Introduction

When Tolkien first began to shape what is now one of the most recognizable fictional worlds in both the literature and the film industry, he did not in any way intend to write an allegorical work. Yet, as he himself admits:   

“…Any attempt to explain the purport of myth or fairytale must use allegorical language…The more life a story has the more readily it will be susceptible of allegorical interpretations.”[1]

Tolkien knew that the best story ever written is the Story of Reality, and therefore every good story reflects some aspect of that great Story. This can be seen in his works. Many similarities exist between Tolkien’s world and the world we live in, though not all of them were intentional. I will be looking at the different types of ‘magic’ in Tolkien’s world, and attempting to see how they reflect the ‘magic’ in real life.

The Lord of the Rings is in the fantasy genre, and when we think of fantasy, we think of magic. The word ‘magic’ is a broad term which can be used to refer to anything supernatural. When I say ‘magic’ you might visualize a fairy with a wand, or Doctor Strange surrounded by glowing shapes, or you might think of something darker, something demonic.

Notice I have been using scare quotes around ‘magic’. Tolkien did not like using the word ‘magic’. He expresses his thoughts through Galadriel in the Fellowship of the Ring when she addresses the hobbits:    “This is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy.” Tolkien merely used the word for lack of a better one. I will do the same as I look at the difference between various kinds of ‘magic’.

The two main categories Tolkien’s ‘magic’ can be divided into are Good magic and Evil magic. These two do differ in substance, but their most obvious difference is in use.

But before I get into that, these two categories are not enough; they are still vague. In the Hobbit, ‘Good magic’ could be used to refer to both the Dwarves’ skill in hiding a secret door, and to the Fate bound in the very roots of the world that allowed Durin’s Day[2] to fall in the very year Thorin & co. arrived at the Lonely mountain, allowing them to discover the door’s location. So I will divide good ‘magic’ into ‘natural’ good magic and ‘supernatural’ good magic. Still, there is such a fine line between these that I had better l divide it into three categories: the magic used by the Elves and other inhabitants of Middle Earth[3], the magic used by the Ainur (the Valar[4] and the Maiar[5]), and the magic used by Illúvatar[6].

Now that we have several categories, let us look closer at each of these types.

Magic of the Elves

The best way for me to describe Elf magic is to quote Tolkien again:   

“Their  ‘magic’ is Art, delivered from many of its human limitations: more effortless, more quick, more complete… and its object is Art not power, sub-creation not domination and tyrannous reforming of Creation.”

This quote says a great deal about both Good and Evil magic. (We’ll get to the evil later on) So, the magic of the elves is Art. Do you recall when I said ‘natural magic’? This magic is not raw power, it is creativity. (Or sub-creativity.) True, many things we see the Elves do are not natural to someone like you or me, but then again, neither is writing poetry like Isaac Watts. The Elves have skill that is more cunning than anything that exists in the world we know. This skill is grounded in wisdom and knowledge of the world. In the beginning, when the elves first awoke, the Valar brought them to Valinor,[7] and taught them many things, secrets of crafting and music, and love of nature. This is one of the main factors in their advanced ‘magic’. In the Hobbit Tolkien says:

“There the Light-elves and the Deep-elves and the Sea-elves went and lived for ages, and grew fairer and wiser and more learned, and invented their magic and their cunning craft in the making of beautiful and marvelous things, before they came back into the Wide World.”

I could not speak of the Elves’ magic without mentioning one of the most well-known of all their crafts: the Rings of Power.[8] Unlike what is seen in the TV show of the same name, these took many years and much skill to forge. We, being of lesser wisdom, have no idea how they were made, but it was through artful cunning and wisdom, not the desire for domination.

Though I have been using Elves as an example (not without good reason; they are the best example), I could also apply this to the ‘magic’ of the Dwarves, or the Ents, or the Men of old. Even the Hobbits have an ‘everyday sort’ of magic. Let me briefly list a few examples of these.

