"Out into the barren lands far beyond the mountains..."

Evan Hulick

New Member
The fascinating discussion in our most recent class has inspired a certain... fun investigation on my part.

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I admittedly asked about the topic of applying Christian imagery to the broader cosmology of Middle-earth- in relation to Tom's verses. I gladly stand corrected, because absolutely, the dimensions of "Heaven, "Hell," and "Purgatory" all play foundational roles in the structure of Middle-earth. The main element that drove me to question Christendom versus Norse or Finnish mythological themes mainly stemmed from the concept of "The Void" not being evil in itself, but empty, and the apparent absence of a "Lake of Fire" in which the likes of the Barrow-Wight, Morgoth, Sauron, Saruman, even Feanor and his sons, could be cast, if unrepentant (and the "Kalavala"-esque figure of Bombadil being involved in this sequence).

Professor Olsen, I should ask, concerning the two middle verses in the stanza of Tom's poem- - do they not indicate that "Hell," in Middle-earth, isn't quite a "place" per say (There are places named after "Hell" like the Gates of Iron / Angband, Udun in Mordor, etc.), but rather, a state of non-existence (in the Boethian sense- the "wicked," from my memory of the Mythgard Boethius course, and please correct me if I misremember, are wretched because they have lost their true selves / are akin to a drunkard stumbling through the streets toward doom / have passed toward a form of existential oblivion while still "existing" as people or as spirits that once were people)?

This could go a long way, if so, to solving the riddle of the four verses, of what they pose could be the fate of the Barrow-wight, which leads me to question whether or not there's hope, per se, for the Barrow-wight (especially if its a fell spirit summoned from Angmar rather than, say, the old soul of a Cardolan Dunadan person who got trapped by the Witch-King's sorceries).

So, if we turn once more to "Come never here again! Leave your Barrow empty!" and then the next sentence, "Lost and forgotten be, darker than the darkness, ...," if the Wight already -is- "darker than the darkness," or everlastingly dark, or, as several pointed-out on the Discord chat, "Everlasting Dark" from "The Silmarillion," that would indicate something highly Boethian, would it not (FOTR 161-62)? Because for Boethius, the wicked are evil because, per the Project Gutenberg H.R. James translation (due to my absence of access to the other translation):

"For if vicious propensity is, as it were, a disease of the soul like bodily sickness, even as we account the sick in body by no means deserving of hate, but rather of pity, so, and much more, should they be pitied whose minds are assailed by wickedness, which is more frightful than any sickness" (Boethius III.IV.- at the end of IV. right before Song IV. begins).

This description, even in the James-translation of Boethius, seems apt to describe the Barrow-wight. Yes, Tom may pity the Barrow-wight, but could the Barrow-wight have an incurable condition? Could "Hell," in short, be a state of spiritual desolation? Would this not make the projected fate of the Barrow-wight begin to make a lot more sense (as well of certain other figures throughout the lore)? Then, "the barren lands far beyond the mountains," if so, would indeed be a metaphor for spiritual barrenness, "more frightful than any sickness," AND, a place out in the wastes of "Rhun" somewhere- both terrestrial and metaphorical- (not near the inland sea; just ---out there--- wherever ---out there--- is. Let's hope Arthur Dent, who is also ---out there--- in a different place and sense, doesn't run into him! I jest, I jest!) (Boethius III.IV.; FOTR 161-162).

In short, it really wouldn't matter -where- the Barrow-wight will be relocated- because the Barrow-wight, if this is correct, is "darker than the darkness" already no matter where he is (FOTR 161-62). He could be cast into the Void, into some Rhunish wasteland, or even remain in the Barrow, though the text says otherwise- it wouldn't truly matter as far as the Wight himself is concerned. It would appear to be far more of a matter of getting the Wight away where his incurable "disease" of wickedness can't harm others (Boethius III.IV).

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Thank you for reading this... long and cumbersome post- and for considering these interlinked questions :) I'll understand if we simply have to "press on!" in the course :)

A Boethian dimension, if there is one in this sequence, at least to my mind, if there's something -there-, would make sense given the other Boethian moments that we've discovered throughout the text so far (and... well, that was quite a bit of ground-work to pull it all together to say the least! *Smiles* Oh, and if elements of these questions are covered, yes, please do, redact and paraphrase!!! (and please call me "Evan" without my surname of course- this is waaaaay too long for a slide :) ).
 
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