The White Council

Re: Why didn't things change in Middle-earth?

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: Jeuda the Dwarf has given me an opportunity to explore something about Middle-earth which has bugged me since I first read the Appendices many, many years ago:

: : Another point i thought about: after thousands of years, names tend to : : change, as do language, which is not the case in tolkien's writings. If : : he would have wanted to make the thousands look more realistic, wouldn't : : he need to change language as well, instead of doing this simple reuse of : : names?

: Yes, you are quite correct. Sort of. I've often wondered myself why there seemed to be so little change in language in Middle-earth.

: In fact the Elven languages changed a great deal. They were constantly evolving. But there were two forces at work which helped to preserve Sindarin (and the Sindarin name set) in Gondor.

: One force was the traditional mindset of the Numenoreans. For comparison, let us look at Latin today. Many people would say it's a "dead language" -- it is no longer spoken by a living population. The classical Latin of Ovid and Caesar is not used any more, that's true. But the language didn't die it. It evolved. It became French, Spanish, Romanian, Italian, and many other Romance languages. And yet we have at least two groups of scholars (religious and secular) who have preserved classical Latin in several forms through the past two thousand years despite the natural evolutionary process which has occurred.

: We don't exactly reuse old Latin names the way the Dunedain reused old Sindarin names, but anyone who's heard of Caesar's Palace, ordered a Little Caesar's pizza, been to a city named Augusta (I used to live in one), or encountered any of dozens or perhaps hundreds of other Latin names knows that we still use them. Of course, our legal professions still use Latin, too.

: In this sense, Tolkien's preservation of Sindarin through the Numenorean cultures was very natural. It simply reflects what has happened in the real world with Latin (and doubtless other ancient languages).

: The other force, however, I think was the Rings of Power themselves. After all, the Elves set out to stop change in Middle-earth. And if there's one thing about Middle-earth which everyone seems to notice, the cultures don't seem to change all that much.

: Let's look at what Tolkien had to say about the Elves' intentions in Letter 154:

:

 :   Some reviewers have called the whole thing simple-minded, just :   a plain fight between Good and Evil, with all the good just :   good, and the bad just bad.  Pardonable, perhaps (though at :   least Boromir has been overlooked) in people in a hurry, and :   with only a fragment to read, and, of course, without the :   earlier written but unpublished Elvish histories.  But the :   Elves are NOT wholly good or in the right.  Not so much because :   they had flirted with Sauron; as because with or without his :   assistance they were 'embalmers'.  They wanted to have their :   cake and eat it: to live in the mortal historical Midlde-earth :   because they had become fond of it (and perhaps because they :   there had the advantages of a superior caste), and so tried :   to stop its change and history, stop its growth, keep it as :   a pleasaunce, even largely a desert, where they could be :   'artists' -- and they were overburdened with sadness and :   nostalgic regret.   In their way the Men of Gondor were :   similar: a withering people whose only 'hallows' were their :   tombs.  But in any case this is a tale about a war, and if :   war is allowed (at least as a topic and setting) it is not :   much good complaining that all the people on one side are :   those on the other.  Not that I have made even this issue :   quite so simple: there are Saruman, and Denethor, and :   Boromir; and there are treacheries and strife even among :   the Orcs. : 

: In Letter 131 he described the common powers of the Rings so:

:

 :   The chief power (of all the rings alike) was the prevention :   or slowing of DECAY (i.e., 'change' viewed as a regrettable :   thing), the preservation of what is desired or loved, or its :   semblance -- this is more or less an Elvish motive.... : 

: Further on:

:

 :   The Third Age is concerned mainly with the Ring....The Ring :   is lost, for ever it is hoped; and the Three Rings of the :   Elves, wielded by secret guardians, are operative in :   preserving the memory of the beauty of old, maintaining :   enchanted enclaves of peace where Time seems to stand still :   and decay is restrained, a semblance of the bliss of the :   True West. : 

: And in Letter 144:

:

 :   The High Elves met in this book are Exiles, returned back :   over Sea to Midlde-earth, after events which are the main :   matter of the SILMARILLION, part of one of the main kindreds :   of the ELDAR: the Noldor (Masters of Lore).  Or rather a :   last remnant of these.  For the SILMARILLION proper and the :   First Age ended with the destruction of the primeval Dark :   Power (of whom Sauron was a mere lieutenant), and the :   rehabilitation of the Exiles, who returned again over :   Sea.  Those who lingered were those who were enamoured of :   Middle-earth and yet desired the unchanging beauty of :   the Land of the Valar.  Hence the making of the Rings; for :   the Three Rings were precisely endowed with the power of :   preservation, not of birth.  Though unsullied, because they :   had not been made by Sauron, nor touched by him, they were :   nonetheless partly products of his instruction, and ultimately :   under the control of the One.  Thus, as you will see, when :   the One goes, the last defenders of High-elven lore and :   beauty are shorn of power to hold back time, and depart. : 

: I've recently been of the opinion that the Rings' effective range was limited, but it may be that, like gravity (though I doubt Tolkien would have compared the Rings to gravity), their power may have diminished but not wholly vanished as the distance from the Ring increased. Hence, perhaps the Rings were helping to hold back change in Gondor in small ways.

There is of course another reason why Middle-Earth doesn't change. We don't want it to. It must always in our hearts and minds remain unchanging; always rural rolling hills of well-tilled earth, farms houses in the distance with yellow light streaming from the windows, inviting the weary traveller to stop and rest and perhaps have fresh bread and butter and cool water from the spring. Just as Sherlock Holmes lives forever in Victorian England crying to Watson, "the games afoot" and dashes off into the fog shrouded streets of London on a November night in 1885, so must Middle-Earth remain, waiting for us, weary travellers all, beckoning with the thrill of adventure for some, or the restful beauty of sitting outside ones own Hobbit-hole, blowing smoke rings and letting the world drift past. And it is a place of loyal friendships and honor. Very idyllic in its agrarian appeal. Like all great stories, time is stopped in that special place. The rings may have lost their power, but for us the mallorn trees will always bloom in Lorien.