be present division 'East - West' is really somewhat: artificial and also recent, dating from the Renais­ sance; in reality it existed neither in antiquity Cfor the ancient Greeks there was no 'East — West', there were only Greeks and fbarbarians1] nor in the Middle Ages [when Chris­ tendom and Islam really formed an organic whole]. Geograph­ ically the division between Europe and Asia is somewhat arbitrary, while from the ethno-1inguistic standpoint the present 'East - West' division is meaningless, since Indo- European peoples occupy nearly all Europe and also a large part of Asia.

J.R.R. Tolkien was an erudite in the field of Indo-European linguistics, which means that he must have had some knowledge of the Iranian and Indo- Aryan fields. Also, the Celtic elements in the works of Tolkien are obvious and undeniable. Now, of all the peoples of Europe it is the Celts who have most in common with the Indo-Iranian branch of the great Indo-European fam­ ily. Indeed, it would not be too much to say that the Celts are a 'Western' people only in the purely geographical sense. The resemblance between "Erinn" [the Celtic name for Ireland] and Iran is not a coincidence. There is no space here to go into the many parallels between the Celts on one hand and the Indo-Iranians on the other, but these parallels comprehend the fields of art, music, literature, prosody, codes of morality and chivalry, social organisation, numerology, religion and mythology, as well as the linguistic similarities which one expects to find among the languages of the Indo-European family. The fact is, as I know from experience, when one begins to delve deeply in the Celtic field he is inevitably drawn to the Indo-Iranian fields. In effect, Iranian and Indo-Aryan studies help to illu­ minate many obscure points of the Celtic heritage, clarifying and making understanable many otherwise strange and ambiguous features. Knowledge of Iranian and Indo-Aryan studies is a sword which cuts many Gordian knots which the Celtic scholar encounters. I have no hesitation in affirming that anyone who has no knowledge of Indo- tance' itself was no longer obtainable. Iranian studies will be forever a dabb­ Once accepted the principle of the sacr­ ler and a dilettante in the Celtic field. ed beverage, it is only a short step to In the book Celtic Heritage by Alwyn Rees sanctifying the cup which holds the bev­ and Brinley Rees it is difficult to find erage and from which one drinks it. The a single page without a reference to Celtic sacred cup later became Christian­ Iranian and/or Indo-Aryan studies. Since ized and came to be the key element in Tolkien was an eruditB in the Indo- Mediaeval literature, while the Iranian European field in general Bnd in Celtic Sacred Cup appears in the epic and later studies in particular, it would seem to in the mystical verse of the Persian be inevitable that he had sons knowledge Sufis. Thus the Celtic and Iranian Holy of Indo-Iranian studies as well. It Grails or Sacred Cups not only have the should also be noted here that few if same origin but their latBr history and any peoples have a richer heritage of literary transformations arB closely epic literature, romances of chivalry paralleled. and, what one might, for want of a bett­ er name, call 'fairy tales' than the The Iranian Holy Grail or Sacred Iranian people in general and the Pers­ Cup appears with special prominence [it ians in particular. Also, of all the appears more briefly a number of times] Indo-European epics, it is the Persian in two episodes of the Shah Namah, the which most closely resembles the Celtic great Persian epic. Firstly, it appears epic, or, to put it another way, while as the Cup of Jamshid, which possesses all Indo-European epics have certain many magical powers, including that of points in common, the 'family resembl­ constantly refilling itself with wine. ance' is particularly strong between the Readers of Omar Khayyam will remember Celtic epic on one hand and the Persian the phrase "Where Jamshid gloried and epic on the other. drank deep". Later comes the magic cup of Kai Khusrau, which also possesses many There do indeed seem to be Persian magical powers, the most prominent of elements in the works of Tolkien. The which is the following; by looking into following exposition of said elements this cup Kai Khusrau is able to see what does not pretend to be definitive; an is happening anywhere in the world and exhaustive work on this subject would also to foretell the future. require a great deal of time, special­ ized knowledge which I do not now poss­ The Mirror of Galadriel in The Lord ess, and research material not access­ of the Rings bears certain resemblances ible to me at this time, not to mention to various manifestations of the Celtic more space than a short magazine article. Grail, particularly the Kettle of Lugh. Here indeed is a good project for ad­ However, the Mirror of Galadriel is id­ mirers of Tolkien. The apparent Persian entical to the Magic Cup of Kai Khusrau; elements which I have encountered in the therefore, it would appear that in this works of Tolkien are particularly sig­ case Tolkien followed the Iranian rather nificant because some of them indicate than the Celtic model. Another closely that Tolkien not only was familiar with related example is the Phial of Galadriel. Persian literature - particularly the Also, the Palantiri or 'seeing stones' epic - but also that he had at least a bear an obvious resemblance to the Magic superficial knowledge of the Persian Cup of Kai Khusrau, though the outward 1anguage. form be different. In the Persian epic the knights or heroes are called 'Pahlavas' or 'Pahlavans'. This might seem to be echoed in the names 'Palan­ tiri’, 'Tar-Palantir' and, perhaps, 'Paladin Took'. The etymology of the word 'paladin' is doubtful, but that it be de­ rived from the Persian 'Pahlavan' combi­ ned with