrate with the Hobbits on their confused use of the word both for the devices and operations of the Enemy, and for those of the Elves. I have not, because there is not a word for the latter (since all human stories have suffered the same confusion). But the Elves are there (in my tales) to demonstrate the difference" Silm, xiii-xiv. In other words, our creative wills can take one of two forms, and Tolkien advocates the model of the Elves--"the representatives of sub-creation par excellence" Silm, xiv. This distinction is reiterated with the gift of the cloaks, when Pippen asks if they are magical. An Elf tells him, "They are elvish robes certainly, if that is what you mean" FotR, 481. Again we see the hesitation to use the same word for both the art of the Elves and the evil of the Enemy. The Elf explains, "Leaf and branch, water and stone: they have the hue and beauty of all these things under the twilight of Lorien that we love; for we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make" FotR, 481. Not only are their motives pure, but their art is in complete harmony with nature--again, no discrepancy between "product and vision". Interestingly, the same principles seem to apply to Elven memories and dreams. Leaving Lorien, Gimli says, "I have heard that for them memory is more like to the waking world than to a dream" FotR, 492. Put otherwise, the distinction between their memory and the present is as blurred as the distinction between their art and its subject. And later, within the shadows of Fanghorn, the same seems to be true of their dreams: "Legolas already lay motionless, his fair hands folded upon his breast, his eyes unclosed, blending living night and deep dream, as is the way with Elves" TT, 48.And just as the Elves represent the ideal use of our creative wills, the wizard Saruman and his fortress at Isengard are set up in opposition. We learn that Saruman has said to Gandalf, "The time of the Elves is over, but our time is at hand: the world of Men, which we must rule. But we must have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see" FotR, 339. With the reference to the passing of the Elves, he indicates his awareness of the difference between the two approaches to creative powers. With the rest of the statement we can see that he has fallen into the trap that Tolkien warned us of earlier--that "recurrent motive" of "the desire to benefit the world and others--speedily and according to the benefactor's own plans" Silm, xiii-xiv. Treebeard sums it up: "He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels"--(remember that for Tolkien "the Machine" embodies the abuse of art)--"and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment" TT, 90. Speaking of Isengard, Gandalf says, "I looked on it and saw that, whereas it had once been green and fair, it was now filled with pits and forges" FotR, 341. And later, we are told, "long it had been beautiful ... But Saruman had slowly shaped it to his shifting purposes, and made it better, as he thought, being deceived - for all those arts and subtle devices, for which he forsook his former wisdom, and which fondly he imagined were his own, came but from Mordor" TT, 198-199. As ideal art, expressed in the Elves, is derived from the divine, so too the abuse of art, expressed in Saruman, is derived from Mordor. This is reinforced in RotK when Saruman shows up in the Shire. Presented with an opportunity of vengeance, Frodo chooses mercy. He says, perceptively, "He was great once, of a noble kind that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he many find it" RotK, 364. The key is the acknowledgement that Saruman has "fallen" from the ideal role of sub-creator, as typically otherwise exemplified in his "noble kind"--the divine Maia, such as the other Wizards, Bombadil, etc. This is concluded when Saruman dies and his soul rises from his body as a misty smoke: "For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing" RotK, 365. Thus Valinor refuses to accept Saruman's spirit (while they so recently accepted Gandalf the Gray's). In other words, as far as Tolkien is concerned, those who choose the path of power and dominance will be judged harshly.Tom Bombadil must be mentioned as perhaps the closest encounter with the pure Light of Iluvatar in LotR. He is the only character who is completely uneffected by the One Ring--**he puts it on (without vanishing) laughs, tosses it in the air, and hands it back to Frodo FotR, 183. Speaking of himself, Tom says, "Tom was here before the river and the trees; ... When the Elves passed westward [the first time, before the Fall], Tom was here already, before the seas were bent [referring to the cutting-off of Valinor]. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - Before the Dark Lord came from Outside" FotR, 181. Significantly, Tom's power is in his melodious singing. Twice his magical voice saves the Hobbits, once from a threat so great Gandalf later calls it "perhaps the most dangerous moment" FotR, 288 of the journey to Rivendell. Tom Bombadil is a either a Maia spirit or possibly even a Vala, and his role is crucial to the symbolism of art and divinity. But he is also an anomaly and unique within LotR, a powerful holdover from the First Age.Finally, in the last scene of the story, we see the completion of a plotline begun some two thousand pages earlier. Consider this passage, as the company approaches the Gray Havens: "Elrond and Galadriel rode on; for the Third Age was over, and the Days of the Rings were passed, and an end was come of the story and song of those times" RotK, 461. Here the fading of the Elves is associated with the "end" of "story and song". Then once again the Elves are linked with both the natural and the spiritual: "none saw them pass, save the wild creatures; or here and there some wanderer in the dark who saw a swift shimmer under the trees, or a light and shadow flowing through the grass as the Moon went westward" RotK, 377. And lastly, Frodo's picturesque passage into Valinor should be noted: "And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water ... and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise" RotK, 