#the nature of middle-earth

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Concerning the "Laws and Customs among the Eldar” chapter in "Morgoth's Ring"

This particular chapter is always brought up when Sauron x Galadriel is being discussed, or even as an argument against “Rings of Power” legitimacy as a Tolkien adaptation, and to “prove” how it’s impossible for Galadriel to have romantic feelings for Halbrand as confirmed by Director and executive producer Charlotte Brändström, because she’s already married to another.

This essay paints a very idillic and romanticized view of Elven marriage, and the Catholic inspiration is very visible here. Everything that’s written is the perfect Catholic marriage and conduct: no premarital sex, no casual sex, monogamy for live, divorce is forbidden, sex is marriage, sex = children, marriage is always out of love and free-will, sex is a sacred bound between two elves, an unique and eternal bound. And so on.

All of this seems very straightforward, except for the part the Tolkien fandom seems to collectively ignore Christopher Tolkien notes on this chapter, where he provides context and explanation for what’s actually written.

The Context

The “Laws and Customs among the Eldar” essay, Christopher tell us, were two manuscripts (one which Tolkien left unfinished), that he arranged as he saw fit and he goes to great lengths in “Morgoth’s Ring” to explain his decision. To him, this essay wasn’t a part of “The Silmarillion”: “There is no indication that it was intended to stand in the text of the Quenta Silmarillion, but there can scarcely be any question that my father did so intend it.” He recognizes, however: “it’s not easy to say from what fictional perspective Laws and Customs among the Eldar was composed”.

As I have explained (p. 199), I have found that the best method of presenting the material is to give at this point the long essay concerning the nature and customs of the Eldar, although of course it cannot be said to be a part of the Quenta Silmarillion.

What’s the problem? Tolkien was on longer alive to either confirm or deny this. If this essay was, indeed, a part of “Quenta Silmarillion”, it means it was written by the Eldar loremasters (like everything that’s written in the mentioned work), and what we have here is a biased account of events.

However, Christopher Tolkien believes this essay is written from the POV of mortal loremasters (Men):

There is a reference to the Elves who linger in Middle-earth 'in these after-days' (p. 223); on the other hand the writer speaks as if the customs of the Noldor were present and observable ('Among the Noldor it may be seen that the making of bread is done mostly by women', p. 214) - though this cannot be pressed. It is clear in any case that it is presented as the work, not of one of the Eldar, but of a Man: the observation about the variety of the names borne by the Eldar, 'which … may to us seem bewildering' (p. 216; found in both texts, in different words) is decisive.

What does this mean? This account is the product of second-hand observation, and probably not the most reliable source of information about Eldar lifestyle (sort of speak). Either way, this essay is either a biased account (Eldar POV) or one born of observation and second-hand information (Men POV).

Christopher does write: “in this account the lives and customs of the Eldar have been considered mainly in their natural courses in days untroubled, and in accordance with their true nature unmarred. But, as has been said, the Eldar did not escape the Shadow upon Arda, that caused both misfortunes and misdeeds to afflict them.”

It must be understood that what has yet been said concerning Eldarin marriage refers to its right course and nature in a world unmarred, or to the manners of those uncorrupted by the Shadow and to days of peace and order. But nothing, as has been said, utterly avoids the Shadow upon Arda or is wholly unmarred, so as to proceed unhindered upon its right courses. In the Elder Days, and in the ages before the Dominion of Men, there were times of great trouble and many griefs and evil chances; and Death afflicted all the Eldar, as it did all other living things in Arda save the Valar only.

Now, this seems to imply that this essay is meant to be interpreted as how the Elves would conduct themselves if they had remained in Valinor (natural course in days of untroubled), and if Morgoth has not corrupted Arda (unmarred). Not how they actually behave in the legendarium.

For Christopher Tolkien, the marriage and the children bits weren’t even the core message of this essay, immortality is, because death (mortality vs. immortality) is one of the major themes of Tolkien work:

[...] all these questions are very secondary to the import of the work itself: a comprehensive (if sometimes obscure, and tantalising in its obscurity) declaration of his thought at that time on fundamental aspects of the nature of the Quendi, distinguishing them from Men: the power of the incarnate fea (spirit) in relation to the body; the 'consuming' of the body by the fea; the destiny of Elvish spirits, ordained by Eru, 'to dwell in Arda for all the life of Arda'; the meaning of death for such beings, and of existence after death; the nature of Elvish re-birth; and the consequences of the Marring of Arda by Melkor.”

And this is why folks need to read Tolkien letters and Christopher Tolkien’s notes and introductions. Otherwise, you won't understand what's actually being said, and what the message is.

And with this context, all the “exceptions” and “contradictions” to this essay in the legendarium became clear and make sense. They aren’t paradoxal, at all. It’s this particular essay that shouldn’t be taken a such face value.

