For in that sleep of death what dreams may come.

[Bêthberry]

Or, more precisely, whose, and how?

This topic is about a real Barrow Downs dream--not to be confused with our own Barrow Downs dreams down Mirth-ways--the one Merry had after he, Pippin and Sam were taken by the Barrow Wight.

The dream has been discussed in our chapter by chapter discussion of Fog on the Barrow Downs, particularly by Boro88, Estelyn Telcontar, davem, and Lalwende, but I think more can be said of the topic, so here goes. And bear with all the quotes!

First, some context. Tom Bombadil has answered Frodo's call and come to rescue the hobbits from the dread and gloom of the Barrow Wight's horror. Sam, Pippin and Merry wake up and find themselves clothed in what could be the decayed remains of burial shrouds and relics of those who had been laid to rest in the Barrow.

Originally Posted by Merry, Fog on the Barrow Downs

'What in the name of wonder?' began Merry, feeling the golden circlet that had slipped over one eye. Then he stopped, and a shadow came over his face, and he closed his eyes. 'Of course, I remember!' he said. 'The men of Carn Dum came on us at night, and we were worsted. Ah! the spear in my heart!' He clutched at his breast. 'No! No!' he said, opening his eyes. 'What am I saying? I have been dreaming.'

A strange dream. It appears he has remembered or relived the death of someone, possibly the person whose winding sheet he now wears.

Then, once the hobbits have recovered some warmth into their bodies, Tom completes the breaking and scattering of the spell of the mound (Tolkien's terminology) and raids the tomb, providing hobbits with special knives. Those who are rereading LotR know that the blade Merry carries is special, for it will be this blade that he uses to stab the Witch King and destroy the spell which protects the King of the Nazgul.

Here's what Tom says about the blades as he distributes them.

Originally Posted by Tom, Fog on the Barrow Downs

Then he told them that these blades were forged many long years ago by Men of Wsternesse: they were foes of the Dark Lord, but they were overcome by the evil king of Carn Dum in the Land of Angmar.

'Few now remember them,' Tom mumured, 'yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless.'

The hobbits did not understand his words, but as he spoke they had a vision as it were of a great expanse of years behind them, like a vast shadowy plain over which there strode shapes of Men, tall and grim with bright swords, and last came one a star on his brow. Then the vision faded, and they were back in the sunlit world.

Tom's words have collapsed time, giving the hobbits a vision of . . . what past battle. Appendix A provides essential historical background here to the spread of the Witch-King's malevolence in destroying Cardolan, one of the three kingdoms in the line of Isildur. Boro quoted a bit in the thread linked to above, but the entire passage is intriguing.

Originally Posted by Appendix A, Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur

A great host came out of Angmar in 1409, and crossing the river entered Cardolan and surrounded Weathertop. The Dunedain were defeated and Arveleg [the king] was slain. The Tower of Amon Sul was burned and razed; but the palantir was saved and carried back in retreat to Fornost, Rhudaur was occupied by evil Men subject to Angmar, and the Dunedain that remained there were slain or fled west. Cardolan was ravaged. Araphor son of Arveleg was not yet full grown, but he was valaint, and with aid from Cirdan he repelled the enemy from Fornost and the North Downs. A remnant of the faithful among the Dunedain of Cardolan also held out in Tyrn Gorthad (the Barrowdowns) or took refuge in the Forest behind. . . . It was at this time that an end came of the Dunedain of Cardolan, and evil spirits out of Angmar and Rhudaur entered into the deserted mounds and dwelt there.

[The Appendix then moves into a quotation, part of Tolkien's literary apparatus to make the Appendix appear to be based upon ancient annals.]

'It is said that the mounds of Tyrn Gorthad, as the Barrowdowns were called of old, are very ancient, and that many were built in the day of the old world of the First Age by the forefathers of the Edain, before they crossed the Blue Mountains into Beleriand, of which Lindon is all that now remains. Those hills (Tyrn Gorthad/Barrowdowns) were therefore revered by the Dunedain after their return; and there many of their lords and kings were buried. (Some say that the mound in which the Ring-bearer was imprisoned had been the grave of the last prince of Cardolan, who fell in the war of 1409).'

Was it this prince whose death Merry dreams of? How fitting that the blade stilled by the Witch King will eventually help to bring him down. But what gives Merry this power of dream? The death shroud and the eerie spell of the Downs? Or is Merry reliving a previous life (well, in this case, death). Is this one tiny example of a possibility that Merry is here reliving a past death? If elves can reincarnate, could this be a suggestion that Men could, too?