378. CONCLUSIONTolkien's Elves embody all that is good about art. We have seen that their motives are positively "Art not Power" and their creations are perfectly "product and vision in unflawed correspondence". And just as the Elves embody ideal art, so we are shown its counterpart, the Machine and desire for power. Tolkien felt that art was increasingly marginalized and devalued in our world. All around him, humankind's gift of sub-creation was being abused for destruction and dominance. His response was to create the vast world of Middle-earth, framed in the story of the Elves. Through the myth of their fading, he exposes and explains the modern imbalance between creative art and destructive power. The increasing trends of spreading industry and decreasing trends of care in creation could be traced backwards in time, mythically speaking, until the reverse was true, when the ancient Numenorean Men closely emulated the Elves, and further back, across the long fading of God's First Children, to their height in harmony with the Valar. The Elves represent our lost innocense which Tolkien would have us return to. As his own artwork demonstrates, this type of sub-creation can teach us profound lessons about ourselves, our pride, the lure of power, and the great value of companionship, humility, pity, and sacrifice, as most fans of LotR will attest. By considering a sample of Tolkien's non-fiction (his poetry, letters, and essays) along with the story of Middle-earth itself, from the mythical Creation Song through the long "Saga of the Jewels and the Rings", we begin to understand the complexity of Tolkien's aesthetics. Good art is not only benevolent and in harmony with its subject; good art helps us to better understand fundamental truths about ourselves, our past, and our present. True art embodies the divine, and in our increasingly-dangerous world, Tolkien wanted us to remember that.WORKS CITED Shippey, Tom A., J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001.Tolkien, Christopher, "Forward," The Silmarillion. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. HarperCollins, 1999: pp. vii-ix.by J.R.R. Tolkien (in relevant order): Tree and Leaf, 2nd ed. London: Unwin Hyman Ltd, 1988. "On Fairy-Stories," pp 9-73. "Leaf By Niggle," pp. 75-95. "Mythopoeia," pp. 97-101. READ "MYTHOPOEIA" HEREThe Silmarillion. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. HarperCollins, 1999. "Preface; Letter to Milton Waldman, 1951," pp. x-xxiv. The Hobbit. HarperCollins, 1996. The Fellowship of the Ring. HarperCollins, 1993. The Two Towers. HarperCollins, 1993. The Return of the King. HarperCollins, 1993.
in J.R.R. Tolkien's Aesthetics b y M i c h a e l M e n i o n back to Tolkien page INTRODUCTIONIn the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, Elves symbolize all that is good about art. Their creations are perfect: "product and vision in unflawed correspondence"Silm, xiii, and their motives are benevolent: "Art not Power" Silm, xiii. Moreover, Tolkien tells us that art can reflect certain universal truths, including the existence of God, from whom all other creation is merely derived. Through creative art, we become "sub-creators" within a broader framework of Creation. This philosophy illuminates the role of the Elves, begining in The Silmarillion with their divine awakening beneath the stars and ending with their tragic fading into the "fabled West". In addition to the story of Middle-earth, Tolkien also wrote letters, poetry, and short stories discussing the importance of art. In sharp contrast to the creative power of the Elves, we are also shown corrupted power, usually in the form of greed and domination. Like many of Tolkien's themes, the myth of the Elves is best understood in the context of twentieth-century "progress". Tolkien lived through the rise of the industrial complex and both World Wars, and he created the Elves to expose and explain (in the way of myth) the dwindling role of art in our own increasingly-mechanized world. This essay is meant as an introduction to the aesthetics of Tolkien's Art. CONCERNING NON MIDDLE-EARTH WRITINGS Tolkien was fascinated by the idea of art as a philosophical concept. Apart from the stories of Middle-earth, the fantasy author also wrote essays and poetry discussing the importance of art and myth in our culture. In Tolkien's view, art is so bound up with nature and reality that true wisdom can be found in its study. The problem in discussing it, he points out, is that the subject itself is largely a mystery. In a lengthy letter written to a prospective publisher, Tolkien confesses that much of "this stuff" refering to his works of fantasy, is "fundamentally concerned with the problem of the relation of Art (and Sub-creation) and Primary Reality" Silm, xiii, in other words, the relation between subject and object. The letter was foremost an argument for the inclusion of The Silmarillion with LotR. To make this case Tolkien had to attempt to explain his theory of art, his aesthetics. In the letter, he notes that "art and the creative (or as I should say, sub-creative) desire ... seems to have no biological function, and to be apart from the satisfactions of plain ordinary biological life, with which in our world, it is indeed usually at strife" Silm, xiii. The phenomena of art is poorly understood and made quite unwelcome in our scientific society. He also hints at this in the "Forward" to FotR, in reference to the general source of an author's inspiration. He says "the ways in which a story-germ uses the soil of experience are extremely complex, and attempts to define the process are at best guesses from evidence that is inadequate and ambiguous" FotR, 12.For Tolkien, the reason why art is so poorly understood is because its source is not to be found in this world. He believed that good art (like myth, which has survived through time) is a sort of natural manifestation of certain universal truths. He argues, quite simply, that our perpetual desire to create is a reflection of the existence of a First Creator. When we exercise our creative powers, we are actually "sub-creating" within the domain