The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien (Harper Collins 1991, 2007) pp.716,717
I promised last week that we would return from the doors of Isengard and their unexpectedly merry wardens in order to return to a conversation in the Deeping-coomb between Théoden and Gandalf.
The conversation takes place when Théoden’s company are about to begin their journey, with some reluctance, to Isengard. Legolas has seen eyes amidst the strange wood that has come from Fangorn such as he has never seen before and then three strange shapes come forward from the trees.
“As tall as trolls they were, twelve feet or more in height; their strong bodies, stout as young trees, seemed to be clad with raiment or with hide of close-fitting grey and brown. Their limbs were long, and their hands had many fingers; their hair was stiff, and their beards grey-green as moss.”
The Shepherds of the Trees and Gardens Too as imagined by Luca Bonatti
Tolkien describes Ents here as if we had never met them before although we spent some time among them in the company of Merry and Pippin. But now we see them through different eyes. We see them with wonder through the eyes of Legolas and with fear through the eyes of Gimli and the Riders of Rohan.
Gandalf speaks to Théoden. “They are the shepherds of the trees,” he says to him. “Is it so long since you listened to tales by the fireside? There are children in your land who, out of the twisted threads of story, could pick out the answer to your question. You have seen Ents, O King, Ents out of Fangorn Forest, which in your name you call the Entwood. Did you think that the name was given only in idle fancy?”
This is one of the moments in The Lord of the Rings when Tolkien speaks of the themes that he explored in his essay, On Fairy-Stories. As we noted last week this reflection takes place only in scenes involving the Rohirrim. Aragorn and Éomer speak of this when they first meet on the plains of Rohan and now Théoden and Gandalf speak of it together. They speak of “tales by the fireside”, stories told to children. I remember the pleasure of telling stories to my children when they were young. I remember how we would enter the worlds that these tales would evoke as real places. It was one of my favourite moments of the day when all my troubles would be forgotten for a little while. I did not want these moments to end and my wife would have to remind me that the children needed to sleep!
In his essay Tolkien tries to answer the question, “What is a fairy-story?” and as he skilfully dismantle dismantles various attempts to answer the question, offered by scholars or in anthologies of stories such as the collection published by Andrew and Leonora Lang, he draws us ever deeper, and disturbingly, into a realm that he describes as Perilous. He illustrates his point with reference to Walter Scott’s fine poem, Thomas the Rhymer. In it, Thomas, who himself is a poet, meets a beautiful lady who at first he addresses as “The Queen of Heaven”. She replies that this name does not belong to her and that “I am but the queen of fair Elfland, that am hither come to visit thee”. The Queen of Elfland takes Thomas with her to the Perilous Land and he spends seven years there in her company. She describes the road that they will travel together as being neither “the path of Righteousness”, nor “the path of Wickedness” but “the road to fair Elfland”.
Tolkien describes this realm as “wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; scoreless shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords.” In Tolkien’s own tale it is Lothlórien that is most Perilous. Faramir understands this well and in his meeting with Frodo and Sam says, “If Men have dealings with the Mistress of Magic who dwells in the Golden Wood, then they may look for strange things to follow. For it is perilous for mortal men to walk out of the world of this Sun, and few of old came thence unchanged, ’tis said”.
This is the world of which Théoden and Gandalf now speak and one that I will return to with you next week if you will. At least to think about it if not to go there in truth, for as I have been writing this piece I have been filled with longing to take “the road to fair Elfland” myself.
Galadriel as the Fairy Queen. Cate Blanchett conveyed this so well.
Wisdom from The Lord of the Rings 
Once again, thank you, Stephen. I especially enjoyed your reminiscences about bedtime with your children – a time, alas, all far too fleeting. (If you ever find your way into Elfland, I hope you have your mobile on you, and are able to send me a text invitation!)
I rather fear that if I understand the rules of Elfland correctly that any attempt to use a device of any kind in Elfland would immediately break the spell!
As always, love your reflections Stephen. If I may share the work I’ve been immersed in! I’m on that Road that goes ever on and on as well. I’m building a new course for our Institute called “Poets for the Kingdom: The Sacramental Stories of Lewis and Tolkien.” It’s been pure fun to be immersed in the preparations.
A link to share with your permission: https://tobinstitute.kartra.com/page/PoetsfortheKingdomNovember2023
I’ll be sharing with our students a link to your wonderful blog as well!
Thank you so much, Bill. I would love to know what they think about it.
in our imagination. Perhaps we can only begin to reenchant our own worlds in the same way.
Don’t know how I did that. It was intended to be a reply to another comment!
Such a great and interesting concept, Perilous, and i can see how Lothlorien fits it so well. Looking forward to next week’s follow up.
I had not noticed how Tolkien consciously used the word when writing about Lothlórien in LOTR until recently. The question that I am now wrestling with is that while Sauron and Saruman deliberately disenchant Lothlórien (and Fangorn too in Saruman”s case) it is both a part of the world as others, such as the Fellowship, experience it in a way that seems possible for us only in our imagination. Perhaps it is only possible for us to re-enchant our world by acts of the imagination.
On the topic of re-enchanting, that calls to mind a thought from the future St. John Paul II that he spoke just one month before becoming the Pope in 1979. Wonder seems to be his answer to this re-enchantment “so that beauty might enter into human life“ Here it is:
“We must wonder! We must create a climate of wonder! This task is closest to the family… Wonder is needed so that beauty might enter into human life, society and the nation. We need to marvel at everything that is found in man.”
- Cardinal Karol Wojtyła (St. John Paul II), Sept 1978
Thank you so much for sharing that, Bill.
“Tales by the fireside”, “the twisted threads of story”, old names. Tolkien keeps returning to the idea that these can be sources of knowledge and wisdom that learning and the learned have forgotten. Though it may take someone learned (like Tolkien) to recover that knowledge.
And later, in the houses of healing, when Aragorn and Gandalf are requesting leaves of Athelas, and the herb-master is displaying his great learning, but with no understanding, Gandalf commands him, “go and find some man of less lore and more wisdom who keeps some in his house!”
Thank you so much for your insights here and for sharing them! And, of course, it is Gandalf who helps Théoden to recover knowledge that he holds within his memory.
And thank you so much for reminding me of Gandalf’s wonderful speech to the herb-master in the Houses of Healing. So much is contained in those words. How much we need more people who have “less lore and more wisdom”!