The 'Ring' and the remnants of the West

Asia Times ^ | January 11, 2003 | By Spengler

[weikel]

Look at Western Europe between the time of the 30 year's war and WWI. The Middle East has never really had any nice government of any variety either before or after Islam. It should be noted the best run Arab states are the monarchies of Jordan and Bahrain( Saudi Arabia is a monarchy in name only its a government by clan associated with theocrats).

[x]

That precisely shows how provincial the argument is. It's based wholly on European experiences within a rather limited time frame. Take Russia, China, Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Ancient Near East, the Aztecs and Incas into account and you may come up with a different picture.

The argument has much to do with the modern development of technology, which enables governments to be more distructive and intrusive. It also has much to do with the "decadent" characteristics of monarchy after the Wars of Religion: Monarchs no longer sought to compel their subjects to think or believe in a certain way, and they were increasingly uncertain about the security of their thrones and, hence, more inclined to compromise.

When a form of government is not too sure of its authority, it's also not inclined to do much damage, but it shouldn't be assumed that that form of government is inherently and essentially less dangerous.

[f.Christian]

bttt

[merak]

Wagner will still haunt the stages of opera houses, but audiences will see him through Tolkien's eyes.

Not necessarily; they might see him through Sergio Leone's eyes. The music which you hear as you watch Tuco running around in circles in the cemetary until his vision melds into a sort of a golden circle is nothing more or less than a slight transmogrification of Richard Wagner's ring theme. Morricone called it "The Ecstasy of Gold".

Richard Wagner is not going to be killed off by Tolkein. There's a hell of a lot more to Wagner than just the ring cycle. My own choice of Wagner's operas would still be the ghost story, Flying dutchman.

[f.Christian]

bttt

[f.Christian]

"I was a communist (( DEVILCRAT // liberal // lunatic // evolutionist // orc )) for 30 years . . .

and I listened to so much of this demagoguery ((lies // ideology // spin // left rhetoric )) that now - - -

with my democratic (( conservative // creationist // REPUBLICAN )) views - - -

I can no . . . longer(link) - - - stand it,"

[f.Christian]

bttt

[Forgiven_Sinner]

Here are some more comments on the article, from the Letters section of the Asia Times.

"Wagner's immortal gods must fall as a result of the corrupt bargain they have made with the giants who built Valhalla. Tolkien's immortal Elves must leave Middle-earth because of the fatal assistance they took from Sauron. The Elves' power to create a paradise on Middle-earth depends upon the power of the three Elven Rings which they forged with Sauron's help. Thus the virtue of the Elven Rings is inseparably bound up with the one Ring of Sauron. When it is destroyed, the power of the Elves must fade. More than anything else, The Lord of the Rings is the tragedy of the Elves and the story of their renunciation."

The author of The 'Ring' and the remnants of the West, Jan 11, is very confused. The elves were the ones who made the rings first. Celebrimbor made Vilya, Narya and Nenya, the three greatest of all the elven rings. Sauron deceptively disguised himself as a friend to learn their secret craft, and then made for himself a ring greater than any they had made (doubtless he was able to do this only because he is similar to a fallen angel, though with greater power, whereas elves are just inhabitants of the earth that lack the same kinds of power). When Celebrimbor found out about this, he took the rings and fled immediately. The elven rings are the only ones that Sauron didn't get a hold of.

The reason that the elves are leaving Middle-earth is something entirely different. If you read the Silmarillion, this story is explained in full, but the fact is, Middle-earth is exile for elves. A good number of the elves used to live in the Blessed Realm of Valinor (not the same as heaven - this is where the demigods, or Valar, that helped create and care for the earth reside), but then due to events too complicated to explain and the interference of fallen Vala Morgoth (the angelic being Sauron was only one of Morgoth's generals), an elf named Feänor rebelled and took a host of elves with him back to Middle-earth. The Valar then decreed that the elves could not return from Middle-earth if they left because of the evil deeds they had done as they were leaving (mainly the kinslaying at Alqualondë, but that's another story). Morgoth returned to Middle-earth and made war on the elves, and he was so assured of victory that one elf, Eärendil, risked the punishment of the Valar to sail back across the sea and beg for their help. They came, and after they defeated Morgoth and shut him outside of the world, they allowed the exiled elves to return. Not all of them did at first, but one by one they began to sail away to the west to return to Tol Eressëa, the island nearest to Valinor. If you didn't follow all that I'm sorry, but Tolkien takes several hundred pages to explain it, so it's not very easy to sum up in a paragraph. That kind of changes the article, but it's incredibly important not to mangle Tolkien's meaning.
Stephanie Rumpza (Jan 13, '03)


Spengler [The 'Ring' and the remnants of the West, Jan 11] makes some very interesting and well-taken points about Tolkien, Wagner and Western culture, but his comments about the Elves require correction in one area:

Spengler writes, "Tolkien's immortal Elves must leave Middle-earth because of the fatal assistance they took from Sauron. The Elves' power to create a paradise on Middle-earth depends upon the power of the three Elven Rings which they forged with Sauron's help."

I don't have the text in front of me, but Tolkien states many times that the Three Rings were made by the Elves alone, before the One was forged, and "(Sauron's) hand never touched them nor sullied them". That is why, during the Third Age when the One Ring was lost and Sauron slept, the Elves were able to use the Three (as Tolkien, through Elrond, says) for

"understanding, making, healing, to preserve all things unstained". "These things," he continues, "the Elves of Middle-earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow."

It is true that, had Sauron recovered the One, the Three would have been subject to his will, and after the One was destroyed, the Three were shorn of their power. The fate of the Elves, however, was not due to their relationship with Sauron. For the Noldorin exiles especially (such as Galadriel and Elrond's ancestors), it goes back to their rebellion against the Valar during the First Age, when they forsook the Undying Lands of the West and returned to Middle-earth in pursuit of Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, to regain the Silmarils which he had stolen. This long sad story, which has many Wagnerian elements of its own, is told in "The Silmarillion." A minor point, perhaps, but one that a Tolkien geek like myself feels required to raise.
Lee Agnew
Oklahoma City, US (Jan 13, '03)

[Forgiven_Sinner]

Bump. New comments just above this one.

[f.Christian]

bttt

[f.Christian]

bttt

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Forgiven_Sinner]

Here's a new letter from the author of this article:

from http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Letters.html

Spengler replies to readers

Thanks to Asia Times Online readers [letters below] who elaborated on the mythical pre-history of Middle-earth. My summary was truncated, and Tolkien enthusiasts might fairly raise objections. I note with pleasure that no Wagnerians yet have written to complain, validating the observation that Tolkien has taken back the Ring on behalf of the forces of light. If you prefer Wagner to Tolkien, you might be an Orc, and you should seek professional help. Regarding the story itself, it is true that Galadriel et al were exiles in Middle-earth due to their rebellion against the Valar. But as Galadriel explains to Frodo (in the chapter "Galadriel's Mirror" in The Fellowship of the Ring), the Elves love their works in Middle-earth and depart from them only with extreme reluctance. Their return to the undying West is a tragedy, not a triumph. Although Tolkien's mythology is more complex than my summary suggested, the point of my argument remains unchanged. Namaarie!
Spengler (Jan 14, '03)

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for the link and the information!

[PJ-Comix]

The music which you hear as you watch Tuco running around in circles in the cemetary until his vision melds into a sort of a golden circle is nothing more or less than a slight transmogrification of Richard Wagner's ring theme.

Tuco as a Wagnerian? Now there is something that NEVER occurred to me until now.

[merak]

Tuco as a Wagnerian? Now there is something that NEVER occurred to me until now.

I once heard a German music director explain the thinking behind the ring music in Rheingold, i.e. the manner in which the ring itself represents greed, which leads people in circles without ever getting anywhere (the ring theme thus runs in circles), and Moriccone's "Ecstasy of Gold" does precisely the same thing and works entirely the same way. The music itself wasn't copied; the thought behind it was.

[DoctorMichael]

Excellent Article.

Excellent follow-up.

If you prefer Wagner to Tolkien, you might be an Orc, and you should seek professional help.

HA!

[PJ-Comix]

The music itself wasn't copied; the thought behind it was.

My favorie music in The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly wasn't when Tuco was running in circles. It was when he was getting beaten up by Lee Van Cleefe. That was GREAT music!

[merak]

The most interesting music of those times is what is called shaped-note hymns, particularly 'Babylon' and 'Brightest and Best'.

[denydenydeny]

Indexing.