The so-called “Contradictions”

For the sake of the argument, let’s see some examples on the legendarium that contradict this essay.

"Permanent marriage was in accordance with elvish nature, and they never had need of any law to teach this or to enforce it." and "the Eldar wedded once only in life".

We have the exceptional case of Finwë. Interestingly enough, Christopher Tolkien mentions Finwë and Míriel (Feänor parents) in his introduction note to this essay, however it’s not the “re-marrying” bit that strikes him as odd and contradictory to his father writing, but Míriel wanting to die (for real), which is “unnatural” to an Elf. Elves were gifted with immortality by Eru Ilúvatar, and only Him can give or take immortality (not the Valar).

In short, Míriel spent so much for her spirit (fëa) being pregnant and giving birth to Fëanor, she wanted to die. Her spirit left her body (hröa) and went to the Hall of Mandos and she refused to be re-embodied. Afterwards, Finwë was allowed, by the Valar, to marry Indis, and had four children with her (among them was Galadriel’s father, Finarfin). This is only exception of re-marrying and sort of explains why divorce is forbidden among the Eldar because all the Noldor problems are blamed on it.

"Marriage is chiefly of the body, for it is achieved by bodily union, and its first operation is the begetting of the bodies of children".

This implies that the only purpose for Elven sex is to have children. However, Tolkien himself contradicts this view in another work:

"the act of procreation, being of a will and desire shared and indeed controlled by the fëa [soul], was achieved at the speed of other conscious and willful acts of delight or of making. It was one of the acts of chief delight, in process and in memory, in an Elvish life, but its intensity alone provided its importance, not its time or length: it could not have been endured for a great length of time, without disastrous “expense”. But the act of procreation not being one of growth until the union of the seed and being under control off the will does not take long - though it is longer and of more intense delight in Elves than in Men: too intense to be long endured.” "The Nature of Middle-earth"

The “act of procreation not being one of growth until the union of the seed” is a clear reference to “childless sex”; sex where children are not the purpose nor end result of. This seems to indicative that Elves can control whenever they want to reproduce or not. After all, a Elven child is a combination of the will and soul of the two parents, and this is the true “union of souls”.

This might seem a bit bizarre, but maybe the explanation is that Elven-women biology is alike that of mortal women, where reproductive circles exist, and women have a “fertile window”.

[...] her Sindarin name was Galadriel, "for it was the most beautiful of her names, and had been given to her by her lover, Teleporno of the Teleri, whom she wedded later in Beleriand. Unfinished Tales

In his Letter 43, Tolkien somewhat explains what he means by "lover": a man's dealings with women can be purely physical (they cannot really, of course: but I mean he can refuse to take other things into account, to the great damage of his soul (and body) and theirs); or 'friendly'; or can be a 'lover' (engaging and blending all his affections and powers of mind and body in a complex emotion powerfully coloured and energized by 'sex'). So much for the “no premarital sex”…

"seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among them [Eldar]."

"But among all these evils there is no record of any among the Elves that took another's spouse by force; for this was wholly against their nature, and one so forced would have rejected bodily life and passed to Mandos"

Contradicting this, we have the cases of the brothers Celegorm and Curufin (Sons of Fëanor) with Lúthien. Of course, neither of these characters took Lúthien as wife by force, but this episode alone contradicts the “against their nature” bit and how there are no tales of deeds of lust among the Eldar.

In “Lay of Leithian”, Lúthien gets captured by the brothers Celegorm and Curufin. They hold her captive; they seize her and even strip her of her (magical) cloak. By removing Lúthien’s cloak, the brothers are, also, striping her of some of her power, making her vulnerable to them. Celegorm becomes enamored by Lúthien’s beauty and wants to take her as wife by force, by coercing her father, Thingol, into an alliance. She escapes thanks to Huan, the Hound of Valinor, but the brothers would go on to try to seize her, again, but this time she’s already with Beren.

**Trigger warning: mentions of sexual assault**

“The Eldar wedded once only in life, and for love"

"Their families, or houses, were held together by love and a deep feeling for kinship in mind and body."

"But these ceremonies were not rites necessary to marriage […] It was the act of bodily union that achieved marriage, and after which the indissoluble bond was complete."

There’s a tale that contradicts all of this, in the Tolkien legendarium. And that’s the story of Aredhel and Eöl the Dark Elf (“The Silmarillion”, “The Nature of Middle-earth” and “Morgoth’s Ring”).

Aredhel, the “White Lady of Gondolin”, was Fingolfin's daughter, and she lived in Gondolin with her brother Turgon. Gondolin was a isolated kingdom, and Aredhel was an adventurous spirit who felt trapped. One day, she’s granted permission to leave, and she intents to meet with the Sons of Fëanor. Anyway, she eventually gets separated from her escort and finds herself in the dark forest of Nan Elmoth.

