Music and Magic in Middle Earth

[Mithalwen]

Well I suppose part of the problem I have in defining magic - is because I don't believe in it - at least not in "Harry Potter" point a wand and 'pouf' type magic. It seems to me that so often what is termed magic is simply a failure to understand the technology. And I really don't believe I have "magical" powers.

Maybe this is why I like the fact that the "magic" in Middle Earth is so natural rather than "supernatural". It seems quite logical that to create a variation in the reality you have to use the process used in the creation of that reality. Also much of which seems magical is the product of a superior technology or intelligence (eg Gandalf and the Trolls)!

Music, certainly has great influence both to comfort and disturb - quite often I have to retune the car radio because some music is too disturbing to have on when driving. Anyway I will read and digest before commenting further.

[davem]

To put the ‘Word of Command’ on one side for the time being, its still probably going to be a more complex issue than I thought, this ‘magic’: Can we find any evidence of possible sources that Tolkien may have used? Starting with ‘spellcraft’:

spell:a magic formula; a magic influence; enchantment; to bind with a spell; to enchant; to discourse; (from Old English spell narrative, discourse, spellian to speak, announce) - Chambers Dictionary.

We find numerous examples in the Kalevala, a (the?) major influence on Tolkien:

Vainamoinen, old & steadfast
Passed the days of his existence
Where lie Vainola’s sweet meadows,
Kalevala’s extended heathlands:
There he sang of sweetness,
Sang his songs & proved his wisdom.
Day by day he sang unwearied,
Night by night discoursed unceasing,
Sang the songs of by-gone ages,
Hidden words of ancient wisdom,
Songs which all the children sing not,
All beyond men’s comprehension,
In these days of misfortune,
When the race is near its ending.’

.

Later, we find a wizardly duel between Vainaoinen ( a probable precursor of Gandalf), & a younger rival, Joukahainen, who claims to have seen the creation oof the world:

(Vainamoinen)You at least were never present
When the ocean was first furrowed,
And the ocean depths were hollowed,
And the caves dug for fishes,
And the deep abysses sunken,
And the lakes first created,
When the hills were heaped together,
And the rocky mountains fashioned.

No one ever yet had seen you,
None had seen you, none had heard you,
When the earth was first created,
And the air above expanded,
When the posts of heaven were planted,
And the arch of heaven exalted,
When the moon was shown his pathway,
And the sun was taught to journey,
When the bear was fixed in heaven,
And the stars in heaven were scattered.’

Interestingly, we find this claim to have been in at the creation in The Mabinogion collection, in the Tale of Taliesin, Primary Chief Bard of Britain. He sings:

Primary Chief Bard am I to Elphin,
And my original country is the region of the Summer Stars;
Idno & Heinin called me Merddin,
At leangth every King will call me Taliesin.
I was with my Lord in the Highest Sphere,
On the fall of Lucifer into Hell:
I have borne the banner before Alexander;
I know the names of the stars from north to south;
I have been in the galaxy at the throne of the distributor;
I was in Canaan when Absalom was slain;
I conveyed the Divine Spirit to the level of the vale of Hebron;
I was in the Court of Don before the birth of Gwydion.
I was instructor to Eli & Enoc;
I have been winged by the genius of the splendid crozier;
I have been loquacious prior to being gifted with speech;
I was at the place of the crucifixion of the merciful Son of God;
I have been three periods in the prison of Arianrhod;
I have been the chief director of the work of the tower of Nimrod;
I am a wonder whose origin is not known.’

This follows a confrontation between Taliesin & the bards of the court of the King, Maelgwn Gwynedd:

And as soon as Taliesin entered the hall, he placed himself in a quiet corner, near the place where the bards & the minstrels were wont to come in doing their service & duty to the King...Taliesin pouted out his lips after them, & played ‘Blerwm, blerwm,’ with his finger upon his lips. Neither took they much notice of him as they went by, but proceeded forward till they came before the King, unto whom they made their obeisance with their bodies, as they were wont, without speaking a single word, but pouting out their lips, & making mouths at the King, playing ‘Blerwm, blerwm,’ upon their lips with their fingers, as they had seen the boy do elsewhere. This sight caused the King to wonder & to deem within himself that they were drunk with many liquors. Wherefore he commanded one of his Lords, who served at the board, to go to them & desire them to collect their wits, & to consider where they stood, & what it was fitting for them to do. And this Lord did so gladly. But they ceased not from their folly, any more than before.