the Arabic 'Din' [religion or faith], thus being a hybrid term meaning One mythological and symbolic ele­ 'hero of the faith' is at least a poss­ ment which the Celts and the Iranian ibility. Also, if Tolkien came across peoples have in common is that of the the word 'Pahlavan' or 'Pahlava' this Sacred Cup or Holy Grail. The Freudian would have suggested 'Paladin'. interpretation of this is an example of both stupidity and of vile-minded prur­ ThB Persian word for 'fairy' is ience. The real origin of the Sacred Cup 'peri': this would seem to be included is very simple. The Soma [Sanskrit] or in the Sindarin term 'Periannath', mean­ Haoma [Avestan] ceremony was practiced ing 'Hobbit'j also 'Peredhil', meaning by the ancient Iranians and Indo-Aryans, 'half-elven'; and also, possibly, in the and the ceremony itself was perfectly name of Peregrin Took and "Perry-the- preserved by the Druids long aftBr the Winkle". f elts had migrated to areas where the Soma or Haoma plant does not grow, thus The Persian enclitic particle called conserving the form and also the symbol­ 'ezafe' has the sound of an 'e' or 'i' ism of the rite, even though the 'subs­ and indicates possession, being equivalent to the English genitive preposition ’o f is simply a vertical line, is often used when this indicates possession. The as a vowel carrier. An undotted 'i' is 'ezafe1, like the possessive 'of', comes also a vertical line. after the thing possessed and before the possessor, as in the phrase ’the book of In the Shah Namah the historical the child', which in Persian would be Achaeminid dynasty is at onB point con­ 'kitab-i-bache’. The 'ezafe' derives fused with the mainly [though perhaps from the Old Persian relative pronoun partly historical] mythological Kayanian 'hya' [mas.], 'hya' [fem.], 'tya' [neu­ dynasty. Firdausi, compiler of the Shah tral], which was originally an indepen­ Namah, gives short shrift to Alexander, dent word but later became enclitic. At ignores the SBleucids and also gives least in Sindarin and Quenya the Persian very short shrift to the Parthians. To 'ezafe' is used, for instance in ' N a m i Firdausi all these are usurpers who do Hin Hurin' ['tale of the children of not possess the royal charisma or 'Farr' Hurin'] and the Quenya 'Hini Iluvataro' [from the Avestan and Old Persian ['children of Ildvatar']. Both are per­ 'Hvareno' by way of the Pahlavi 'Khvarr- fect examples of the Persian 'ezafe', ah']. The overthrow of the Parthians and though of course the other words of the the founding of the Sassanian dynasty by expression are not Persian. Ardashir Papakan is considered to be the restoration of the legitimate dynasty, In the Tengwar alphabet three dots the dynasty which possesses the 'Farr', are used as a vowel sign and as a dia­ which will restore the glories of Iran. critical mark. In the Arabic alphabet Thus the triumph of Ardeshir Papakan is two letters have the three dots as a indeed the 'return of the King'. The diacritical mark, while the modified parallel between Ardeshir Papakan on one form of said alphabet used to write hand and Aragorn II on the other is ob­ Indo-European languages such as Persian, vious enough. One may, of course, think Pushtu and Urdu, has five letters which of the Welsh legends concerning the use the three dots. Of course, the 'once and future king', referring to masoretic Hebrew texts use the three King Arthur. However, in such legends dots as a vowel sign [non-masoretic Heb­ Arthur has been taken to a dimension rew texts do not mark the vowels]. Which where time does not pass or at least is Tolkien used as a model in this case different from time as we understand it, there is no way to know for sure, though and will one day return. In The Lord of the fact that he was an erudite in the the Rings as in the Shah Namah, 'Return Indo-European rather than the Semitic of the King' means the restoration of field seems to me to be a good reason to the legitimate dynasty, not the literal favour the Persian hypothesis: Hebrew, physical return of a particular king who like Arabic is a Semitic ^ language, lived and reigned many centuries before. while Persian, Pushtu and Being Irish Catholic, the expression 're­ Urdu are Indo-European. turn of the king' inevitably Also, in the Tengwar reminds me of Prince Charles script the 'vowel carri­ Edward Stuart, 'Bonnie er' is described as be­ Prince Charlie'. ing like an undotted Though Tolkien was ' i’ . In Persian, a 'Sassenach' [if Fushtu and Urdu you will pardon the letter the expression] he was 'A1if', which also a Catholic, a Celto- phile, a romantic and very much a traditionalist. The mention of 'the line of the stewards' in The Lord of the Rings would seem to favour this idea. Now, the parallel between Aragorn II and 'the once and future king' in reference to King Arthur is practica­ lly non-existent, as we said before. The parallel between Aragorn II and Bonnie Prince Charlie is not much closer. There is practically no resemblance at all in their respective biographies. Also, Aragorn II at last was successful in restoring the legitimate dynasty, while Bonnie Prince Charlie, despite heroic efforts, failed leaving the "wee, wee German lairdie" on the throne. On the other hand, the parallel between Aragorn II and Ardeshir Papakan is very close indeed in reference to biographies and character, and also in the fact that both were successful in restoring the legit­ imate dynasty. From a literary point of Secret Fire and bound by the principles view Ardeshir Papakan and Aragorn II are oF matter, space and time, the Timeless identical. Halls beyond all spatio-tBmporal categ­ ories and thB Void, the absence oF Iluvatar and the Secret Fire and thBre- Fore nothingness and darkness, is very near to being pure Zoroastrianism. The 'Deeps oF Time' remind one oF Zurvanism or 'Time Speculation', a school oF Zor­ oastrianism during the Sassanian period.

