An excellent thread, and I think it's time to take another look at it.
I have several things to say, most of which were brought up already by
mark12_30 in this thread, and by reading
Bethberry's posts in the CbC thread on Treebeard. And a few that are my own, and are developing through conversations in my classes and things I've been discussing with
LMP lately.
First and foremost is the three way unity of Truth-Beauty-Good. This unity is found in Greek philosophy, particularly, I believe, in Platonism. It is also present in Jewish and Christian thought, and so it is likely a strong subconscious factor in current Western culture, although I think recently we've tried fairly hard to escape it.
This unity is certainly present in LOTR, particularly the unity of Good and Beauty. Sauron, through his consistent failure to do good, loses his capacity for beauty; the works of the enemy are evil and ugly; Saruman, when he falls, destroys the former beauty both of Isengard and the Shire. Those who do good are consistently described in terms of the beauty of themselves and their surroundings: Faramir in Ithilien, Minas Tirith (compare descriptions of the White tower to those of the Towers of the Teeth! Both were built by Gondor, but when used for evil purposes, the beauty seems to have departed entirely from Narchost and Carchost), Elrond in Rivendell, Galadriel in Lorien, Celeborn at the Havens
[leaving that for humor value, but I did mean Cirdan]. Even Treebeard's Wellinghall is beautiful, Rohan houses the Glittering Caves, Moria is beautifully solemn. Even the long abandoned land of Eregion is still beautified by the long ago presence of the Noldor.
There are exceptions to this, the Barrow Downs and the nearby Arnorian ruins being one where the original inhabitants were good and the place has turned ugly. The beauty of the Silmarils brought about horrible destruction, Rath Dinen is rather horrifying, and the Dwarves are hardly physically beautiful. But as a rule, I think it holds.
I haven't quite worked Truth into the picture thoroughly yet, but I thought I'd throw it out for comments.
The other thought I had on the subject, is whether Tolkien would want to incorporate the idea of Joy into this unity? His idea of Eucatastrophe brings Joy-Beauty-Truth together almost seamlessly, I think that Good is hovering in there beneath the surface as well. What would this shift in unity say about his larger view of the world I wonder? How would it work into LOTR and perhaps more interestingly, Silm?
Secondly is the unity involving NAME. This is where I thought I would be strongly influenced by
Helen and by
Bethberry. Warning to any who are irritated by outside references, I'm going to dive right into them here.
The proposed unity has many component parts, or at least factors, which include but are not necessarily limited to
Name-Word-Power-Language-Story-Identity
Word and Power are exemplified in ideas like Gandalf's Words of Command, Name and Power in the invocation of Elbereth.
Name and Story are clearly identified with each other by the Ents and perhaps, as Helen suggested in Aragorn's list of titles; and Language-Name-Power is a connection established by the Dwarves who hide their secret names in Khuzdul. Perhaps this is also seen in Elvish naming customs: the mother name, the father name, and many elves seem to pick up other names as they go. No name is their "real" name; all the names together describe who and what the elf is.
Identity becomes a factor with the case of Aragorn's many names, in which each name is almost another persona he steps into. It is interesting that Aragorn has a different 'feel' as Strider than as Aragorn, and interesting to note that when he steps momentarily back into his Ranger-Role (Book 3, ch. 9) Pippin and Merry immediately comment that 'Strider' has returned. This same thing occurs with Gandalf as well. He has faintly different personas for Mithrandir and Lathspell, and particularly Olorin. Name and Identity seem to be involved in the Dwarves' wish to hide their names as well.
I think, however, that this identification comes most strongly into play in the case of the Nazgul. They not only lose their identities and become faceless wraiths in the service of Sauron, they lose their names as well. Khamul is the only recorded name we have, and never once in the story is the name used, nor is it ever indicated that it was used after his subservience to the Ring began. In a way, this also happens to Frodo, who as the Ring begins to take more control of him he loses his identity to it. He ceases to become 'Frodo' to a certain extent and becomes 'the Ringbearer:' an eerily similar word to Ringwraith, really.
Alright, enough with my speculations, lest this post becomes unreadable. Here are allusions to a unity of this kind I found outside Tolkien. I think these are important and relevant as they set the tone for this particularly unity being one that is key to understanding the nature of myth (true and otherwise), fantasy and fairy story.
Name and Power- The Ten Commandments, "thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain." If I'm recalling correctly Orthodox Jews still don't even pronounce the word Yahweh for fear of lowering it to common status. Instead the phrase "THE NAME" is used. Also brings to mind the story of Moses asking God to reveal his name so that the Israelites would believe his (Moses') message.
Language and Power-
davem said:
Quote:
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I also find it interesting that Sauron actually created the Black SpeechIts a language intended to create a new kind of link between name & thing named. Its an attempt, in a sense to change the world, to impose a new meaning on things- actually to alter the way his servants think about the world.
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This idea forcibly reminds me of George Orwell's 1984, in which Newspeak is so structured as to make independent thought impossible. Sauron as the original Big Brother... hm.
Name and Identity- this is a theme found in much of fantasy (good and bad). Not only do revealed lines of descent play a large role, and sometime become sources of power (here I'm reminded of the rather subpar, in my opinion, Shannara novels, and also Terry Goodkind's character Richard Cypher/Rahl), but in some fantasy names are things of power in themselves. Particularly Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea is a world where names are so powerful that they are never revealed, save to people who are utterly trusted or by those who are strong above the norm. For instance, the Tombs of Atuan is amost entirely about this idea: Tenar loses her name when she is made the One Priestess and becomes Ahra, the Eaten One. Supposedly her identity goes with it, but through her experiences she becomes one of the rare ones who casts off the name Goha, her commonplace "epesse" (if I may transplant the Elvish here) and uses her real name. Likewise, Ged the Archmage (formerly Sparrowhawk) and Lebennin, the young King (formerly Arren) use their real names in public. The true name of the young girl, Tehanu, also has some real significance.
Name and Power- There is a lot of play on this in Harry Potter. Particularly with the names of Voldemort: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and the anagram of "Tom Marvolo Riddle" and "I am Lord Voldemort." Rowling seems to have chosen even her minor character's names, however, carefully and with purpose.
I think there is significance to this idea in the story of Adam naming the animals. To name a thing is to have dominion over it. The Entwives would certainly think so.
There is so much here. I think this is the longest non-RPG post of my life, and I've barely skimmed the surface. Thanks for your perseverence.
Sophia