Word Count: 3,601

Overcoming the Image: Humanizing Fantasy

By: Devon Cozad

In the post-war world Tolkien knew, fantasy seldom had dignity. Reality had been made all too clear, and while people sought for an escape, their usual flights of fancy no longer suited their world. It was Professor J.R.R Tolkien who took it upon himself to give England and it’s people a mythology all their own, but instead of gathering and presenting readers with the traditional concepts of English fairy tales, Tolkien took fantasy and gave it a new life with a new dignity. Elves and fairy creatures were no longer the diminutive little imps of Shakespeare with flowers fashioned as hats and insects for their steeds, but convincing characters with histories, cultures, and languages of their very own. Each creature that Tolkien crafted came from a rich world, given such detail that the reader must at some level question if it all truly existed at some time. Tolkien managed to incorporate the traditional elements of the fairy tale into his grand story of Middle Earth while overcoming an image of fairies that, while popular, did not suit his tale.

The images of fairies that flew throughout the minds of adults and children alike were the first great obstacle for Tolkien to overcome. A great challenge it was, more than anything, for when telling a lengthy fantasy story, surely his audience would expect the typical cast of fairies with pointed ears and unicorns. Tolkien, however, was not going to extend this courtesy entirely, and for a very good reason. At some point, all lovers of J.R.R. Tolkien will hear of the contempt he held for the great playwright William Shakespeare, a surprising statement from someone whose love for language and literature knew no bounds. Tolkien, though, felt rightly justified in his contempt, believing Shakespeare almost directly responsible for the “debasement” of the English concept of fairy folk. He, Tolkien believed, was largely responsible for this great challenge he was faced with. These sentiments were expressed quite clearly, as seen in a written letter:

“…I now deeply regret having used Elves, though this is a word in ancestry and original meaning suitable enough. But the disastrous debasement of this word, in which Shakespeare played an unforgivable part, has really overloaded it with regrettable tones, which are too much to overcome.”

Shakespeare, whom he, “disliked cordially” (Tolkien 213), had become so popular throughout the years that his rather original views of fairies (most famously found in his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream) became canon. And it certainly did not help that Shakespeare’s ideas of all things fairy were fun and attractive, sometimes even scandalous. Small beings with menial tasks such as hanging dewdrops from flowers were light-hearted and well suited for a children’s tale, while the incredible small being of Queen Mab, spoken of by Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, was enchanting. Queen Mab, though, turns dark and seductive towards the end of Mercutio’s speech. This extra charm called out to the adults.

Credit must be given to the Bard, though, as he was being original with his ideas. As Briggs points out in The Anatomy of Puck, the concept of insects as steeds to a hazelnut shell carriage was never seen before in fairy lore, something that Shakespeare’s audience no doubt picked up on, and liked. Previous to this speech, any steeds ever mentioned with the fairy folk were regular horses, or fairy horses that almost resembled the malignant kelpies (Briggs Fairies 91). Even when the beings themselves were rather small, their modes of transportation were quite normal, though shrunken. Queen Mab’s speech also paints her as a being of incredible smallness, yet another charm to Shakespeare’s ideas of fairy.

Tolkien, however, found these original takes on fairies anything but enchanting. In his essay On Fairy Tales, Tolkien believes that,

“The diminutive being, elf or fairy, is (I guess) in England largely a sophisticated product of literary fancy. It is perhaps not unnatural that in England, the land where the love of the delicate and fine has often reappeared in art, fancy should in this matter turn towards the dainty and diminutive…Yet I suspect that this flower-and-butterfly minuteness was also a product of “rationalization,” which transformed the glamour of Elfland into mere finesse, and invisibility into a fragility that could hide in a cowslip or shrink behind a blade of grass… In any case it was largely a literary business in which William Shakespeare…played a part.”

