February

With thanks to Laura and Tim for keeping up the reports of the meetings, this is the one Laura has sent for February. It comes with my apologies yet again that in spite of my best efforts I have not been able to transfer the pictures she has included. However, the post is rich with stimulating observations on the text:

SOUTHFARTHING READING GROUP

10 February 2024

Eileen, Monique, Ian, Tim, Laura

Chapter 22 Of The Ruin Of Doriath

In this and the next chapter, the curse of Fëanor continues to bite.

Monique said she loves the beauty of Tolkien’s language and its nomenclature. Monique also said it is rich poetically, e.g. when Húrin finds Morwen it is heartbreaking – create pathos using terminology. We continue to struggle with new names and words. The genealogies of races are helpful.

As the reader recovers from the tragedy of Túrin, Tolkien reminds us of what has been happening to Túrin’s father, Húrin and his mother, Morwen. Tim noted the description of the bleak journey of Húrin after his release.

Laura said that at the start of chapter, there is a short refresher and catch up. Húrin is not released by Morgoth out of pity.

Morgoth lets Húrin go after 28 years trapped in the chair on the mountainside and one year after Túrin’s death which Húrin will have seen through Morgoth’s eyes. He does not do this from pity – a key word for Tolkien – but so his malice can continue to work. He achieves this by Húrin being seen to have a sword and staff, and accompanied by orc escorts as if he is their leader. Tim said that Húrin looks like an agent of Morgoth. (Tolkien uses the word “girt” for the sword – same source as girdle.) Anyone who sees this, does not approach Húrin so he continues to wander, becoming angrier and sadder, while being watched by Morgoth’s spies. Húrin is described as “grim”, another of Tolkien’s key words.

In contrast to these spies, the Eagles are also being vigilant and whose leader, Thorondor, tells Turgon, the King of Gondolin, the news. Despite having befriended Húrin and Huor, he believes that Húrin has become a puppet of Morgoth and refuses to take him in. This is deeply ironic, as the reason for Húrin’s imprisonment was his refusal to identify Gondolin’s location to Morgoth as he and Huor had made oaths to Turgon that they would not. Oaths are not undertaken lightly in these cultures.

The descriptions of the country and wilderness through which Húrin travels are moving such as the wind hissing over the stones.

Although Turgon changes his mind, his decision has major repercussions as Húrin shouts a plea for help in the direction of Gondolin, watched by Morgoth’s spies who are now able to guess the location of the city. Tolkien describes this as: “…the first evil that the freedom of Húrin achieved.”

More personal tragedy follows for Húrin as he comes to the place, marked with a stone, where Glaurung, Túrin and Nienor died. He finds his wife, Morwen, sitting against the stone and, although this should be a cause for happiness, they both have been through such tragedy that it does not feel like a happy reunion. Morwen dies, not knowing if Túrin’s sister found him. Monique said this scene was full of great pathos.

Húrin continues to travel, going past the Petty Dwarves’ mountain. He will have witnessed what happened there with Tuor from Morgoth’s chair. He then goes to Nargothrond, destroyed by orcs and Glaurung. He finds Mîm with the treasure that Glaurung left. Mîm feels that the gold and jewels belong to him as the last of his race and tellingly describes the Elves who destroyed them as: “…the proud ones (who) came from over the sea……” Húrin kills him in revenge for his son’s betrayal by Mîm.

Tolkien adds to the tension of this encounter by describing Húrin leaving Nargothrond: “….he bore with him out of all of that great hoard but one thing only.” He does not say what that one thing is.

Húrin is found by Elves from Doriath and taken to Thingol. Húrin gives Thingol, in great bitterness, the one thing which is the Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves as he ironically describes it as the fee for looking after his family while Finrod, the original owner of the necklace, helped Beren to find a Silmaril in the Iron Crown as Thingol’s challenge. Melian is able to overcome Húrin’s subjection to Morgoth’s poison and at last he sees what really happened. He offers the Necklace to the King again in a more forgiving way and says that Morgoth has achieved his purpose but he is no longer his slave.

We wondered if the Nauglamír was made of mithril although its description in Unfinished Tales states that it is a golden carcanet (a necklace or ornamental collar made of gold or set with jewels).

Húrin leaves Doriath and Tolkien offers a guess as to his fate as no-one witnessed it but it is believed he threw himself into the sea.

It becomes clear that the Silmaril, brought to Doriath by Beren, has been preying on Thingol’s mind as Fëanor’s curse continues to work. Thingol decides to incorporate it into the Nauglamír and asks the best of Dwarf craftsmen to remake it. Tim reminded us that Thingol had been to Valinor and see the light of the Two Trees therefore seeing it in the Silmaril would be especially poignant for him.