In another ancient text, Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini, we find Taliesin apearing in the forest of Caledon, to teach the mad Merlin about the nature of the world, beginning with the creation:

Meanwhile Taliesin had arrived to visit the prophet Merlin. He had been sent by Merlin to discover the nature of wind & clouds, since both were threatening & together forming storm clouds. Taliesin gave the following account, displaying his sharp wit:

‘Out of nothing the world’s creator produced four elements, upon which all creation depends, taking them as its basis, once they have been harmoniously & peacefully united. The sky, which stands at teh summit & encloses everything like a nutshell, He painted with stars. The He made the air, the medium which allows us to speak, & through which the sun & moon give us day & night.

.

Taliesin continues with a description of the whole universe, lands, seas, rivers, magical animals & stones, etc.

In an earlier story in the Mabinogion, Math son of Mathonwy, we find a confrontation between Pryderi & the wizard Gwydion. Gwydion has been sent to claim Pryderi’s pigs - gifts from Arawn, Lord of Annwn, the Celtic otherworld, to Pryderi’s father, Pwyll. Pryderi refuses, so Gwydion casts a spell:

..that night he & his fellows went unto their lodging, & they took counsel.
‘Ah, my men,’ said he, ‘we shall not have the swine for the asking.’ ‘Well,’ said they, how may they be obtained?’ ‘I will cause them to be obtained,’ said Gwydion.
Then he betook himself to his arts, & began to work a charm. And he caused twelve chargers to appear, & twelve black greyhounds, each of them white-breasted, & having upon them twelve collars & twelve leashes, such as no-one that saw them could know to be other than gold. And upon the horses twelve saddles, & every part which should have been of iron was entirely of gold, & the bridles were all of the same workmanship.

With these magically created beasts he persuades Pryderi into a trade.

Finally, we have a ‘magical ballad’, The False Knight on the Road. In this we have a confrontation between a young boy & a Knight:

’O where are you going?, said the False Knight on the Road,
‘I’m going to the school,’ said the wee boy, & still he stood.

‘I wish you were at sea,’ said the False Knight on the Road,
‘Aye, & a good ship under me,’ said the wee boy, & still he stood.

‘I think I hear a bell,’ said the false Knight on the Road,
And its ringing you to Hell,’ said the wee boy, & stilll he stood.

I think there’s enough there to show how Tolkien was influenced by mythic & legendary sources in his development of ‘spellcraft’ in Middle earth. The ‘Word of Command’, though, seems more uniquely ‘Tolkienian’, at least in the way its used in the Legendarium.

It seems that the WoC is a much more subtle concept - Gandalf uses it against the Balrog, but does he also use it to cause the faggot to burst into flame on Caradras? Does Sam use it to get past the Silent Watchers? If not, what ‘force’ is being applied? Sam is able to break the power of the Watchers without using ‘spellcraft’ - is it ‘Elvish Magic’ - ‘Art’?

Which brings up another possibility - that there are three kinds of ‘practical magic’ in Middle earth - Spellcasting, Elvish ‘art’, & the WoC.

But that makes the whole thing even more complicated!

[Boromir88]

I also wanted to know about the Istari staff. What is the importance of this staff? Is the power within the Istari, and the staff is just the necessary "tool" to perform their power, for example the light used to rescue Faramir, or the storm/darkening summoned by Gandalf at Bag End, and again in Meduseld. Or another theory, maybe the staff was necessary in Valinor, a necessary "tool" in Valinor, and the only reason they bought it to Middle-Earth was because they became attatched to it. If that is true, then we ask, why did Gandalf go and get a knew staff, if it wasn't important? As a personal anecdote, I've been working with hockey players for about 3 years now. I know the players can become quite attatched to their hockey sticks, and even when the sticks break, they will pay people to put them back together, or fix them. So, is the staff a "necessary tool" or a "sentimental attatchement?"

Forgive me, and just ignore me if this has no relevance to this thread, but I believe it does, as I truely think their is something magical, or atleast mysterical (is that even a word) about it. It's about Boromir's horn, here's a quote from The Bridge of Khazad-Dum,

The dark figure streaming with fire raced towards them. The orcs yelled and poured over the stone gangways. Then Boromir raised his horn and blew. Loud the challenge rang and bellowed, like the shout of many throats under the cavernous roof. For a moment the orcs quailed and the fiery shadow halted. Then the echoes died as suddenly as a flame blown out by a dark wind, and the enemy advanced again.