“Literary fancy,” Tolkien knew, that he would have no part in promoting. But as Curry points out, Tolkien was not the only one who felt that England needed to advance past these frilly tales. In 1910, E.M. Forster wrote:

“Why has not England a great mythology? Our folklore has never advanced beyond daintiness, and the greater melodies about our countryside have all issued from the pipes of Greece. Deep and true as the native imagination can be, it seems to have failed here. It has stopped with the witches and fairies…”

Tolkien also laid the blame on this stop of the imagination on the Norman occupation, which began in 1066. Because of the incredible brutality of this invasion, England lost much of it’s own culture and history. Indeed, most of the fairy concepts are Celtic, so not even the fantastical traditions of the storytellers were truly English. Here begins Tolkien’s endeavor to bestow England with something he hoped would be truly English.

Tolkien drew upon Norse and early Anglo-Saxon mythology largely for the creation of his elves, a variety far more dignified in that the beings presented were spiritual and noble. Tolkien elves are human-sized, beautiful in appearance, but still very close to that of a human. There is great debate on whether or not their ears were pointed (Dunkerson), though it is safe to say that for the sake of popular visions of the race, they are. This is in stark contrast to Shakespeare, who drew upon a bit of Celtic lore while mixing it with stories exchanged in the English countryside (Johnston 10). Tolkien’s nobility was something far more suited for the realm of Middle Earth that he had crafted. Certainly a terribly small, impish creature would hold no real ground in a serious fantasy work.

But before true condemnation can be delivered upon these creatures born of the Bard, there are certain points that must be acknowledged. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the most famous play by Shakespeare that features the fairy folk (it is important to note that the words ‘fairy’ and ‘elf’ in Shakespeare’s works are interchangeable). However, it is incredibly important to understand first that this play was written for comedic purposes, and is by no means meant to be taken seriously, unlike Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and other works. With that in mind, the portrayal of the fairy folk must be taken in consideration with the genre. Some critics find the contrast of the two unfair because of this essential difference, but looking at things from Tolkien’s perspective, it adds to the infamous “debasement” of the fairies. It even furthers the point to say that, as Johnston points out, Shakespeare never uses fairies in his more serious works, giving more comedic value to the fairies when they did appear.

Not only is this a battle between comedy and fiction, but prose and drama. Shakespeare was writing for a live audience that needed to be kept entertained. If they had come to see a comedy, then surely using a fairy for mischief would keep them engaged. Tolkien, however, was writing in a world torn by war, one of which he had seen and fought in. People did not yearn for silly fairies bouncing around in flower caps; those were things of children’s stories. People needed to be given a dignified tale with believable characters faced with a conflict that they would ultimately overcome. The fantastical creatures Tolkien revived from old stories needed to be changed with the times, given worlds, histories, languages, and cultures of their own. Entertaining the reader became more arduous than keeping peasants from throwing fruit, as the reader would have to be kept engaged throughout several books brimming with in-depth detail.

But being a good medievalist, Tolkien was not about to completely disregard Shakespeare or the traditional elements brought into his plays. After all, whether or not he approved of Shakespeare did not take away from the fact that Shakespeare’s plays are on the same intellectual level as traditional stories. He would draw from the classics, but manipulate them to fit his own needs, reflecting them but at the same time deviating. It is here where we examine where Tolkien brought in the traditional concepts that even Shakespeare used, first looking at the very basic concept of the Fairy Queen.

Galadriel (though not referred to as a Queen, her role in Lothlorien is the equivalent) is really the most refined elven character we the reader will encounter throughout the trilogy, and so is the perfect figure to represent the dignity Tolkien brought to the elves. As enchanted figures in Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythology are, the figure of Galadriel is meant to be a spiritual, awe-inspiring character, and can be portrayed as a true leader. This is not only for her people, but also to the Fellowship who find themselves under her hospitality. Shakespeare’s Titania is also the same fair figure, and though her role is more of a comical one as she falls in love with an ass-headed Bottom, she still falls into the same mold as the beautiful, desired Fairy Queen that came before even her story was told.

