Sunday, February 22

Tolkien again.

Tolkien was very big on certain classes of being simply being created superior to others. It perhaps reflects his belief in men, angels, and God. At any rate, there is a strong hierarchy implied in his writings, and for a being, even a hero, to defeat someone from a class "above" him or her was virtually unheard of in his writings, as if it would upset the natural order of creation or that there were just vast gulfs between the power of his creations that such a feat was practically unthinkable. Yet it did happen, on rare occasion. Based on my readings of the History of Middle Earth and The Silmarillion, this seems to be the order I would put his classes of created folk in, from Eru (God, essentially), to the lowliest common man.

An important note: Some denizens of Arda simply do not fit into this scheme. Where would one put the ents? Or the Beornings? Or wildlife like wargs? What about vampires and demonic dogs like Carcaroth, or werewolves? These made appearances in First-Age tales but were never fleshed out enough to give the reader any idea of their origin or nature. Where they living being corrupted? Or were the animated constructs of Morgoth? That skews the picture considerably. Likewise, dragons are not listed for although indeed mighty, they were only ever as mighty as the animating force invested in them (again, usually by Morgoth). It was said they "bred" but it was also said they were without souls. So constructs - creatures controlled by another and in thrall to that entity, possessing so soul and no will of their own in a sense - do not make the list. I've added trolls and giants to this group but I'm not firm in my opinion. If orcs have free will, as corrupted elves, what about these other monstrous humanoids? The text to my knowledge just does not say. It's possible that Aulë, having nothing better to do after being chastised for his creation of the dwarved, tinkered around later and formed these being of stone, but did not attempt to imbue them with an independent spirit. Who knows. 

The great spiders, children of Ungoliant, are not on the list because they ranged from Ungoliant herself, who literally extinguished light with her presence and of whom even Morgoth himself was wary, down through Shelob and to the certainly menacing, but quite killable, spiders of Mirkwood. We don't know the origins of Ungoliant; she is a mystery, and thus must be left on any authoritative list.

About the Ainur who remained with Eru in the void and did not enter Arda (the overwhelming majority, it's implied), we know little. Were they mighty like the Valar? Mightier? More modest in power like the Maiar? There's simply no way of telling, and sine they don't come into the story after the creation tale, I've left the matter unresolved as I think it must be.

Lastly, Tom Bombadil and Goldberry remain utter enigmas and I've made no effort to insert them in this hierarchy whatsoever. I think Tolkien would have smiled knowing I chose not to even try.

Now then, from most to least mighty, here are the denizens of the world of Arda:

Eru/Illuvatar
The 'Powers' *
Lesser Valar *
Maiar *
Vanyar **
Noldor **
Teleri **
Sindar **
Avani **
Numenorians ***
Edain ***
Dunedain ***
Dwarves ****
Uruk-Hai ******
Rohirrim ***
PettyDwarves ****
Olog Hai ******
Stoors *****
Hobbits *****
Wose/WildMen ***
CommonMen ***

* Collectively, Ainur
** Collectively, Elves
*** Collectively, Men
**** Collectively, Dwarves
***** Collectively, Halflings
****** Collectively, Orcs

I hope this list is pretty self-explanatory. One could quibble with some of my choices in the bottom half of the list, where it's not as clear cut. I think it's much harder to prove me wrong in the top half.

A few notes: Valaraukar (Balrogs), Istari (Wizards), Sauron, and possibly some other beings possessing souls and which appeared in the tales are all in their original nature Maiar, servents of the great Valar. That is why they seem to be absent from the list, but "maiar" covers the lot of them.

If you have questions, agreements, disagreements, want to point out that I've completely missed some race or other, or have anything to add or comment on, please feel free to add to the comments section.
Posted by Metamatician on Sunday, February 22, 2009

3 comments:

Metamatician said...

If anyone would like examples of actual characters in the books that represent these categories, I'd be happy to oblige. Or the reverse: List your favourite characters and I will tell you what class of being they fall into.

February 22, 2009
Unknown said...

Which Elves are which? Are they separated by 'tribe/clan' (what do you call a group of Elves anyway?) or age? Legolas, Elrond, Galadriel for example, are they different classes of Elf or the same?