This is an interesting paragraph to me because Tolkien uses the term "challenge." As if, the horn's sound is sort of a "shield" or a "challenge" to the evil. Then we have the orcs quailing, and even the Balrog is stopped by the "challenge." Quickly the echoes run out, and once they do they advance again, but when that horn was blowing, it seemed as if it acted as shield, halting the Balrog. So, is it just a really loud horn? Or, is there something magical about it?

Here's the other quote we see, when Boromir blows the horn at Amon Hen.

Even as he gazed his quick ears caught sounds in the woodlands below, on the west side of the river. He stiffened. There were cries, and among them, to his horror, he could distinguish the harsh voices of Orcs. Then suddenly with a deep-throated call a great horn blew, and the blasts of it smote the hills and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the falls.

Then we also know, Faramir also heard the horn, so it's obviously pretty loud.

In the first quote Tolkien said "like a shout of many throats," in the 2nd it's "deep-throated." Also, the horn is so loud it "rises" above the falls of Rauros. Again, is there something magical, or mysterious about the horn, or is it just really, really loud?

[Encaitare]

I doubt it's anything magical, but it is certainly a powerful instrument. They seem to be somewhat wary of magic in Gondor. Perhaps it's the strength of the individual blowing it which gives it such a loud and intimidating sound? Does anyone know a more detailed history of the Horn of Gondor, save that the firstborn son traditionally bore it?

[Aiwendil]

Boromir88 wrote:

So, is it just a really loud horn? Or, is there something magical about it?

Now, this only partially relates to your question - but I would suggest that, within Middle-earth, the question "Is x magical" simpliciter is not a well-defined or sensible question. It's a little like asking whether such and such a thing is art. Or perhaps like asking whether it's technology. These are concepts that are not always sharply defined. Forgive me, I seem to be unable to come up with a better analogy, though I suspect there must be one. But magic in Middle-earth is like art or technology in the real world - there isn't one class of things that are magical and another that are not.

Of course, from a certain point of view your question still undeniably does make sense. I think perhaps it can be understood sensibly as a question not about the fundamental nature of Boromir's horn (or anything else) but rather about the actual worth/power/artistry in the horn.

Interesting thoughts, by the way, from everyone in this thread - and especially from Davem in the chapter by chapter discussion. I'm afraid I'll have to ponder the whole business of magic a bit more before I have anything worthy to add to the discussion. I do wonder, though, about the relation of spells as such to "magical items" like the Rings, Elvish artifacts, etc.

[Boromir88]

Aiwendil, you know, I think you are right, "magic" isn't the right word for Boromir's horn. I don't know if the word would be "enchanted," or something, but I do think "magic" is a bad term for it. I just think from the description giving it isn't your typical horn, so maybe it's just a super powerful horn .

[davem]

This subject seems to get more complicated the more you look into it

The closest mythological ‘echo’ to Boromir’s horn I can find is the Gjallarhorn (Clangorous Horn) of Heimdall. Heimdall is the god who guards the rainbow bridge, Bifrost, to prevent the invasion of the frost giants. ‘The Gjallarhorn could be heard throughout all the levels of heaven, earth & the otherworld. It will summon all the gods to battle when the Ragnarok dawns’ (Matthews, The Aquarian Guide to British & Irish Mythology’). ‘When this comes to pass, Heimdallr stands forth & blows lustily on Gjallarhorn to turn out all the gods, who fall in together’ (Branston, ‘Gods of the North’).

There’s also Roland’s horn, Olivant, which he won from the giant, Jutumundus. ‘When he was attacked by the Saracens at Roncevalles he sounded it to give Charlemagne notice of his danger. At the third blast is cracked in two, but it was so loud that birds fell dead & the whole Saracen army was panic struck’ (Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable).

Back to Tolkien’s world: we seem to have various kinds of ‘magical’ object - swords, Palantiri, cloaks of Lorien, The Standard of Arwen, hithlain, etc, & then there’s Miruvor & Lembas.

They seem to work in different ways: the swords - Sting, Orcrist & Glamdring, glow blue at the edges when orcs are near, but they don’t have to be activated - it seems to be an innate reaction of the weapons, whoever wields them, & they also induce fear in the orcs who encounter them - is this simply due to their reputation, or is there some psychological or spiritual power at work too? And how, exactly, do they work? Is it that in some way the swords ‘register’ the presence of the orcs & respond - & is there some ‘awareness’ within the swords?

