RÓMENNA MEETING REPORT
September 10, 1983
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Present: | Eileen Campbell Gordon (host)
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| Randolph Fritz
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| Alexei Kondratiev
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| Scott Kurtz
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| Lissanne Lake
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| Margaret Purdy
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We began this month's session with the reading of a short poem written
by member Fred Phillips, a greeting
in absentia to the group. We then began
our second discussion of Tuor, delving into the
Unfinished Tales chapter,
"Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin."
Tuor's early life was compared to Túrin's. Both lost their parents at an
early age as a result of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and both were brought up under
Elvish fosterage. Túrin was threatened by slavery (one of the reasons his mother
sent him away) and Tuor was actually the thrall of the Easterling Lorgan
for several years. Both also lived as outlaws. However, their reactions to
their experiences were quite different. Everything went wrong for Túrin; Tuor's
story is much more hopeful.
It was noted that there is much more "supernatural" intervention in the
tale of Tuor than in any other tale of the First Age. "Supernatural" is in
quotes because, as has been discussed before, very little happens in Middle-earth
that is supernatural in the sense of being beyond or above the nature or
natural order of Arda. What is notable in the tale of Tuor is the direct intervention
of Ulmo, who sends various signs and portents and eventually appears
in person. Such direct action by any of the Valar is not apparent in
any of the other tales.
The motif of the swan runs all through this section; Tuor's foster-father,
Annael, uses a swan as a device, Tuor has loved these birds since childhood,
seven swans are sent to lead him to Vinyamar, the shield left for him by Turgon
bears a swan-wing device, and the swans give him feathers to set in his
crest. Eileen commented that swans are big, powerful birds, ferociously territorial,
and can be really fearsome if roused; she told of an experience her
husband had with them in which he was nearly killed. They are impressive
birds. Alexei noted that the swan is associated with the shamanistic tradition,
and is the first servant of the shaman, the messenger between him and the
spirit world. The swan is often a magic bird in fairy tales. In the original
story of "The Seven Swans," the wicked queen's spell was not one to turn the
brothers into swans, but to prevent their turning back into people--they had
the shapeshifting ability naturally. There are also seven swans in Tuor's
tale. Here, of course, as magical water birds, they are associated with Ulmo.
At this point there was a digression as we tried to decide what species of
swans the seven were: mute, trumpeter, whistling, whooper, or whatever. Someone
suggested that since there were seven species of swan, it might be one of
each!
Coming back from this digression, we straightway veered off into another
one as Tuor's birth and childhood were discussed, this one on the name "Annael."
Attempts to puzzle out its meaning were inconclusive: "anna" is "gift" and",
"el" is "star," but one is Quenya and the other Sindarin, and Annael was a
Sindarin elf. It was also pointed out that Annael is the name of an angel.
The death of Rían, Tuor's mother, was discussed. After learning that her
husband Huor had been slain in the Nirnaeth, she went to the Mound of the Slain,
lay down on it and died. It was decided that this was not suicide, but rather
the willing "giving back of the Gift" of good Men of the First Age. It was
time for her to go and she went.
Tuor thus grew up with Elvish rôle-models from his earliest days. He
probably came the closest to being an Elf (by nurture) of any mortal, and it
is thus fitting that at last he was (possibly) assumed into the race of the
Eldar. He is so elflike that later in the story, he is often mistaken for
one until the other person gets close. Also, thinking like an Elf, Turgon is
a natural object of allegiance for him, as High King of the Noldor.
Other facets of Tuor are his friendship with animals (the swans of his
childhood, Lorgan's hounds refusing to chase him), which recalls Beren, and
his skill in music. Music and water are closely connected in Middle-earth,
both being symbolic of spiritual openness. Note the passage from "Ainulindalë":
"And it is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo
of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance else that is in this
Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices
of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen." This was because Ulmo was
"most deeply. . . instructed by Ilúvatar in music." [
The Silmarillion, p. 19 (Houghton Mifflin ed.)] Tuor is a skilled harpist
and singer, and his sea-longing will come up later. At this point there was
another digression as we tried to decide whether Tuor's harp had metal or gut
strings; the latter was decided upon.