In “History of Middle-Earth”, Tolkien writes: “Eöl found Irith, the sister of King Turgon, astray in the wild near his dwelling, and he took her to wife by force: a very wicked deed in the eyes of the Eldar.”

The account in “The Silmarillion” paints a somewhat different picture, even though it recognizes that Eöl used spells to trap Aredhel and force her deeper into the forest, until she arrived at his doorstep: “And when Aredhel, weary with wandering, came at last to his doors, he revealed himself; and he welcomed her, and led her into his house. And there she remained; for Eol took her to wife, and it was long ere any of her kin heard of her again. It is not said that Aredhel was wholly unwilling, nor that her life in Nan Elmoth was hateful to her for many years.”

Some say Tolkien changed his version but this comes from a misunderstanding of what “The Silmarillion” is and how it’s pretty much a case of unreliable narrators. When Tolkien writes that Eöl took Aredhel “to wife by force” is a very clear indication that he raped her (precisely because sex = marriage to the Eldar).

In both cases, Aredhel stays with Eöl (alive), bears him a child (Maeglin), but she escapes back to Gondolin when she gets the chance. The tale ends in tragedy, because Aredhel is impaled by Eöl poisoned javelin.

This tale alone contradicts everything that’s written in the “Laws and Customs among the Eldar” essay, because not only Eöl takes Aredhel as wife by force, but he also isolates her from the world and this entire marriage screams abuse and physiological and physical violence. So much for the idillic Elven married life…

In this story we have even more evidence against the “Eldar customs” essay. After Aredhel escapes, Eöl chases after her, and runs into Curufin, her cousin. Eöl invokes Aredhel’s status as his wife, as means to “get her back”. And Curufin answers this: "Those who steal the daughters of the Noldor and wed them without gift or leave do not gain kinship with their kin.”

Apparently, sex alone is not enough to consider a couple married at the eyes of the Noldor, nor is it a "indissoluble bond". What Curufin is saying is that the Noldor didn't consent to the marriage nor were given any "tribute" (gift), and that Eöl has wronged the Noldor as a whole, not only Aredhel, and he has no "right" to her (even, thought, they have a child together). And this is a very pagan way of thinking (probably from the germanic inspiration Tolkien used for his lore), and contradicts the Catholic views of the "Eldar customs" essay.

The “love eternal” and “Elves are emotionally monogamous for life" is a fandom headcanon. There’s no textual evidence of this, not even in the “Laws and Customs among the Eldar” essay. When Tolkien writes “indissoluble” it means there is no divorce, the couple is stuck together forever, never mind how they’ll eventually feel about each other in the future.  In “The Nature of Middle-earth", Tolkien does write Elven couples outgrow their “sexual needs” after children are born and devote themselves to other intellectual pursuits, and usually lead separate lives.

[queenmeriadoc]

New book, The Nature of Middle-Earth by J.R.R. Tolkien

[myfanfictiongarden]

"[Sauron] sees that he has met his match (or at least a very serious adversary) in Galadriel; he dissembles his wrath, and gets round Celebrimbor. The Noldorin Smiths under Celebrimbor admit him and begin to learn from him (so in a sense the story of Feanor is repeated)."

The Nature of Middle-earth

(video source)

[readinginithilien]

After a discussion about the fertility of elven women, I found in The Nature Of Middle-Earth the following:

Elves lived in life-cyles? sc. birth, childhood to bodily and mental maturity (as swift as that of men) and then a period of parenthood (marriage etc.) which could be delayed for a long time after maturity

This "cycle" proceeded until all children of the "first period of parenthood" were grown up. Then there was a youth-renewing.

Though it is later said that with their "fading" in middle-earth the cycles worked less and less. This has several interesting implications:

elves age! but then they apparently get younger again from time to time

elves can have children again after their first sets of children are grown up. I've never seen examples of that, and it doesn't really fit with the few children they usually have

elves apparently mature as swift as men. This, as far as I remember, directly contradicts what is written in the Silmarillion about Nellas and Turin

elves can get younger again?

fertility seems to be tied to several factors. It seems to happen not necessarily once, but elves are still not always fertile. Marriage, previous children and age/fading/exhaustion play an important role

elven fertility is or becomes less in middle-earth; it sounds as if the elves there at least after the first age didn't renew

My original question - do elven women menstruate - was unfortunately not answered, but there's definitely a few hints to build a theory, and things to think about.

[raphexim]

A footnote in the Nature of Middle-Earth says the talking eagles were Maiar and it's rocking my whole understanding of the world haha

[that-dinopunk-guy]

I got some books in the mail today.

I'm not doing very well on my goal to read more fantasy that isn't just Tolkien or Tolkien-adjacent.

