Authorial Control and World Building

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Gothmog, LoB

I mean, does anybody really see the topic of 'the Machine' in connection to the LotR the same way as he does?

I've actually difficulty understanding what 'the Machine' means there, nor do I consider the Ring a really good metaphor or symbol for technology. It is way to mystical/magical for that.

Professor Tolkien says in Letter 131 that "magic" and "machines" are essentially the same thing:

[the 'fallen' sub-creator] will rebel against the laws of the Creator – especially against mortality. Both of these (alone or together) will lead to the desire for Power, for making the will more quickly effective, – and so to the Machine (or Magic). By the last I intend all use of external plans or devices (apparatus) instead of development of the inherent inner powers or talents — or even the use of these talents with the corrupted motive of dominating: bulldozing the real world, or coercing other wills. The Machine is our more obvious modern form though more closely related to Magic than is usually recognised.

Of course in this case he is referring to this being a theme in "all this stuff", ie not just The Lord of the Rings but the entire legendarium.

I think the fact that this is unclear in The Lord of the Rings is because a substantial account of Sauron's activities in Eregion and his collaboration with the Gwaith-i-Mírdain never really occurs in that text. According to The Treason of Isengard it was drafted for the Council of Elrond, but that section was already far too long so it ended up constituting part of "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" - a text for which I dearly wish the unedited draft had been published in some form, as I personally can find no hard information about what was Professor Tolkien's own composition and what was editorial invention.

That being said, I would argue that the theme of "the Machine" is prominent in The Lord of the Rings through the character of Saruman. Nonetheless I am not sure it is as prominent as the other themes Professor Tolkien attributes to his own work, Fall and Mortality. Furthermore, I would argue that there are other themes in the text that Professor Tolkien himself does not identify: "the tale is not really about Power and Dominion: that only sets the wheels going". I find this statement a touch disingenuous, for instance, but that should simply provide us with fruit for discussion rather than an authoritative instruction of what we should or should not focus on as readers.