of Creation. Art is our inheritance and right from God. These ideas are presented in greater detail in his essay "On Fairy-Stories," published in his small collection Tree and Leaf. In the essay, Tolkien discusses our innate appeal (especially in children) to the pleasure of fairy-stories, a particular "sub-creative art which plays strange tricks with the world" Tree, 50 and which depends primarily on the motif of triumph over great adversity. He suggests that this genre of fairy-stories reflects and therefore proves the goodness of God; "The peculiar quality of 'joy' in successful Fantasy can thus be explained as a sudden glimpse of the underlying reality or truth ... it may be a far-off gleam or echo of evangelium in the real world" Tree, 64. Just as importantly, "in Fantasy he [the artist] may actually assist in the effoliation and multiple enrichment of creation" Tree, 66. At the same time, Tolkien hesitates to say too much, for this is a very "serious and dangerous matter. It is presumptuous of me to touch upon such a theme; but if by grace what I say has in any respect any validity, it is, of course, only one facet of a truth incalculably rich" Tree, 64.These beliefs are demonstrated in his twelve-stanza poem "Mythopoeia" (full text), also published in Tree and Leaf. In the poem, Tolkien defends his genre and attacks its opponents, beginning with an address: "To one who said that myths were lies and therefore worthless, even though 'breathed through silver'" Mythopoeia, referring to an ongoing dispute with C.S. Lewis, who later conceded the debate. "Mythopoeia" challenges the authority of science and champions the value of art, specifically fairy-stories. The creative process is characterized as, response of those that felt astir within, by deep monition movements that were kin to life and death of trees, of beasts, of stars Mythopoeia.These lines equate the creative process with nature and spirituality. Art also offers insight by, digging the foreknown from experience and panning the vein of spirit out of sense Mythopoeia.In other words, successful art offers a glimpse of underlying reality. In part, this is achieved through defamiliarization, whereby, as he tells us in his essay, "fundamental things ... are made all the more luminous by their setting"Tree, 55, and again in his poem, illuminating Now and dark Hath-been with light of suns as yet by no man seen Mythopoeia."Now and dark Hath-been" are respectively the truths around us that we may have become blind to and the truths of the past that are lost or forgotten. These "fundamental things " can be clarified or illuminated through art, especially by "light of suns as yet by no man seen" such as in worlds of fantasy."Mythopoeia" introduces the symbolism of the Elves in discussing mankind's original emergence as sub-creators: Great powers they slowly brought out of themselves and looking backward they beheld the elves that wrought on cunning forges in the mind, and light and dark on secret looms entwined Mythopoeia. In the story of Middle-earth (as we shall see) the Elves precede mankind as the ideal sub-creators, the first "Children of God," artists to be emulated by our own race. This was done (symbolically through the long-lived Numenorean Men) but from those earliest days, the role of art only diminished, paralleled in the diminishing of the Elves. This forms the mythic structure of the entire story, which leads implicitly, tragically, into our mechanized twentieth century. The poet of "Mythopoeia" tells us boldly: I will not walk with your progressive apes, erect and sapient. Before them gapes the dark abyss to which their progress tends -- if by God's mercy progress ever ends, and does not ceaselessly revolve the same unfruitful course with changing of a name Mythopoeia.Tolkien rejected the widely accepted discourse on scientific thought. He is saying "progress" is nothing more than a "changing of a name" for the ongoing destructive tendencies of mankind, which have only been heightened by modern technology: "the dark abyss to which their progress tends". Tolkien, of course, lived through both World Wars. In the first, he suffered the loss of many friends, and during the second, while his son was in the Royal Air Force, he wrote most of LotR. This helps explain his strong rejection of "progress", as well as his vigorous defense of his literary pursuit: I bow not yet before the Iron Crown, nor cast my own small golden scepter down Mythopoeia.Tolkien perceived that the value of art was being lost, that everywhere nature was being replaced by machines. Yet, the poet assures us, man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed. Dis-graced he may be, yet is not dethroned, and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned, his world-dominion by creative act: not his to worship the great Artefact Mythopoeia.In other words, rather than just producing machines (the "Artefact", the "Iron Crown") humankind still has art and the ability to create art. The poet says "We make still by the law in which we're made" Mythopoeia. Tolkien believed that artists (such as himself) were now needed more than ever: They have seen Death and ultimate defeat, and yet they would not in despair retreat, but oft to victory have turned the lyre and kindled hearts with legendary fire Mythopoeia.By defining art and the role of the artist in these ways, and by criticizing technological progress of the twentieth century, Mythopoeia is Tolkien's systematic defense of myth and fantasy.This lifelong sentiment is mirrored in his short story "Leaf By Niggle", published with "Mythopoeia" and "On Fairy-Stories" in Tree and Leaf. Niggle is a dreamy painter who is always defending his art from the scorn and ignorance of demanding neighbors and social pressures (significantly, not unlike Tolkien himself). His only care is to complete his greatest project before he must embark on an inevitable journey**--death. Niggle's painting is an elaborate tree; "It had begun with a leaf caught in the wind, and it became a tree; and the tree grew, sending out innumerable branches, and thrusting out the most fantastic roots" Tree, 76 until "the