The Lord of the Rings: Farewell to Lorien; Bits and Bobs

 

Bits and Bobs

I have noticed, particularly in this chapter, that the Fellowship is more often referred to as the Company. Is this because Gandalf is no longer with them and the Fellowship is therefore, so to speak, broken? Or does ‘the Fellowship’ refer to their league in general, and ‘the Company’ more specifically used when they are in action? Or are the terms simply interchangeable?

And speaking of words, the British spelling of ‘grey’, so often used in Lorien, always seems to me a softer ‘colour’ than ‘gray’, which evokes something dull or metallic. When you are unfamiliar, as I was when I first read The Lord of the Rings, with such English spellings, or with archaic words like ‘hythe’, and even with a slightly different system of punctuation, it can add another layer of depth, a hint of strangeness, even a mild sense of ‘otherworldliness’ to the Fantasy, more subtle than dragons or magic.

 Lembas. Alright, let’s unpack lembas for a bit. “Lembas is Sindarin for "Waybread", from the older form lenn-mbass ("journey bread"). In Quenya, it is called Coimas ("life-bread").” – The One Wiki to Rule Them All.  Gimli at first mistakes it for cram, a foodstuff rather like hardtack, already introduced in The Hobbit. Cram is described there as a tasteless “exercise in chewing” and as being “biscuitish”, i.e., “cookie-like”. Lembas as shown in the Jackson films is too fat and puffy; certainly, it would take up quite a bit of room in the packs. There also, Legolas says one bite can ’fill the belly of a man’ (a rather inelegant phrase; it reminds me of the Zimmerman treatment referring to it as 'food concentrate' ). In the books a whole piece of lembas gives enough nourishment and energy to march for a day; it does not satisfy the desire of food but strengthens and sustains.

   Is lembas square or round? Later chapters say it is a wafer (defined as ‘a very thin, light, crisp, cookie or cracker’) but does not specify the shape. The word ‘wafer’ will recall for many Catholics the image of the Eucharist, the communion wafer. The word viaticum has since the Middle Ages been applied to the Eucharist as given to a person near to or in danger of death.  Its origin is from an archaic term for ‘a supply of provisions for a journey’; viaticum is what will preserve your soul through the journey through death. Lembas quite literally preserves Frodo and Sam on a journey through death.

In the Legendarium, lembas was made for the Elves on the Great Journey from Middle-earth to Valinor from ‘corn’ (grain) sent by the Vala Yavanna from the Undying Lands itself. It’s growth and preparation was reserved for the queens or great ladies of any group of Elves. It was not a common food but given to those on journeys or to the sick, and very seldom to those other than Elves. The fact that it is the great women who are in charge of these mysteries may have something to do with the etymology of the word ‘lady’,  lafdi, lavede, from Old English hlæfdige (Northumbrian hlafdia, Mercian hlafdie), "mistress of a household, wife of a lord," apparently literally "one who kneads bread," from hlaf "bread" (see loaf (n.)) + -dige "maid," – Online Etymology Dictionary. (The word ‘lord’ is from Old English ‘hlaford’, litererally ‘loaf-ward’, i.e. ‘breadkeeper.’)

To bring things down to a personal level, when I was first reading The Lord of the Rings I thought of lembas, a wafer brown on the outside and inside the color of cream, as looking like Nilla Wafers. We also applied the term lembas to Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème Pies with their soft oaty brown outsides and their oily white filling. They were supplied to our feasts on Bilbo and Frodo’s Birthday and on the anniversary of the Destruction of the Ring. Once more, we used what we had.

The smoke in Dimrill Dale and the sounds from under the earth are, of course, indications of Gandalf’s ongoing struggles with the Balrog, though neither the Company nor first time readers are aware of its significance. We get a hint about the ‘strangeness’ of Fangorn Forest and a growing uneasiness about Boromir. The emptiness of the paths through Caras Galadon, though the sound of voices come from the trees, adds to the eeriness of the numinous place. Swans and swan-ships have a long association with Elves in the Legendarium, going at least as far back as the Telerin Elves and the burning of their swan-ships by Feanor.

An interesting part of Frodo’s perception of Galadriel is the phrase ‘as by men of later days Elves still at times are seen ‘, implying, as it does, that Elves are real and can be seen today. Tolkien uses this same device when talking about hobbits, that they have grown smaller and fewer these days.

The original Elessar (‘Elfstone’) was made in Gondolin, and was said to have been taken into the West by Earendil. Whether it was returned later (perhaps even by Gandalf when he came with the other Wizards) or a new one was made by Celebrimbor and given to Galadriel, it had the power "... that those who looked through this stone saw things that were withered or burned healed again or as they were in the grace of their youth, and that the hands of one who held it brought to all that they touched healing from hurt" and that Galadriel had used it to help preserve Lorien from fading and to ‘heal and prosper’ all things and keep them ‘fair and green.’ After she received Nenya, she gave the stone to Celebrian, who gave it to Arwen, and she to Aragorn. Aragorn later takes his royal name from it; perhaps its powers even help the prospering of his kingdom.

Legolas’ bow of the Galadhrim (‘In the first edition of The Lord of the Rings, Galadhrim was spelt Galadrim. In later editions, this was emended to the former, which Tolkien had decided was the correct Sindarin form.’ – Tolkien Gateway. I don’t know which way I’ve been spelling it before now. Maybe I’ll have to go and change it) is said to be strung with ‘elf-hair’. Whether this is literally the hair of elves (the plainest reading) or some sort of material made by the Elves, seems a bit ambiguous to me, as the elf- prefix is applied to many items. Perhaps the hair of these immortal beings is a might tougher than ordinary hair.

There is much that can be said about Galadriel’s song (titled ‘Namarie’ in The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle by Tolkien and Donald Swann – those swans again). So much, in fact, that I will speak no more of it here.