Wizards As Representations of Human Interaction with the Natural World in the Lord of the Rings

Department of English Wise Men in Times of Woe - Wizards as representations of human interaction with the natural world in The Lord of the Rings Anton Jonsson Bachelor’s Thesis Literature Spring, 2019 Supervisor: Marinette Grimbeek Abstract The fictive world created by Oxford Professor J. R. R. Tolkien is intimately linked with his own views of the world. His love for the natural world shines through his works and has given rise to multiple scholars focusing on Tolkien and ecology. This study falls under that category and is an ecological interpretation of The Lord of the Rings and presents the argument that Tolkien divides his characters into three types. These types are representations of different approaches to nature: nature as a tool for human progress, nature as our ideal existence and nature as an equal part of the world. The significance of the study is the focus on the three wizards in The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White and Radagast the Brown, as representatives of different ecological positions. The study centres on the argument that Gandalf is a representative of nature as an equal part of the world. A balanced, holistic view of nature and humanity is put forward by J. R. R. Tolkien as the correct way for humanity to view nature. Furthermore, Gandalf as a character shows how humanity is supposed to act in terms of natural protection and preservation. Keywords: Tolkien, ecocriticism, nature, fantasy, wizards, Lord of the Rings Jonsson 1 So that those who live after may have clean earth to till Gandalf (Tolkien, The Return of the King 861) In 1999, the French magazine Le Monde compiled a list of the 100 most influential novels of the 20th century. The list celebrated renowned authors such as Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell. One of the few fantasy authors who made the list was the Oxford Professor J. R. R. Tolkien with his trilogy – The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), comprised of The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954) and The Return of the King (1955).1 Earning a place on such a list suggests that the world of Tolkien has engaged readers globally for almost half a century. The texts have even, in the words of Patrick Curry, been “an inspiration for … David McTaggart, founder of Greenpeace … [and] underground resistance (environmental as well as political) in the USSR and Central Europe” (52). With new elements being added recently, with film-productions being made, there is no sign that the influence of J. R. R. Tolkien’s world on popular culture is decreasing. It is widely accepted that nature is a prominent part of Tolkien’s writing and that the author himself had a deepfelt passion for the preservation and protection of the natural world. In his 1978 biography of J. R. R. Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter quotes Tolkien speaking about a willow tree, saying that “one day they cut it down. They didn’t do anything with it: the log just lay there. I never forgot it” (30). These memories of human impact on the natural world stayed with him and in a letter from 1955 he writes that “I am (obviously) much in love with plants and above all trees, and have always 1 Throughout this study, the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings are abbreviated as follows: FTR, TT and RTK. Jonsson 2 been; and I find human maltreatment of them as hard to bear as some find ill-treatment of animals” (Carpenter, Letters 220). Today, these topics are more relevant than ever. Ecological devastation and the extinction of animal and plant species are regular news stories; people have become more aware of what Martin Amis sums up as “the toiletization of the planet” (quoted in Deitering 196). These contemporary issues in combination with the vast interest that many people show for the world of J. R. R. Tolkien are the foundations of this study. J. R. R. Tolkien’s love of the natural world, so vividly described in his texts, is easy to dismiss or overlook as a mere setting of the story. Christine Brooke-Rose argues that the detailed way in which nature is described in Tolkien’s legendarium imposes on the readers’ understanding of the main story, saying that it is “interfering with the war- story, cheating it as it were” (83). In contrast, Curry, argues against Brooke-Rose’s interpretation, claiming that the level of attention that Tolkien has given to his descriptions of the natural world allows the reader to approach the text with “a startling sensation of primary reality” (49). I am inclined to side with Curry, because even though Brooke-Rose’s anthropocentric idea that The Lord of the Rings is a “war-story” is valid, one must not overlook that nature itself is an agent in this narrative. Agential nature appears in a multitude of passages where elements of nature interact directly with the main characters of the texts (not only in The Lord of the Rings, but in the collection of works posthumously published as The Silmarillion (1977) too). In Tolkien’s fictive world, the natural world is by no means passive or idle; therefore, the role of nature should be considered in any interpretation of the story. The interpretation of a “war-story” needs to acknowledge the role of the Ents (sentient tree-like beings) and their contribution to, for example, the destruction of Saruman’s stronghold, Isengard (Tolkien, TT 543). It would also need to consider the position of non-humans, such as eagles, and their contribution. For example, the eagle-lord Gwaihir helps Gandalf on different occasions in The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of The Rings, both with physical transportation and with information. Each facet of Tolkien’s legendarium is related, implicitly or explicitly, to the natural world. Therefore, claiming that the way in which Tolkien portrays nature interferes with the occurring events is to overlook a major part of the story. However, the elements of nature’s involvement are sometimes implicit, especially its’ relation to characters. The vast legendarium that Tolkien created is immensely detailed; therefore, characters that, at first glance, seem to be insignificant or flat, may reveal a completely different side of the story when placed in the context Jonsson 3 of the diegetic history of Tolkien’s world. This study argues that J. R. R. Tolkien, in the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings, divides characters into three types: either a representation of an ecological decline due to industrial impact, a representation of a pre-industrial, idyllic view of nature, or a representation of a balanced view where preservation of nature and industrial progress can coexist. This is exemplified in three wizards, Saruman, Radagast and Gandalf. I argue that Tolkien uses Gandalf as a metaphorical representation of the balance of the world which Tolkien admires and advocates, symbolising a desired balance between nature and modern, industrial progress. I show this by first analysing how each wizard’s origin affects the way that they are perceived and how that is relevant for understanding what type character they are. Then I discuss how each wizard’s way of life highlights their position as either good or bad and how that is linked to the ecological message of The Lord of the Rings. Finally, I conclude the analysis by discussing how each wizard can be interpreted in the light of the companions they keep. In addition, I wish to highlight that the interest of this study is with the meaning and the social significance of Tolkien’s works and not with the man himself, even though these two are in some ways inseparable. In my analysis, I make use of several of Tolkien’s related works on Middle-Earth. However, it is important to highlight the distinction between the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, and the posthumously published works edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien as well as his associate Humphrey Carpenter. In this study, the primary source is The Lord of the Rings written by J. R. R. Tolkien. The other works by both father and son that I make use of are The Silmarillion (1977) and Unfinished Tales (1980). Furthermore, I use The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1981) edited by both Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien.2 The way in which Tolkien describes the wizards’ origins highlights their intrinsic characteristics which are relevant to understand which of the three types each wizard represents. In The Lord of the Rings, the term ‘wizard’ or ‘istari’ is the name given to the five members of an Order existing during the Third Age (circa 2000 years prior to the events in The Lord of the Rings) of Middle-Earth. The order consists of Curumo, 2 Throughout this study, the name Tolkien refers to J. R. R. Tolkien whilst Christopher Tolkien is referred to as C. Tolkien. The texts The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien are abbreviated as follows: Sil, UT and Letters. Jonsson 4 Aiwendil, Olórin, Alatar and Pallando, yet only the first three of the order appear in the tales of Middle-Earth. 3 They are more commonly known as Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown and Gandalf the Grey. They are introduced as emissaries of the Lords of the West, the Valar, to contest the growing power of the dark lord Sauron. Their mission is to advise and guide people in their fight against Sauron, and not openly display their power. Therefore, they are disguised as old and fragile men (Tolkien, UT 502-504).

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