The dwarves’ skill lies chiefly in mining and forging, and they also have great skill in hiding things. We see an example of this in the Hobbit with the Moon-runes. These were dwarvish letters which could only be seen when the light of the moon shone behind them. The ‘more cunning sort’ could only be seen at the same time of year as they were written.

In the Lord of the Rings books, the Hobbits had small swords which they got from the Barrow Wight’s lair. These swords were very powerful, powerful enough to kill Nazgul. We see this was because they had originally been forged in Númenor. Númenor was the kingdom of men in the height of their glory and power; so much of their skill is what we would call magic, though it was not quite as mysterious as that of the Elves.

Some of the most noble of the race of Men possessed foresight, the ability to look into the future. This could take the form of a foreboding feeling, or could be more specific. In this day and age, we usually associate predicting the future with dark magic, but that was not the case with them. It is like when in the Bible knowledge was revealed to prophets and such through supernatural means.  

Magic of the Ainur

A step up from the Elves’ magic is the magic of the Valar and the Maiar. It is more powerful and more authoritative, but not omnipotent. It is still sub-creation.

When most people think of Gandalf the Wizard, they think of the common sort of wizard-magic that can be found in many tales. But Gandalf’s magic is really more like angel-magic. True, he does sometimes use it to blow nice smoke rings or set off fireworks. But he possesses a great power from Illúvatar that many of the hobbits do not see. They just think of him as a strange old man. This is because he is not grand and condescending. Even though the word ‘wizard’ may have negative connotation with some people these days – indeed, I myself, when I first heard about Gandalf, replied with “Wizards are bad!” – it came from the word ‘wise’.

Let me go back to the beginning to explain where their magic came from. As it is told in the Ainulindalё, all the Ainur sung the Great Music, which shaped the world. Each of them was allowed to be creative, and to bring his own thoughts in, but ultimately it would all be one harmonious song.

The Ainur were then allowed to go down into the world, and given authority to govern it. They had given some degree of power over its elements. In the Valaquenta[9], we see that each of the Valar particularly loves and holds power over a certain element. A few examples are Ulmo, the lord of the waters, Manwё, the lord of the skies and the air, and the lady Yavanna, who loves all things that grow on the earth. These were the thoughts that they each wove into the Music.

Even though the Ainur were sometimes called gods, they were not worshipped in the way God is, they were rather looked up to as kings and lords that Illúvatar set over them.[10]

(This continues in the next post)

[1] If not otherwise specified, any quotes I contain herein are from the letter Tolkien wrote to Milton Waldman in 1951. This letter can be found at the beginning of the Silmarillion.

[2] The first day of the Dwarvish New year was on the first day of the last cycle of the moon in Autumn. On the rare occurrence that the sun and the moon could be seen in the sky together, this day was called Durin’s day. This could happen when Tilion, the Maiar,* who steers the moon across the sky, tarried too long under the earth or appeared to early. He had a reputation for being ‘wayward and uncertain in speed’, and was also drawn by the splendor of the sun (which was steered by a fellow Maiar named Arien.) If he got too close, the moon would get burnt, and that is why it has dark patches.
*The lower rank of the Ainur. The Ainur were basically Tolkien’s angels. They were created before Eä, which means the Created World.

[3] Though I say ‘of Middle Earth’, I include the elves in Valinor across the western sea, and the men of the island kingdom of Númenor. 

[4] The higher rank of Ainur

[5] Wizards, by the way, are Maiar. They were sent to Middle-Earth to assist the people in their war against Sauron.

[6] This word is Quenya for Father of All. (Quenya is one of the many languages Tolkien made, and probably the most complete. During the time the Lord of the Rings was set, Quenya was rather like Latin, a scholarly language, but not spoken much by regular people.)  The first sentence of the Ainulindalё, Tolkien’s creation account, says: “There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Illúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made.” (Eru is Quenya for He that is Alone. Arda is the earth.)

[7] That is, most of them. Some were unwilling to go, and some got distracted on the way there.

[8] Which is also one of the most well-known crafts of Jeff Bezos

[9] The account of the Valar and the Maiar

[10] We do see elves sing ‘hymns of praise’ to them, but do we not sing songs of praise about anything we find fair?