The naming of weapons was commonplace in the ancient world - Arthur’s sword, excalibur is best known, of course, but he also had a spear, called ‘Ron’, & a ship, Prydwen, which he used in his assault on the Otherworld, (as told in the poem, Preiddu Annwn). This ‘naming’ seems important, as if by naming the weapon one gives it a power & a personality of its own, so that it becomes a kind of ‘ally’ in the battle. Its certainly of the utmost significance that when Narsil is reforged it is no longer called Narsil, but renamed Anduril. It isn’t simply put back together, it is ‘reborn’ as something else.

The Palantiri seem to work at the command of the operator’s will, & don’t need to be ‘invoked’ - & neither do the Silmaril’s - they shine, they blaze forth, almost of their own will (sentience again?). The staffs of the wizards seem to be channels for the power of their owners, yet to break a wizard’s staff seems to be symbolic of breaking his power, r at least of removing his ability to act, his authority.

Arwen’s Standard also seems to have some innate power, which doesn’t require invoking. So do the elven cloaks (whose broooches don’t fall ‘idly’.) Galadiel’s Mirror doesn’t seem to require a ‘spell’ to make it work, yet Galadriel tells the hobbits that she can ‘command’ it to show many things’.

Then we have the Phial - when Frodo holds it up in Shelob’s Lair it begins to blaze before he cries to Earendel, but its only after Sam has called out to Elbereth that it glows forth again - yet Tolkien says its

As if his indomitable spirit had set its potency in motion

so ‘that it blazed suddenly like a white torch in his hand’.

Then there are the Rings - The One seems to have a mind & will - but is this its own, or Sauron’s? And do the Elven rings also have their own will?

Miruvor & Lembas seem to have a ‘power’ to strengthen not only the body but also the will & ‘spirit’ of those who ingest them, but how?

I can’t find any explanation of how objects are infused with magical power, or how they will work for some & not for others - how can Lembas sustaing Frodo & Sam, but choke Gollum? Is its ‘power’ selective - does it decide who it will sustain & who it won’t? Probably not, but that means that its power is dependent on who eats it - so must the eater be in a certain ‘spiritual’ state before he can benefit from it? If so, then it must work differently fromn the elven swords, which glow blue in the presence of orcs, whoever is holding them - & the Palantiri, it seems, will work for any individual whose will is strong enough, no matter their moral or spiritual state - Sauron can use one, & the Silmarils shine even in Morgoth’s crown.

Then there is the power of natural places - the Old Forest seems to have a power of its own, so does Caradras - where does this power come from - the Elves taught the Trees to ‘speak’ (ie made them ‘self-conscious’) - did they do the same to the land itself? If Sauron can control the storms in the Mountains of Shadow, it seems that Galadriel also has some control over the elements, even in Mordor:

’There now, Mr Frodo, its you that’s talking of water this time!’ said Sam. ‘If only the Lady could see us or hear us, I’d say to her: ‘Your Ladyship, all we want is light & water: just clean water & plain daylight , better than any jewels, begging your padon.’ But its a long way to Lorien.’

Whether its down to Galadriel or not, when they do find water later on:

Sam sprang towards it. ‘If I ever see the Lady again, I will tell her!’ he cried. ‘Light & now water!’

Is this a ‘spell’ Galadriel has cast, or a Word of Command she has spoken, or is it ‘elvish magic’? How can the elements be controlled? Are they in some way ‘alive’? Or is it possible to bring them to life - on a small scale in metal, glass, cloth, & on a large scale in terms of whole environments? How is it that the earth does not forget the elves if once they have dwelt there? Can something unconscious, something ‘dead’, have memory?

It seems that there is a kind of innate consciousness in the stuff of Arda, which can be roused by those with the ability - it can be awakened & ‘persuaded’ (or controlled) by those with power, to obey their will.

Its been said that there isn’t much ‘magic’ performed in Middle earth - certainly in comparison with other fantasy novels, where magic is wielded with ease by magicians, so much so that it really does become a case of deus ex machina - & all the more unconvincing for that - there isn’t much blatant ‘practical magic’; but ‘magic’ seems to suffuse the very suff of Arda.

Of course, that doesn’t explain what, exactly, it is.