The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post

Aiwendil · 09-11-2005, 09:58 AM

Some who wander are lost

Edit: Somehow I missed Anguirel's post above, which brings up some of the same points as mine. Just to give credit where it's due.

I don't know how relevant this is to the points under discussion, but when I think of wandering in Middle-earth there are some Silmarillion characters that spring immediately to mind.

First of all, there are Daeron and Maglor. It's interesting that these two, the greatest musicians of Arda, share such similar fates. Daeron leaves Doriath seeking Luthien (after she escaped from her tree house) and wanders "upon strange paths" far into the east and out of the story, making laments for Luthien. Maglor casts his Silmaril into the sea because it burns his hand; thereafter he wanders the shores of Middle-earth lamenting the loss of the Silmaril. Here we have two wanderers who are very much lost; moreover, each wanders precisely because he has lost the thing most precious to him. Actually, one could take the parallel even further - each lost their valued thing through their own actions. In the "Lay of Leithien" it tells that Daeron twice betrays Luthien to Thingol, but the third time, when he learns of her plan to escape, he remains silent. It was, then, within his power to prevent Luthien's (temporary) loss. Similarly, it is through the actions of Maglor and his brothers that he loses the purity required to touch a Silmaril; and of course, it is he himself who casts it away in the literal sense.

These are two very evocative figures in my opinion; their wandering is inextricably tied to loss - both to the loss of things and to becoming lost. They survive into a time that is not their own, seeking things that are gone forever (or at least until the end of the world). It seems to me that they are quintessential representations of the overwhelming sense of nostalgia that pervades the Silmarillion.

Very different from those two, but very different also from the heroic wanderers of LotR, is the post-captivity Hurin. I admit that he comes to mind largely because of the title of the HoMe text "The Wanderings of Hurin" - but it's Tolkien's title, so it may be considered significant. Hurin is a powerful figure here. He is not lost like Maglor and Daeron; on the contrary, his wandering is quite purposeful. He is a great man who has become grim and embittered by his long imprisonment and by the misfortunes of his family; he brings the shadow of Morgoth with him wherever he goes. In a way, he seems to be the negative image of a character like Gandalf; both "wander" quite deliberately, and with a singular, hardened purpose - but of course Gandalf brings aid to those he visits while Hurin brings death and destruction.

The last character from the Silmarillion that comes to mind as a quintessential wanderer is Earendil. Earendil is a fairly unusual character. He is one of only a few unambiguously heroic characters (the others that come to mind are Beren and Tuor). He is also perhaps the only character in the Silmarillion who achieves a real, unambiguous victory. Nonetheless, he is a wanderer in something of a similar sense to Maglor and Daeron. Actually, Earendil's wanderings ought to be divided into two separate cases. First of all, there are his sea-voyages seeking Aman. Like Daeron and Maglor, he is seeking something that was (in a sense) lost to the Elves and Men of Middle-earth. Also, tied up in this quest, is his desire to find his parents again - a desire that bears a striking resemblance to Daeron's search for Luthien. Of course, unlike Maglor and Daeron, Earendil is succesful in his quest (i.e. in his quest to reach Valinor; he does not find Tuor and Idril). But there follows for Earendil a second period of wandering, one that (like Maglor's and Daeron's) is open-ended; he wanders the sky in Vingilot until the end of the world. But (again quite unlike Maglor and Daeron) this is not really presented as an unhappy fate. He is not seeking something that can never be found; he is in fact not even sundered from Elwing, who flies to meet him when he draws near to Arda. Indeed, his celestial wandering is a sign of great hope to those in Middle-earth.

I don't really know what point is to be drawn from these four cases, which present the theme of wandering in three very different ways. But I think that, particularly in a topic such as this, to examine only LotR is to leave aside several major pieces of Tolkien's thought.

09-11-2005, 09:58 AM	#31
Aiwendil Late Istar Join Date: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,224	*Some who wander are* lost** Edit: Somehow I missed Anguirel's post above, which brings up some of the same points as mine. Just to give credit where it's due. I don't know how relevant this is to the points under discussion, but when I think of wandering in Middle-earth there are some Silmarillion characters that spring immediately to mind. First of all, there are Daeron and Maglor. It's interesting that these two, the greatest musicians of Arda, share such similar fates. Daeron leaves Doriath seeking Luthien (after she escaped from her tree house) and wanders "upon strange paths" far into the east and out of the story, making laments for Luthien. Maglor casts his Silmaril into the sea because it burns his hand; thereafter he wanders the shores of Middle-earth lamenting the loss of the Silmaril. Here we have two wanderers who are very much lost; moreover, each wanders precisely because he has lost the thing most precious to him. Actually, one could take the parallel even further - each lost their valued thing through their own actions. In the "Lay of Leithien" it tells that Daeron twice betrays Luthien to Thingol, but the third time, when he learns of her plan to escape, he remains silent. It was, then, within his power to prevent Luthien's (temporary) loss. Similarly, it is through the actions of Maglor and his brothers that he loses the purity required to touch a Silmaril; and of course, it is he himself who casts it away in the literal sense. These are two very evocative figures in my opinion; their wandering is inextricably tied to loss - both to the loss of things and to becoming lost. They survive into a time that is not their own, seeking things that are gone forever (or at least until the end of the world). It seems to me that they are quintessential representations of the overwhelming sense of nostalgia that pervades the Silmarillion. Very different from those two, but very different also from the heroic wanderers of LotR, is the post-captivity Hurin. I admit that he comes to mind largely because of the title of the HoMe text "The Wanderings of Hurin" - but it's Tolkien's title, so it may be considered significant. Hurin is a powerful figure here. He is not lost like Maglor and Daeron; on the contrary, his wandering is quite purposeful. He is a great man who has become grim and embittered by his long imprisonment and by the misfortunes of his family; he brings the shadow of Morgoth with him wherever he goes. In a way, he seems to be the negative image of a character like Gandalf; both "wander" quite deliberately, and with a singular, hardened purpose - but of course Gandalf brings aid to those he visits while Hurin brings death and destruction. The last character from the Silmarillion that comes to mind as a quintessential wanderer is Earendil. Earendil is a fairly unusual character. He is one of only a few unambiguously heroic characters (the others that come to mind are Beren and Tuor). He is also perhaps the only character in the Silmarillion who achieves a real, unambiguous victory. Nonetheless, he is a wanderer in something of a similar sense to Maglor and Daeron. Actually, Earendil's wanderings ought to be divided into two separate cases. First of all, there are his sea-voyages seeking Aman. Like Daeron and Maglor, he is seeking something that was (in a sense) lost to the Elves and Men of Middle-earth. Also, tied up in this quest, is his desire to find his parents again - a desire that bears a striking resemblance to Daeron's search for Luthien. Of course, unlike Maglor and Daeron, Earendil is succesful in his quest (i.e. in his quest to reach Valinor; he does not find Tuor and Idril). But there follows for Earendil a second period of wandering, one that (like Maglor's and Daeron's) is open-ended; he wanders the sky in Vingilot until the end of the world. But (again quite unlike Maglor and Daeron) this is not really presented as an unhappy fate. He is not seeking something that can never be found; he is in fact not even sundered from Elwing, who flies to meet him when he draws near to Arda. Indeed, his celestial wandering is a sign of great hope to those in Middle-earth. I don't really know what point is to be drawn from these four cases, which present the theme of wandering in three very different ways. But I think that, particularly in a topic such as this, to examine only LotR is to leave aside several major pieces of Tolkien's thought.