The sight of their ancestors’ work instils in the Dwarves the need to retrieve the Necklace for themselves as is only right. The Silmaril leads to the downfall of the Elf/Dwarf relationship. When the Necklace is finished and Thingol is wearing it, the Dwarves demand it back. Recklessly, he insults them, calling them: “…uncouth race..”; “…stunted people…” so the Dwarves kill Thingol and take the Necklace, which is set with the Silmaril, with them. Again, the power of words results in action. Elves track down the Dwarves and retrieve the Necklace and kill most of the Dwarves. However, two escaped and returned home, telling the rest of the Dwarves what happened although they might have been economical with the truth as Tolkien writes: “…they told somewhat of all that had befallen…” A Dwarvish army marches towards Doriath.

Tim said that this leads to thousands of years of conflict between Elves & Dwarves starting with Thingol’s death. Monique said that there is such a poignant moment with Melian. Tim commented that there is also a poignant moment when Thingol looks at the light of the Silmaril as he dies.

Melian is devastated by Thingol’s death. She asks for the Necklace to be sent to Beren and Luthien and leaves to return to the Valar. She no longer wears her Elvish appearance and returns to a form of light as a Maia. Melian abandons her physical form and returns to the West.

This means that her Girdle no longer exists and the Dwarves are able to enter Doriath. They kill the Elves in Menegroth and seize the Necklace including the Silmaril. Beren hears of this and, with Green Elves, fights the Dwarves and is able to take back the Necklace although not before the King of the Dwarves curses all the treasure. Oddly, “the Shepherds of the Trees” (Ents) arrive to help the Elves destroy the Dwarves by forcing those remaining into woods where none came out. It may be that Melian, who loved trees, had warned them.

Tim said there was an example of renaming for the good ie the River Ascar, (described as “rushing”, “impetuous”) into which the remaining treasure of Doriath was thrown, was renamed Rathlóriel, Goldenbed because of the treasure.

Dior, Lúthien and Beren’s son, together with his wife, two sons and daughter, Elwing, set off to recreate Doriath. After he has installed himself as King in Menegroth, the Nauglamír is brought to him and by this, he knows that Beren and Luthien are dead. Luthien had chosen to be mortal in order to be with Beren and Tolkien reminds us that they had: “…gone where go the race of Men to a fate beyond the world.” Tolkien also writes that, because Lúthien was mortal, the wearing of the Nauglamír was too much for her. Dior, who has elvish blood, wears the Nauglamír and this fact comes to the attention of Fëanor’s sons – the Seven, as Tolkien describes them. The curse continues and leads to more killing of Elves by Elves.

They demand the return of the Silmaril which Dior ignores so they attack Doriath. Dior, his wife and three of the seven die and the two sons are forced into the forests where they are left to starve and presumably die. Maedhros looks but can’t find the two sons.

Interestingly, Maedhros, the oldest and leader of the brothers, alone regrets their action. (Maedhros was rescued from Thangorodrim by Fingon who cut off Maedhros’ right hand so he could escape the manacle which chained him to the mountain.) However, the brothers did not find the Silmaril as Elwing took the necklace and escaped to the sea. Elwing flees to Sirion by the sea (or Sirion-by-the-Sea, as Tim calls it!)

Celegorm, Curufin and Caranthir are killed. Dior and Nimloth are killed. Tim believes that mortal lands can’t handle the Silmaril.

Chapter 23 Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin

(There is a much more detailed account of this story in Christopher Tolkien’s edited The Fall of Gondolin.)

This chapter starts: “It has been told that……” referring the reader back to the Battle of Unnumbered Tears and also that Tolkien is writing down the story from the Elves’ point of view. We are told that Húrin and Rían’s son, Tuor, is fostered by Grey Elves, a typical arrangement in the Anglo-Saxon culture for high born sons.

Laura said that Tuor is a more positive character than his cousin Turin.

When the Elves move to the Havens of Sirion, they are attacked by Orcs and Easterlings. Tuor is captured and taken as a slave by the chief of the Easterlings but escapes after three years. He attacks Easterlings when he can and becomes an outlaw which compares directly with Túrin although Tuor is on his own.

Ulmo has chosen Tuor to carry out his plans and mysteriously manages to get him to leave Androth and travel westwards to the sea through hidden routes so that none of the enemy can track him. We considered that Ulmo’s Maiar, Ossë and Uinen were able to carry messages through the shores and riverways. The description of Ulmo does not include a trident although many artists persist in giving him this weapon of Poseidon/Neptune.

Lynn’s favourite bit is in Unfinished Tales, where Tuor is described walking through sunlit meadows of buttercup with butterflies all round. It’s such a pleasant change from Elves and twilight and Túrin’s northern gloom!

As soon as Tuor reaches the sea, he develops a great longing for it similar to that of Legolas in LOTR. Presumably this is to strengthen Ulmo’s hold on him. Whilst Tuor lives on the shore, the destruction of Nargothrond happens in which his cousin, Túrin, is mesmerised by Glaurung. The flight of seven (7!) swans (Tim compared them to gulls flying over people and stealing chips!) alerts Tuor that he must continue his travels to the halls of Vinyamar on the coast where he finds armour and a sword left by Turgon (Chapter 15 Of the Noldor in Beleriand) on the instructions of Ulmo who has told him that someone would come wearing the armour to warn him against treason and destruction. There is a wonderful sense of a fairy tale about this prophecy that happens.

