LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 02 - The Shadow of the Past

[davem]

H-I

Well, that being generally true, there is a minor, but significant, deviation. The choice of not being corrupted is expressed by giving the ring away. One can not eat the cake and have it. That is, as the Ring is not only the 'booster' of wielder's weaknesses, but some kind of focus of 'Evil As Outside Force' too, and as it is flatly stated (for the first time in the very chapter we are discussing now) to be able to overcome even the most 'good' intentions (with wich, as is well known, the road to hell is paved ), the only way not to fall is to let it fall, if you follow my meaning

I agree - but only because we are all corruptible - if we weren't the Ring could not exert any influence on its bearer.

But the other thing that interests me is that in the final version Tolkien has the Elves making the Rings. In the early versions it is Sauron himself who makes & distributes them

‘In the ancient days the dark master made many Rings, & he dealt them out lavishly, so that they might be spread abroad to ensnare folk. the elves had many, & there are now many elf-wraiths in the world; the goblins had some & their wraiths are very evil & under the command of the Lord. The dwarves had seven, but nothing could make them invisible. In them it only kindled to flames the fire of their greed...In this way the master controlled them. Men had three rings, & others they found in secret places cast away by the elf-wraiths: the men-wraiths are servants of the Lord, & they brought all their rings back to him; till at last he had gathered all into his hands again that had not been destroyed by fire - all save one.

- some elves are given them & become corrupted into 'elf-wraiths' - but (apart from asking why they would take them from him) the question remains - why would Tolkien choose to make the Elves responsible for the greatest threat to Middle Earth? And why the High Elves in particular? He has a perfectly good, & convincing, origin for the Rings - Sauron makes them & gives them away in order to corrupt the free races. But then, for some reason, he decides he wants to make the Elves responsible - so the High Elves are changed from heroes, & defenders of Middle Earth, to beings who have 'flirted with Sauron', into embalmers, who are, because of the desires which drive them, responsible for the mess in which Middle Earth finds itself at the end of the Third Age.

So, is this a case of Tolkien's attitude towards the Elves changing. They begin, in the Book of Lost Tales as a race of beautiful, perfect beings, almost incarnate Angels, & 'fall' further & further, until in the final version of LotR they are in the main, selfish, self obsessed fallen angels, unconcerned with the fate of the other races, wishing only to cut themselves off & let the rest of Middle Earth go hang.

Its interesting, comparing the early drafts of the chapter, to see how Tolkien still presents an idealised race of High Elves:

But the Elves resist his power more than all other races; & the high-elves of the West, of whom some still remain in the middle-world, percieve & dwell at once both [in] this world & the other side without the aid of rings.

By the final version the High Elves have become much less 'ideal'.

Same thing happens with Gollum, who begins as much less of a 'monster':

There was long ago living by the bank of a stream a wise, clever handed & quiet footed little family. I guess they were of hobbit-kind.....The most inquisitive & curious-minded of that family was called Digol...He found the ring in the mud of the river-bank under the roots of a thorn tree; & he oput it on, & when he returned home none of his family saw him while he wore it. He ws pleased with his discovery & concealed it, & he used it to discover secrets, & put his knowledge to malicious use, & became sharp-eyed & keen-eared for all that was unpleasant.

And finally:

He wanted to slip out & leave the mountains, & smell the open air even if it killed him...But that would have meant leaving the Ring. And that is not easy to do. The longer you have had one the harder it is.

Why Tolkien felt the need to 'darken' all his characters is an interesting question?

[HerenIstarion]

It seems that whatever accusations made by critics, JRRT is mostly modern writer. One of the issues, now, raised in modern writing is the problem of power, and its corruption (All power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely). It would have been highly relevant issue to be addressed by the man of the last century, still more the participant of the WWI and witness of WWII, two 'wars to end all wars', started by power corrupted tyrants. That'd be the reason number one - to explore the impact of power on an individual.

Another reason, mentioned M/B confrontation - if it were Sauron who were entirely to blame, than, firstly, the hint of "Evil as Outside Force" would have been by way stronger than what Christian writer would have wished for, and another critique made by many critics of Tolkien's works - that they are black-n-white, without shades of grey, would have been true. But as it is, even the most 'good' heroes have something to repent of, it is better mirror of the things as they are.

Or, for short - reasons for that may be described as political and theological at the same time.

And all of the above, is of course, personal opinion.

[davem]

Hmm...

Still, what Tolkien seems to be doing is changing his presentation of evil - rather than a kind of 'demon-king' figure (as we have in Morgoth), with Sauron we seem to have something more akin to a nebulous, all pervading presence, which works by corrupting others, influencing them to its service by playing on their desires.

So, we almost get the sense that rather than 'Sauron the Dark Lord' being present himself - making the Rings & distributing them, as in the first versions -'he' is like a poisonous 'idea' or motivating 'force', pushing individuals in a particular direction. Perhaps that's what makes him so successful - he doesn't confront you as an external, physical presence, but as an idea that seems to arise within, so that it can seem, to the unwary at least, that the desires they feel are their own.

Does any of that make sense?