Volume 7 Number 2 Article 1

6-15-1980

Bureaucratization in

Thomas Gray

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Recommended Citation Gray, Thomas (1980) "Bureaucratization in The Lord of the Rings," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 7 : No. 2 , Article 1. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol7/iss2/1

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Abstract Discusses the rise of bureaucratic organization in the Third Age as a response to denser population and the needs of war and administration; considers the pitfalls and advantages of bureaucratic organization and Tolkien’s attitudes towards it.

Additional Keywords Bureaucracy in The Lord of the Rings; Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings—Government; Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings—Social organization

This article is available in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol7/iss2/1 BUREAUCRATIZATIO NI NTHE LORD OF THE RINGS

THOMAS GRAY

In Tolkien's day, as well as in our own, it leadership. " at this time had hardly seemed good sense to oppose the bureaucratiza­ any 'governm '. Families for the most part tion of human life and to deplore the destructive managed their own affairs." lived accord­ results of bureaucratic technology. In the fan­ ing to an oral tradition which they must have tasy world which Tolkien envisioned, (and a ll learned by rote, along with such sk ills as animal the speaking peoples) could potentially live in husbandry and m etallurgy as it has descended from harmony with each other and thus needed no or­ the Númenóreans: "There remained, of course, the ganizing force beyond Nature and an individual ancient tradition concerning the high king of commitment to the "Good". Consequently most of Fornost (and the hobbits) attributed to the king his people, hobbits in particular, live without of old all their essential laws; and usually they any bureaucracies or formal organizations of kept the laws of free w ill, because they were The a n y s o r t . Rules (as they said), both ancient and just." Even their defense forces (Hobbitry-in-arm s) had The bureaucracy, like other forms of social been allowed to lapse (I ,18). organization, is goal oriented. Some definite productive purpose characterizes every bureaucracy, The other peoples exhibited varying degrees even if that purpose is to produce a body count or of disorganization. Elves were semi-nomadic people a set amount of destruction. Bureaucracy is a governed by a hereditary tribal leadership. formal attem pt to organize the actions of a group leaders resemble the chiefs of the American Plains of individuals. It parcels out power and specifies Indians who lead by example, pursuading rather tasks so that the greater goals of the group can than compelling. Dwarves are better organized, be accomplished. Bureaucracy is defined by a with Kingdoms and trade in terests, but they were h i e r a r c h y , which designates a system of superiors not numerous and not inclined to open their or­ and subordinates in the power structure, and by a ganizations to outsiders. s e t o f r u l e s , which structure activities of in­ dividuals in the group and create specialization The best adm inistrators in Middle Earth are of work. In a typical bureaucracy everyone knows the Men of Númenor. Assembling that mammoth fleet what to do and to whom to report. People doing for the assault on the Undying Lands (Akallabeth, the right thing for the right people are praised; 277) required adm inistrative ability. The all others are ignored or condemned. Sociologists Númenóreans established empires and taught other like Max Weber believe that as societies become men in Middle Earth to govern themselves. Even more complex (with more disunity and diversion of in its decline the last Númenórean Kingdom of opinion) this form of organization tends to sup­ s till showed signs of bureaucratic organi­ plant more prim itive types of authority such as zation in its more able rulers. , for traditional leadership, based on heredity and example, governs his guerilla force with a stem family ties, or charism atic . leadership, based on hand, strictly enforcing every rule, except in a single dynamic personality. the most unusual circum stances. I think that one of the reasons that got on so well with Tolkien fe lt that bureaucracy was dehumaniz­ the Númenóreans (A kallabeth, 271) was th eir common ing and demeaning, and he consistently associates interest in bureaucracy. it with "Evil". In the works about Middle Earth he implys that bureaucracy was bred in the Dark­ Sauron is very well organized—he has to be! ness. The worst possible people-M orgoth, Sauron- Consider the nature of the individuals on whom he are the best organized. Nevertheless, Tolkien's must rely: the is treacherous, cruel, greedy, story admits that bureaucracy plays an integral foul-tem pered, destructive and easily frightened. part