Now we must not forget how one of Tolkien’s early memories was a recollection of one of only two surviving words spoken by pre-Celtic aboriginal inhabitants of the British Isles:
“… nothing of the languages of primitive peoples (before the Celts or Germanic invaders) is now known, except perhaps ond = ‘stone’ (+ one other now forgotten).”
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The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #324 – 4-5 June 1971, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981
For us it is not just the word ‘ond’ which is of significance, but the fact that it meant ‘stone’. Yes, necessarily a core theme would be the inclusion of ‘old stone’ for his story. But did the novel’s ancient standing stone, of the downs, somehow connect to Faërie? That’s an idea I haven’t seen bandied about before.
Well … if so, how? That’s what we must determine!
At this stage, some members/readers might already have joined some imaginary dots. Just like I did, you might be pondering on the very same thoughts that arose in my mind - such as:
(a) Did Frodo very briefly enter Middle-earth Faërie after passing between the two standing stones?
(b) Did these two ‘magically appearing’ standing stones form a gateway to another world?
On the fringes of the Hill of Tara beside a Church are two standing stones*
(c) Was Frodo allowed through because he held a necessary visa (the ‘magic’ Ring)?
(d) Was it dark because it was nighttime in Faërie?
(e) Did his pony bolt and head back because the beast, being a mortal of the Primary World, did not belong in the Perilous Realm?
(f) Did his companions not follow because they lacked a ‘visa’?
(g) Did the other hobbits not hear Frodo’s calls because his voice hadn’t the power to transcend across a different plane of existence?
(h) Upon reentering the Primary World did the other hobbit voices seem so far away because time in the Primary World had elapsed at a different rate to that in Faërie which operates under a different clock cycle?
(I) Was the light in the barrow coming through the ground from Faërie?
(j) Was this region of the Barrow-downs the place where two different planes of existence touched?
(k) Was the light growing because dawn was breaking in Faërie?
(l) Was the light green because Faërie had a green sun? (or perhaps an atmospheric condition in that realm led to green sunlight)?
A Rising Green Sun (or thereabouts!)
Hmm … the existence of another world would certainly help to logically explain several loose ends - don’t you think?
Yet first, I think it’s worthwhile taking a step back and convincing ourselves that there is a real chance another Faërie was subtly included. And to do that we have to recall that fundamentally Tolkien’s opus:
“… is a ‘fairy-story’, but one written … for adults.”
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The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #181 – January or February 1956, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981 (Tolkien’s emphasis)
“… this is an ‘imaginary’ world …”,
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The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #190 – 3 July 1956, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981 (Tolkien’s emphasis)
created to possess:
“… coherent structure which it took me years to work out.”
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The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #190 – 3 July 1956, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981
And I think Tolkien achieved coherency by blending in some of the most ancient folklore and legends of the European continent. His famous denial of C.S. Lewis’s:
“… myths are lies, even though lies breathed through silver.”,
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Tolkien A biography, Jack – pg. 147, H. Carpenter, 1977
left him to search deeply for those elusive and hidden grains of ‘truth’.
Absolutely necessary then, would be the presence of historical connections to our own world. After all, if there was little to nothing ancestral in common – we might as well be reading a story set on an entirely make-believe planet. Yes, maybe one similar to Earth, but certainly not authentic, nor one we could happily relate to or empathize with:
“I have … constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in ‘space’. However curious, they are alien, and not lovable with the love of blood-kin.”
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The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #211 – 14 October 1958, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981
Then it was those historic links which were so essential. And this aim could best be achieved by entangling some of our world’s records deeply into his own storyline. To be maintained was:
“… the literary pretence of historicity and
dependence on record …”.
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The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #129 – 10 September 1950, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981 (my underlined emphasis)
But though modern-day archaeologists, historians and folklorists have speculated a great deal, there are no ancient surviving records on the function of single (or isolated) standing stones.
Or are there?
* Note how from this angle how they lean towards each other in the same manner as the text:
“… suddenly he saw, towering ominous before him and leaning slightly towards one another like the pillars of a headless door, two huge standing stones.”
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The Fellowship of the Ring, Fog on the Barrow-downs