Music and Magic in Middle Earth

[Boromir88]

Ahhh, them Palantir, also very fascinating indeed. Has to be some sort of "magic" in them if they can't be destroyed, similar to that of Orthanc.

That's all I can think of right now, there will be more to come.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

I think (as already had been said in this thread quite a few times) there are two kinds of “magic” in Middle-earth: technology, and the alteration of the Music. In this post I shall be looking at the latter.

Music shaped Eä. Those who can listen to its echoes can learn more about the world. The land continually tells its tale, or, rather, sings its songs, and someone who know what to listen to can hear its voice (qq.v. Voronwë in Ivrin, Legolas in Eregion). In these two instances one can even see the active use of music in “magic”. (WARNING: Speculation ahead.)

Ivrin: This lake and Helevorn were defiled by Glaurung, accompanied by Orcs. But I don’t know how anyone could do that. Were the Orcs carrying huge loads of filth to dump in the lake? But that would not be enough. Perhaps Glaurung, or, through him, Morgoth, sang that the lake was no longer clean. That could make it susceptible to the filth it receives.

Eregion: How did the stones know they were delved, builded, or wrought. Surely they have no tactile sense! Perhaps the Noldor sang songs to the stones while they were being worked on (cf. The spell of Felagund that bound the stones of Minas Tirith).

These are but speculations on how music could affect even the stuff of Arda, but I think they are in the realm of possibility in Arda. As for technology, well, some of the posts above have dealt with the subject better than I could.

[Neithan]

You can see my views on music in magic in my post Summary of Magic in the thread magic in Middle Earth.

As for Ivrin, do you remember the refrences in The Hobbit about Smaug's fumes and his "reek". Glaurung as the father of dragons would probably be very "toxic" so to speek. That would be enough to defile the waters. Also if I remember correctly Ivrin was a very clean, wholesome, almost sacred place. The very presence of those foul creatures would be enough to "defile" its waters.

For my views on the stones of Eregion and other inanimate objects check out my post in the thread The Gift of Speech

I know that the effort of clicking on a link to see my replies is a great one, but I encourage you to do so. I would very much like to discuss my ideas in these areas whether it is praise or criticism.

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.

Throughout Tolkien's works there are many cases of objects made by the 'good' forces that bring special harm to the 'evil' forces. For example: While the Silmarils shined on Melkor's crown; they burned his hand when he touched them. Or when the Elven rope is fastened around Gollum and it harms him. From what we've seen in the stories I wouldn't believe it has so much to do with a characters 'spiritual' state, but more to do with their 'moral alignment' in direct relation to the 'moral alignment' of the item (or its creator) in question. Items made by Elves can't seem to be used by creatures such as Orcs or corrupted beings such as Melkor. On the other-side: things wrought by the 'dark' forces in Arda are perilous to users of the 'good' forces. The Ring is the ultimate example of this. If this is true, it can imply either sentience on the part of the items (unlikely for something like Lembas) or that whenever something is made it gains an 'essence' from its creator. If the latter is true then it stands to ask: is the creator's lost essence replenishable? Or is it gone forever, thus, diminishing their power?

There are examples of being losing power and retaining it after they make these items, such as Melkor's perversion of Eru's creatures which weakened Melkor's actual powers. An example of beings retaining essence would be Galadrial and her servants making the Elven Cloaks for the Fellowship. Were the cloaks so minor that they didn't take anything noticable from their creators? Or is personal 'essence' replenishable to an extent? I don't know the answer to that question. I'll have to think on it and post more later.

Addendum: How come nobody has mentioned Dwarf Runes yet? There was supposedly a type of 'power' within the ancient runes the Dwarves placed upon things.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

. . . Ivrin was a very clean, wholesome, almost sacred place. The very presence of those foul creatures would be enough to "defile" its waters. (Neithan)

Wouldn't it be the other way around? For example. the Silmarilli burned Morgoth's hand, Sirion protected quite a lot of people, and the Elven-cloak shielded the Fellowship from the Orcs and their arrows. I believe it would take quite a lot of power to do the inverse (i.e. corrupt something holy).

[Kuruharan]

Wouldn't it be the other way around? For example. the Silmarilli burned Morgoth's hand, Sirion protected quite a lot of people, and the Elven-cloak shielded the Fellowship from the Orcs and their arrows. I believe it would take quite a lot of power to do the inverse (i.e. corrupt something holy).

Maybe, but I think there would be degrees in it.

I mean, the Silmarils were about as holy as they came but the elven cloaks did not convey much more than camouflage. They did not do much to protect Merry and Pippin when they were in the hands of the orcs (although they probably did help in the escape).

Hmm…random thought...

Knowing how much the orcs hated all things elven, I wonder why they did not tear the elf cloaks to pieces when they captured the hobbits?

Regarding dwarf runes…

It is kind of hard to say. We are not given a whole lot of information about them (practically nil). They were likely some form of “lore” that the dwarves were capable of performing.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

The Elven-cloak was just to bring it to the Third Age.

Wait, how about the Barrow-blade? The Uruks feared to hold it. No less than the Witch-King of Angmar succumbed to it.

You see what I'm telling here? Just the mere presence of evil isn't enough to corrupt. You have to go in deep, alter something fundamental, or wait for the person to succumb. A lake can't succumb to evil, so you have to change the fundamental aspect of the lake. Ulmo sang the lake to be holy. Morgoth's music (perhaps through Glaurung) crept in to defile this theme.

That's the magic in it.