[Estelyn Telcontar]

What occurs to you when you see this topic? I would guess that most people first think of Arwen’s banner, and many of them might shrug and dismiss it as unimportant. Nowadays, Éowyn’s sword is definitely held in higher honour as a sign of female strength than Arwen’s needle is! However, I’ve been encountering numerous references to various textile arts in Tolkien’s works, and I’d like to explore their significance. First I want to find out which needlecrafts are mentioned and how they are used; then discuss Tolkien’s attitude toward them; and finally discover the deeper meaning behind them.

Weaving is the craft I’ve found referred to most often, and some lines from “Mythopoeia” sparked the idea for this thread. Tolkien’s poem places the craft in close conjunction to mythology and sub-creativity.

…the elves …light and dark on secret looms entwined.

There is no firmament,
only a void, unless a jewelled tent
myth-woven and elf-patterned;

Blessed are the timid hearts that…
…upon a clumsy loom
weave tissues gilded by the far-off day…

…in fantastic banners weave the sheen
heraldic emblems of a lord unseen.

The Silmarillion has at least two important references to textile crafts – Vairë the Weaver is one of the Valier, and Lúthien uses spinning, weaving, and rope-twisting her hair to escape captivity, rescue Beren, and reclaim a Silmaril from Melkor.

In LotR, both Elves and Men show evidence of craftsmanship; Galadriel and her maidens weave cloaks and make rope, and the most beautiful statement about arts and crafts that I have ever heard comes from one of the Elves:

We put the thought of all that we love into all that we make.

We find tapestries in the Golden Hall of Edoras, and even the everyday clothing of Hobbits is described as being expressive of their nature. Oh, and there was that banner made by Arwen (we are not told which technique she uses, but can assume that it was woven and embroidered) for Aragorn…

Interestingly, the only really evil female characters Tolkien uses in his tales of Middle-earth, Ungoliant and Shelob, are spiders who also weave their webs, though with a different purpose than the good uses of the art, namely to ensnare.


What does Tolkien’s use of the textile arts and crafts say about his attitude toward them? We are not told whether both Elven genders practiced them, but the direct references are to females. That mirrors his personal experience, we can suppose – I’m sure needlework was a skill which he did not possess, and would not have desired. Still he speaks of textile crafts with obvious respect, honouring them with deeper meaning and connecting them with his own creative craft, the weaving of tales. Contrary to today’s prevalent attitude, he does not belittle this art form, but gives it great significance. It is never depicted as passive or weak, but shows strength and symbolic depth.

We find an attitude of wholeness towards arts and crafts reflected in Tolkien’s writing, and indeed that is not unexpected. The Arts and Crafts movement (which was also known elsewhere as Art Nouveau, for example) took place in his early, formative years, and it can be assumed that the idea of making one’s whole surroundings artistic was one that coincided with his own thoughts. We can see the influence of that style, based on natural motives, in his own drawings and paintings – but that is a subject for another thread.


What depths of meaning can be found in the textile arts in Tolkien’s works? The weaving of Story (capital intentional) includes past, present and future. Memory is preserved, a function we see especially in tapestries such as those in the Golden Hall. The hope of a better future is given shape, as in Arwen’s banner. Both past and future are made tangible and visible.

I find it very interesting that Vairë the Weaver is the spouse of Námo/Mandos, the keeper of the Houses of the Dead. Both have the special function of preserving memory; here is what the Sil says about Vairë:

Vairë … weaves all things that have ever been in Time into her storied webs, and the halls of Mandos that ever widen as the ages pass are clothed with them.

The magical use of textile arts is seen most clearly in Lúthien’s story, but there is an echo of it in the Elven cloaks and ropes, which seem magical at least to the humans involved.


Where have you found references of textile arts in Tolkien’s works, and what do you think of them? Have they influenced you in your creativity? I look forward to reading what others have to say!