in the struggle for good in Middle Earth. Trolls are worse. The men in Sauron's service Those who are ignorant of bureaucratic principles are surly, cowardly and mean. Who could work with become slaves and those who neglect bureaucratic a crew like that? Only a very good adm inistrator. practice fail in their purpose. Sauron's forces at the Seige of Gondor pro­ Most of the people at the end of the Third vide an excellent example of what a bureaucracy Age live in isolated, loosely-organized groups can do with even the most middling m aterial. The which lack even simple trade agreements. In con­ army of the Nazgul bests the C ity's defenders sequence these groups frequently lose contact with time and again. Gondor is saved only by a m iracle. each other. The Silvan Elves don't know whether The Siege of Gondor is probably the shortest the High Elves still live in Middle Earth (I,352); seige in history. The Nazgul breach the first the dwarves are sundered from their kindred for circle of the city in 12 hours. A Medieval analogy long years. And the hobbits don't know where might be the Seige of Constantinople in 1453. a n y o n e i s . That walled city withstood the Turks for 55 days under very sim ilar circum stances. Bureaucratization is almost non-existent among hobbits. Instead they employ traditional Before the gate of Minas T irith Che and 3 trolls fight dutifully. Even when "the ground was effectively combat evil is through some fundamental choked with wreck and the bodies of the slain; bureaucratizing. The "Scouring of the Shire" yet s till driven as by a madness more and more stands as an excellent example. Farmer Cotton came up." When a crazed elephant "spread stamping observes that "we can master them (the ruffians), ruin among the ores innumerable.. .their bodies if we stick together". But no one in the Shire were cast aside from its path and others took knows how to "stick together". Only the Travelers, their place" (III, 102). If this activity is in­ who have been apprenticing in Southern Wars deed due to "madness", it is extremely well organ­ have the administrative sk ills to save the day. ized insanity. ("That is what you have been trained for," re­ marks , III,275.) Whereas a mob The defenders within the City do not aquit is almost certain to be beaten by a ruffian mob, themselves nearly as w ell. "Fires now raged un­ a bureaucratized, disciplined hobbit force easily checked in the first circle of the City and the defeats the "Bounders". Merry and Pippin employ garrison upon the outer wall was already in many sound principles of bureaucratic leadership to places cut off from retreat. But the faithful who overturn the inefficient bureaucracy established remained at their posts were few; most had fled by (whose administrative ab ilities are beyond the second gate" (III, 98). On his way waning with the rest of his powers). to the battle Pippin meets men "flying back from the burning". Poor Beregond is not the only one A well structured bureaucracy can be used to of the defenders who should have been tried for a good or ill effect, depending on the purpose of the treason of leaving his post. the user. But a badly designed bureaucracy, such as Saruman created in the Shire is harmful Minas Tirith's gate is thrown down largely to everyone—even its maker. Tolkien would have because the defenders are not bureaucratized. us believe that Saruman's "organization" of the When a crisis separates them from their traditional Shire, with the long lists of inhuman rules and leaders, the people of Minas Tirith don't know surplus of police, is the prototype of bureauc­ what to do or who to obey. When the Lord of the racy. In fact it is the very worst sterotype— Nazgul is destroyed the next official in the one made up of petty demagoguery and rules which bureaucratic chain of command, one Gothmog, takes serve no purpose. As we have seen at the Seige control of the enemy forces and the battle goes of Gondor, bureaucracy is a most hardy and useful on. But when lays down his traditional form of organization. In a percent hierarchy authority and his only surviving heir, Faramir, there can be no lack of leadership since every cannot succeed him, the city is left without ade­ individual (except the one on the bottom) has a quate leadership. An attempt is made to appoint position of authority; a perfect set of rules a temporary "charismatic" leader (Gandalf/ leaves no task undone nor any doubt in the minds Mithrandir) but Denethor's messengers inform him of the doers. This is all very useful when there "Not all w ill follow Mithrandir. Men are flying is a crisis or an immediate danger. Why then did from the walls and leaving them unmanned" (III.98). Tolkien dislike true bureaucracy so much? He There is even an unthinkable clash between the explains it very clearly through his identification body guard and the soldiery in the hallows of with the Elves. Rath Dinen. The City is in such a state of dis­ The Elves are the first children of Eru— order that the battle is nearly lost a second people of the Twilight—who knew Middle Earth time when Aragom's Fleet is sighted. Men "ran to when it was still a place of harmony and unity. the bells and tolled the alarm; and some blew the After the treachery of and the killing of trumpets sounding the retreat. 'Back to the W alls!' the Two Trees, this harmony was shattered forever they cried. 'Back to the Walls!'" Fortunately (The Silm arillion. 75-79). Morgoth reunited the miracle-bringing South Wind "blew a ll their selected parts or Middle Earth and reorganized clamour away" (III. 122). Only this wind saved them for his own purposes using the most powerful them from the consequences of having no proper tool available—bureaucracy. The Free Peoples bureaucratic structure. were forced to do the same in order to organize resistance against him. Yet this entire enter­ Of course Tolkien makes a strong case for prise—organizing, fighting, submerging in­ fearing bureaucracy; like all tokens of power, it dividual goals for the sake of the group—went must be used with care and wisdom or it can cause totally against the nature of the Elves (and great harm. He suggests that if Sauron's organi­ Tolkien). Elven souls desire to learn and teach, zation had been a little better he would have won. live and let live. Therefore, they ignore evil Close examination reveals that the ores wereunder - when they can, prefer to leave the fighting to bureacratized! The most costly mistakes made by others and unite only at great need, as in the Sauron's forces occur when orc leaders of equal Battle before Thangorodrim or at the Last Alliance rank encounter each other with conflicting orders. (who is quite notably H a lfe lv e n in t h is Merry and Pippin are taken across the plain of instance) laments that the Elves lose interest instead of being whisked off to be­ After each apparent victory. Time and again cause Sauron's officer, Grishnákh, is forced to they fail to follow-up their advantages. The give way to Saruman's orc leader, Uglúk. In a Enemy r e o r g a n iz e s and r e tu r n s ( I , 2 5 6 ). strict bureaucratic hierarchy it would have been clear that Sauron's official was to be obeyed. Tolkien does not specifically state that Mor­ The entire Quest is later rescued in a bloody goth invented bureaucracy, although he certainly manner when two ore lieutenants quarrel over made it necessary. Morgoth did not, for instance, Fordo's shirt. Again it is clear who teach Elves or men any administrative sk ills should prevail. Shagrat obeys Sauron's orders to (although the Númeróreans may have perfected them keep the prisoner and his things intact, but Gor- under Sauron). Therefore it is reasonable to bag, the Morgul ore, turns renegade and trys to assume that bureaucracy is a naturally occurring steal the shirt away. Finally, when Fordo and solution to the problem of disharmony and disunity. Sam both f a l l in t o Enemy h a n d s, a m ix-up o v er p r e ­ Men seem to be better constituted than Elves to cedent on entering the plain of Udun frees them make use of bureaucracy to attain their long term and places them on the very road to the Dark Tower goals, for men (like the Entwives) aim at arti­ and . If Sauron had spent some of his ficially controlling and ordering others about. hoarded m ithril on a good organizational analysis, he might have saved himself a lot of grief. He was penny wise and pound foolish (II, 100). Thus the fourth Age, an age which must put together the fragmented pieces of Middle Earth, Aside from these helpful mistakes, the only w ill be the Age of Men—a time of bureaucracy used way the people of Middle Earth are able to for good purposes. is charged with the 4 bureaucratization of Middle Earth. To do this he good rather than evil. The extent to which recognizes areas lik e the West March and e s ta b ­ Aragorn's kingdom w ill be a succeses w ill be lishes hierarchy so that the governing authorities largely determined by his ability to rule justly of the colonies are answerable to him. w ith th e through chosen subordinates, create effective laws h e lp o f t h e p a l a n t l r i he reestablishes communica­ and integrate the diverse peoples in his kingdom; tion throughout his realm reopening roads and p er­ in a word, to bureaucratize effectively. sonally visitin g various provinces. He replaces tradition with new laws (one of which fo r b id s Men It is conventional wisdom that the ends do to enter the Shire) and establishes embassies w ith not justify the means. It is also true that the foreign lands. He holds Pippin to his vows a s a ends do not condemn the means. Bureaucratic means knight of Gondor and sends him out as an agent to provide a great strength which the inhabitants the Shire, even as Sauron and Saruman once se n t of Tolkien's world turn to good ends as often as their agents. But this time the purpose is fo r bad o n e s.

THREE LETTERS BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN A T THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS NOTED BY J.R. CHRISTOPHER

In the summer of 1977 I spent two weeks work­ pany, 1977], p. 214). Tolkien's article ing at the Humanities Research Center at the Uni­ referred to it in the letter as "Chaucer versity of Texas, Austin, mainly concerned with pre­ as a Philologist: The Reeve's Tale", in paring notes of the Dorothy L. Sayers manuscripts Transactions of the Philological Society there. Sunday evening before the first Monday I (1934), pp. 1-70. The lines proposed for was to spend in the library, I relocated the build­ cutting in the reading were 11. 57-66, 257- ing (I had been there just once before) and found a 352 (with a supplied link), 363-364, and display of fantasy works in the lobby, including 397-398. the manuscript of G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was 2. To Terence Tiller (1916- ). Dated 2 Novem­ Thursday. (Appropriately enough for fantasy works, ber 1956. Handprinted on both sides of a the display vanished--having been up for two weeks, piece of stationery with Tolkien's Oxford I was told--between Monday morning and noon on my address (79 Sandfield Road, Headington) first day in the library.) Later, when I was dis­ and phone number at the top; signed. Two cussing the display with Wendell Wagner, Jr., a pencil lines on the back side opposite a fellow Mythopoeic Society member who was working comment about the Rohirrim. in the H.R.C. that summer, he mentioned that the Tolkien thanks Tiller for copies of the first rest of the display, unseen by me on an upper floor, three scripts (of T iller's adaptation of had included a letter or two by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings for B.B.C. radio); Delighted with the chance of holding some of Tol­ Tolkien replies to a question about accents, kien's manuscripts in my hands, I worked in time to indicating he does not think modem dia­ look at his letters; there were three of them, and lects, such as Cockney, should be used to I made the following descriptions. 1 characterize species, such as Orcs; in particular, none of the inhabitants of 1. To John Masefield (1878-1967). Dated Friday, Minas Tirith--since it was the source and 14 July (no year). Handwritten (actually standard of Common Speech--would have printed, as Tolkien normally did) on both accents; the Rohirrim might speak the Com­ sides of a small piece of grey stationery, mon Speech somewhat carefully, as a learn­ with Tolkien's Oxford address (20 North- ed language, but even that is not always moor Road) and telephone number printed at true, for Theoden was bom in Gondor, etc. the top; signed. Tolkien writes apologetically because he has 3. To Terence T iller. Dated 6 November 1956. missed the deadline for the program (of Handprinted on both sides of the same type the year's Oxford Summer Diversions); he of stationery as in (2); signed. had looked through The Canterbury Tales Tolkien has now read the three scripts and finds and some of Gower (probably Confessio them clear; but, privately, he asks Tiller Amantis, since it is in English) for some­ what the point is of condensing The Lord t h i n g - s uitable and then had to grade some of the Rings into such a cramped form when Civil Service papers. Last night he fin­ the book needs more time; he points to ally worked out the reading: either the several episodes which have been overly same as the previous year, or a cut version condensed in this handling, and regrets of "The Reeve's Tale" with one revised that the form could not have been more link for one passage cut and with the Nor­ narrative and less dramatic. thern dialect as worked out in Tolkien's Comment: Tolkien is on record against the use a r t i c l e . of fairy material in stage plays ("On Comment: this letter belongs to 1939, for that Fairy-stories", in Tree and Leaf [London: was the year Tolkien recited "The Reeve's George Allen and Unwin, 1964], 46-48, 67- Tale" from memory at the Summer Diversions; 68); but he does not comment on radio the previous year he had done "The Nun's drama, which is a partly narrative form P riest's Tale" (, Tolkien: in its use of an announcer to set scenes A Biography [Boston: Houghton M ifflin Com­ and bridge between dialogues. 5