[orofeaiel]

Journey through Middle Earth

[vigilantegreen]

I honestly feel like nobody in lotr mentions how fucking weird Legolas is. He stays up pacing the floor and singing to himself in the dead of night. He deadass stares straight into the tree line in the absolute pitch black when no one else can see anything. He yells goodbye to a river he has heard about in songs. He's so strange and not one character mentions it AT ALL. I absolutely love him.

[demaparbat-hp]

Golden Boy (and Silver Girl) for the Kintsugi AU.

[morgulien]

“Tolkien wasn’t good at writing women” well explain this

[baddybaddyadardaddy]

see here's the thing about Adar...

MY MAN JUST KEEPS WINNING!!

Sauron at the beginning of the Second Age? STABBED.

Orodruin? ERUPTED.

Eregion? SIEGED.

The Ring of Power? SECURED.

Like ffs, if the elves had just DONE WHAT HE ASKED, my man would have dealt with Ost-in-Edhil's Sauron infestation by LUNCHTIME.

JUST LET HIM COOK.

[alexmurison]

The Ent This absolute stunning veteran oak tree hidden away in Cannock Chase is one of the most stunning trees I've ever seen. A true Tolkien Ent if ever i've seen one.

[thesummerestsolstice]

I don't know if this is what Tolkien intended, but whenever I picture Maglor's Gap I picture it in the spring; a meadow in full bloom, with colorful flowers and gentle bumblebees. While Himring is icy for much of the year, the lower plains around it are warm and welcoming for a good few months in the spring and summer, and have much milder falls and winters.

I feel like it's important for Maglor's Gap to be not just a strategic choke point, but a genuinely beautiful piece of Beleriand that Maglor and his followers loved dearly. Somewhere they thought of as a home. Somewhere they eulogized in songs long after it was destroyed.

Maglor sings of the Gap, in the Noldolante, but the only part of it remembered there is the part where it was scorched into nothingness.

But he also told Elrond and Elros about his old home; keeping its better memories alive. Elrond, as Gil-Galad's minstrel in the Second Age, often sings songs about the wildflowers and songbirds of the Gap in Spring. Not many know that's what he's singing about, but he does, and that's enough.

[anghraine]

In addition to the I'm Guessing Tolkien Had Some Hang-Ups About Pregnancy post, I also ran over some interesting but even more unrelated factoids in The Nature of Middle-earth that even I couldn't justify including in the main ramble.

So I made a separate post about those, which includes my favorite:

Arwen would have been even more exhausting for Celebrían to bear than a pair of twins because: Arwen was a "special child" of great powers and beauty The beauty I got from LOTR, but—without being dismissive about the banner—I really wish we had a clearer sense of Arwen's unique stature in her own right in LOTR. She's presented so much in terms of Elrond and Lúthien and occasionally Galadriel and Celeborn, but Elladan and Elrohir are Elrond's children and Galadriel's grandchildren just as much as she is. Yet here she's clearly framed as special and powerful in a way they are not and which drew so much from Celebrían's (and possibly Elrond's) spiritual reserves that they couldn't have any more children. That seems like a big deal! Tell me more! Epilogue: he did not tell us more

[jazzymini]

𖦹⋆✧°.🫧magical earth, sea and sky🧚🏽⋆｡˚

[aracaranelentari]

Here's another Nature of Middle-Earth quote that I keep thinking about:

"[Years of the Trees:] 2223. The "Ambassadors" return. Great Debate of the Quendi. A few refuse even to attend. Imin, Tata, and Enel are ill-pleased, and regard the affair as a revolt on the part of the youngest Quendi, to escape their authority. None of the First Elves (144) accept the invitation. Hence the Avari called and still call themselves "the Seniors"." (NoME 96)

I think that's super interesting! Tolkien gives multiple potential versions of this whole sequence, when the Three Ambassadors return to Cuiviénen, so this is only one of them, but it's kind of my favorite. I like the idea that the Three Ambassadors sort of usurped the leadership of the Three Fathers, and that Imin, Tata, and Enel are potentially still out there, and may have a grudge against those three descendants of theirs.

Imin especially is a pretentious asshole, as he claims to be the "Father of all Quendi", and seems to want control over all the Elves. I want to write a fic where Morgoth or Sauron ally with Imin, maybe they tell him they can help him regain his authority over the Elves? It would certainly be an interesting premise if the Three Fathers showed up at Valinor or Beleriand one day, with the intent of taking back their kingship.

It's also always been bizarre to me that Fëanor was so worried about Fingolfin usurping the throne when Finwë was king in a place where kings do not die, and do not really need heirs (theoretically). But if Finwë was a usurper before Fingolfin was, then Fëanor's fears have a bit more ground, I think, especially if Fingolfin had the greater love from their people. It's happened before, Fëanor would think, therefore it could happen again. Elves seem to follow who they prefer as a king rather than who technically has the most claim, which is shown both in the Three Ambassadors vs the Three Fathers, and also with Fëanor vs Fingolfin during the Flight.