The Dark Powers of Tolkien Page 3
Nonetheless, within this shadowy world of guaranteed tragic endings, Tolkien began to cast about for a dragon appropriate to the setting of Morgoth’s evil kingdom of Angband. Tolkien required something that was brutal, murderous and filled with low cunning. He wanted something that wallowed in the pleasures of torture of mind, body and spirit. Tolkien knew exactly what he wanted and where to find it: the embodiment of something akin to the most evil of all monsters created by the collective imagination of the Germanic and Norse peoples.
Few would disagree with Tolkien when it came to his choice of dragons (and his inspiration for Glaurung): “best of all [was] the nameless North of Sigurd of the Völsungs, and the prince of all dragons”. This “prince of all dragons” was the spectacularly patricidal, fratricidal, genocidal – and deeply unpleasant – Fáfnir the fire-drake, the usurper of the cursed golden treasure of the (mysterious and extinct) Nibelungs.
In Tolkien’s creation of Glaurung, we have a match in evil with Fáfnir. For beyond dragon-fire and serpent-strength, Glaurung has more subtle powers: the keenest eyesight, the greatest sense of hearing and smell. He is a serpent of great cunning and cleverness, but his intelligence – like that of all his race in Norse and Germanic legends – has the flaws of vanity, gluttony, greed and deceit. Indeed, all of Tolkien’s Dragons are – like their mythical ancestors – the embodiment of the chief evils of Elves, Men and Dwarves, and so are resolute in their destruction of those races. Tolkien acknowledged that he first encountered Fáfnir as a child, in Andrew Lang’s The Red Fairy Book (1890). This included “The Story of Sigurd”, a condensed version of William Morris and Eiríkur Magnússon’s translation of the Old Norse Völsunga saga, a tale that would fuel his imagination for the rest of his life. This early enthusiasm not only led to his study of Norse and Germanic literature and language – the focus of his life as a scholar – but also inspired his first serious attempt, aged 22, as the creator of his own original stories.
Fáfnir, Tolkien’s “Prince of All Dragons”
Those early compositions – drafted long before a glimmer of a Hobbit or a Ring Lord entered his mind – resulted in Tolkien’s creation of his own full-blooded, fire-breathing monster. The life and death of Glaurung the Deceiver is the tale of a powerful and original character central to The Silmarillion posthumously published some 60 years later. It is a tale very much inspired by the Völsunga saga; however, in many ways the portrayal and characterization of this Father of Dragons is much more nuanced and complex than his ancient model.
In Tolkien’s tale, the Dragon-slayer is Túrin Turambar, who in many aspects of his life resembles the cursed hero Kullervo from the Finnish epic The Kalevala. However, most obviously, Túrin shares many of the characteristics and adventures of Sigurd, the Norse hero of the Völsunga saga. Their guile and battle tactics are certainly comparable. For just as Túrin plunged his sword Gurthang into Glaurung’s soft underbelly in the slaying of the “Father of Dragons”, so Sigurd plunged his sword Gram into Fáfnir’s soft underbelly in the slaying of the “Prince of All Dragons”.
DRAUGLUIN, “FATHER OF WEREWOLVES”
The belief in lycanthropy and vampirism is as ancient as the human race: there are records of these traditions as far back as ancient Egypt. The transformation of humans to animals and animals to humans has been a part of every shamanistic culture. There was a cult dedicated to Zeus Lycaeus (the Wolf) in Arcadia even in the enlightened age of Socrates.
Of all of Morgoth’s “creatures that walked in wolf-shape” upon Middle-earth, the first was Draugluin, the Father of Werewolves. The name Draugluin in Sindarin means “Blue Wolf”, in reference to the colour of his coat. He appears to have been a Maia spirit corrupted and chosen by Morgoth to become the Lord of the Werewolves of Angband and the eventual sire of all the Werewolves of Middle-earth. In Beleriand, he dwelt in the tower of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the “Isle of Werewolves”, along with Morgoth’s mighty lieutenant, Gorthaur the Cruel, another corrupted Maia spirit who in the Second Age would gain even greater fame as Sauron, the Lord of the Rings.
Draugluin, the “Father of Werewolves”
Throughout the Middle Ages, there was a widespread belief in vampires, who took the form of bats to suck blood from their human victims. Elements of these traditions found their way into Tolkien’s world in those evil beings that assume the form of giant vampire bats. Like Werewolves, these creatures – in both traditional folklore and Tolkien – are skin-changers who can also take on human or bat form and fly under cover of darkness to suck blood from their sleeping victims. The greatest of these in Tolkien is Thuringwethil, the “Woman of Secret Shadows”, who also inhabited the haunted tower of Tol-in-Gauroth.
In the Quest of the Silmaril, the horrific Werewolf-haunted dungeon of Tol-in-Gauroth, where Lúthien’s lover, Beren, is held prisoner, owes something of its inspiration to the Norse Völsunga saga, in which the enchantress Signy wins her brother Sigmund’s freedom from a similar werewolf-haunted dungeon.
Draugluin is also the sire of the gigantic Carcharoth, meaning “Red Maw”. Reared on living flesh by the hand of Morgoth, Carcharoth is the unsleeping guardian of the Gates of Angband. Considered the greatest of his race, Carcharoth is comparable to guardians of the gates to other mythological underworlds, such as the Norse Garm, the gigantic guardian hound of Helheim. However, as Tolkien acknowledged, the Quest of the Silmaril was patterned on the Greek myth of Orpheus's descent into the Underworld to retrieve Eurydice, only with the male and female roles reversed. In the Greek legend, instead of Carcharoth, we have Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed watchdog, as the unsleeping guardian at the gates of Hades.
Thuringwethil, the “Woman of Secret Shadows”
Werewolves of Tol-in-Gaurhoth
Carcharoth, the Wolf of Angband
In Tolkien’s tale, the quest, like that of Orpheus and Eurydice, also fails at the last hurdle. By the power of Lúthien’s enchantment, the lovers gain entry to Angband and seize the Silmaril but, tragically, Carcaroth wakes before the lovers can make their escape. Then, like the Norse legend of Fenrir, in which the Father of Wolves bites off the hand of the god Tyr, Carcharoth bites off Beren’s hand and swallows both the hand and the Silmaril in its grip. In the end, after a great hunt, Carcharoth, like his mighty sire, Draugluin, meets his fate in the jaws of Huan, the wolfhound of the Valar. In that final struggle, Huan slays and is slain by Carcharoth.
ULFANG, THE BLACK EASTERLING
Just as the Elves first come to be with the Rekindling of the Stars, so Men arise when the first Sun appears in sky above the eastern lands of Middle-earth. Unlike Elves, Men are mortal and, even by the measure of Dwarves, short-lived. Men who remain in the east of Middle-earth live longest under the shadow of Morgoth the Enemy. These mostly tribal peoples are collectively known as “Easterlings” (a translation of the Quenya Romenildi, meaning “East-Men”) and are largely aligned with the forces of darkness.
The East in Tolkien’s writing is both a geographic reality in Middle-earth and an evocation of the real history of the Eurasian continent, and in particular the so-called Migration Period, which occurred approximately AD 300–700. Migrating tribes first settled western Europe; then, over the centuries, wave after wave of nomadic nations invaded, or were beaten back on its eastern frontiers. The same is true in the history of Tolkien’s world. Easterlings in Middle-earth are a constant threat to the kingdoms of the West.
Ulfang, the Black Easterling
Easterlings enter Beleriand in the fifth century of the First Age. These are initially known to the Elves as the “Swarthy Men”, as they are dark-haired and dark-skinned and short in stature, but strong-armed and thick-chested. Ulfang the Black is one of the great Easterling chieftains who leads his people into Beleriand in that time. He has something of an historical precedent in the great Germanic chieftain Armanius (Hermann), who swore allegiance to Rome and took up arms in its defence. Similarly, Ulfang and his sons Ulfast, Ulwath and Uldor swear allegiance to the Eldar and take up arms in defence of Beleriand. However, just as Armanius and his people were secretly in league with the East Germanic barbarian tribes, so Ulfang and his people are secretly in league with the Eastern barbarian tribes of Morgoth. Armanius’s betrayal of the Romans in the midst of the historic Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 BC resulted in the near-annihilation of three Roman legions. This is comparable to Ulfang’s betrayal of the Elves in the midst of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears in FA 472, which results in the annihilation of the Elvish army.
Apart from the Elvish translation of Ulfang as “hideous beard”, his epithets “Ulfang the Black” or “Ulfang the Swart” may also offer clues to Ulfang’s future betrayal of the Elves. In Norse myth, the greatest of the fire giants is Surtr, whose name literally means “the Black” or “the Swarthy One”. Like Surtr the Swarthy One, who led his own swarthy “sons of Muspell” into a battle against the army of the gods of Midgard, so Ulfang the Swart leads his sons and his Easterling “Swarthy Men” into battle against the armies of the Elves of Middle-earth. And yet, Surtr and the “sons of Muspell” – like Ulfang and his Easterling sons – gain nothing with t
heir victory, for they all meet their own end on the battlefield on that same day. In both his interpretation of Norse myth and in his own writing, Tolkien maintained the moral perspective that evil is nothing but the absence of good. That is, evil in itself is essentially nothing. So the victory of evil can ultimately result only in self-annihilation.
Easterling “Swarthy Men” of Beleriand
ANCALAGON, THE WINGED FIRE-DRAKE
As Tolkien acknowledged, the First Age comes to its cataclysmic end in “a final battle which owes, I suppose, more to the Norse vision of Ragnarök than to anything else”. Ragnarök is to be the final battle in the war between the gods and the giants that ends with the destruction of Midgard. This is comparable to the Great Battle in the War of Wrath between the Valar and Morgoth that ends with the destruction of Beleriand. And just as the final battle of Ragnarök will begin with the sounding of the Horn of Heimdall, the Watchman of the Gods, so Tolkien’s Great Battle begins with the blast of the Horn of Eönwë, the Herald of the Valar. At its sounding, the fiery demons, the Balrogs, join the final battle in the War of Wrath with their whips and flaming swords, just as the fire giants of Muspelheim will join in the last battle in Ragnarök with fire and flaming swords. In both great battles, all the legions of good and evil – and all creatures, spirits, demons and beasts – meet in one final, terrible conflict.
In Tolkien’s version of Ragnarök, Morgoth releases one last great horror. This is Ancalagon the Black, the first and greatest of a vast legion of Winged Fire-Drakes. Ancalagon is the greatest dragon to ever enter the world. “Rushing Jaws” is the meaning of his name, and in his ravening majesty he looses terrible withering fire down from the heavens.
The attack of Ancalagon in the Great Battle has precedence in the Old Norse poem Völuspá’s account of the Norse Ragnarök, in which there is “the flying dragon, glowing serpent” known as Nithhog (meaning “malice striker”), a flying monster that emerged from the dark underworld of Niflheim. And then, too, in the Prose Edda’s account of Ragnarök, we also have Jörmungandr, the world serpent, rising up with the giants and monsters to do battle with the gods, and bringing about the destruction of the world.
It is also worth noting that the appearance of Ancalagon in Tolkien’s Great Battle may owe some of its inspiration to the New Testament’s account of the war in heaven fought between the angelic forces of good and evil. Instead of an ultimate duel between Eärendil the Mariner and Ancalagon the Black Dragon, we have, in the Book of Revelation, a duel between the Archangel Michael and the “Red Dragon”:
“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
Winged Fire-drakes in the War of Wrath
And so, just as the Red Dragon’s downfall marked Satan’s defeat, so the Black Dragon’s downfall marks the defeat of Morgoth in Middle-earth. The Host of the West prevails, and with the uprooting and destruction of Angband, Morgoth is discovered cowering in its deepest pits. No mercy or forgiveness is now granted to the Dark Enemy in this final defeat, and he is cast forever after into the darkness of the Eternal Void.
Ancalagon the Black departing in the War of Wrath
A Great Eagle of Manwë attacks a Winged Dragon of Morgoth in the final battle of the War
SAURON THE
RING LORD IN
THE SECOND
AGE
THE SECOND AGE OF THE SUN
SAURON, “DARK LORD OF MORDOR”
In Norse and Icelandic mythology, after the great battle of Ragnarök that resulted in the total destruction of Midgard, the prophetic Eddic poem Völuspá foretold of a great gold-roofed hall in the shining mountain kingdom of Gimli (meaning “fire-shelter”) where survivors of the cataclysm would find refuge. This was a new Valhalla conceived by the Völuspá poet, which appears to have Christian overtones in the idea of the reward of the righteous and saving them from the fires of Muspelheim. In Tolkien’s version of Ragnarök – the Great Battle in the War of Wrath – the kingdoms and lands of Beleriand sink beneath the waves of the Western Sea. But, unlike the survivors of the Ragnarök, the destruction of their homelands forces the survivors of the War of Wrath eastward where new kingdoms of the Elves and Edain are founded in Lindon and Eriador between the sea and the Misty Mountains. And, unlike the prophetic vision of Gimli, these lands are not entirely inhabited by the “righteous”. Among the refugees of the war are many of Morgoth’s creatures and followers, who fled and hid deep in the earth and in the roots of the mountains of Middle-earth.
Gauthaur the Cruel (Sauron)
The greatest of these is Sauron the Cruel – or Sauron Gorthaur, meaning “Dread Abomination” – who in the Second Age arises to become the new Dark Lord of Middle-earth. In his creation of the figure of Sauron, Tolkien drew on a wealth of ring legends and myths – Celtic, Greek, German, Finnish and Norse among them. The tales with the strongest associations with those of Sauron as Lord of the Rings are the myths and legends of the Vikings, and, in particular, those tales related to their supreme god, Odin.
God, sorcerer, warlord, ring lord, transformer, necromancer – no figure in mythology more closely resembles Sauron than the Norse god Odin. Odin’s desire for dominion over Midgard matches Sauron’s thirst for dominion over Middle-earth. Their ambitions are identical: to gain control of a magical all-powerful ring – the One Ring in the case of Sauron and Draupnir for Odin. Just as the forging of the One Ring and the Rings of Power requires the combined talents of Sauron and the Elven-smiths of Celebrimbor in Eriador, so the forging of Draupnir requires the combined skills of Odin and the dwarven-smiths Sindri and Brokkr. Just as Sauron’s One Ring controlled all the other Rings of Power on the hands of sorcerers and kings throughout Middle-earth, so Draupnir dripped eight other rings on every ninth day, to be bestowed by Odin on sorcerers and kings throughout Midgard as a way of binding them to his will.
The Master of the One Ring wished to become like Eru the One in Middle-earth, usurping his life-creating authority and power. As far as this ambition is concerned, there seems to be a hint of Mary Shelley’s Baron von Frankenstein about Tolkien’s evil sorcerers Morgoth and Sauron. Like the baron, their usurpation of God’s power can produce only counterfeit beings like Orcs and Trolls that are a mere imitation of life. However, unlike the baron’s unnamed creature, who strives to adopt a virtuous nature, bettering himself by mirroring the humans he encounters, the sorcerers’ Orcs and Trolls are creatures that are by their very nature without a moral conscience and without free will.
On Middle-earth “buried evil began to stir”
And so in the Second Age these monstrous hordes creep out of their places of hiding and gather about their new Dark Lord in his mountain kingdom of Mordor.
Flies of Mordor: Sauron’s evil touches even the smallest things.
ANNATAR, “LORD OF GIFTS”
In the beginning, Sauron was not numbered among the rebel Maiar. His name was Mairon, meaning “the Admirable”, and was a Maia of Aulë, the Smith of the Valar, who has an exact counterpart in the Greek god Hephaestos the Smith – the Roman Vulcan. As an apprentice to Aulë the Smith, Sauron gained such deep knowledge of fire and forge that in the Second Age, as the new Dark Lord of Middle-earth, he is able to forge Rings of Power. Appearing in the fair and “admirable” form of Annatar, “Lord of Gifts”, Sauron is also able to seduce and corrupt the Elves of Eriador with his knowledge.