The fashion in which the surrounding characters interact and meet with the Fairy Queen brings the older English Fairytale elements into Tolkien’s work as well. Examining Shakespeare first, we see that Shakespeare took other elements that were already accepted as typical of fairy lore and incorporated them into the setting of the wood’s fairy’s kingdom within his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The concept of entering the land of Fairy through the woods is a common theme, usually brought about by a hunter following game and traveling too far, all the while being tricked and toyed with by the beings he does not know of at the time. In Tolkien’s trilogy, the Fellowship begin their travels through the woods of Lothlorien, though with the knowledge of just where it is they have chosen to go. As they walk further in, they can feel the very power of Galadriel seeping through the trees, hanging in the air like a veil. While it is no accident that they are entering the realm of the elves, the same concept of the woods holding enchantment as the journey continues onward is seen.

It is important to note that Galadriel was the only figure to grant the Fellowship passage into the woods of Lothlorien. This right of passage granted by none other than the King or Queen of Fairies is seen in the story of Sir Orfeo, where the young woman Heurodis is granted entry into the Realm of the Fairy (though not by her own choice) because the King fancies her. It is the same situation seen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where Titania grants Bottom the company and service of the fairies because, although due to a spell, he has earned her favor. In both situations and in most, it is a sexual desire for the mortal man or woman that brings them into the presence of the Fairy monarch. Galadriel, however, was given the dignity of being a spiritual guide to the Fellowship, and only wishes to aid in their quest to destroy the ring, not engage in promiscuity.

But for Galadriel to not engage in this sort of act rather goes against Anglo-Saxon traditions of elves. Shippey tells us that elves were seen as “malignant” beings, as creatures of the night created for sexual temptation. They were beautiful, as it was a compliment for a woman to be referred to as “elf-beautiful,” but at the same time dangerous and meant to cause sickness to mortals. While Galadriel did indeed tempt Boromir with promises and ideas of things she had not the power to give, she was not evil. This deviation from malignancy is a prime example of Tolkien giving and taking from certain cultures in order to craft a more humanized version of elves and fairy folk in a world of his own, where the message of the true goodness of the world must shine from the darkness that is trying to overtake it.

The Fellowship, as we know, is in desperate need of this goodness. Once inside the wood, in the fairy realm of Lothlorien, the element of nature and most importantly trees comes back into the tale. In traditional lore, not only is there a pattern of the land of the Fairy being encountered within the woods, but also under or around trees. Again it is worth mentioning that in the tale of Sir Orfeo, the young woman Heurodis is sleeping under a tree before being carried away by the King of the Fairies (Lakowski). Tolkien takes this idea of a fairy encounter and brings it not under or around a tree, but within it. The beautiful, majestic mallorn trees of Lothlorien set an entrancing scene as the Fellowship pays court to Galadriel in a structure built within the branches.

If not being in, around, or by a tree is enough to ensure fairy encounters, than the very type of tree itself can attract fairies. Tolkien’s love for nature would of course give the trees in his world of Middle Earth sacred standing. Lothlorien mallorn trees are exclusive to the area, and are so venerated by the elves that live within the wood. Their beauty within the fall, giving the wood the name of the “Golden Wood” because of the brilliant color of the leaves, attracts the attention of many travelers, though the wood is still quite exclusive to the elves. Mallorn trees are made even more magical because of their odd placement within Middle Earth. Galadriel was able to make them flourish under her care in Lothlorien, but only one other person, Samwise Gamgee, was able to make the silver nut grow in the Shire. This idea of fairy trees can be applied to almost any tree in existence, though the most notable sacred fairy trees are the ash, the hazel, and the apple.

The idea of a court also reaches back to tradition, for where there is a Fairy King and Queen, there are lesser beings surrounding them, doing their will. In traditional lore, these lesser beings are also evil creatures that exist merely to cause mischief. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania’s servants are ordered to serve Bottom and obey without question, but her one subject, the country bumpkin Puck, is the most mischievous imp of them all. It is by his hand that the love troubles began, though more by his carelessness. He sees it all in great fun, however, as the traditional fairy thinks nothing of the troubles of a mortal and takes great pride in delivering misery.