February 22, 2009
Metamatician said...

Those three are totally different. Legolas is an Avani, or woodland elf. True, he is the crown-prince among his people, which must be frustrating when your dad is immortal (remember the elvenking Thranduil in The Hobbit, whose soldiers captured Bilbo and the dwarves in Mirkwood, who then had to escape by riding the empty wine barrels down the River Running, and on into Lake-Town (Esgaroth)? Well that was Legolas' pops). These elves, though mightier than men or hobbits, were nevertheless the least mighty of all elves. Yet they are seen quite a bit in the books (and movies) because most of the more noble and powerful elves have already left Middle Earth by the third age, having grown weary of it.

Elrond is a mixed breed, with actually a very complex lineage. He is often referred to as Elrond Half-elven, since he is roughly half elf and half man, but early in his days chose to destiny of an elf, unlike his twin brother Elros, who chose humankind, and thus dies, but not before establishing a long line of very powerful, long-lived humans known as Númenóreans, who grew so mighty in the Second Age that their fleets dominated all the seas, they defeated Sauron and his allies, coming to the aid of elves and normal men who lived in Middle-Earth, and had their own island, Númenór, which had an enormously vast white tower (the one in Gondor was made as a pale reconstruction of it much later) and used palatiri, or seeing stones, to communicate with one another (once such stone is seen in the movies, one which Saruman has captured and which had a connection to Sauron's own palantir. Nevertheless, the Númenóreans grew a bit too powerful and ambitious, even greedy, and wanted more than mortal lifespan, prolonged though it was to nearly 300 years. They rashly tried to fight the valar and other truly immortal beings in the undying lands of Aman and Tol Eressëa, and were destroyed utterly and their island sunk beneath an enormous tsunami. There were some survivors, though, those who did not follow the great but avaricious king Ar-Pharazôn but instead saw what was about to unfold and escaped on ships to take refuge in Middle-Earth. These were the minority, but were still formidable enough to set up the twin Kingdoms of Arnor in the northwest and Gondor in the southeast, where they held dominion over the regular men of Middle-Earth and built great cities like Osgiliath and Minas Anor (later Minas Tirith). Elendil and his son Isildur were of this noble line, and ruled the two fiefdoms as kings. Sauron rose to power once more, having escaped the destruction of Númenór, and built up another mighty army from his stronghold in Mordor, also seizing the Gondorian town of Minas Ithil, when it became known as Minas Morgul, 'Tower of Wraiths,' for therein lived the Witch-King and his kind.

Elendil and his folk were proud and mighty, but they could not defeat Sauron alone, so The Last Alliance of Elves and Men was established (remember the prologue to the first movie?) where Gil-Galad, the King of all elves still remaining on Middle-Earth (though not the oldest), his lieutenant Elrond (yes, the same one, those his brother Elros had long since died), Elendil, his son Isildur, and all their respective people came forth in a mighty host to besiege Mordor, the dark tower Barad-dûr, and finally lured Sauron himself into open combat, whereupon he was inexplicably defeated by the combination of Elendil and Isildul, who cut the Ring from his finger, failed to destroy it, and lost it in the River Anduin for Smeagol to later find.

Gil-Galad was slain in the battle, and Elrond was left with the choice of claiming lordship of the elves of Middle Earth (save a few). This he chose not to do, but rather to retreat to his home in Imladris (Rivendell) to leave in peace and study the ways of the world. The elves that remained, therefore, either left West over the sea or return to their forests, caves, or whatever realms from which they had been summoned, and to live largely without overall leadership. Thranduil and his woodelves (Legolas had not yet been born, but soon would be) were one such group.

I have simplified Elrond's very complex lineage here; he was actually something line 9/16 elven, both Sindarin and Noldor, a good part human, both Edain and "common" (which I won't explain here), and a bit of Maia from his great-great grandmother Melian, mother of Lúthien, said to be the fairest elf who ever lived.

Also of interest is the fact that Aragorn, himself of Númenórean descent and a direct descendent of Isildur, is thus blood-related to Elrond in the sense that he is descendent originally from Elros, Elrond's brother who chose an extended human life, though many, many generations passed on that side before Aragorn was ever born. When he was, he was taken into the care of Elrond and raised by him like a father, and eventually married Arwen, who was technically a distant cousin of his.

