Comments | fictualities: Re-reading Tolkien: Famous last words

fictualities

Re-reading Tolkien: Famous last words

Jan 08, 2007 09:02

Maybe it's a sign of how clueless I was when I first read The Lord of the Rings, but in that first reading I didn't really see Gandalf's death coming. When Gandalf just . . . vanished, I felt it like a punch in the gut ( Read more... )

tolkien

Comments 45

sistermagpie January 8 2007, 15:46:46 UTC

He so obviously cares about the Fellowship, each and every one of them, as people -- cares not in a fuzzy teddy-bear way, but in the sharply acerbic way of someone who has pays other people the supreme and somewhat uncomfortable compliment of paying very close attention to who and what they are.

OMG, this whole post actually made me cheer! Hurray for Tolkien! It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder if it was planned, or if it was just a case of knowing all the characters so well it logically came out this way, with each of their stories encapsulated into a bit of advice.

I can't add anything to it.

fictualities January 9 2007, 05:29:46 UTC

It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder if it was planned, or if it was just a case of knowing all the characters so well it logically came out this way.Oooooh, good question! Of course we can never know for sure, can we? But I guess I lean towards thinking that Tolkien just knew his characters incredibly well. He worked on LotR for longer than most marriages last, and in his letters he talks about the characters almost as if they're real people ( ... )

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fictualities January 9 2007, 05:37:43 UTC

I'm so glad you like the essays! Tolkien rocks my world. :)

If they are fools, then surely this must be a comedy, not a tragedy. Right? I never thought of that, how having a character always call the people he loves "fools" might mean that.

Ooooh, good point -- Tolkien was aware of the many layers of meaning of "fool" -- it's not entirely complimentary but it's definitely not the same thing as being evil. Because I'm an incredible geek I just did a search for 'fool' in LotR, and there were hits in almost every chapter -- it's one of Gandalf's pet words, which does, as you say, let us know what kind of story Gandalf thinks he's living. It's an interesting word to have as a favorite insult, isn't it -- it implicitly attributes all kinds of behavior to people just not thinking very carefully. And that's at least potentially corrigible, right? Thus comedy.

jewelsong January 8 2007, 18:27:11 UTC

Fantastic post! Thanks so much!

fictualities January 9 2007, 05:39:46 UTC

Thank you so much! I'm really enjoying this reread -- slow as it is, Tolkien repays slow. :D

sunnyskywalker January 8 2007, 19:14:48 UTC

I, too, am glad to have an LJ for things like this :D

You know, I think Gandalf's death caught me by surprise the first time too. Maybe I was expecting that because he'd already had a run-in with Saruman, he couldn't die until he had another one? Getting yanked into darkness by some ancient evil was totally unexpected. Which is probably the point - it isn't just your known enemies you have to watch out for.

That first encounter with Saruman is interesting, too. Most other mentor-types I can think of made some terrible mistake years ago - Dumbledore with not nipping the Riddle problem in the bud in the forties, or whatever happened with the Potters, for instance - but Gandalf has had to face his limitations just a few weeks ago. He's very, very aware that he can overlook clues, get tired, be wrong, etc. Luckily being aware of his and others' weaknesses doesn't discourage him (like not disqualifying Pippin for his attraction to darkness straight off, as you point out). I love the way you put it: "Gandalf sees the whole person, warts ( ... )

fictualities January 9 2007, 06:22:32 UTC

Maybe I was expecting that because he'd already had a run-in with Saruman, he couldn't die until he had another one?

That's a good point! And maybe that's one of the giveaways for first-time readers who were more alert than I was that Gandalf wasn't really dead. He did have his other run-in with Saruman later on, and that has the satisfying feel of the completion of a plot arc.

it isn't just your known enemies you have to watch out for.

Yes! I love the way they run into all kinds of hostile beings in the Misty Mountains who aren't directly affiliated with Sauron or Saruman -- the malice of Caradhras, the Balrog. Of course the Balrog and Sauron have a lot in common (they're both Maiar and at the very least they share enemies), but you get the impression that Middle-earth is full of dangers, and that when you plan for one there will always be other ones hovering about.

Gandalf has had to face his limitations just a few weeks ago. He's very, very aware that he can overlook clues, get tired, be wrong, etc. Luckily being aware of ( ... )

suspect_terrain January 8 2007, 20:13:38 UTC

Gandalf understands that Sam is and always has been torn in two: torn not just between Bill and Frodo but between what they represent. He's torn between his commitment to the earth (ponies, gardens, anything in his care) and his commitment to the stars (Frodo, anything Elvish).I hadn't thought of the exchange like that before. Gandalf's way is almost the opposite of Galadriel's, isn't it? Galadriel tested Sam twice, first offering him a bit of garden of his own, and then letting him see the devastation of the Shire in her Mirror -- both times setting Sam's connection to the earth against his role in the quest. I wonder if Gandalf's comforting comment about Bill helped Sam when he looked in the Mirror -- if it helped Sam decide that the Shire might be all right without him. (Of course, the Shire wasn't all right, but when Sam returned he was in a better position to help it heal... not just because he had Galadriel's magic dust, but because experience made Sam wiser and more confident than he would otherwise have been ( ... )

fictualities January 9 2007, 06:34:44 UTC

Gandalf's way is almost the opposite of Galadriel's, isn't it?

Oooh, yes, I think so; possibly because Galadriel has more to feel guilty about (in her long backstory from the Silm) and maybe is more prone to think in terms of tests of worthiness. Also, I suppose she just didn't know Sam and Frodo as well as Gandalf did, so more caution might have seemed appropriate to her. But the Mirror is very complicated; it teaches as well as tests, so in her own way Galadriel is being just as helpful as Gandalf -- though her methods are definitely less warm and fuzzy!

And I just thought of this now, but -- Gandalf was a horse person too. His bond with Shadowfax was a bond of love. I think he had a lot of insight into just about everyone, but addition to insight he may have had real sympathy -- as well as genuine confidence that a horse released into the wild would have a decent chance of finding his way home. Maybe that's why Sam trusted Gandalf so much. :D

I've always thought of Pippin as the most light-hearted of the hobbits (and ( ... )

suspect_terrain January 9 2007, 18:48:10 UTC

Is Gandalf a horse person, or or just somebody who knows the value of anything or anybody, if they give him a chance? It seems as though Gandalf never misjudges anyone by thinking too little of them -- in fact, he seems to constantly give people additional chances, even when he has misjudged them by trusting them too much (Saruman, in particular). And when people don't like Gandalf, it usually reflects badly on them (Saruman, Denethor) rather than on how Gandalf has treated them. (In fact, I think you can quickly tell that a stranger is going to be a Good Guy based on how he responds to mention of Gandalf... Treebeard and Faramir in particular, and Eomer to some extent.) So I guess it isn't that surprising that Gandalf treats horses and ponies with respect and fondness (and that a horse like Shadowfax responds in kind ( ... )