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Bêthberry · 08-01-2015, 04:40 AM

Great topic, Inzil!

There's probably no more famous lines about flowers than mad Ophelia's ramblings where she speaks to absent people, gifting them with specific flowers, in Hamlet. Shakespeare's lines remind us that the medieval world had an entire language of flowers that was slowly being forgotten. Such floriography became popular again in Victorian times, when people would create nosegays of flowers as secret, coded messages to each other.(Or at least their writers did.) Tolkien the medievalist would know the ancient allegories of which Ophelia speaks, but through his early interest in Victorian fairies he would also be aware of the nineteenth century tradition of associating flowers with various meanings. So there is a long literary tradition of the language of flowers which he would be aware of. His interest in depicting flowers, then, would arise from both his personal delight in them and this literary tradition and is a perfect complement to his interest in the natural world which was being blighted in his time by industry. This is not to say that his use of flowers follows the particular allegorical meanings of these early traditions, but rather that he could be confident in using flowers as tropes.

Pitch's point is I think well-taken, that flowers are a kind of genius loci in Tolkien's work (rather than relying on any particular meaning from the literary tradition). There are two other examples which stand out for me.

First is Tom Bombadil's water lilies which he brings home to Goldberry, and which she has placed in pots seemingly floating around the floor of their home. The water lilies reflect the 'backstory' of Tom and Goldberry, told in the early poem of Tom but not identified in LotR.

The second concerns Luthien, whose name I think in Sindarin means 'daughter of flowers'. The Silmarillion tells us that "there in the forest of Neldoreth Luthien was born, and the white flowers of niphredil came forth to greet her as stars from the earth." (chapter 10, "Of the Sindar") Luthien's dancing in a forest clearing among the hemlocks (small white flowers) is what arouses Beren and begins their famous romance. The incident is said to derive from Tolkien's own experience watching Edith dance as they were walking in the woods near Roos, England, but it is clearly well integrated with the symbols of the Legendarium.

So, two examples of flowers and romance that have nothing to do with roses. Clearly the floral industry could take a few lessons from Tolkien.

08-01-2015, 04:40 AM	#3
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	There's rosemary, that's for remembrance Great topic, Inzil! There's probably no more famous lines about flowers than mad Ophelia's ramblings where she speaks to absent people, gifting them with specific flowers, in Hamlet. Shakespeare's lines remind us that the medieval world had an entire language of flowers that was slowly being forgotten. Such floriography became popular again in Victorian times, when people would create nosegays of flowers as secret, coded messages to each other.(Or at least their writers did.) Tolkien the medievalist would know the ancient allegories of which Ophelia speaks, but through his early interest in Victorian fairies he would also be aware of the nineteenth century tradition of associating flowers with various meanings. So there is a long literary tradition of the language of flowers which he would be aware of. His interest in depicting flowers, then, would arise from both his personal delight in them and this literary tradition and is a perfect complement to his interest in the natural world which was being blighted in his time by industry. This is not to say that his use of flowers follows the particular allegorical meanings of these early traditions, but rather that he could be confident in using flowers as tropes. Pitch's point is I think well-taken, that flowers are a kind of genius loci in Tolkien's work (rather than relying on any particular meaning from the literary tradition). There are two other examples which stand out for me. First is Tom Bombadil's water lilies which he brings home to Goldberry, and which she has placed in pots seemingly floating around the floor of their home. The water lilies reflect the 'backstory' of Tom and Goldberry, told in the early poem of Tom but not identified in LotR. The second concerns Luthien, whose name I think in Sindarin means 'daughter of flowers'. The Silmarillion tells us that "there in the forest of Neldoreth Luthien was born, and the white flowers of niphredil came forth to greet her as stars from the earth." (chapter 10, "Of the Sindar") Luthien's dancing in a forest clearing among the hemlocks (small white flowers) is what arouses Beren and begins their famous romance. The incident is said to derive from Tolkien's own experience watching Edith dance as they were walking in the woods near Roos, England, but it is clearly well integrated with the symbols of the Legendarium. So, two examples of flowers and romance that have nothing to do with roses. Clearly the floral industry could take a few lessons from Tolkien. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.