[davem]

To put the ‘Word of Command’ on one side for the time being, its still probably going to be a more complex issue than I thought, this ‘magic’: Can we find any evidence of possible sources that Tolkien may have used? Starting with ‘spellcraft’:

spell:a magic formula; a magic influence; enchantment; to bind with a spell; to enchant; to discourse; (from Old English spell narrative, discourse, spellian to speak, announce) - Chambers Dictionary.

We find numerous examples in the Kalevala, a (the?) major influence on Tolkien:

Vainamoinen, old & steadfast
Passed the days of his existence
Where lie Vainola’s sweet meadows,
Kalevala’s extended heathlands:
There he sang of sweetness,
Sang his songs & proved his wisdom.
Day by day he sang unwearied,
Night by night discoursed unceasing,
Sang the songs of by-gone ages,
Hidden words of ancient wisdom,
Songs which all the children sing not,
All beyond men’s comprehension,
In these days of misfortune,
When the race is near its ending.’

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Later, we find a wizardly duel between Vainaoinen ( a probable precursor of Gandalf), & a younger rival, Joukahainen, who claims to have seen the creation oof the world:

(Vainamoinen)You at least were never present
When the ocean was first furrowed,
And the ocean depths were hollowed,
And the caves dug for fishes,
And the deep abysses sunken,
And the lakes first created,
When the hills were heaped together,
And the rocky mountains fashioned.

No one ever yet had seen you,
None had seen you, none had heard you,
When the earth was first created,
And the air above expanded,
When the posts of heaven were planted,
And the arch of heaven exalted,
When the moon was shown his pathway,
And the sun was taught to journey,
When the bear was fixed in heaven,
And the stars in heaven were scattered.’

Interestingly, we find this claim to have been in at the creation in The Mabinogion collection, in the Tale of Taliesin, Primary Chief Bard of Britain. He sings:

Primary Chief Bard am I to Elphin,
And my original country is the region of the Summer Stars;
Idno & Heinin called me Merddin,
At leangth every King will call me Taliesin.
I was with my Lord in the Highest Sphere,
On the fall of Lucifer into Hell:
I have borne the banner before Alexander;
I know the names of the stars from north to south;
I have been in the galaxy at the throne of the distributor;
I was in Canaan when Absalom was slain;
I conveyed the Divine Spirit to the level of the vale of Hebron;
I was in the Court of Don before the birth of Gwydion.
I was instructor to Eli & Enoc;
I have been winged by the genius of the splendid crozier;
I have been loquacious prior to being gifted with speech;
I was at the place of the crucifixion of the merciful Son of God;
I have been three periods in the prison of Arianrhod;
I have been the chief director of the work of the tower of Nimrod;
I am a wonder whose origin is not known.’

This follows a confrontation between Taliesin & the bards of the court of the King, Maelgwn Gwynedd:

And as soon as Taliesin entered the hall, he placed himself in a quiet corner, near the place where the bards & the minstrels were wont to come in doing their service & duty to the King...Taliesin pouted out his lips after them, & played ‘Blerwm, blerwm,’ with his finger upon his lips. Neither took they much notice of him as they went by, but proceeded forward till they came before the King, unto whom they made their obeisance with their bodies, as they were wont, without speaking a single word, but pouting out their lips, & making mouths at the King, playing ‘Blerwm, blerwm,’ upon their lips with their fingers, as they had seen the boy do elsewhere. This sight caused the King to wonder & to deem within himself that they were drunk with many liquors. Wherefore he commanded one of his Lords, who served at the board, to go to them & desire them to collect their wits, & to consider where they stood, & what it was fitting for them to do. And this Lord did so gladly. But they ceased not from their folly, any more than before.

In another ancient text, Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini, we find Taliesin apearing in the forest of Caledon, to teach the mad Merlin about the nature of the world, beginning with the creation:

Meanwhile Taliesin had arrived to visit the prophet Merlin. He had been sent by Merlin to discover the nature of wind & clouds, since both were threatening & together forming storm clouds. Taliesin gave the following account, displaying his sharp wit:

‘Out of nothing the world’s creator produced four elements, upon which all creation depends, taking them as its basis, once they have been harmoniously & peacefully united. The sky, which stands at teh summit & encloses everything like a nutshell, He painted with stars. The He made the air, the medium which allows us to speak, & through which the sun & moon give us day & night.

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Taliesin continues with a description of the whole universe, lands, seas, rivers, magical animals & stones, etc.

In an earlier story in the Mabinogion, Math son of Mathonwy, we find a confrontation between Pryderi & the wizard Gwydion. Gwydion has been sent to claim Pryderi’s pigs - gifts from Arawn, Lord of Annwn, the Celtic otherworld, to Pryderi’s father, Pwyll. Pryderi refuses, so Gwydion casts a spell:

..that night he & his fellows went unto their lodging, & they took counsel.
‘Ah, my men,’ said he, ‘we shall not have the swine for the asking.’ ‘Well,’ said they, how may they be obtained?’ ‘I will cause them to be obtained,’ said Gwydion.
Then he betook himself to his arts, & began to work a charm. And he caused twelve chargers to appear, & twelve black greyhounds, each of them white-breasted, & having upon them twelve collars & twelve leashes, such as no-one that saw them could know to be other than gold. And upon the horses twelve saddles, & every part which should have been of iron was entirely of gold, & the bridles were all of the same workmanship.

With these magically created beasts he persuades Pryderi into a trade.

Finally, we have a ‘magical ballad’, The False Knight on the Road. In this we have a confrontation between a young boy & a Knight:

’O where are you going?, said the False Knight on the Road,
‘I’m going to the school,’ said the wee boy, & still he stood.

‘I wish you were at sea,’ said the False Knight on the Road,
‘Aye, & a good ship under me,’ said the wee boy, & still he stood.

‘I think I hear a bell,’ said the false Knight on the Road,
And its ringing you to Hell,’ said the wee boy, & stilll he stood.

I think there’s enough there to show how Tolkien was influenced by mythic & legendary sources in his development of ‘spellcraft’ in Middle earth. The ‘Word of Command’, though, seems more uniquely ‘Tolkienian’, at least in the way its used in the Legendarium.

It seems that the WoC is a much more subtle concept - Gandalf uses it against the Balrog, but does he also use it to cause the faggot to burst into flame on Caradras? Does Sam use it to get past the Silent Watchers? If not, what ‘force’ is being applied? Sam is able to break the power of the Watchers without using ‘spellcraft’ - is it ‘Elvish Magic’ - ‘Art’?

Which brings up another possibility - that there are three kinds of ‘practical magic’ in Middle earth - Spellcasting, Elvish ‘art’, & the WoC.

But that makes the whole thing even more complicated!