August 20, 2006

Everyone Loves Magical Trevor
Everett

Welcome Linni. It's good to have some fresh blood around here. Generally, it's only the four of us around here, so the discussion tends to be meander quite a bit, occasionally making its way back to Tolkien. You seem to have come upon us on just such an occasion.

I did a search of Amazon.com to see if they had any LotR student planners, and the only ones they had were for '05-'06. I don't know what searching you've done, but if there is one for '06-'07, you'll have to do some digging to find it.

The problem with a discussion of magic in LotR is that Tolkien never really seems to take a position on it. More to the point, different races in LotR have different views of magic. Hobbits and men clearly believed in magic, as evidenced by Sam's desire to see some Elvish magic and the beliefs of the men of Rohan that Lorien was enchanted. The Elves, on the other hand, were rather confused by the whole notion of magic, as can be seen in Galadriel's offer to show Sam her mirror (I loaned my copy of LotR to a friend, so I don't have it handy to look up exact quotes).

The key to answering the question thus lies in something else Tolkien never clearly establishes in LotR. What exactly is magic? Clearly it is not mere illusion, and there is no specified mechanism for its operation. So what is it? The definition of magic which I think most effectively applies to LotR is "having seemingly supernatural qualities or powers." (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary) This explains the belief in it of Hobbits and men, as well as the confusion of the Elves. In the understanding of the world held by Hobbits and men, rings don't make people disappear or contain power to shape the world. A basin filled with water can't show you far away times and places, nor can smooth black orbs. Ropes can't bear your weight down the side of a cliff and then curl up neatly at the bottom with a slight pull. Sword blades don't glow just because orcs are around. All of these things are outside the understanding of the laws of nature for Hobbits and all but a handful of men (e.g. Aragorn, Denethor). However, these things are perfectly natural to the Elves. Hence, Hobbits and men view these things as being magical, while Elves are confused by the entire notion of magic.

So is there or isn't there magic in LotR? There are certainly things we regard as magical, but I am inclined to say no. There are arts which are not understood by Hobbits and Dwarves and men, but those who practice these seemingly magical arts clearly understand them to be natural.