It was noted that not until he has made the conscious decision to seek;
his doom is he given his first "sign": a sudden outflowing of water in response
to his music. Following the stream, he is led up to the Gate of the
Noldor, where he meets the Elves Arminas and Gelmir. They at length tell him
that yes, that dark cave really is the Gate of the Noldor for which he has
been searching. Gelmir also notes that "a great doom is written upon your
brow." Lissanne suggested facetiously that Tuor had his name inscribed in
Tengwar on his helmet and that Gelmir misread "Tuor" as "Doom." Tengwar were
scrawled in the margins of the Secretary's notebook in order to test out this
hypothesis.
At this point another idea of Lissanne's was brought up concerning Elves'
eyes. As was noted before, Tuor was often mistaken for an Elf until the other
person was close enough to see his eyes. Lissanne suggested that Elves' eyes
might resemble those of night-hunting animals or those with keen vision, in
having much larger irises and pupils than humans. An Elvish eye would thus
show almost no white, and might also shine in the dark like a cat's. That
Elves had much better night vision than Men is suggested in the text, and the
idea is reinforced by the preponderance of greys in Elvish dress.
After passing through the Gate of the Noldor, Tuor eventually comes to
the Sea, which he is the first human to see. The cry of the gulls which leads
him out of the ravine just in time (so that he is not drowned by the incoming
tide) was compared to the
Sehnsucht often mentioned by C. S. Lewis; the inconsolable
longing, sad but at the same time desirable. It is a foretaste for
the sea-longing awakened in Tuor when he finally comes to the shore of the sea,
the scene being written with much sensual imagery. This sea-longing is connected
with the Music of the Ainur, as noted earlier, and stays with Tuor all his
life.
The swans appear at this point in the story and lead Tuor to Vinyamar, the former home of Turgon. Here he is given another sign, as the sun
strikes the arms left by Turgon for Ulmo's messenger at the proper strategic
moment. Tuor takes up the arms and thus the role of the messenger. Ulmo then
appears to him in person (in another magnificently written scene) and thus
ratifies his mission to seek Turgon. It was noted that Ulmo is the only Vala
who takes an active interest in humans, other than Morgoth, that is; humans
must choose between the two.
The meeting of Tuor and Voronwë and their journey to Gondolin was gone
over rather quickly, though their crossing of paths with Túrin at the defiled
pool of Ivrin was given some attention. Túrin does not notice them, being at
this point "totally Elric," as Alexei described it. That Turin should parallel
Elric is ironic since Moorcock couldn't stand Tolkien's work. Their viewpoints
are greatly di~arate, and Moorcock found Tolkien's abhorrent (as might
Tolkien have found Moorcock's, if it comes to that). It was also pointed out
somewhere in here that Tuor dreams of Númenor, of which his descendents will
be rulers.
We came at last to the Seven Gates of Gondolin, and Tuor's journey through
them. The gates were compared to the seven stations of the ziggurat and to the
levels of initiation. The latter comparison is reinforced by Tuor's fasting
during the first stage of the initiatory climb. The progression of the first
six gates--wood, stone, bronze, iron, silver, gold--is an alchemical one, but
the seventh gate, of steel, violates this progression. The Gate of Steel was
the recent addition (since the Nirnaeth) of Maeglin, a characteristically egotistical
addition pushing above the natural order. It was suggested that decorating
the spiky seventh gate with Turgon's crown-helm was Maeglin's sneaky way
of putting his uncle's head on a pole. However, the Gate of Steel does
bring the number of gates up to the magical seven, and furthermore it makes
music, arguably more sublime even than gold. Another instance of good coming
out of evil, or simply equivocal symbolism?
There were a few linguistic digressions; it was noted that there is a
"Gondolin accent," and the name "Elemmakil" was glossed as "Star-sword" (which
prompted a glancing mention of the now-defunct TV show
Blackstar). and another
digression was made on the subject of A. Merritt. But now, having reached
the city of Gondolin at last, the story of Tuor in this version trails suddenly
off, and we were forced to do likewise.
-- reported by Margaret Purdy
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Next: October 22, 1983
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