Lastly, you asked about Galadriel. Galadriel is a noldorin elf from the first age, the oldest elf in all of Middle-Earth save only Círdan the Shipwright, who ruled the Gray Havens in Lindon as king of the teleri (sea-elves, roughly). Galdriel's kin were some of the mightiest elves who ever lived; she was related to Lúthien and to Fëanor, probably the greatest (in power, if not in nobility) of any elf in the legendarium, who forged the Silmarils which captured the light the of the two trees which lit the world before the sun and the moon had been made, and who made war upon Morgoth unceasingly until he was felled. Galdriel was literally the daughter of a king of the noldor, and niece to several others, and she had vanyar blood in her as well (another story), which gave her her golden-silver hair, very unusual for an elf; almost all elves (except for the vanyar) in Tolkien's works - yes, even Legolas - had raven-dark locks. Galadriel was also unusual in that she was born in Valinor in Aman under the light of the trees, and only during Fëanor's war with Morgoth did she cross over the Helcaraxe (a land of glaciers and ice) to Middle-Earth (then called Beleriand) with a great host of other noldorin elves, to recover the silmarils which Morgoth had stolen. Along the way, in their lust to reclaim the jewels, some of the noldor participated in a kinslaying of their cousins the teleri, or sea-elves, who would not lend them their boats voluntarily for they knew what destruction was to arise from such a crazy quest and that Morgoth could never be defeated.

Galadriel's hands were clean of this kinslaying, but nevertheless she fell under the 'doom of the noldor,' proclaimed by the Vala Mandos, who foretold that every noldo man or woman who sought the silmarils should come to a tragic end. And so it was - but Galadriel gave up the quest, fled, met a sindarin elf named Celeborn, and they took up queen and kingship over the forest of Lórien, which was habitated mostly by Avani (wood-elves) and sindar (grey-elves). She was therefore the most powerful and noble of all elves after the Firt Age had passed who remained in Middle-Earth, for in her shame over the bloody deeds of her kinsfolk, she could not bring herself to return to Valinor to ask the valar for forgiveness. She remained Queen of Lothlórien through out the end of the First Age, right through to the end of the Third Age, a period of over 10,000 years. She is easily the mightiest of all the elves encountered in the Lord of the Rings.

One last note. The "three rings for elven-kings" wrought by Celebrimbor in collusion with Sauron (who was in the guise of a wise, benevolent smith, naturally), were originall given to Galadriel, Gil-Galad, and Círdan, the three most powerfelt and wisest elves living in Middle-Earth at the time. Galadriel wore Nenya, the ring of water. Gil-Galad took Vilya, the ring of air. Círdan took Narya, the ring of fire. These rings allowed their wearers many powers, such as protection from the probing mind of the Enemy, the ability to sense the other Rings of power, and the power of communication by thought alone over any distance between the wearers of the three. They also prevented or greatly prolonged the 'fading' experienced by other elves who remained too long on mortal shores. Thus is a sense, they were as addicting, one might say, as the One Ring, for they conferred eternal youth, not just life. When Gil-Galad died, Vilya passed on to Elrond. Círdan willingly gave his ring to Mithrandir (Gandalf) when he arrived in Middle-Earth early in The Third Age to oppose Sauron; Círdan, having like Elrond the gift of limited foresight, could see that Galdalf would need its power more than he.

Thus at the end of the tale we see, leaving the Grey Havens for the Undying Lands, Gandalf (a maia), Galadriel (mostly Noldo), and Elrond (a bloody great mix of races but primarily Sindarin), each adorned with their rings, which have ceased to have any power with the destruction of the One.

The preceding is obviously a super-simplification on many things, but will have to do as an answer to your question.

Finally, the rough meaning in Westron (the common tongue of men) of the various elven races:

Vanyar: High-elves.
Noldor: Smith-elves.
Teleri: Sea-elves.
Sindar: Grey-elves.
Avani: Wood-elves or Wild-elves.

And that is pretty much how they ranked in power as well.

Sorry in advance for any typos or dropped words, I don't have the patience to proofread this!

February 22, 2009

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