One characteristic Feature of the Also, what might be called thB 'ont­

Persian epic is the prominent part play­ ology' oF the works oF Tolkien bears a close resemblance to the ontology oF the ed by gigantic, mythological birds cal­ Persian SuFis and even more to that oF led 'Simurgh* and 'Garuda', which later appear in a somewhat altered Form as the the great Persian Shi'ite philosopher and theologian of thB SaFavi period known ’Roc’ oF the Arabian Nights. As Far as I am aware, in no other Indo-European epic as 'Mu11a Sadra oF Shiraz' and also as 'the philosopher oF Being' because oF his do gigantic birds play so important a particular concentration in the Field oF role. The same is also true oF the works ontology. UnFortunately Mulla Sadra is □F Tolkien. I refer to the eagles and

also to that creature called 'Dwimmei little known outside Iran and parts of India and Pakistan, though Henry Corbin laik' by Eowyn in the battle oF the and Seyyed Hossein Nasr have done much to Pelennor Fields. ThB resemblance between

the Simurgh and Garuda oF the Persian extend knowledge oF his philosophy to Europe and America. This is very long and epic and the eagles oF the works oF involved to explain here, but in Tolkien Tolkien is particularly close. and Mulla Sadra, Being is One, but ex-

There is also a close resemblance istents are multiple, creation is the reFlexion or maniFestation oF God Who between the battles oF the War oF the Ring on one hand and the many battles Alone is Pure Being, in the spatio-temp­ between Iran and Turan [i.e., between oral realm, nothingness in effect being Aryans and Turks, oFten with the sense the absence oF God. OF course, the ont­ ology oF Mulla Sadra is Far more complete of Light against Darkness, since the

Aryans are Followers oF Zoroaster, while and developed than that oF Tolkien as expressed in his literary works Cwhich the Turks worship the Forces oF Darkness] in reFerence to the many sorts oF bBings are, in spite oF what some say, profound­ arrayed on either side, the Forces oF ly religious], but the general outlines Light on one side and the Forces oF are the same or nearly so. Tolkien was Darkness on the other. Certainly in this not primarily a philosopher or metaphy­ respect no other Indo-European epic sician, nor are his works tracts oF l,ggP5 so close a resemblance to the wor­ systematic philosophy. ks oF Tolkien. As I said before, this essay does Both the Celtic Druids and the Ir­ not pretend to be exhaustive or defin­ anian Magi had their permanent sacred itive. I have not mentioned many resem­ blances between the works oF Tolkien and Fires; indeed the symbolism oF Fire

played a prominent role among both peo­ the Persian epic, mythology and romances,

ples, and to a lesser extent among the because I see no particular point in Indo-Aryans. However, the symbolism oF dealing with elements common to all or Fire played a particularly important nearly all Indo-European epics and myth­ role in Zoroastrianism, whose places oF ology. The very close relation between worship are called 'Atashagde', i.e. the Celts on one hand and thB Indo-Iran- 'Fire temples', and whose Followers are ian peoples on the' other makes this par­ called - erroneously - 'Fire worship­ ticularly true in the present case. An pers' . Now, in the works oF Tolkien the exhaustive, definitive work oh the creating spirit oF Iluvatar is called Iranian elements in the works of Tolkien the 'Flame Imperishable' or the 'Secret would be an enormous task and a Fine Fire'. Indeed, the whole world view oF project For admirers of Tolkien who wish the works of Tolkien bears a close re­ to explore untrodden paths and plough semblance to Zoroastrianism. There is virgin lands rather than Follow well- no space here to deal adequately with travelled roads and harrow well-cultiv­ this; but note the Iluvatar, Who is One, ated and perhaps depleted Fields. the conFlict on the spatio-temporal level between Light and Darkness, good and evil, the many sorts oF beings sup­ erior at least in their powers to men, but being limited and spatio-temporal are inFinitely less than God, who is One without a second. The whole world view oF Iluvatar, E3, the maniFestation oF the Vision oF Iluvatar, animated by the