canvas became so large that he had to get a ladder" Tree, 76. Niggle's Tree represents the entire world of Middle-earth, and Niggle represents Tolkien creating it. Interestingly, this painting is never finished or fully appreciated until Niggle reaches the Afterlife and finds it there complete. In parallel, The Silmarillion, the core of Tolkien's 'Tree', was never finished for publication or fully appreciated during his lifetime. "Leaf By Niggle" demonstrates Tolkien's general frustration with the common ignorance toward art and its value. CONCERNING THE SILMARILLIONDiscussing Elves and art in the story of Middle-earth must begin with The Silmarillion. The tale of the Three Silmarils (magic Elven jewels) is a brilliant and often overlooked work. The common misconception is that LotR is a singular stand-alone story, with The Hobbit usually included out of fondness, while 'all the rest', especially The Silmarillion, is periphery, unnecessary, mere trivia for the fanatics. Yet the larger story is most coherent when these three separate parts are combined. Understanding many crucial aspects of LotR depends on knowledge from The Silmarillion, such as the inclusions of Tom Bombadil, the Balrog, and the Ents (all of which can otherwise seem as little more than arbitrary plot contrivances to progress the story), as well as the relevance of Aragorn's heritage (the Numen-who?), and the central theme of the Diminishing of the Elves which is necessary in understanding their actions (and inactions) throughout LotR, not to mention the final scene of the novel. Biographers have called The Silmarillion"the work of his heart" Shippey, 226. We should also remember that Tolkien spent most of his life producing this collection of fictional myth (his personal 'Tree'). His son Christopher tells us that it began "in battered notebooks extending back to 1917 ... and throughout my father's long life he never abandoned it, nor ceased even in his last years to work on it" "Forward", Silm, vii. Emphasizing the importance of The SilmarillionTolkien describes the balance of his corpus: "As the high Legends of the beginnings are supposed to look at things through Elvish minds, so the middle tale of the Hobbit takes a virtually human point of view - and the last tale blends them" Silm, xiii. In this sense, The Silmarillionbrings unity to his writings. We also know that Tolkien intended that it be printed, "in conjunction or connexion" with LotR "as one long Saga of the Jewels and the Rings"Silm, vii. However, likely due to a combination of the work's difficult nature and constant discouragement from peers and publisher "Forward", FotR, 9 Tolkien never finished The Silmarillion in a printable form. Christopher tells us, "On my father's death, it fell to me" "Forward", Silm, vii, and (with the help of Guy Kay) The Silmarillion was finally published in 1977, four years after Tolkien's death. For these reasons, we should not underestimate the importance of any themes found in The Silmarillion, especially its main theme of Elves and Art.In the opening of The Silmarillion, before we even meet the Elves (for they do not yet exist), the core symbolism is dramatically introduced. We learn of the One God, called Iluvatar, and his first creations, the Ainur or lesser gods. We are told a mythical account of the creation of the world--of interest because it is told entirely in terms of art. In "The Music of the Ainur", the world is 'sung' into being by a chorus of gods, inspired by their own creator Iluvatar. When the song is complete, Iluvatar then makes their musical creation into reality and gives the Ainur--the artists--the option of entering into their work. Those that do so become the Valar, the god-like first inhabitants of Arda (which later becomes Middle-earth and indeed our own world). By portraying the creative powers of the gods in artistic expressions--music--and with the world itself as the first sub-creative act, Tolkien effectively introduces the link between art and the divine.Significantly, the sacred task of the Valar, in occupying the world of Arda, is to make it ready for the coming of the Elves, who are called (along with Men who will come after) the Children of Iluvatar. They are opposed, however, by the most powerful of the Valar, the evil Morgoth, who succeeds in corrupting the world with his shadow. When the Elves do arrive, in a mystical awakening beneath the stars, they must then embark on a great exodus to the untainted holy lands of Valinor, where the Valar have withdrawn and made their homes. From there, the story chronicles the Fall of the Elves. The crafting of the Silmarils (and their coveting) leads to the first Elf-slaying and their Exile from Valinor back to Middle-earth, and all the wars and tragedies that befall. The story is the sorrow of the Elves. We should remember that even though the Elves have Fallen (expelled from Valinor), they are redeemed by the end of The Silmarillion, and they remain throughout Tolkien's work the most virtuous and just beings short of the divine. This is supported in the language used to describe them throughout (as will be shown) and also, because they are the direct creation of Iluvatar--whereas all other races (except Man) and even Middle-earth itself are the creations of lesser gods, the products of _sub_-creation--Elves, as primary creations, are more closely linked to divinity.Their role, especially in The Silmarillion, is explained in a letter to a publisher (mentioned above). Tolkien says plainly, "Their 'magic' is Art, delivered from many of its human limitations: more effortless, more quick, more complete (product and vision in unflawed correspondence)" Silm, xiii-xiv. In other words, Elves are ideal artists; their creations are in complete harmony with the nature of the object they represent. As "Children of God," this is appropriate because the powers of Iluvatar himself are also expressed in terms of art. The letter goes on: "By the making of gems the sub-creative function of the Elves is chiefly symbolized" Silm, xv. He is referring of course to the Silmarils, the "most renowned of all the works of the Elves" Silm, 67. Feanor, "the