Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 381
Smells like Elves:
Smells like Elves:
- The virtue of the Elves that Aragorn is putting his faith in has to due with their power and influence over the land, not just goodness or benevolent intentions towards the Company.
- Bilbo had sensed this kind of virtue in Rivendell and processed it as a kind of smell to himself.
- This also echoes back to earlier conceptions of the relationship between Elves and the earth, particularly the air itself, and how that affected them, especially as it changed over time.
- Gollum also had an olfactory response like Bilbo, to show that this is how hobbits perceive it.
- Gimli’s uncertainty about Lothlórien has nothing to do with resistance to or distrust of Elves.
- Rather it is that he is hoping that the Elves still live there and haven’t already left for the West.
- He already had his hopes dashed in finding Balin’s Company, though then it was a confirmation.
- It’s possible that he is perceiving the parallel between his and Legolas’ excitement at a similar point on the threshold of entering a legendary land of his people, perhaps to warn Legolas.
- There is a possibility that he could also be disappointed when he finally sees the reality of it.
- Though there is no evidence of a particular friendship between Gimli and Legolas yet, it would be understandable for him to have care for all of the company, and Legolas might perceive that.
- There might also be an anxiety about entering an Elvish land as the only dwarf in the Company.
- However, it seems that he is appending a caution to the hope that Aragorn had expressed here.
- Legolas echoes this doubt, as it has been so long since any of his people have been in Lothlórien.
- There is no indication as to why they stopped coming here, aside from Elves’ lack of wanderlust.
- Note: One notable exception to this was Aredhel in The Silmarillion, and her fate was unhappy.
- Elves only seem to travel at need, and the sea-longing only inspires a desire to go into the West.
- It is likely that even Elrond and Galadriel have only recently traveled for White Council meetings.
- Gildor and his people also wander, though they seem to do so as a part of their own business.
- Legolas is implying that he people and those of Lórien were once one people, and his migrated.
- Note: While Eärendil is known for being a mariner and traveling, as a half-elf he proves the rule.
- Since Lothlórien lives in their living memory, the Silvan Elves can always remember it in spring.
- Note: The fact that Galadriel has one of the Three Rings of the Elves seems to be an open secret, as well as Elrond, though most people would not know about the Elven Rings in the first place.
- It is important that Legolas has only heard about, and not from, the Elves of Lothlórien, and would have to rely on news from traders and travelers, like Aragorn or Gandalf, for instance.
- They may receive news from natural spirits and other beings that the Elves are able to perceive.
- Legolas including a mention of the “secret power” may be confirming their proximity to safety.
- However, he does not promise that the Elves are nearby nor necessarily will they be welcoming.
- Aragorn is clearly implying that he has not only been to the heart of the Elf-country, and to have been welcomed by the Elves, but that he carries some bittersweet memory that he longs for.
- In another parallel, Aragorn also had memories of Moria that affected him with strong emotion.
- Note: At the time of writing this passage, he had not invented what had happened to Aragorn.
- The only other time that Aragorn has displayed strong emotions at a memory was in Bree, and that was the horror of some encounter he had before about the Black Riders, in contrast to this.
- There is an implied connection between this memory and his telling of the tale of Beren and Lúthien, and both of these seem to revolve around a remembrance of joy and also of loss.
- Note: When Arwen is retconned back into the story in the appendices, this bittersweet feeling is clearer in light of both his own memories and his applications of the Tale of Tinúviel to himself.
- This is Aragorn’s practical application of the plan of relying on the virtue of the Elves, which requires them to not only to cross the threshold of the Elf-country, as well as to be on guard.
- Note: This is not unlike the Girdle of Melian in The Silmarillion and protection around Doriath.
- He also downplays the peril of entering Faerie, especially in the sense of them finding safety.
- The mention of leaving the path is a reminder of what happened in The Hobbit but also is an indication that this wood is different from Mirkwood in terms of what the Company can expect.
- Though in Mirkwood there was the danger of spiders, their first danger had been getting lost.
- Thorin’s Company had not only encountered the Elves, but Bilbo himself became ensorceled.
- In this case, encountering Elves and allowing themselves to come under their power is the plan.
- The difference between the names of Mirkwood and the Golden Wood highlights the contrast.
- In one sense, Lothlórien might be a mirror image of Mirkwood, though that is not certain yet.
- Even the parallel to Mirkwood is an invitation to remember the peril of the realm of Faerie.