Tolkien

1. Tolkien Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de

2. http://www.db-thueringen.de/content/top/index.xml

3. ME Chronology • Creation and the Shaping of Arda • The Ages of the Lamps • *The Ages of the Trees (Undying Lands) • *The Ages of Darkness (Middle-earth) • *The Ages of Stars (Middle-earth) • The Ages of the Sun • *these ages exist simultaneously in different locations

4. The Two Trees

5. The Stars

6. Doors of Night

7. Chronology of Middle-earth • Tony Steele, 2004, ‘The Chronology of Middle-earth’, Mallorn 42:43-46. • First Age of the Sun: 10,160 BC • Second Age of the Sun: 9563 BC • Third Age of the Sun: 6122 BC • Fourth Age of the Sun: 3102 BC

8. Exploring ME leisurely • The Shire (crossing of the Brandywine 1601 TA = 1 SR) - ‘home’ in ME • Old Forest (really old!) - nature untamed • Tom Bombadil (even older) - ??? • Bree (3320 SA) - men • Rivendell (1697 SA) - elves

9. Out of Bag End

12. into the Old Forest

15. Tom Bombadil

18. Tom Bombadil 1 • Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow;bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. • Frodo: ‘Who is Tom Bombadil?’ • Goldberry: ‘He is.’ / ‘He is as you have seen him.’ / ‘He is the Master of wood, water, and hill.’ (LotR p. 139)

19. Tom Bombadil • unfallen man? • cf. his use of ‘unfallen language’ and his ability to communicate with animals and other beings. • Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail, White-socks, Bumpkin, Fatty Lumpkin

20. Adam names the beasts

21. Tom Bombadil • unfallen man? • a Maia or even a Vala?

22. Tolkien’s Heavenly Hierarchy • Eru/Illúvatar, the One, Creator of the Universe • the Ainur (sg. Ainu) ≈ Arch-angels • the Valar (sg. Vala) = incarnated Ainur, shaping forces of Arda (e.g. Manwë, Varda, Aulë, Yavanna, Ulmo, Nienna, Mandos, Oromë, Melkor) • Maiar (sg. Maia) = servants of the Valar (e.g. Gandalf/Olorin, Sauron, Eönwë)

23. Ulmo, Lord of the Waters

24. Tom Bombadil • a Maia or even a Vala? • Eru Himself? • Tom was a Dutch doll that belonged to Michael. John didn’t like it and one day stuffed it down the lavatory. Tom was rescued and survived to become the hero of a poem by Tolkien, which was published in the Oxford Magazine in 1934. (Carpenter p. 165)

25. Tom Bombadil • the genius loci of the Old Forest? Cf. Letters p.26 “the spirit of the (vanishing) Oxfordshire and Berkshire countryside” (Dec. 1937) • “even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is on (intentionally).” (Letters p. 174)

26. The Function of the Old Forest Episode • the hobbits encounter primordial wild nature - represented by Old Man Willow => they come to realise that there are also other (older?) malevolent forces in Middle-earth next to Sauron or the Black Riders • Tom Bombadil represents the complementary (benevolent) element to the primordial wild nature => the hobbits come to realise that there are also other (older) good forces. • They learn about the historical dimension of their part of the world.

27. The Barrow Downs

28. The Barrow Wight • barrow = Hügelgrab • wight = ‘Wicht’, being • see The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

29. The Barrow Wight 1

30. The Barrow Wight 2

31. Another Test

32. Function of the barrow-wight episode • brings the hobbits into contact with yet another form of evil • gives us yet another glimpse of the history of this part of Middle-earth (cf. Tom’s comments on the brooch; Merry’s ‘flashback’) => Beowulfian depth • explains how the hobbits acquired magic blades (i.e. Merry’s blade that will destroy the Lord of the Nazgûl)

35. Bree • long-established settlement of both Hobbits and Men (Little Folk and Big Folk) • at the crossing of the south-north and west-east roads • Bree = Celt. ‘hill’ => Breehill = ‘hill hill’ cf. Torhill; see also Chetwood = wood wood

36. The Man in the Moon • performed by The Hobbitons, 1996, Songs from Middle-earth.

37. Folk Songs and Ringwraiths • It was about an inn; and that is probably why it came into Frodo’s mind just then. Here it is in full. Only a few words of it are now, as a rule, remembered. • There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill, And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill.

38. Folk Songs and Ringwraiths 2 • The ostler has a tipsy cat that plays a five-stringed fiddle; And up and down he runs his bow, Now squeaking high, now purring low, now sawing in the middle.The landlord keeps a little dog that is mighty fond of jokes; When there’s good cheer among the guests, He cocks an ear at all the jests and laughs until he chokes.

39. Folk Songs and Ringwraiths 3 • They also keep a hornéd cow as proud as any queen; But music turns her head like ale, And makes her wave her tufted tail and dance upon the green.And O! the rows of silver dishes and the store of silver spoons! For Sunday there’s a special pair, And these they polish up with care on Saturday afternoons.

40. Folk Songs and Ringwraiths 4 • The Man in the Moon was drinking deep, and the cat began to wail; A dish and a spoon on the table danced, The cow in the garden madly pranced, and the little dog chased his tail.The Man in the Moon took another mug, and then rolled beneath his chair; And there he dozed and dreamed of ale, Till in the sky the stars were pale, and dawn was in the air.

41. Folk Songs and Ringwraiths 5 • Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat: ‘The white horses of the Moon, They neigh and champ their silver bits; But their master’s been and drowned his wits, and the Sun’ll be rising soon!’So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle, a jig that would wake the dead: He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon: ‘It’s after three!’ he said.

42. Folk Songs and Ringwraiths 6 • They rolled the Man slowly up the hill and bundled him into the Moon, While his horses galloped up in rear, And the cow came capering like a deer, and a dish ran up with the spoon.Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle; the dog began to roar, The cow and the horses stood on their heads; The guests all bounded from their beds and danced upon the floor.

43. Folk Songs and Ringwraiths 7 • With a ping and a pong the fiddle-strings broke! the cow jumped over the Moon, And the little dog laughed to see such fun, And the Saturday dish went off at a run with the silver Sunday spoon.The round Moon rolled behind the hill, as the Sun raised up her head, She hardly believed her fiery eyes; For though it was day, to her surprise they all went back to bed!

44. In search of the lost meaning 1 • It was about an inn; and that is probably why it came into Frodo’s mind just then. Here it is in full. Only a few words of it are now, as a rule, remembered.

45. In search of the lost meaning 2 • Hey diddle diddle,The cat and the fiddleThe cow jumped over the moon;The little dog laughedTo see such sport,And the dish ran away with the spoon. (Andrew Lang, 1897, The Nursery Rhyme Book, p. 193)

46. Cow jumping over the moon 1

47. Cow jumping over the moon 2

48. Vessels of the Sun & Moon

49. The Two Trees

50. The Two Trees 2 • Telperion: the elder with flowers of silver • Laurelin: the younger with leaves of gold • their light lives on in the Silmarils • and in the Sun and the Moon