Thanks, squire! I've simply run out of time to continue working on your
fantastic posts. (I'm up with the next two weeks' secondary discussion of
Letters, and I'm far behind on another project as well. Plus my
work remains quite busy.) As usual, great stuff. I'm looking
forward to your next discussion, if there is one (though perhaps you are
not). To touch on just one of your ideas for further investigation:
Mablung's Damrod's invocation of the Valar. I'm surprised you
didn't bring this up earlier, as you used it in your footer during the
Valaquenta discussion, IIRC. This, the observance of the West at
Henneth Annun (or was that the Elves looking East -- what did it say in the
special Tolkien issue of The
Chesterton Review?*) and Gandalf's exclamation at Aragorn's coronation are
the three statements about the theology of Middle-earth that I remember best
from the main text of the LotR (the only other explicit mention of the Valar
that I can find in the main text is in a comparision of Théoden and
Orome). As we've all come to recognize, there are quite a few references
to some higher powers (not always the "Valar," and so infrequently by name that
"higher powers" may be the better phrasing) at work; NZ Strider made a nice
list of such references here
in 2002.
But why this particular mention? This is our first taste of Gondorian
society, and perhaps Tolkien means to suggest the latent nature of their
theology with this reference.
But is Gondor like that? I am reminded of some
comments that you made when we read Tolkien's aborted sequel, "The New
Shadow:" "It is rather shocking to read of Eru, the Children, and the
Theme in a Gondorian conversation. One wonders when that kind of
knowledge and thinking became common in the Fourth Age, since there's no sign
whatever of it in the Third!" NZ's post possibly shows something more
than "no sign" but I agree that the change is substantial. Tolkien tried
to explain it in Letter #156:
So while God (Eru) was a datum of good Númenórean philosophy, and a
prime fact in their conception of history, He had at the time of the War of the
Ring no worship and no hallowed place. And that kind of negative truth
was characteristic of the West, and all the area under Númenórean influence:
the refusal to worship any 'creature', and above all no 'dark lord' or satanic
demon, Sauron, or any other, was almost as far as they got. They had (I
imagine) no petitionary prayers to God; but preserved the vestige of
thanksgiving. (Those under special Elvish influence might call on the
angelic powers for help in immediate peril or fear of evil enemies.) It
later appears that there had been a 'hallow' on Mindolluin, only approachable
by the King, where he had anciently offered thanks and praise on behalf of his
people; but it had been forgotten. It was re-entered by Aragorn, and
there he found a sapling of the White Tree, and replanted it in the Court of
the Fountain. [This letter was written before the TT or RotK had been
published, though the recipient, Fr. Murray, may have read parts of them in
proof. -N.E.B.] It is to be presumed that with the reemergence of the
lineal priest kings (of whom Lúthien the Blessed Elf-maiden was a foremother)
the worship of God would be renewed, and His Name (or title) be again more
often heard. But there would be no temple of the True God, while
Númenórean influence lasted.
(Isis discussed the question of religion in Letter #156 here,
but only Curious responded.)
Well, that's what Tolkien had in mind, anyway; whether or not he got it across
is debatable. His sequel took place more than 100 years later, probably
enough time for a religion to get established (along with counter-cults,
apparently). The bit in Tolkien's letter about Gondorians "under special
Elvish influence" invoking the Valar -- might that help to emphasize the Elvish
character of Ithilien, since Damrod and the other Rangers descend from families
who lived there?
Finally, it's curious that we get nothing like Damrod's cry from Boromir, as
say, when he sees the Balrog. A sign of his pride? Or a case
of Tolkien failing to revisit and re-write after he developed his ideas about
what Gondor would be like?
*For the curious: look for the Eastward-praying Elves in A.N. Wilson's
essay, "Wagner for
Kiddies?"
