Session 7-15: Time to talk about Telepathy! (ósanwe-kenta)

[MithLuin]

Our next session will be on Thursday June 6th at 10 PM Eastern Time. We will be taking a look at how we handle the concept of telepathic communication in Silm Film. Who can do it, and what are the rules and restrictions governing it? We will need to know that to be consistent and avoid writing ourselvs into corners where a character who can use telepathy simply...doesn't...because that would ruin the plot.

The primary text Tolkien wrote on this topic was an appendix to Quendi and Eldar called ósanwe-kenta, or "Enquiry into the Communication of Thought". It was written around 1960, and is an 8-page typescript. The document purports to be an abbreviated description of a longer work attributed to Pengolodh of Gondolin. It was first published in Volume No. 39 of Vinyar Tengwar in 1998. It has since been republished by Carl Hostetter in The Nature of Middle Earth. A French translation is available here: https://www.tolkiendil.com/langues/langues_elfiques/quenya/osanwe-kenta

 

[Odola]

so what would be the instances where it "would ruin the plot."? I think it is best to have those instances vaguelly sketched out so that we could work backwards to account for those.

 

[Ange1e4e5]

so wha would be the instances where it "would ruin the plot."? I think it is best to have those instance vagually sketched out so that we could work backwards to account for those.

To name a couple, the whole leadup to the reveal of the Kinslaying is one and Finrod losing the debate against Celegorm and Curufin.

 

[Odola]

Finrod is "not aligned" with Celegorm and Curufin. Nor are the Teleri with the Feanorians.
Also Galadriel "insight" is not necessary mere "ósanwe-kenta" - it seams a special gift, as she for sure can see into the hearts of people not aligned with her.

​

 

[MithLuin]

So, what does the ósanwë-kenta document teach us? I think we should start with what the 'rules' are and how it works.

Thought precedes speech, and all incarnate or embodied beings with minds have (in theory) the ability to communicate telepathically. This includes Valar, Maiar, Elves, and Men. In practice, Men have a different hroa/fëa (body/spirit) connection than Elves, and they wouldn't have much skill in this area (typically). Or more accurately, Pengolodh doesn't have a clue about humans in relation to this topic. And we're forgetting about Dwarves entirely, I think.

The word for mind is sáma. And the aspect of the mind that governs this ability is the will (níra). The first thing we learn about minds is that they may be 'open' or 'closed', and that this 'openness' can be to everyone, to some particular persons, or the mind can be set for 'privacy' so that all other minds are closed out. The ability to open or close the mind is inate to that mind, and cannot be forced (open or closed) by another. It is an act of will of that mind. The one exception is that no mind may close itself by act of will to Eru, who may at all times perceive the other minds and share thoughts at will.

Sending telepathic communication, for an incarnate mind, requires that the mind be strengthened by affinity, urgency, or authority. This is to overcome the limits of the hroa. "Affinity" can be talking about blood (kinship) or love (friendship). A similarity of fëa or hroa makes it easier to transmit to that person in particular. "Urgency" is somewhat self-explanatory. The examples in the document include joy, grief, or fear. If the receiver shares this emotion with the sender, the effect is amplified. "Authority" has to do with leaders and with those who have duties.

There is a limitation in how many can be communicated with at once. According to Pengolodh, ‘Only great minds can converse with more than one other at the same time; several may confer, but then at one time only one is imparting, while the others receive.’ There is no limitation based on distance. The gift of 'foresight' is a mind receiving information about the future from Eru or from one of the Valar who have knowledge of the Music.

Naturally, there is a major question of how Morgoth used and abused this ability, given that he had the greatest (ie, most powerful) mind in all of Arda, and a particular interest in dominating others' wills. While in other places it is suggested that it was merely 'illegal' to break into another's mind against their will, in the ósanwe-kenta it seems clear that one cannot do so. Thus, Morgoth would have to gain access by either trickery, or dominate their will without having access to their innermost mind. But...there is the matter of "Morgoth's Ring" - all of the matter of Arda is, in a way, 'infected' by Morgoth. So, any incarnate being living in Middle-earth, eating the food, drinking the water, and essentially sustaining a hroa...will find that they have an 'affinity' to Morgoth. Arda Marred is very much a cheat code that helps with aligning Morgoth with another's mind. Still, even so, an act of will can close the mind to him, and a mind being 'weaker' does not make that any more difficult to do.

 

[Odola]

while distance is not a factor per se, it seems to be easier to achieve momentan "affinity" while sharing the same mood, or be in each others presence which would mean being in the same situation

 

[MithLuin]

So, here is a situation where the existence of telepathy in Tolkien's world becomes tricky.


We know that Gandalf can use osanwe-kenta because of the scene in Many Partings where there is a late night silent communication going on before Galadriel and Celeborn depart for Lothlórien while the rest of the party continues on towards Rivendell. In particular, we know that Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, and Celeborn can converse with one another in this manner.