Ulmo appears to Tuor and tells him to travel to the hidden Elvish kingdom of Gondolin and also gives him a camouflage cloak so that he can hide from any enemies.

Tuor comes across an Elf, Voronwë, who is the sole survivor of an expedition sent by Turgon to the West for help. This compares with Túrin meeting the Elf, Gwindor, an escapee from Morgoth. Voronwë agrees to help Tuor reach Gondolin and during their journey, they see a man dressed in black with a black sword walking in the distance. They don’t know who it is but this is of course Túrin who does not see them. What would have happened if the two cousins had met each other? Would Túrin have killed them both and then regretted it afterwards when he realised and acquired a new name?

Tuor and Voronwë, helped by Ulmo’s power, reach Gondolin and are captured by Elvish guards. Gondolin is described as the City of Seven Names. They are taken through the seven gates (7!). Elsewhere, Tolkien describes the seven gates in detail: Gate of Wood; Gate of Stone; Gate of Bronze; Gate of Writhen Iron; Gate of Silver; Gate of Gold; Gate of Steel. It struck Laura that the first four are how we describe Ages eg Stone Age, Bronze Age etc and the metal becomes more useless as a defence until the Gate of Steel as a last-ditch attempt to stop attacks. This list also reminds her of the part of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast in which the Babylonians praise their gods of wood, stone, brass, silver and gold. The first performance was in Leeds on 8^th October 1931 (after Tolkien had left). Tolkien made a water colour of the Seven Gates.

Tolkien’s painting of the Seven Gates

Eileen noted that these are materials and crafts familiar to working people e.g. Dwarves, master craftsmen.

Tuor delivers Ulmo’s message to Turgon, who is accompanied by Maeglin, his nephew and Idril, his daughter. The message is that Gondolin should be abandoned and that the Elves should make their way to the sea. Turgon remembers the previous warning from Ulmo. This compares with the message from Ulmo to King Orodreth of Nargothrond to destroy the city’s bridge. Both warnings are ignored. Turgon has invested too much in the beautiful and apparently hidden city although he recalls Ulmo’s warning about treachery and the city is locked down.

Tuor and Idril fall in love and marry, the second marriage between a Man and an Elf. This embitters Maeglin even further as Turgon admires Tuor. They have a beautiful boy, Eärendil who will have a key role in the war between good and evil. However, Idril is troubled and has a secret tunnel built to ensure a safe escape from Gondolin. She has a sixth sense about something horrible that is going to happen.

Maeglin had taken to wandering away from Gondolin looking for metal ore, despite the instructions of Turgon. Consequently he was captured by orcs and taken to Morgoth. He betrays the location of Gondolin in return for his safety, the kingship of Gondolin and Idril.

Seven years after the boy’s birth, Morgoth attacks Gondolin in the early morning of the Festival of the Gates of Summer. His army is made up of dragons, balrogs, orcs and wolves. In Unfinished Tales, some of the dragons are described as machines in which orcs travel. Tanks were used for the first time in the battle of the Somme on 15^th September 1916 which Tolkien would have seen.

Mark I “Male” Tank, British Army

Turgon and other Elf leaders are killed. Maeglin seizes Idril and Eärendil but they are rescued by Tuor who throws Maeglin off the walls, exactly as his father, Eöl, cursed him, copying his own death.

Tuor, Idril, Eärendil and a company of Elves escape through the tunnel but still have to cross countryside where they are attacked by orcs and a balrog. Glorfindel fights the balrog and both fall to their deaths. There are debates about whether or not the spirit of this Glorfindel leaves the Halls of Mandos and inhabits the Glorfindel of LOTR. His body is rescued by Thorondor and buried under a mound of stones. Tolkien writes enigmatically that flowers grew upon the barrow “until the world was changed” which is not understood by readers at this point.

Tim said that the battle between Glorfindel and Balrog is a future echo of Gandalf’s struggle with the Balrog in Moria

Eagles attack the orcs and kill them all so that no-one can report back immediately that Tuor and his family escaped. Morgoth continues to gloat and think about how Fëanor’s curse has helped his aim of ruling the world.

This small group travel towards the sea where Tuor again feels the longing of the sea as does his son. They meet up with Elwing. As a result of the destruction of Nargothrond and Gondolin, Gil-galad becomes High King of the Elves and groups of Elves begin to settle on the coast.

Ulmo, who appears to be the only Vala who supports Elves and Men, travels to Valinor to ask for forgiveness on their behalf but Manwë rejects this plea. Tolkien introduces another prophecy in that only someone who comes in person for Elves and Men would succeed in mercy from the Valar and also only when the curse of the Silmarils has run its course. We are reminded that the light in the Silmarils was made by the Valar.

When Tuor and Idril are elderly, they leave on a ship and sail into the west. This partly a reference to the future Men of Númenor who can choose the time of their deaths.

Next time Saturday, 9^th March 2024 we will be reading Chapter 24, Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath.