6. References and Notes

1The Song of Middle-Earth - J.R.R. Tolkien's Themes, Symbols and Myths; George Allen & Unwin 1985; Chapter 5 The Eternal Conflict 64-69
References to Tolkien's works will be to title,chapter number and title of chapter. Given the variety of editions of Tolkien's works it is almost impossible to provide a comprehensive referencing of all quotes. References to "The Lord of the Rings" (LOTR) is by volume (1: The Fellowship of the Ring,2: The Two Towers, 3:The Return of the King) book number, chapter number and chpater title. References to the "Letters" are to the number of the particular letter contained in the selection
2 For example in resolving the issue of whether Glorfindel slain by the Balrog at Gondolin in "The Silmarillion" was one and the same person as Glorfindel who met the Company at the Flight to the Ford in "The Lord of the Rings"
3 "Unfinished Tales" and the nine volumes comprising "The History of Middle-Earth" series.
4 The Silmarillion - Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
5 Ibid
6 1 LOTR I, 2 The Shadow of the Past
7 Ibid
8 1 LOTR II, 2 The Council of Elrond
9 1 LOTR II, 2 The Council of Elrond - Gandalf recounting the finding of Isildur's scroll
10 The Silmarillion - The Akallabeth
11 Ibid
12 Ibid - As to whether Sauron took the Ring to Numenor, see below and also discussion in footnote 28
13 The Silmarillion - Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
14 1 LOTR II, 2 The Council of Elrond
15 The Silmarillion - Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
16 1 LOTR II, 2 The Council of Elrond - Elrond speaking.
17 1 LOTR II, 2 The Council of Elrond
18 The Silmarillion - Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age - this account is confirmed in 1 LOTR I, 2 by Gandalf to Frodo but compare these accounts with that given in Unfinished Tales
19 The Silmarillion - Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age - compare with Gandalf's account in LOTR II, 2;
 

"But Saruman said nay, and repeated what he had said to us before: that the One would never again be found in Middle-earth.
' "At the worst," said he, "our Enemy knows that we have it not, and that it is still lost. But what was lost may yet be found, he thinks. Fear not! His hope will cheat him. Have I not earnestly studied this matter? Into Anduin the Great it fell; and long ago, while Sauron slept, it was rolled down the River to the Sea. There let it lie until the end."'

20 The Silmarillion - Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
21 Unfinished Tales - The History of Galadriel and Celeborn
22 After the expulsion of Sauron from Eriador Gil-galad gave Vilya to Elrond and appointed him vice-regent in Eriador. He kept Narya until he set out from Lindon to wage war on Sauron in the days of the Last Alliance. At that time Narya was given to Cirdan who later passed it to Mithrandir.
23 Much is made of the issue of the unrevealed nature of the Three. What does this mean. The purpose of the Three, making, healing and preserving, was utilised in Imladris and Lothlorien, and such was their inherent power. But it was exercised in secret. The power of the Three was never exercised openly and the Eleven Ringlords were never proclaimed although they were suspected. The holders of the Three were never revealed as such, with the exception of Galadriel to Frodo at the Mirror. Had the Elven Ringlords stepped forward and openly used their Rings, perhaps using making, healing and preserving as an open counter-force to Sauron's evil, such would be revelation, and the holder of the One could then counteract them.
24 Unfinished Tales - Disaster at the Gladden Fields
25 Ibid
26 Ibid
27 In the scroll found by Gandalf at Minas Tirith
28 Unfinished Tales - The Disaster of the Gladden Fields Footnote 20. The Ring was still laden with Sauron's evil will and called to his servants for aid.
I have emphasised a sentence in parentheses which clearly furthers our understanding of what Sauron did with the Ring after he was taken to Numenor by Ar-Pharazon. The only reference that appears in Of the Rings of Power in The Silmarillion is that Sauron took up his Ring. Clearly he had left it behind. Such is the nature of the Ring that as its master gains in strength after a setback, it seeks to return to him, that inherent urge of a repository of power to re-unite with the source of power increasing as the source itself increases. But was the Ring seeking to return to Sauron at this stage? The text makes it clear that it was. However, with Sauron diminished, the first step in any return would be for the evil will and malice of the Ring to rid itself of its current possessor, Isildur. Then it could effect its re-unification at a time when Sauron increased in power.
A different and directly contrary impression is obtained from Letters which was written in October 1958. When Sauron was taken to Numenor,
"He naturally had the One Ring, and so very soon dominated the minds and wills of most of the Numenoreans. (I do not think Ar-Pharazon knew anything about the One Ring. The Elves kept the matter of the Rings very secret, as long as they could. In any case Ar-Pharazon was not in communication with them......Though reduced to 'a spirit of hatred borne on a dark wind', I do not think one need boggle at his spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended."
This direct conflict between clear inferences in the text as opposed to a direct statement by the Creator away from The Canon is one of the important reasons for drawing a distinction between primary and secondary sources. It is also to be remembered that although the letter in question was written in 1958, the passage from Unfinished Tales (itself a secondary source) and The Silmarillion (a primary source) were written later. Thus, as with so many of his ideas, it can be strongly and irrebuttably inferred that Tolkien discarded the view expressed in the Letters.
29 Unfinished Tales - The Disaster of the Gladden Fields. The symbolism of drawing the hood over the head cannot be ignored. Although it was done to quench the light of the Elendilmir, it represents the fall and death of Isildur's star, and a recognition by him of his own end. Vide Julius Caesar who drew his toga over his head ere he died.
30 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past
31 Unfinished Tales - The Quest of Erebor
32 Ibid
33 See discussion footnotes 27,28 and section 4.1.4 below
34 1 LOTR II, 2 Council of Elrond
35 And it is implicit that the Ringbearers do so because they have entered both the real and the spirit world per medium the Ring - for further discussion of this see "The Nature of the Ring - The Ring and the Two Worlds" infra
36 See discussion in "The Song of Middle-earth"
37 Among those choices being Bilbo's choice not to kill Gollum, Frodo's to take Gollum as a guide, to request Faramir not to have Mablung slay him with an arrow at Hennuth Annun, to rescue Gollum personally from the pool at Hennuth Annun, and to allow Gollum to lead them through the pass at Cirith Ungol
38 Unfinished Tales - The Hunt for the Ring
39 1 LOTR I, 2 The Shadow of the Past
40 Unfinished Tales - The Hunt for the Ring
41 Ibid
42 1 LOTR I,11 A Knife in the Dark - "Sauron can put fire to his evil uses, as he can all things, but these Riders do not love it, and fear those who wield it. Fire is our friend in the wilderness."
43 The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring and Sauron Defeated
44 The way in which the idea of the Ring and its nature develops is fascinating, but is comprehensively dealt with in "The History of Middle-earth. I am not dealing with the way in which the idea developed - rather I am addressing the question of what the idea means. In the pursuit of this goal, I shall from time to time refer to the secondary sources.
45 That being to rule the other Rings and obtain absolute power
46 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past
47 1 LOTR II,2 The Council of Elrond
48 Ibid
49 Ibid
50 Ibid
51 3 LOTR V, 9 The Last Debate. In The War of the Ring - The Houses of Healing there is reference to the power within the Ring, and the nature of Sauron's power - "But when we take arms to attack we are using that power which is pre-eminently found in the Ring.
52 The Silmarillion. At the time of "The Lord of the Rings" Morgoth has been expelled through the Door of Night beyond the Walls of the World
53 This matter has already been examined in "The Song of Middle-earth" especially Chapter 5 - The Eternal Conflict
54 The Silmarillion - Ainulindale
55 Ibid
56 Letters 183
57 Letters 131
58 Ibid
59 Ibid
60 The matter is explained in this way, referring to the motives of the Elves in making the Three;
"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 were not made by Sauron nor touched by him, they were nonetheless partly products of his instruction, and ultimately under the control of the One." (Letters 180)
61 Ibid
62 The Return of the Shadow - Ancient History
63 See footnote 50
64 Letters 180
65 For further analysis of how the Ring affects Frodo see below
66 Letters p 279
67 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past
68 1 LOTR I,9 At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
69 Containing the light of Earendil's star, a potent source of good - for a discussion of the symbolism of Light in Tolkien's Middle-earth see The Song of Middle-earth - The Importance of Being Earendil
70 1 LOTR 1,2 The Shadow of the Past
71 1 LOTR 2,7 The Mirror of Galadriel
72 We are later told that the force is in fact Gandalf who has become aware of Frodo's trial. But it is also clear that behind Gandalf there are active forces of good acting in Middle-earth, clear evidence of the other powers at work that intended Bilbo to find the Ring.
73 1 LOTR 1,2 The Shadow of the Past
74 Ibid
75 Letters 246
76 Ibid
77 1 LOTR I,2 - The Shadow of the Past
78 But the evil they work according to their maker's designs turns often to good that he did not intend, and even to his loss and defeat. - The Return of the Shadow - Ancient History
79 Ibid
80 The Ringwraiths had no will but Sauron's own "being each utterly subservient to the ring which had enslaved him, which Sauron held" Unfinished Tales - The Hunt for the Ring
81 Unfinished Tales - The Hunt for the Ring
82 The Return of the Shadow - Ancient History
83 Ibid - the motive for holding the Ring allows the holder to delay evil consequences as exemplified by the following comments between Frodo and Gandalf;
"'I suppose I must keep the Ring and guard it, at least for the present, whatever it may do to me.'
'Whatever it may do, it will be slow, slow to evil, if you keep it with that purpose,' said Gandalf" (1 LOTR I,2 - The Shadow of the Past)
84 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past
85 Ibid
86 Ibid
87 Ibid
88 Ibid. Frodo in fact voluntarily parts company with the Ring when he gives it to Bombadil (1 LOTR I,7) although whether it could be said that he relinquishes total possession is debateable. He offers to give it to Galadriel, although that becomes more of an issue for Galadriel in terms of temptation than it is for relinquishment by Frodo. Sam willingly parts with the Ring, even although he has worn it, and does so without any regret, misgiving or remorse.(3 LOTR VI,1 - The Tower of Cirith Ungol)
89 1 LOTR 2,2 The Council of Elrond
90 1 LOTR I,2 - The Shadow of the Past
91 1 LOTR 2,2 - The Council of Elrond
92 3 LOTR Appendix A - The Numenorean Kings (i) Numenor
93 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past
94 Ibid
95 See the conflicts observed by Sam between "Slinker" and "Stinker" 2 LOTR IV, 2 - The Passage of the Marshes and Gollum's demonstration of tenderness towards Frodo 2 LOTR IV,8 - The Stair of Cirith Ungol
96 See page 21
97 For a full discussion of this topic see "The Golden Bough" by J.G.Frazer
98 On Weathertop and at the attack of the Wargs (1 LOTR 2,3 The Ring Goes South; also at the siege of Minas Tirith 3 LOTR V, 4,6 - The Siege of Gondor, The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
99 1 LOTR II,5 The Bridge of Khazad-dum
100 Supernatural as being beyond or transcending the powers or ordinary course of nature
101 The concept is particularly well-developed in Michael Scott Rohan's trilogy - The Winter of the World
102 1 LOTR 2,2 - The Council of Elrond
103 For example Glorfindel at the Flight to the Ford and Legolas on the Plains of Rohan dreaming Elvish dreams
104 The Return of the Shadow - Ancient History
105 1 LOTR I,11 A Knife in the Dark
106 The Return of the Shadow - The Attack on Weathertop
107 1 LOTR I,11 A Knife in the Dark
108 For example, as darkness falls after the arrival of Glorfindel, "Frodo felt a great weariness come over him. Ever since the sun began to sink the mist before his eyes had darkened, and he felt a shadow was coming between him and the faces of his friends." and on the ride to the Ford "during the day things about him faded to shadows of ghostly grey. He almost welcomed the coming of night, for then the world seemed less pale and empty."(1 LOTR 1,12 Flight to the Ford)
109 1 LOTR 1,12 Flight to the Ford
110 As Gandalf said to Frodo,"You were beginning to fade....(t)he wound was overcoming you at last." and by way of further explanation "They tried to pierce your heart with a Morgul-kife which remains in the wound. If they had succeeded, you would have become like they are, only weaker and under their command. You would have become a wraith under the dominion of the Dark Lord." (1 LOTR II,1 Many Meetings)
111 Ibid
112 Ibid - In The Return of the Shadow - At Rivendell, the nature of the Elves and the two worlds is dealt with in the following way - "They fear no Ringwraiths, for they live at once in both worlds, and each world has only half power over them while they have double power over both." and later in The Return of the Shadow - Ancient History, the Elvish ability to dwell in both worlds was that they "perceive and dwell at one both [in] this world and the other side without the aid of rings."
113 The Return of the Shadow - Of Gollum and the Ring
114 Ibid
115 1 LOTR II,2 The Council of Elrond
116 Ibid
117 Ibid - In The Return of the Shadow - In the House of Elrond it was suggested that Sauron could in fact perceive the thought of the Elflords; "Of old he could guess or half see what were the hidden purposes of the Elflords, but now he is blind as far as they are concerned."
118 1 LOTR II,7 The Mirror of Galadriel
119 Letters 131 - In earlier conception Sauron did touch the Three. In The Return of the Shadow - In the House of Elrond it is said "they came from Sauron himself, and can give no skill or knowledge that he did not already possess at their making.....The Elves desired not strength or domination or riches, but subtlety of craft and lore, and knowledge of the secrets of the world's being. These things they have gained, yet with sorrow. But they will turn to evil if Sauron regains the Ruling Ring: for then all that the Elves have devised or learned with the power of the rings will become his, as was his purpose." However in The Treason of Isengard - The Story Forseen from Moria the concept of the unsullied nature of the Three becomes clear.
120 See The Song of Middle-earth for a discussion of the redemption of Boromir, Theoden and the fall of Denethor together with an analysis of Tolkien's justice - Chapter 5 The Eternal Conflict
121 1 LOTR I,11 A Knife in the Dark
122 1 LOTR 1,12 Flight to the Ford
123 1 LOTR II, 7 The Mirror of Galadriel
124 2 LOTR IV, 5 The Window on the West
125 1 LOTR II, 10 The Breaking of the Fellowship
126 2 LOTR III, 1 The Departure of Boromir
127 1 LOTR II, 10 The Breaking of the Fellowship
128 Ibid
129 2 LOTR IV, 5 The Window on the West
130 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past
131 The Return of the Shadow - Of Gollum and the Ring
132 Ibid
133 1 LOTR II, 2 The Council of Elrond
134 Sauron Defeated - Mount Doom
135 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past Ibid
136 1 LOTR II, 2 The Council of Elrond
137 Letters 246
138 Such as escaping from the goblin caverns in the Misty Mountains, combatting the spiders, releasing the dwarves from Thranduil's prison and dealing, of course, with Smaug
139 To avoid seeing someone such as the Sackville-Bagginses (1 LOTR I,5 A Conspiracy Unmasked)
140 To vanish at the party (1 LOTR I,1 A Long-expected Party)
141 1 LOTR I,1 A Long-expected Party
142 The Treason of Isengard - The Fourth Phase
143 1 LOTR I,1 A Long-expected Party
144 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past
145 1 LOTR II,1 Many Meetings
146 1 LOTR II,7 The Mirror of Galadriel
147 Ibid
148 Ibid
149 Ibid
150 Letters 246
151 1 LOTR II, 2 The Council of Elrond
152 See the "Numenorean Grace" before eating, the habits of courtesy by guest to host, and his account of Numenorean traditions and his account of the twilight of the Men of the West - 2 LOTR IV 5 The Window on the West
153 Ibid
154 Ibid
155 Ibid
156 Ibid
157 Ibid
158 Ibid
159 Although it is not germane to this discussion, Faramir's morality continues in his difficulties with his father Denethor. Despite Denethor's blandishments and challenges to his second son's ability, despite the fact that Denethor berates him for failing to bring the Ring to him, Faramir remains faithful and steadfast to the end.
160 Who else, other than Sam, would address Faramir, Captain of Gondor, in the way that he does?
161 2 LOTR IV, 10 The Choices of Master Samwise
162 Ibid
163 3 LOTR VI, 1 The Tower of Cirith Ungol
164 1 LOTR 2,1 Many Meetings
165 1 LOTR I,7 In the House of Tom Bambadil
166 1 LOTR I,8 Fog on the Barrow-downs
167 Does not all temptation carry with it a rationalisation of what is perceived as a wrongful or morally incorrect act?
168 1 LOTR, I,3 Three is Company
169 Upon the Hearth the Fire is Red
170 It is interesting to note that Frodo is not tempted when the hobbits see a black rider high above them on the Short Cut to Mushrooms. or when they see the dark black bundle of a figure at the Bucklebury Ferry (A Conspiracy Unmasked)
171 1 LOTR I,11 A Knife in the Dark
172 1 LOTR 1,12 Flight to the Ford
173 1 LOTR, II,7 The Mirror of Galadriel
174 2 LOTR IV,1 The Taming of Smeagol
175 2 LOTR IV,3 The Black Gate is Closed
This is a presage of a statement that Frodo makes, which in a sense could explain why Gollum falls into the Cracks of Doom, in that Frodo as Ringbearer has delivered a conditional command - "Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom." 3 LOTR VI, 3 Mount Doom (my italics)
176 2 LOTR IV, 6 The Forbidden Pool
177 2 LOTR IV, 8 The Stairs of Cirith Ungol
178 3 LOTR VI,1 The Tower of Cirith Ungol
179 Ibid
180 Ibid
181 3 LOTR VI, 3 Mount Doom
182 Ibid
183 Ibid
184 Ibid
185 3 LOTR VI,9 The Grey Havens
186 See above - The effect upon a mortal wearer
187 1 LOTR I,2 The Shadow of the Past
188 3 LOTR VI, 3 Mount Doom
189 Ibid
190 Ibid
191 The Return of the Shadow - Ancient History
192 3 LOTR VI, 3 Mount Doom
193 J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, Humphrey Carpenter, George Allen & Unwin 1977, p.46
194 Ibid. Pge 202
195 Das Rhinegold Scene 1 - all quotations from libretti are from those which accompanied the Decca recording of Der Ring performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Georg Solti
196 Ibid
197 Ibid
198 Das Rhinegold Scene 2
199 Das Rhinegold Scene 3
200 Ibid
201 Ibid
202 In the 1976 Cheroux Bayreuth production Wotan (played by Donald McIntyre) cuts the Ring from Alberich's finger.
203 Das Rhinegold Scene 4
204 Ibid
205 Die Walkure Act II
206 Siegfried Act III
207 Although his symbolism is anything but
208 Commentators have suggested that Alberich represents the dark side of Wotan, and they are in fact one and the same entity with a duality of spirit
209 The Kalevala is the most striking example, and one of which Tolkien was most certainly aware

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