Tolkien's Floral Fixation

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

The second concerns Luthien, whose name I think in Sindarin means 'daughter of flowers'. The Silmarillion tells us that "there in the forest of Neldoreth Luthien was born, and the white flowers of niphredil came forth to greet her as stars from the earth." (chapter 10, "Of the Sindar") Luthien's dancing in a forest clearing among the hemlocks (small white flowers) is what arouses Beren and begins their famous romance.

That's an interesting explanation of Lúthien's name. I remember the Etymologies (which I can't for the life of me put my hands on right now although I have it lying around somewhere) derive it from an older form *luktiēnē "enchantress", from a base LUK- to do with, IIRC, putting a spell on somebody. It's probably safe to assume that the Prof changed his mind about the question a few times. "Flower" in Sindarin, in any case, is loth (as in Lothlórien, "Lórien in Flower" or "Dreamflower"), not luth, although there may be some umlaut or ablaut involved.

However, I digress. Lúthien's dance among the hemlocks is, of course, an iconic image often chosen by illustrators (Ted Nasmith's version here is probably the best known). There's also the beautiful floral heraldic devices Tolkien drew for her (reproduced in J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator, and viewable online e.g. here). It's an interesting coincidence by the way that Idril Celebrindal, the other elven woman to marry a mortal, also had a device derived from flowers (in her case cornflowers, menelluin in Quenya).

Thanks for the link, Bêthberry! The loving detail those late medieval artists portrayed their flowers with is amazing and would, I'm sure, have pleased our meticulous subcreator.

IxnaY, I think Bilbo was a stand-in for Tolkien in more than one respect - quite obviously as the author of Translations from the Elvish (i.e. the Silmarillion as Tolkien then hoped to publish it some day), and very likely also in his love for flowers. Actually the flower names Bilbo mentions in the quote you gave remind me of a passage somewhere in Letters where the Prof recounts his discussion with a College gardener in Oxford about the proper name of, I think it was nasturtiums. He cared about such things, both the flowers themselves and their names.

Agreed about the Morgul Vale - it's way creepier than either Mirkwood (which is just dark and gloomy and full of critters) or Mordor (which is just dead and horrible). (I also see echoes of the Morgul flowers - and of the Dead Marshes too - in the Spoiled Plains and the Sarangrave, but I agree that they feel like naturally derived from the premises of Donaldson's world; much like his MacGuffin needed to be a ring regardless of Tolkien.)

One thing just struck me: a lot of the emblematic flowers we've mentioned up to now are white. Niphredil, simbelmyne, Lúthien's hemlocks and (perverted) the Morgul flowers - more than any single other colour so far. Why do you think this is? Just an aesthetic preference of Tolkien's or is there some symbolism going on?