[davem]

Originally Posted by Lalwende

I think where the difference lies as a whole is that Tolkien's Elves are not fairies, faeries, elves or pixies. They are Elves and are drawn from Scandinavian myth. As such, they are similar to humans, but are somehow superhuman, almost a representation of perfection. They are drawn from an idea that Elves are noble beings, beautiful and even take an interest in humans.

I'm not sure that the Norse Alfar were percieved as 'noble' - any more than the Celtic Sidhe. They were (or could appear) beautiful, but they were indifferent, at best, to human moral codes & values - which is not to say they didn't have a moral value system of their own.

Where Tolkien uses Faeries in SOWM he is using figures very like his own Elves, but the tale is written as though it is a remnant from our own world - maybe this is why he uses the word 'Faeries'? To try to link the tale to our own world? Or is he trying to distance the story of SOWM from the stories of Arda?

This is waht puzzled me - if he was trying to tie the world of SoWM into our own world - which I think he was, but in a particular way - then why present us with such non-traditional creatures? Its possible that he was using Faerie/Faeries as metaphors for nature, for Art, for natural religion, or some such- yet that would make them exactly the kind of 'allegory' which Tolkien denies them to be: he will allow an 'allegorical' interpretation of the human world of SoWM, but not of the Faerie world. In this context there is the very interesting statement:

The Apprentice relation in the tale is thus interesting. Men in a large part of their activities are or should be in an apprentice status as regards the Elven folk. In an attempt to rescue Wootton from its decline, the Elves reverse the situation, and the King of faery himself COmes and serves as an apprentice in the village...

In other words, Tolkien seems to be saying that Men should be in the subservient position with regard to Elves/Faeries - they should be the 'apprentices'. This implies a kin of 'hierarchy' where Men come below Elves/Faeries. Not only does this go against the traditional ideas of the Faerie's lack of human emotions like love, compassion & empathy it also sits ill with the Christian belief that (redeemed) Men stand even above the angels.

BUT Faery is not religious. It is fairly evident that it is not Heaven or Paradise. Certainly its inhabitants, Elves, are not angels or emlssares of God (direct).... Men in a large part of their activities are or should be in an apprentice status as regards the Elven folk.

This relationship of Men & Faeries is odd. In the Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer Thomas is brought by the fFairy Queen to Three Roads - one leads to Heaven, one to Hell & one to 'Fair Elfland'. In other words, Faerie is neither Heaven, hell nor earth, but a fourth place/state. Faeries are not (as Tolkien states in the essay) neither angels nor emissaries of God. They are not demons (their motivation is love - of Men & of the natural, God- created, world. Obviously, they are not humans, either - yet humans should be subject to them, be their 'apprentices'. This may be similar to the situation in the Legendarium, where Men, the 'Followers' are in a similar position as regards the Eldar, who they will eventually replace, but it is odd that Tolkien seeks to bring this idea into the world of SoWM - a world, as Lalwende states, is so very similar to our own world of the medieval period.

Their good will is seen mainly in attempting to keep or restore relationships betWeen the two worlds, since the Elves (and still some Men) realize that this love of Faery is essential to the full and proper human development. The love of Faery is the love of love: a relationship towards all things. animate and inanimate, which includes love and respect, and removes or modifies the spirit of possession and domination......Faery represents at its weakest a breaking out (at least in mind) from the iron ring of the familiar, stilI more from the adamantine ring of belief that it is known, possessed, controlled, and so (ultimately) all that is worth being considered - a constant awareness of a world beyond these rings. More strongly it represents love: that is, a love and respect for all things, 'inanimate' and 'animate', an unposessing love of them as 'other'. This 'love' will produce both ruth and delight. Things seen in its light will be respected, and they will also appear delightful, beautiful, wonderful - even glorious.

These beings are not part of Christian doctrine, & fit nowhere into the Christian cosmology/cosmography. The role they seem to play is not that attributed to either angels or saints in Christianity. Their role seems to be to teach (or rea-awaken) a love for & sense of kinship with the natural world, but at the same time to liberate us from any feelings of 'familiarity' (breeder of contempt) as regards nature. Their task is to awaken us to the otherness of nature, to its beauty & peril & most importantly to its strangeness. It is a place of mystery, yet it is on the doorstep - Wooton Major stands at the edge of the forest & Tolkien suggests that Smith's wife & daughter were both elf-friends & wanderers in 'outer-Faerie'.

All those things the Fairies of tradition may have done - but along with them they did something else - they made the natural world a place of terror, a place to be avoided. It was their realm & humans entered at their peril. There is an echo of that in Doriath & Lorien, but the 'Elven inhabitants of those realms were effectively beautiful, noble, immortal humans, not beings who were wholly 'other' as were the Fairies of tradition.

Don't know where I'm going with this, but the more I consider it the more interesting Tolkien's 'Faeries' become...