Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Miluše Jedlinská Fall and Mortality in the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien Bachelor ’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Michael Matthew Kaylor, Ph. D. 2008 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Miluše Jedlinská 2 I would like to thank to Michael Matthew Kaylor, Ph.D., for his willingness to supervise this thesis and for his valuable advice. 3 Tableofcontents 1.Introduction...................................................................................................................5 2. Ainulindalë andtheFallofMelkor ...........................................................................7 2.1Sub-creativefall ..................................................................................................7 2.2Fallas a meansofachievingagreatergloryofcreation ....................................9 3.TheDarkeningofValinor .......................................................................................12 3.1Fallofthe Noldor ..............................................................................................12 3.2WorldundertheSunasafallenworld.............................................................14 4.FallsofDoriath,NargothrondandGondolin..........................................................15 5.TheFirst FallofMan ..............................................................................................18 6.TheDownfallof Númenor ......................................................................................19 6.1Prohibitionandhubris .......................................................................................20 6.2Theendofthe‘OldWorld’ ..............................................................................22 6.3Tolkien’s‘Atlantis complex’ ............................................................................23 7.Pride,self-will,dominationanddesirefor possessions ..........................................24 7.1Melkor ...............................................................................................................24 7.2Fëanor ...............................................................................................................25 7.3SauronandSaruman .........................................................................................25 7.4DenethorandBoromir ......................................................................................27 8.DenialofFall ..........................................................................................................28 9.Mortalityasagift,not punishment .........................................................................28 9.1Tryingtofinda justificationfor death ..............................................................29 9.2Tolkien’snotionofDeathandtheChristianone ..............................................30 10.Mortalityvs.immortality ......................................................................................31 10.1Menvs.Elves ..................................................................................................31 10.2Middle-earthandValinor ................................................................................35 10.3Escapestodeathanddeathlessness ................................................................36 10.4HopewithoutguaranteesforMen..................................................................40 11.Longingforimmortality .......................................................................................41 11.1Attemptsat the prolongationoflifeorgainingimmortalitybyforce ............41 11.2Naturallifespanandthevirtuesofshortlives ...............................................43 12.HealingandConsolation .......................................................................................45 13.TheinterrelationshipofFallandMortality ...........................................................46 14.Conclusion............................................................................................................47 AppendixA -Listofcharacters &MapofTolkien’sworld ......................................49 Workscitedandconsulted..........................................................................................53 4 1. Introduction TolkienhimselfclaimedthathisstoriesweremainlyconcernedwithFall, MortalityandtheMachine( Letters 145).Thisthesisis ananalysisoftwoofthese topics:Fall andMortality.AFallis arecurrent motifofTolkien’sfictionandhe perceivedit asauniversalfeatureofhumanstories:"Therecannot beany‘story‘ withoutafall–allstoriesareultimatelyabout thefall..." (Letters 147)Healsoclaimed thatmostofhumanartandthoughtis preoccupiedsimilarlyashisownfiction−with thethemeofDeath. Themainideasofthis