Hope and Hopelessness

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The discussion on Arwen’s death (Why did Arwen do that??) reminded me of this topic; I’d like to revive the discussion here. On that thread, The Squatter of Amon Rûdh said:

Indeed it is as though with the loss of Estel the Evenstar has lost hope itself; that she literally cannot live without him.

There we have it again – the personification of Aragorn/Estel as hope and the important role that hope and hopelessness play in the LotR and in the relationship of Arwen and Aragorn.

In Tolkien’s book(s), loss of hope almost invariably leads to the loss of a reason for living. For Gilraen, Aragorn’s mother, he, though Hope for others, was not enough to live for. For Arwen, he was the only reason for living, and losing him meant that nothing else, including their children, could give her the hope she needed to stay alive.

I found more references to Aragorn’s embodiment of hope in “The Houses of Healing”. When Ioreth says: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, Gandalf replies:

Men may long remember your words, Ioreth! For there is hope in them.

With his healing powers, life returns to the stricken, bringing hope anew. A bit later, Gandalf says:

For it is only in the coming of Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the House.

Interestingly, Éowyn accepts the healing, but not the hope. (Aragorn has already left the room when she opens her eyes, so she must not know that he is there, though his voice called her back.)

(Gandalf) ‘Great gladness it is to see you wake again to health and hope, so valiant a lady!’

‘To health?’ said Éowyn. ‘It may be so. At least while there is an empty saddle of some fallen Rider that I can fill, and there are deeds to do. But to hope? I do not know.’

One detail occurred to me about the hope-giving Elf-stones: They are green. In Germany, at least, green is considered the color of hope. Interesting, isn’t it?!