Also intriguing is Tom's statement that the spirits of those Men killed still wander the land, guarding and protecting the unwary. Is this an example of Men's fear remaining in Middle earth? Think of the recent discussion of Laws and Customs among the Eldar.

So, how does Merry come to this dream? The supernatural effects of the burial grounds? The shroud with which the Barrow Wight draped him? A lingering fear trying to warn Merry? Past life regression?

Any thoughts, wights?

[Mnemosyne]

Initial thoughts...

I'm going to have to say no on the "Mannish reincarnation" theory because Men and Elves are normally set up as foils to one another; and even if this is hobbits we're talking about, mortals are a Primary World race so I think Tolkien would be wary of including things about their afterlife that were so diametrically opposed to his Primary World faith. Elves are supposed to be bound to the world, not Men--though obviously the point about some Mannish spirits lingering weakens my argument somewhat.

I had always considered the case to be one of possession. All four hobbits in the books go through moments when they know not what they say, and then come to themselves afterwards. In the case of Sam and Frodo (in Shelob's lair) this seems to be something positive: either osanwe courtesy of Galadriel (idea stolen shamelessly from the CbC discussion) or maybe some sort of innate inner Elvishness buried deep in the subconscious suddenly manifesting itself*?

But Merry's case seems to be a whole lot closer to Pippin's experience after he looks into the Palantir: harrowing to the hobbit and creepy to the reader. In the Necromancy thread some people have briefly touched on the idea of what exactly the Barrow-wights were. Could this have been a spirit waylaid by Sauron's power on his way to Mandos and bound there?

And of course this still leaves the question: why Merry and not Pippin or Sam?



*One could, perhaps, argue Merry's dream as an inner Dunadan manifesting itself, but that makes a lot less sense because it's so darn specific; and hobbits seem to have been influenced more by the Elves directly (at least in their distant past) than by Men influenced by Elves.

[alatar]

In regards to this quote:

Then he told them that these blades were forged many long years ago by Men of Westernesse: they were foes of the Dark Lord, but they were overcome by the evil king of Carn Dum in the Land of Angmar.

'Few now remember them,' Tom mumured, 'yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless.'

'Some' refers to 'Men of Westernesse,' meaning living descendants such as Aragorn and his band of Dúnedain. No such thing as good spirits haunting the night, keeping evil at bay.

And no on the reincarnation as well. Merry, due to the spell of the Wight, was seeing a vision of the past. Assumedly the Palantíri can see into the past. This means that 'the past' can be 'seen,' much like watching home movies - pull one out of the cabinet, place it in the VHS or DVD viewer and - poof! - you get your vision of the past. Anyway, so Merry, while waiting to be sacrificed by the Wight, was being tortured as well by having to watch some home wight movies.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

So, how does Merry come to this dream? The supernatural effects of the burial grounds? The shroud with which the Barrow Wight draped him? A lingering fear trying to warn Merry? Past life regression?

Any thoughts, wights?

Fascinating topic.
I don't believe in the lingering mannish fear, and certainly not in past life memories. But I believe the Barrow-Downs, the place itself had its own memories, much like Hollin:

'That is true,' said Legolas. `But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them: Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago.'

Also, I think it was not the shroud, but the golden circlet Merry wore (and fingered) at the moment had triggered the memories. It likely belonged to the Last Prince of Cardolan.
Inanimate objects seem to keep memories of their own: Narsil "remembers" so to say killing Sauron, Gurthang remembers the slaying of Beleg etc... that's why heirlooms have such value. Remember how Tom took the brooch of some unknown lady from the same hoard? Perhaps it was not a simple memento, but also could induce some vivid memories?

[Aiwendil]

Bethberry wrote:

Or is Merry reliving a previous life (well, in this case, death). Is this one tiny example of a possibility that Merry is here reliving a past death? If elves can reincarnate, could this be a suggestion that Men could, too?

Interesting idea, but I must say I don't at all buy it. Tolkien seems to have been quite settled on the idea that a (perhaps the) fundamental difference between Elves and Men was this: Elvish spirits remain in the world after they die; Mannish spirits depart 'elsewhither'.

Of course, there are a very few exceptions, but these are all very special and very well recorded cases. Beren was reincarnated, but only before his spirit 'sought elsewhither' and left Arda. Turin is prophecized to return at the Dagor Dagorath, 'returning from the Doom of Men' - but this is of course a one-shot, as it were, and doesn't come about until the world's end. Gandalf was sent back by Iluvatar, but only because he had a very particular mission to fulfill and because he was, after all, really a Maia and merely incarnated in human form.

Moreover, Tolkien eventually rejected rebirth even for the Elves, opting instead for literal reincarnation; their adult bodies were simply re-created. It seems to have been philosophical considerations that lead him to this.

That isn't to say that human fear can't perhaps linger in the world in some cases before taking Iluvatar's Gift and departing. We certainly see that in the Dead Men of Dunharrow, for instance, and I think in the Barrow-wights as well. I have always assumed that a houseless fea living in the barrow was attempting to take control of Merry's hroa, and in the process momentarily imparted its memories to him. Interestingly, though, the Barrow-wights themselves don't seem to be houseless fear - it seems they still control their (un)dead bodies. Or perhaps, being dead, they are no longer inextricably attached to their corpses, and the fea of the Barrow-wight was seeking to take control of the stronger hroa of one of the Hobbits.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Most interesting topic!

A pity I'm not sure if I will be able to think of it enough now to contribute much, but at least something...

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Interesting idea, but I must say I don't at all buy it. Tolkien seems to have been quite settled on the idea that a (perhaps the) fundamental difference between Elves and Men was this: Elvish spirits remain in the world after they die; Mannish spirits depart 'elsewhither'.

Of course, there are a very few exceptions, but these are all very special and very well recorded cases. Beren was reincarnated, but only before his spirit 'sought elsewhither' and left Arda. Turin is prophecized to return at the Dagor Dagorath, 'returning from the Doom of Men' - but this is of course a one-shot, as it were, and doesn't come about until the world's end. Gandalf was sent back by Iluvatar, but only because he had a very particular mission to fulfill and because he was, after all, really a Maia and merely incarnated in human form.

Yes, I certainly disagree with any kind of reincarnation-like things when it comes to Men (and Hobbits), and especially: even the moments you mention were not really reincarnation. Or, they were: in the sense of taking it in the purely material way, simply, reappearing again after death. But the term "reincarnation" being mostly used for the return of a, let's say, spirit into a new different body, perhaps we are closer to the Judeo-Christian concept of "resurrection" - which signifies returning of basically the same person, or at least the preservation of identity (perhaps with a few "differences in quality" - well, something like Gandalf the White in contrary to Gandalf the Grey, indeed!). Certainly Túrin would be the same Túrin, wouldn't he? Likewise Beren was rather resurrected - I wonder if he even still lacked one hand, by the way.

Moreover, I would find any ideas of reincarnation in Middle-Earth dismissed by what is said in the Appendices about the Dwarves - there is something about Durin and the Dwarves believing that he returns from time to time (indeed, reincarnates) - and the comment after this sentence is something like "because they have many strange beliefs", which basically says "well you see, Dwarves are weird, they believe in something us Hobbits - and Men and Elves, relatedly, because that's who we are writing this for - find really weird".

[Aiwendil]

I think three varieties of return from the dead can be differentiated:

Rebirth: The spirit returns in the body of a newly-born infant. This was Tolkien's original idea for the Elves, and apparently for the Dwarf-fathers, but was later dropped for metaphysical reasons. This is sometimes called 'reincarnation' in the context of Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., but I don't think Tolkien every referred to it that way.

Reincarnation: A new (adult) body is made, fully formed, for the returning spirit. This was Tolkien's later idea for the manner of the Elves' return from death.

Resurrection: The original body, still intact, is re-inhabited by the spirit. This was apparently Tolkien's later idea for the manner of the Dwarf-fathers' return (from, I believe, 'Of Dwarves and Men').

The names could perhaps be quibbled with (and actually, I don't recall Tolkien using the word 'resurrection'), but I think the different concepts are clearly delineated. The Turin and Gandalf examples are clearly reincarnation. The Beren example was either reincarnation or resurrection. But the important points are that: 1. Tolkien eventually rejected the idea of 'rebirth' entirely, and 2. the occurrence of any of these things for the spirit of a human is quite exceptional.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Resurrection: The original body, still intact, is re-inhabited by the spirit.

I disagree with this definition; resurrected bodies, in the Christian usage of the word, with which Tolkien would be most familiar, are not the identical, original bodies but are a special kind, same in appearance, but differing in their material, perhaps? This accounts for the ability to disappear into the spiritual realm after resurrection.

This concept seems to me to apply to resurrected Elves and Gandalf (and, as a human exception, Beren); I tend to agree with those who consider the Barrow situation as something completely different: a kind of inhabitance, something like possession.