You say 'Faeries' & I say 'Fairies'

[davem]

I suppose that, putting it simply, what Tolkien introduces into Faerie is Christian moral values. He has, effectively, 'baptized' the Elves into the Church. Though perhaps its more subtle - he gives us in his Elves perfect Christians. Some of them 'fall' - but again they fall as Christians fall, for the same reasons & with the same result. Having fallen they must 'repent' to be 'saved'.

Originally Posted by drigel

What I do notice in all these variations is that Faeries are not divine in and of themselves (although most are immortal), they do represent (in most cases), the transition, or go-between our world and the "divine" world. Either as messengers, couriers, propheters, or just because they can, and want to.

In the Legendarium this is certainly true, but in the essay Tolkien states:

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).

The 'sex' question in relation to Elves is interesting. In the Legendarium sexual desire for anyone but one's spouse, for any reason other than procreation, is seen as a sign of moral corruption: Wormtongue's desire for Eowyn, Celegorm's (& Morgoth's) for Luthien, Morgoth's for Arien, (& possibly Feanor's for Galadriel), Maeglin's for Idril - the list goes on. Sam clearly has a healthy sex life with Rose, but this is within marriage & produces children. Yet, as I said, the Elves & Fairies of tradition are infamous for seducing young men & women to gratify their desires (in the Ballad Tam Lin is placed as guardian of the Fairy site of Carterhaugh, & from any maiden unwise enough to tresspass there he 'takes a fee, either their rings or their mantles, or else their maidenhead'). This is very similar to the behaviour we find among the classical gods. Even Merlin is the child of a 'nun' & an otherworld inhabitant. The children of these unions in the tradition are natives of both worlds - a concept Tolkien adapts to produce the half-Elven. These children of both worlds were often seen as 'mediators', providing a link between the worlds. Some commentators have pointed out the similarity of these beings to Christ. RJ Stewart quotes a Gaelic invocation of Christ:

In the name of the Son of Light,the Son of Maria,
Keystone of the Arch of Heaven,
Who joins as one the forks upholding of the sky.
His the right hand, His the left hand.
His the rainbow letters in the rich fermented milk.
May you go in his ways, in all shapes of shapes,
In all colours of colours.
It is the Son of Light, the Son of Maria, saying:
'Ask in my Name, you shall not be cast out.'
Do you see us here, o Son of Light?
Says the Son of Light, 'I see'.

Jesus is also a 'Child' of two worlds - Paradise through His Father, earth through his Mother, & so provides the link between Earth & Heaven. The closest thing to a 'Christ' figure, or 'saviour' in Middle-earth is Earendel, who is also a child of two worlds.

Yet what is lacking in these Pagan figures is the Christian moral value system which we find in Tolkien. There is a (mistaken imo) belief that Tolkien, because he wasn't writing a Christian allegory, was writing within the 'Fairy tradition' - giving us Elves as they 'really' were. But he clearly wasn't. Yet, in both the Fairy Stories & the Smith essays, he seems to be at pains to tie himself into that authentic tradition & have us believe that he is presenting us with 'Just the facts, ma'am.' Now, did he really believe that he was presenting us with authentic Elves & Faeries, or was he deliberately trying to mislead us? If so, why? Did he see traditional Elves & Faeries as so 'dangerous' that he felt some kind of moral imperative to make them safe & suitable? Or was it that he just decided they were a suitable means to his didactic end - if so, what does that say about his real attitude to Faerie & its inhabitants? For all our discussions here, I don't think we've yet got the heart of the matter - why did he change the traditional Elves & Fairies to the extent that he did & more importantly perhaps why did he make out that he hadn't changed them at all?