Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 76
Comment on the name of Tinúviel:
Comment on the name of Tinúviel:
- There are two connections between the use of the name of Tinúviel by Beren and Aragorn’s life.
- One of these is in the way that the people of Minas Tirith spontaneously begin to call Aragorn “Elfstone” or Elessar, thus fulfilling a prophecy that this would be his regnal name.
- The other is the way that Aragorn calls Arwen “Tinúviel” when he first encounters her in the forest. This is spontaneous, as he’d been singing of Lúthien, but it points to something deeper.
- When Beren calls Lúthien by the name Tinúviel, he is expressing the same vision of her that had prompted the Elves to give her the same name, which is her association with nightingales.
- The way that doom brings Beren and Lúthien together seems to be expressed in the fact that he seemed to know the right name to call her when they met.
- Aragorn’s calling Arwen by the name Tinúviel is not necessarily wrong, as even the Elves have observed the likeness between her and Lúthien. However, it is a mistake that is corrected.
- There may be a connection between this mistake in identifying Arwen as Lúthien and the story’s more tragic ending for Aragorn and Arwen, as well as a lack of Arwen’s understanding of death.
- However, the Elves’ loss is emphasized in Lúthien’s story; Elrond’s loss is the same with Arwen.
- When Arwen chooses Aragorn, she becomes mortal and is sundered from the Elves. When Aragorn dies, she becomes a widow, but she will not be separated from Aragorn forever.
- It’s made clear that there is a connection between the Ringwraiths and Ringbearers, and from the state of a hobbit who holds the Ring and the state of the wraiths there is a spectrum.
- Bilbo was further down the spectrum that Frodo, but Gollum was much further along than them both. However, Gollum had not faded because he didn’t wear that Ring that much.
- Strider has already explained that the Ringwraiths don’t interact with the world in a normal way.
- Frodo is interacting with the wraiths in the way that they interact with each other, which primarily means that he can see them.
- Their faces are not skeletal or spectral. They can be seen to be Men and are identifiable. They are described as white, meaning pallid or ghostly in hue, but they are real in their own world.
- The eyes of the wraiths fall on him, much like a predator looks upon its prey, but it is unusual that they are able to see him at all, which is important.
- If it is the command of the Witch-king that caused Frodo to put on the Ring, he would not be surprised by this, but the other four may be, and take a moment to fix on Frodo.
- Note: The appearance of the Ringwraiths is of very old Men, not the hollow-eyed eldritch horrors shown in the film version.
- The keenness of their eyes is unexpected, which is the opposite of their former blindness, and it also implies an intelligence and cunning. He mercilessness of their eyes is expected, however.
- The Witch-king is privy to more information about the hobbits, but none of them have ever seen a hobbit before, because none of them, not even Gollum, had the Ring on at the time.
- Note: Smaug, like the wraiths, had smelled a hobbit before, but also never got to see one.
- The grey robes may be an effect of age on color and may imply a negative version of Gandalf’s.
- The fact that the wraiths appear withered and aged shows their weakened nature. These are not warriors in the hale strength of their youth.
- The pluralization of “hairs” implies that there is not much of it left, and it is thin and wispy.
- The piercing nature of their gaze may be primarily about the effect that it has on the recipient, but Tolkien also describes the vision of Sauron as being able to pierce through obstacles.
- Note: In the Middle Ages, the concept of sight is as a thing that emits from the eyes, rather than the eyes being the receptors of light. Our language mostly reflects this older view, such as the idea of looking out of a window or looking over at a sight far away. The light that emits from Gollum’s eyes is an exaggeration of this way of thinking about the way that sight works. This may be related to our ability to sense when someone is looking at us.
- There is a sense of violation in the way Frodo is laid bare before the eyes of the Ringwraiths.
- Frodo is seeing his sword differently, reflecting the power or will put into it, which is different from the magic put into the elvish blades like Sting or Glamdring.
- Having been forged by elves who hated orcs, that spirit is infused into the blade, expressing itself in the blue glow for use by the elves.
- In a similar way, the Dúnedain sword is infused with hate for Angmar, but the red glow is only visible while in the wraith world, expressing towards the wraiths themselves.
- The fire that the wraiths do not love is expressed as fire flickering in the sword.
- These are magic swords in the way that the hobbits would express it, but this is something that might be expressed as craft, though spells were certainly involved.
- The Ringwraiths would certainly have been able to see the swords, along with the fire and the burning sticks, even if they couldn’t see the hobbits.
- Frodo does not need to wear the Ring to make the sword look like this to the Ringwraiths, but when he puts on the Ring, he is able to see the sword the way they do.
- What does Frodo look like to the Ringwraiths while wearing the Ring? Would he appear as he is, or as he might become if he is made into a wraith?
- Does Strider have the broken sword drawn, and it is visible to the Ringwraiths? If so, it would be different from the Numenorean swords since it was made by the dwarves.
- What would the Ring look like to the Ringwraiths? They would certainly be aware of it, but it’s not clear if it would appear like the wheel of fire described later in Mordor.