chief artificer of the Elves had imprisoned [i.e. - reproduced] the Light of Valinor in the supreme jewels" Silm, xvi and when Valinor is darkened by the attack of Morgoth and Ungoliant the Spider, the "Light thus lived thereafter only in these gems" Silm, xvi. Feanor's art--as "product and vision in unflawed correspondence"--literally embodies the divine, the last trace of paradise on Middle-earth. Thus the Silmarils profoundly define Elves as ideal sub-creators. With the connection to the pure Light of Iluvatar (never again regained) the Silmarils also become the ideal symbol, the model for all subsequent and lesser acts of sub-creation, all of which ultimately strive for the essence of God. The harmony between subject and representation is crucial to this symbolism, but so too is motive, for here lies the dark side of creative wills and one of the most recurring themes in Tolkien's works--desire for power. Tolkien believed that our ability to sub-create could manifest itself in one of two ways: either the pursuit of art, or the pursuit of power. In this context, he tells us "'power' is an ominous and sinister word in all these tales, except as applied to the gods" Silm, xix. And once again, we can see that Elves portray the ideal, for their creations are passive or benevolent, and their motive, Tolkien assures us, "is Art not Power, sub-creation not domination and tyrannous re-forming of Creation" Silm, xiii-xiv. In opposition to this, "the Enemy in successive forms is always 'naturally' concerned with sheer Domination, and so the Lord of magic and machines" Silm, xiii-xiv. But "the problem" Tolkien tells us, "that this frightful evil can and does arise from an apparently good root, the desire to benefit the world and others--speedily and according to the benefactor's own plans--is a recurrent motive" Silm, xiii-xiv. This theme runs equally through The Silmarillion and LotR. The creative will, Tolkien explains, can "lead to the desire for Power, for making the will more quickly effective, - and so to the Machine (or Magic). By the last I intend all use of external plans or devices (apparatus) instead of developments of the inherent inner powers or talents - or even the use of these talents with the corrupted motive of dominating" Silm, xiii. This is what he calls, "bulldozing the real world, or coercing other wills" Silm, xiii. The first example of this is seen in the "The Music of the Ainur", the very beginning of The Silmarillion, as the evil of Morgoth and Sauron is prefigured in aggressive and subversive melodies disrupting the holy chorus. Another way to abuse creative will is to become "possessive, clinging to the things made as 'its own'" Silm, xiii, as when "sub-creator wishes to be the Lord and God of his private creation" Silm, xiii. This abuse leads to the crisis of The Silmarillion. Tolkien tells us, "The fall of the Elves comes about through the possessive attitude of Feanor and his seven sons to these gems" Silm, xvi for after Valinor has been darkened, Feanor refuses to sacrifice his art to help restore the Light, and this leads to the Exile, the first Elf-slaying, and their long sorrow. The novel is rich with reference to art, especially the chapter called "Of Beren and Luthien," which Tolkien describes as "chief of the stories of The Silmarillion, and one of the most fully treated" Silm, xvii. This is the tale of the first union between Man and Elf and their quest to regain the stolen Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth. This quest becomes "the greatest deed that has been dared by Elves or Men" Silm, 180. Significantly, Luthien is "the fairest of all the Children of Iluvatar that was or shall ever be" Silm, 56, and "the most beautiful of all the Children of Iluvatar" Silm, 165, and "in her face was a shining light" Silm, 165, reminding us of the Light of Iluvatar. Luthien is the daughter of the Elven King Thingol and the Maia spirit Melian--"of the race of the Valar" Silm, 55. These connections to the divine help explain her important role. Consider the nature of her magic: "the song of Luthien released the bonds of winter, and the frozen waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where her feet had passed" Silm, 165. Her art embodies the power of nature, and its potency is later revealed when she challenges Morgoth himself. The first such confrontation is actually with Sauron (Morgoth's lieutenant) and although Luthien is not at first present, Beren her mortal lover is accompanied by another legendary Elf, King Finrod Felagund, nephew of Feanor. In what is described as a "renowned" Silm, 170 contest, "Felagund strove with Sauron in songs of power" Silm, 171. In other words, it is a duel of their arts. From his stronghold, Sauron strikes first: He chanted a song of wizardry, Of piercing, opening, of treachery, Revealing, uncovering, betraying" Silm, 171, and down a few lines: The chanting swelled, Felagund fought, And all the magic and might he brought Of Elvenesse into his words" Silm, 171.But in the end--after a reference to the curse of Feanor's blood--"Finrod fell before the throne" Silm, 171 and both he and Beren are taken prisoner. This reminds us of "The Music of the Ainur", with the powers of good and evil incarnated into song and striving against each other.The symbolism continues with the arrival of Luthien--"she sang a song that no walls of stone could hinder" Silm, 174, and with the help of a divine companion, Sauron is defeated and Beren and Luthien are reunited. Together they resume their dangerous quest, passing deep into the heart of the Enemy's land, and finally, alone, they penetrate the mighty black fortress of Angband and confront the Dark Lord Morgoth, who is wearing the stolen Silmarils in his Iron Crown. There, Luthien "began a song of such surpassing loveliness, and of such blinding power, that he listened perforce; and a blindness came upon him" Silm, 180. If only temporarily, the perfection of Luthien's art overcame the will of Morgoth, the most powerful of the Valar. Crucially, in reaction to the purity of Luthien's singing, the Silmarils--symbol of divinity--"blazed forth suddenly with a radiance of white flame" Silm, 181 weakening Morgoth and giving the heroes just enough time to free one of the Silmarils from the Iron Crown and escape with their prize. By connecting Luthien to the divine, portraying her power through song, showing the conflict between idealized art and its fallen counterpart, and finally by linking the art of Luthien to the divinity of the Silmarils, this chapter embodies the main themes of Tolkien's aesthetics. Here we are reminded of the line from "Mythopoeia" in which the poet, speaking as an artist, declares, "I bow not yet before the Iron Crown,"--both the Iron Crown of Morgoth and the Iron Crown of 'Progress'.Through the course of the story and very many years this Silmaril, freed by Beren and Luthien, comes into the possession of Earendil the Mariner, also called Earendil the Bright and the Blessed Silm, 325, also the father of Elrond. In the climax, after all the tragedies of the First Age, salvation is finally and crucially achieved by this Silmaril. For with this last remnant of untainted Light from Valinor, Earendil becomes the first Elf since the exile to navigate successfully through the darkness back into the lost West and hidden Valinor. After this great feat, the gods listen to the desperate plea of Earendil and decide to take pity on the Elves. The hosts of the Valar march on Middle-earth for the last time, and the Dominion of Morgoth finally comes to an end. After the War of Wrath, the Dark Lord is cast outside of the world (though his lieutenant Sauron remains). Thus, by virtue of their greatest work of art, the Elves regain their place in the divine West. This redemption triggers their long return to Valinor which only comes to an end in LotR. Appropriately, Earendil in his hallowed ship with the Light of the sole-remaining Silmaril is transfigured into the heavens as a new star, (which later guides Sam and Frodo) called "the Star of High Hope" Silm, xxii, reinforcing the association between Elves and stars and divinity.These themes continue in the remaining two books included in The Silmarillion. The first, on the Second Age, reveals how the Men of Numenor, as the closest followers of the Elves, achieve their own golden age before losing it in a fall similar to that of the Elves. Tolkien explains: "their long life [longer than average men] aids their achievements in art and wisdom, but breeds a possessive attitude to these things" Silm, xxii. This is what Sauron exploits to bring about their rebellion against the West and the destruction of Numenor, all reminiscent of Feanor and the first rebellion against the Valar. And, of course, in the final part, on the Third Age, we learn how the Elves create the Rings of Power, intending them to be used only for creation--not as tools of destruction for Sauron. Yet all the races are deceived by Sauron's mechanisms and fall into greed, ambition, and war. Significantly, while the One Ring is forged exclusively by Sauron and the Seven and the Nine also suffer his corruption, the Three remain "unsullied, for they were forged by Celebrimbor alone, and the hand of Sauron had never touched them" Silm, 288. These are Narya, Nenya, and Vilya (Fire, Water, and Air), "the last that had been made, and they possessed the greatest powers" Silm, 288. But because they are conceived within the broader framework of Sauron's deception, "they also were subject to the One" Silm, 288. In fact, their survival depends on the survival of the One. When Sauron first puts the One Ring on his finger, however, the Elves immediately sense him and remove their own rings, lest the enemy become "master of them, and all that they wrought" Silm, 288. Only after the One is lost at the end of the Second Age can the Elves again use their rings. Their power, we are told, is to "ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world" Silm, 288 and it is by this power that many of the Elves are able to extend their return to Valinor and maintain their refuges of Rivendell and Lothlorien. Much later, Elrond tells us, "Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained" FotR, 351. So, by the Three Rings (as with the Three Silmarils) the Elves are shown once more as idealized artists, free of corrupt motive. Yet, just as the Silmarils began their long sorrow, so the Rings complete it. At the end of the Third Age, the Elves know that their time on Middle-earth is over, no matter if Sauron regains the One Ring, forcing the Elves to remove their own, or if the quest to destroy the One Ring succeeds. Either way "the Three must then fail and all things maintained by them must fade, and so the Elves should pass into the twilight and the Dominion of Men begin" Silm, 298. CONCERNING THE HOBBITAll these themes are introduced in The Silmarillionand expressed primarily therein, though they can be traced through the rest of Tolkien's works. Consider the first encounter with Elves in The Hobbit, deceptively simple: "'Hmmm! it smells like elves!' thought Bilbo, and looked up at the stars. They were burning bright and blue. Just then there came a burst of song like laughter in the trees" Hobb, 45. Immediately the Elves are associated with the stars and song--divinity and art--both now to be expected. Then we are given four merry stanzas, and the narrator says, "So they laughed and sang in the trees; and pretty fair nonsense I daresay you think it. Not that they would care; they would only laugh all the more if you told them so. They were elves of course" Hobb, 46. They would laugh, presumably, because of our ignorance toward their art. And Elrond in Rivendell is described in terms of the highest reverence: "He was noble and fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer ... Evil things did not come into that valley" Hobb, 48. CONCERNING THE LORD OF THE RINGSThe role of the Elves is demonstrated in their first encounter in LotR. One of the Black Riders is about to discover the Hobbits fleeing through the Shire, "But at that moment there came a sound like mingled song and laughter. Clear voices rose and fell in the starlit air. The black shadow straightened up and retreated" FotR, 113. As we have seen, "song" and "stars" are loaded with references to art and divinity, and this passage also sets up the distinction between the two opposing motives behind magic. The Black Rider and the circumstances of his retreat demonstrate Good versus Evil, Art versus Dominance, as Sauron's dark liutenent is driven away by the singing of the Elves.Sam Gamgee, who seems on more than one occasion to express a childlike clairvoyance, remarks on this encounter, "But it was the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean" FotR, 118, hinting at some degree of sensibility to the value of Elven art. Also, he seems to perceive the enormity of their past: "They were quite different from what I expected - so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were" FotR, 124, suggestive of the tragic myths of The Silmarillion.Not much later, Strider sings to the Hobbits about the legend of Beren and Luthien: When winter passed, she came again And her song released the sudden spring ... He saw the elven-flowers spring About her feet, and healed again He longed by her to dance and sing" FotR, 258.These lines paraphrase the themes encountered in "Of Beren and Luthien" in The Silmarillion, stressing the beauty and power of Elven art. The song is also meant to associate the union of Strider and Arwen with Beren and Luthien, and in so doing to elevate Arwen to a similar level of reverence. This is seen later in the language used to describe Arwen: "Such loveliness in living thing Frodo had never seen before nor imagined in his mind" FotR, 298.These aesthetics are most strongly present in Lothlorien. Beholding the sight of Cerin Amroth, "Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder. It seemed to him that he had stepped through a window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language had no name ... No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lorien there was no stain" FotR, 455. The "vanished world" of course is the First Age. Perceptively, Sam says "this is more elvish than anything I ever heard tell of. I feel as if I was inside a song, if you take my meaning" FotR, 455. Again, the magic of the Elves is art, and Sam seems attuned to this. Celeborn and Galadriel are described as, "grave and beautiful ... no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory" FotR, 461. Galadriel then reflects upon the distant past, explaining that they have dwelt in Lorien "years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through the ages of the world we have fought the long defeat" FotR, 463. To Frodo, she seems "present and yet remote, a living vision of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of Time" FotR, 485. Such language is appropriate for the only remaining characters from the First Age of The Silmarillion.Also, in Lorien, the distinction between idealized and corrupted art is explored. Galadriel, speaking to Sam about her Mirror, says, "this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem also to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy. But this, if you will, is the magic of Galadriel" FotR, 469. Remember that "Their 'magic' is Art" Silm, xiii and while nothing could be more contrary to the "magic" of the enemy, both are derived from the same source (the inheritance of creation) and this causes the problem of distinction. Discussing this very question, in an already cited letter to a publisher, Tolkien says, "I have not used 'magic' consistently, and indeed the Elven-queen Galadriel is obliged to remonstrate with the Hobbits on their confused use of the word both for the devices and operations of the Enemy, and for those of the Elves. I have not, because there is not a word for the latter (since all human stories have suffered the same confusion). But the Elves are there (in my tales) to demonstrate the difference" Silm, xiii-xiv. In other words, our creative wills can take one of two forms, and Tolkien advocates the model of the Elves--"the representatives of sub-creation par excellence" Silm, xiv. This distinction is reiterated with the gift of the cloaks, when Pippen asks if they are magical. An Elf tells him, "They are elvish robes certainly, if that is what you mean" FotR, 481. Again we see the hesitation to use the same word for both the art of the Elves and the evil of the Enemy. The Elf explains, "Leaf and branch, water and stone: they have the hue and beauty of all these things under the twilight of Lorien that we love; for we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make" FotR, 481. Not only are their motives pure, but their art is in complete harmony with nature--again, no discrepancy between "product and vision". Interestingly, the same principles seem to apply to Elven memories and dreams. Leaving Lorien, Gimli says, "I have heard that for them memory is more like to the waking world than to a dream" FotR, 492. Put otherwise, the distinction between their memory and the present is as blurred as the distinction between their art and its subject. And later, within the shadows of Fanghorn, the same seems to be true of their dreams: "Legolas already lay motionless, his fair hands folded upon his breast, his eyes unclosed, blending living night and deep dream, as is the way with Elves" TT, 48.And just as the Elves represent the ideal use of our creative wills, the wizard Saruman and his fortress at Isengard are set up in opposition. We learn that Saruman has said to Gandalf, "The time of the Elves is over, but our time is at hand: the world of Men, which we must rule. But we must have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see" FotR, 339. With the reference to the passing of the Elves, he indicates his awareness of the difference between the two approaches to creative powers. With the rest of the statement we can see that he has fallen into the trap that Tolkien warned us of earlier--that "recurrent motive" of "the desire to benefit the world and others--speedily and according to the benefactor's own plans" Silm, xiii-xiv. Treebeard sums it up: "He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels"--(remember that for Tolkien "the Machine" embodies the abuse of art)--"and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment" TT, 90. Speaking of Isengard, Gandalf says, "I looked on it and saw that, whereas it had once been green and fair, it was now filled with pits and forges" FotR, 341. And later, we are told, "long it had been beautiful ... But Saruman had slowly shaped it to his shifting purposes, and made it better, as he thought, being deceived - for all those arts and subtle devices, for which he forsook his former wisdom, and which fondly he imagined were his own, came but from Mordor" TT, 198-199. As ideal art, expressed in the Elves, is derived from the divine, so too the abuse of art, expressed in Saruman, is derived from Mordor. This is reinforced in RotK when Saruman shows up in the Shire. Presented with an opportunity of vengeance, Frodo chooses mercy. He says, perceptively, "He was great once, of a noble kind that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he many find it" RotK, 364. The key is the acknowledgement that Saruman has "fallen" from the ideal role of sub-creator, as typically otherwise exemplified in his "noble kind"--the divine Maia, such as the other Wizards, Bombadil, etc. This is concluded when Saruman dies and his soul rises from his body as a misty smoke: "For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing" RotK, 365. Thus Valinor refuses to accept Saruman's spirit (while they so recently accepted Gandalf the Gray's). In other words, as far as Tolkien is concerned, those who choose the path of power and dominance will be judged harshly.Tom Bombadil must be mentioned as perhaps the closest encounter with the pure Light of Iluvatar in LotR. He is the only character who is completely uneffected by the One Ring--**he puts it on (without vanishing) laughs, tosses it in the air, and hands it back to Frodo FotR, 183. Speaking of himself, Tom says, "Tom was here before the river and the trees; ... When the Elves passed westward [the first time, before the Fall], Tom was here already, before the seas were bent [referring to the cutting-off of Valinor]. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - Before the Dark Lord came from Outside" FotR, 181. Significantly, Tom's power is in his melodious singing. Twice his magical voice saves the Hobbits, once from a threat so great Gandalf later calls it "perhaps the most dangerous moment" FotR, 288 of the journey to Rivendell. Tom Bombadil is a either a Maia spirit or possibly even a Vala, and his role is crucial to the symbolism of art and divinity. But he is also an anomaly and unique within LotR, a powerful holdover from the First Age.Finally, in the last scene of the story, we see the completion of a plotline begun some two thousand pages earlier. Consider this passage, as the company approaches the Gray Havens: "Elrond and Galadriel rode on; for the Third Age was over, and the Days of the Rings were passed, and an end was come of the story and song of those times" RotK, 461. Here the fading of the Elves is associated with the "end" of "story and song". Then once again the Elves are linked with both the natural and the spiritual: "none saw them pass, save the wild creatures; or here and there some wanderer in the dark who saw a swift shimmer under the trees, or a light and shadow flowing through the grass as the Moon went westward" RotK, 377. And lastly, Frodo's picturesque passage into Valinor should be noted: "And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water ... and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise" RotK, 378. CONCLUSIONTolkien's Elves embody all that is good about art. We have seen that their motives are positively "Art not Power" and their creations are perfectly "product and vision in unflawed correspondence". And just as the Elves embody ideal art, so we are shown its counterpart, the Machine and desire for power. Tolkien felt that art was increasingly marginalized and devalued in our world. All around him, humankind's gift of sub-creation was being abused for destruction and dominance. His response was to create the vast world of Middle-earth, framed in the story of the Elves. Through the myth of their fading, he exposes and explains the modern imbalance between creative art and destructive power. The increasing trends of spreading industry and decreasing trends of care in creation could be traced backwards in time, mythically speaking, until the reverse was true, when the ancient Numenorean Men closely emulated the Elves, and further back, across the long fading of God's First Children, to their height in harmony with the Valar. The Elves represent our lost innocense which Tolkien would have us return to. As his own artwork demonstrates, this type of sub-creation can teach us profound lessons about ourselves, our pride, the lure of power, and the great value of companionship, humility, pity, and sacrifice, as most fans of LotR will attest. By considering a sample of Tolkien's non-fiction (his poetry, letters, and essays) along with the story of Middle-earth itself, from the mythical Creation Song through the long "Saga of the Jewels and the Rings", we begin to understand the complexity of Tolkien's aesthetics. Good art is not only benevolent and in harmony with its subject; good art helps us to better understand fundamental truths about ourselves, our past, and our present. True art embodies the divine, and in our increasingly-dangerous world, Tolkien wanted us to remember that.WORKS CITED Shippey, Tom A., J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001.Tolkien, Christopher, "Forward," The Silmarillion. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. HarperCollins, 1999: pp. vii-ix.by J.R.R. Tolkien (in relevant order): Tree and Leaf, 2nd ed. London: Unwin Hyman Ltd, 1988. "On Fairy-Stories," pp 9-73. "Leaf By Niggle," pp. 75-95. "Mythopoeia," pp. 97-101. READ "MYTHOPOEIA" HERE The Silmarillion. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. HarperCollins, 1999. "Preface; Letter to Milton Waldman, 1951," pp. x-xxiv. The Hobbit. HarperCollins, 1996. The Fellowship of the Ring. HarperCollins, 1993. The Two Towers. HarperCollins, 1993. The Return of the King. HarperCollins, 1993.