thesis pursuedthroughTolkien’sfictionare: theFallis ameansofachievingagreatergloryofcreation; whentryingtodogood,onecanalso fall;anunnatural prolongationoflifeshouldnot beattempted;Deathisourcurse but alsoour blessing.Tolkien’sfictionisinfactasearchforthe meaningoflifeanddeath asisexplainedonthecasesoffallandmortality. Themainworks byTolkienthatweredrawnonare The Silmarillion , The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (editedbyHumphreyCarpenter), The Lord of the Rings (LOTR): The Fellowship of the Ring (FR), The Two Towers (TT)and The Return of the King (RK). The Silmarillion is a bodyof mythlikestorieswhich,howeveraretoldashistorical accounts,becausetheyreallyhappenedinthedistant pastofTolkien’ssecondaryworld. Theyrangefromanaccountofthecreationoftheworld( Ainulindalë )tothefatesof theexiledElvesinMiddle-earthandtoaless-remotestoryoftheDownfallof Númenor andsettingupofGondorandArnorinMiddle-earth.The Silmarillion wasoriginally meanttobe publishedtogetherwithLOTR,becauseTolkienthoughtthereaderswould understandLOTR betterifacquaintedwith The Silmarillion (whichis indeedtrue). LOTRneedsnointroduction,foritisverywell-known. The Letters isa collectionof Tolkien’s personal letterstothemembersofhisfamily,friendsor publishers.Theyare 5 vitalforunderstandingofTolkien'sfictionbecauseofhiscommentsonhis books, furtherexplanationofvariousfeaturesofhisstoriesandstatinghisownopinionsand beliefs. Thefirst partofthisthesisdealswiththethemeoffall.TheFallofMelkoris presentedasaneventowingtowhichevilenteredintothecreationofthe world,butwas incorporatedintotheCreator’s planandusedforahigher purpose–toachieveagreater gloryofthe creation.Othermoralfallsfollowedthatoneof Melkor;forexample theFallofthe NoldorandtheFirst FallofMan.Theirfirstfall leftinMenaninner weakness–beingprone toevilandlongingforimmortality.Thisweaknessledto theDownfallof Númenorandthe endofthe‘OldWorld’.Inthisstory,themotifof prohibitionplaysanimportantrole.Then,thefallsofindividual persons suchasFëanor, Sauron,SarumanandDenethor are discussed,andpride,self-willanddesirefor possessions areidentifiedasthemainfactorsfortheirfalls. Thesecondpartofthe thesisdeals withthe themeof mortality.Tolkien,intrying tofinda justificationfordeath,devisedaconceptof mortalityasagiftfromtheCreator toMen.He didnotthinkthatsucha notionofdeathwasincontrasttotheChristian notionwhichregardsdeathasa punishment.However,Meninhissecondaryworldare influencedbyMelkor’sevilandseedeathassomethingutterly bad,thereforetheywant toescapedeathandbe immortalliketheElves,whoontheotherhandareweariedby theirlonglivesandwishtoescape deathlesness.Thedifferences betweenMenand Elvesandtheirvaryingopinionsonmortality/immortalityarediscussed.Escapeto deathwasTolkien’sownpeculiartheme,becauseasa professorofliteratureheclaimed thathumanstories(mainlymythsandfairytales) containedonlyescapes fromdeath. Deathinhis view providesahope(withoutguarantees),becausetheonlytrue immortalitylies beyondthisworld.Ontheexampleofthe NúmenóreansTolkien 6 demonstratesthat tryingtogainimmortalitybycraftorforce isatragical folly.We shouldnotevenattempt toprolongourlives,becauseeverykindhasitsnaturallife span,whichshouldnot beexceeded.Owingtothis beliefinthevirtuesofshortliveshe wasinanoppositiontotranshumanism. Thefinalchaptersdeal withsomeaspectsoftheinterrelationshipof fall andmortality andwithhealingandconsolation. 2. Ainulindalë and the Fall of Melkor 2.1 Sub-creative fall Itis saidin Ainulindalë thatatthe beginningtherewasonlytheVoidinwhich dweltEruIlúvatar.HecreatedtheAinur,theangelic powers,fromhis mindand introducedtothema powerfulthemefromwhichtheywere supposedtomaketogether a"Great Music" inharmonyandbegincreation.TheAinuractedassub-creators 1of Ilúvatar’screation,developinghis themes.Forsometimetherewerenoflaws,but Melkor,the most powerfuloftheAinur,decidedinordertoincreasethe powerofhis ownparttointroduce themesofhisownimaginingthatdidnotaccordwiththeoriginal themeofIlúvatar.Thisresultedfromhisearlierdesire tobringintobeingthingsofhis own.Agreatdiscordarose,because someoftheAinuradoptedMelkor’s theme. Ilúvatar thenintroducedanewtheme,likeandyetunlikethe previousone,butMelkor’s discordaroseagain,soIlúvatar broughtouta thirdtheme.At last,itseemedthat there weretwomusics,utterlyatvariance,oneslow,deep,beautiful,butalsosorrowful,and theotherloud,vain,endlesslyrepeated,butwithaunityofitsown.Ilúvatarthen wrathfullyendedtheMusicinasinglechordandshowedtotheAinurthe resultoftheir 1 Tolkien uses the term subcreation to describe a form of the artist's creativity when making a particular kind of secondary or fictional world. But subcreation cannot be wholly new, because it draws on primal creation. 7 Music: avisionoftheworldandits unfoldinghistory.Whenthevisionended,hesaid: