Paired characters in LotR

[Cibbwin]

What about Turin and Nienor? They are very much so paired. Both end their life tragically.

Aule and Yavanna, I think, are always in competition with each other, and that's what keep them together. Every day is something new and exciting for them.

And of course Manwe and Varda. He cannot see as far if she is not with him, and she cannot hear as well if he is not with her.

[Mithalwen]

I wouldn't call Eowyn flat ..... she is one of the few psychologically complex people .... and has the strength to yield unlike that other complex woman Erendis...

I agree with Davem on the importance of Tolkien's Catholicism with regard to division of journeys to either spiritual or physical/emotional fulfilment . The highest estates in Catholicism are either the priesthood or a marriage of unrestricted fecundity (I wish I wasn't writing this within 48 hrs of watching "The Meaning of Life" lol) and it is not possible to do both. The religious life and family life are separate. The spiritual path is ultimately a lonely one....... and by implication, yielding to the will of the flesh even within the permitted and sanctified confines of marriage, detracts from the spirit. Body and soul are opposed not complementary ..

It seems to me that the Eldar , as portrayed in the Laws and Custom, are just about perfect Catholics, one indissoluble union, the inseparable links between marriage and sex and sex and procreation..... with a few vocab changes it would be more or less interchangeable with "The New Catholic Catechism".......

[Encaitare]

(I wish I wasn't writing this within 48 hrs of watching "The Meaning of Life" lol)

Huzzah for Monty Python! Actually I have yet to see the Meaning of Life, but we must remember to always look on the bright side of life! ::whistles::

Body and soul are opposed not complementary

I'm not Catholic so please forgive me, but somehow this strikes me as odd. Why shouldn't the body and the soul complement one another? It seems to me that the elvish relationships, while mostly a spiritual union that completes both spouses, are not without a physical aspect. Being immortal elves naturally are looking for a life partner more than anything else, but what I'm saying is that there is certainly sex involved (not in all cases, but in many).

[Mithalwen]

I have just read the article and all is said so much better there ........

"The meaning of life" has one sketch errrm.... concerning the Catholic opposition to contraception...

Oh I believe that body and soul should be complementary (and I am not Catholic either!!!! Well not Roman Catholic ...... Anglo-Catholic lapsed into un-belief would be closish...) I meant that from the examples given, you cannot have both Spiritual and Physical fulfilment ...that one type of fulfilment reduces the possibility of the other rather increases it..... And in the Catholic church, unlike Protestant ones, you cannot combine the priesthood with marriage and family .......

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

I've been brooding over this topic for quite a while now, and finally came up with something worthy of posting. Here it is:

Gandalf and Aragorn: The Past and the Future

Near the end of RotK, it was Gandalf who crowned Aragorn, because the crown (which represents rule of Middle-earth) of the Fading Ones (as represented by Gandalf) would be passed to the Followers (as represented by Aragorn).
If taken in this context, then Gandalf "crowned" Aragorn twice: the first one was at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, when Gandalf gave command of the Company to Aragorn. As I see it, before giving the authority to Men, the Fading Ones must first take care of the ancient Evils - the Balrog, in this case.

Some side comments:
~ Now Frodo was crown-bearer, perhaps because he was the instrument Gandalf used to effect the destruction of the great ancient Evil - Sauron.
~ In the context of the "crowning" of Aragorn in Moria, then the Fellowship must represent Middle-earth.

Boromir and the Hobbits: The Gift of Eru to Men

[Eru: ] . . . of [Men's] operation everything should be, in form and in deed, completed, and the world fulfilled unto the last and smallest. (Ainulindalë)

Boromir strikes me as the proof of this gift. In laying his life for the hobbits (and for moving Frodo) he saved Minas Tirith from doom. Despite his death, Boromir fulfilled his mission.

The sons of Denethor II and Frodo: Life as Payment

The brothers interfered (yet actualy helped) in Frodo's mission, and paid for it with their lives (not literal for Faramir, of course, although the powerful movie line "Then it is forfeit" sure comes to mind). Once again, their actions saved the one they loved: Minas Tirith.

Pairs: The Next Level

Now taking this pairs idea to the next level, notice that most of the pairs (good/evil, spiritual/temporal, etc.) would not last forever. The one pair that would eventually remain is Eru/Eruhíni and Ainur (in the Second Ainulindalë). The link is comparable to a parent/offspring relation, a further step from marriage. Hey, this almost fits with davem's idea!

A happy ending = marriage & children. (davem)

I guess that's it.

[The Saucepan Man]

So where does all this leave poor dear Bilbo? Surely not paired with no one but that nasssty Sssmeagol ...

I suppose that he might be paired with Frodo, since they both share the same fate. But Bilbo's adventure could hardly described as spiritual (save in the sense of "unearthing" the Ring). Yet he ends up with the "calling to a higher place" scenario instead of the happily married with 2.4 kids one.

As for pairings within the Fellowship, we have Frodo/Sam, Merry/Pippin, Legolas/Gimli and (conceivably) Aragorn/Gandalf, leaving Boromir as the outsider. Which, I suppose, is appropriate since, out of them all, he was the one least comfortable with their mission.

[Encaitare]

So where does all this leave poor dear Bilbo? Surely not paired with no one but that nasssty Sssmeagol ...

Hmm... that actually sounds rather logical to me. The Ring entered both their lives by chance, and then the first way they used it or it affected them was for trickery: in Bilbo's case, he asked a "riddle" that technically was against the rules, and in Smeagol's case, he murdered Deagol for it. Although the effects on Smeagol were obviously more extreme, it could have happened to Bilbo given time. They both used the "precious" title for it and felt a great loss when it left their possesion.

Of course, Bilbo gave up the Ring voluntarily, doing what Smeagol could not. In doing this he avoided becoming like the wretched Smeagol/Gollum.

If we're going to use the original idea of the parts of the whole, it could be said that Bilbo needed Gollum to see what he could become, and Gollum needed Bilbo's pity to retain a bit of his humanity (hobbitity?) which delayed his later betrayal of Frodo. Had Bilbo injured Gollum, he would have borne even more resentment towards hobbits and Bagginses, and had he slain Gollum the quest would not have been fulfilled. Plus, he would have been less likely to give up the Ring, because he would have killed to keep it and thus its influence over him would have been greater.

Just my humble argument; I'd like to see if anyone can come up with another partner for Bilbo.

[Gilnaur]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I have just read the article and all is said so much better there ........

"The meaning of life" has one sketch errrm.... concerning the Catholic opposition to contraception...

Oh I believe that body and soul should be complementary (and I am not Catholic either!!!! Well not Roman Catholic ...... Anglo-Catholic lapsed into un-belief would be closish...) I meant that from the examples given, you cannot have both Spiritual and Physical fulfilment ...that one type of fulfilment reduces the possibility of the other rather increases it..... And in the Catholic church, unlike Protestant ones, you cannot combine the priesthood with marriage and family .......

This belief out there that the priesthood is incompatible with marriage and family is false. The Eastern Rite Catholic Churches does ordain married men and there are married priests who were Protestant ministers who have converted and then ordained in the Latin rite. It is true for both the Eastern rite and Latin rite that priests cannot get married after being ordained but married men can get ordained.

The celibacy requirement in the Latin rite section of the Catholic Church is considered a discipline and not a dogma.

Note: The Eastern rite Catholic Church should not be confused with the Eastern Orthodox Church.