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COMING OF AGE: CHANGES OF HEART

Growth and enlightenment in "The Lord of the Rings"

This paper was given at the Tolkien Society Seminar "The Change of Ages" held in Bristol, July 2000.

Thinking about this year’s Seminar subject, and also about Patrick Curry’s excellent speech at the AGM, it occurred to me that we all encounter changes as we go through our lives, either significant or subtle; and so do many of the characters in the Lord of the Rings. I thought it might be interesting to look at some of these—and I hope you think so too.

I propose to cover the nine characters of the Fellowship, some more briefly than others. Of course there are other major characters whose lives change profoundly as a result of the War of the Ring: for example both Eowyn and Arwen have their lives irrevocably changed when they marry, and the Elves, Galadriel and Elrond, leave Middle-earth behind them for ever when they cross the Sea. But for now I will confine myself to the Fellowship, trying to hold back on my tendency to run on at far too much length when discussing Tolkien’s work. I shall look at each of these characters in turn, noting some of the external changes they encounter, and examining how these serve to develop their characters. For many, one particular change will mark a “coming of age” where they attain their mature powers. Some, without such a watershed, learn to modify their beliefs; while for others, the “coming of age” is twisted into evil, or too late.

Gandalf, de facto the leader of the fellowship, is not human; he is a maia, an angelic spirit sent to Middle-earth to aid its peoples against the Enemy. For many authors, this would go far to circumscribe, even prohibit character development. Gandalf, however, while certainly possessed of supernatural powers, is at first all too human in many ways, since he is incarnated in human form in order to understand the hearts and minds of those with whom he must deal. Though his outward appearance of age is in many ways deceptive, the weariness of his long labours has brought him many of the faults of old age: irascibility, impatience, forgetfulness. He does his best, but he works almost alone at a monumental task; not for him the luxury of quiet contemplation in an ivory (or basalt) tower, with minions to do his bidding and bring tidings from every quarter. Gandalf, like Saruman, might have had these things, if he had been prepared to give a little flattery and service to powerful rulers. But  “Gandalf Stormcrow”1   these call him, as he goes about the business of learning and telling what they are loth to hear. Prepared to give pleasure to simple folk with his fireworks, he has no time to spend massaging the egos of such as Denethor. Gandalf may be pardoned for leaving this to Saruman, obviously far more suited to the task, since he believes Saruman to be working on his side. After narrowly escaping the traitor’s clutches, he knows he must work by himself: two Istari are lost in the East, one become an enemy, and the remaining one withdrawn into the Wild, reclusive and virtually useless in the struggle. It is, frankly, rather too much for Gandalf to cope with, and he is lucky not to lose the Ringbearer before he reaches Rivendell.

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First published in Mallorn [journal of the Tolkien Society] #39