"Often long after the hobbits were wrapped in sleep they would sit together under the stars, recalling the ages that were gone and all their joys and labors in the world, or holding council, concerning the days to come. If any wanderer had chanced to pass, little would he have seen or heard, and it would have seemed to him only that he saw grey figures, carved in stone, memorials of forgotten things now lost in unpeopled lands."

It is no surprise that Gandalf, a Maia, would have this ability, nor would it be surprising to find he has some affinity with others in the White Council. Granted, this particular conversation happens when they are in one another's presence. Certainly, you could make the argument that presence helps affinity. But...

Affinity is not the only thing that allows one mind to reach out to another. "Urgency" is also sufficient.


So. When Gandalf discovers that Saruman is a traitor to the Council and is seeking the Ring for himself, and is then trapped and imprisoned in Isengard.....why doesn't Gandalf urgently reach out telepathically to let some other member of the Council know what has happened? Why does he not sound the alarm, alert someone that Frodo in the Shire is going to need help....do something other than sit in Isengard and wait for rescue?

 

[Odola]

So. When Gandalf discovers that Saruman is a traitor to the Council and is seeking the Ring for himself, and is then trapped and imprisoned in Isengard.....why doesn't Gandalf urgently reach out telepathically to let some other member of the Council know what has happened? Why does he not sound the alarm, alert someone that Frodo in the Shire is going to need help....do something other than sit in Isengard and wait for rescue?

well, there is an easy solution - Elrond would be the one to be addressed here, and if the elven rings help shielding its wielder, then as long as they are functional their wearers would be shielded - the conversation above happen after the rings have already lost their powers after the destruction of the One Ring. So the only person who could have been addressed by Gandalf from Isengart would be Celeborn I doubt he was this much initiated into the whole "One Ring" dilemma as to understand what needs to be done...? Or maybe he just asked the eagle to check on Gandalf in Isengard, not knowing what exactly Shire and hobbits are to mean?

 

[MithLuin]

Radagast is the one who sent the Eagle to Isengard - another possible person to send a "help me!" message to. But that is not why Radagast sent the eagle.

 

[Odola]

Radagast is the one who sent the Eagle to Isengard - another possible person to send a "help me!" message to. But that is not why Radagast sent the eagle.

Well, Radagast is living at a farther from the Misty Mountains than Celeborn, and has rather other things on his mind than Gandalf, so I do doubt his current "affinity" with Gandalf - or are the eagles visiting Rhosgobel regularly? Whatever.
But I thing we could work with Celeborn getting a confusing message and sending out somebody to check, but before this one goes there and back again Gandalf is already away and has send an "I am o.k." update...

 

[MithLuin]

Oh, here's a rather nice summary of how ósanwë works:

In Tolkien's written works, which characters have the power of telepathy, and how does it work?

Answer (1 of 6): There are two main incidents of telepathy being used that I can think of in the text of Lord of the Rings itself. First when Frodo has escaped from Boromir by putting on the Ring: > And suddenly he felt the Eye. There was an eye in the Dark Tower that did not sleep. He knew tha...

www.quora.com

And some more examples:

Galadriel commenting that she could not see Gandalf's mind after he fell to the Balrog:
'Gandalf the Grey set out with the Company, but he did not pass the borders of this land. Now tell us where he is; for I much desired to speak with him again. But I cannot see him from afar, unless he comes within the fences of Lothlórien: a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and of his mind are hidden from me.’

Galadriel using osanwe to communicate with the members of the Fellowship of the Ring:
‘And with that word she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked searchingly at each of them in turn. None save Legolas and Aragorn could long endure her glance. Sam quickly blushed and hung his head.’

Frodo at Amon Hen, communicating with both Sauron and Gandalf:
"He heard himself crying out: Never, never! Or was it: Verily I come, I come to you? He could not tell. Then as a flash from some other point of power there came to his mind another thought: Take it off! Take it off! Fool, take it off! Take off the Ring!
The two powers strove in him. For a moment, perfectly balanced between their piercing points, he writhed, tormented. Suddenly he was aware of himself again. Frodo, neither the Voice nor the Eye: free to choose, and with one remaining instant in which to do so. He took the Ring off his finger."

Gandalf and Denethor appear to be doing this...from Pippin's perspective:
"He turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almmost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire, drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame. ... and he saw that Denethor and Gandalf still looked each other in the eye, as if reading the other's mind. But it was Denethor who first withdrew his gaze."

 

[Odola]

Galadriel commenting that she could not see Gandalf's mind after he fell to the Balrog:
'Gandalf the Grey set out with the Company, but he did not pass the borders of this land. Now tell us where he is; for I much desired to speak with him again. But I cannot see him from afar, unless he comes within the fences of Lothlórien: a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and of his mind are hidden from me.’

This could be either because he has his still functional elvish ring on him, or because he is currently dead...

 

[MithLuin]

Most likely it's because he's dead. Also notably, she knows to send an eagle for him when he is later not-dead.