Stretching away from the woods of Lothlorien, we see other elements of English tradition in Tolkien’s work. In The Hobbit, there is the infamous dragon Smaug who sits upon his massive mountain of treasures, jealously guarding them from greedy hands. Tolkien’s idea of a dragon is quite western, and is not anything that truly deviates from the English view of the dragon. Smaug is an immense, lizard-like creature, given large wings and a fierce demeanor. It is a creature found in the most basic of fairy tales, but for Tolkien would have also possessed a religious connotation. Tolkien himself being Roman Catholic would have been familiar with the tale of Saint George’s defeat of the dragon, and would have been familiar with most of the art depicting the famous religious scene. Even those who were not Catholic would have been familiar with the art created. While the art itself is not a traditional English fairy tale in the written sense, it does give clear, visual examples of how artists in the west viewed dragons, giving Tolkien a good example of how to physically craft his Smaug.

Other creatures of Middle Earth are also crafted from similar creatures found in several old stories, this time specifically from Somerset, a county in South West England. It is in this part of the country where we find tales of tree spirits. Briggs tells us that some of the spirits found here are,

“…sinister. Coppices which spring from the trunks of felled oaks are supposed to be haunted by the angry spirits of the trees, and local people avoid them after sundown. Willows are said to walk after people in the darkness, muttering” (Briggs Fairies, 49).

Talk of walking trees immediately brings to mind the Ents, specifically Treebeard, who take care of the forests of Middle Earth. Tolkien enthusiasts will have heard the amusing story of a young Tolkien feeling rather cheated by the scene in Macbeth where Birnham Wood seems to be moving, only to find that it is a hoard of actors with branches (Croft, 218). By turning to traditional tellings of moving trees and tree spirits, Tolkien is able to take that bitter disappointment and craft an entire slew of tree beings.

But what is intriguing in Brigg’s findings is the mention of the spirit of an angry tree. Throughout the trilogy, we come across only one creature that matches that description of a spirit rather than a walking tree (an Ent), and that is Old Man Willow. It is unclear what Old Man Willow is, even within the trilogy. Whether he is an Ent of some kind who has become more like a tree, or a Huorn (who themselves are difficult to describe, but who have the ability to speak in some way), the answer is still unclear. He is portrayed more as a tree than a walking, animate being capable of thought. Regardless, he is a spirit gnarled by evil, and even better, that of a Willow. He does not mutter, but tries to ensnarl Merry and Pippin within his roots in an act of vengeance; being capable of moving his roots also gives him the ability to walk freely when desired. Old Man Willow was definitely given life by the old tales of Somerset, England, being a combination of that evil spirit, and the ghostly walking tree.

The final group of beings that we will examine that follow a traditional pattern are the stone-trolls that Bilbo encounters in The Hobbit. We can safely refer to these trolls also as giants, as the creatures are quite large in size and height. After all, Tolkien’s introduction of trolls to the reader was an image of a large, rather dull being that enjoyed eating meat. Readers already associated that sort of image with the term “giant.” Briggs once more comes in great handy by informing us that giants in traditional fairy lore were indeed usually quite stupid, and that to overcome them was more a matter of brain over brawn (Briggs Fairy 74). As we see in Bilbo’s grand encounter with the group of stone-trolls, Gandalf’s ruse of acting as another voice creates a ruckus amongst the group of trolls, keeping them from compromising until the sun comes out and turns them to stone. The stupidity, not to mention their evil intentions of eating the dwarves, paints the creatures in an ill light.

For Tolkien to do this was strange, considering that in Norse mythology, giants were considered benevolent beings. Perhaps Tolkien’s aim of using them as a comedic factor within the story outweighed staying true to the Norse mythology he favored, making him guilty of the same “crime” as Shakespeare. For the sake of comedy, the true nature of the creature was downplayed and sacrificed. Reaching back to the theme of humanizing and dignifying fantasy, though, it must be acknowledged that Tolkien gave the trolls cockney accents and normal names of Tom, Bert, and William. In a way, the trolls represent an ugly part of human nature that is crude and unwilling to work together, because it is through their own stupidity that they are led into fighting, which in turn results in their petrified state when dawn comes.

And so Tolkien, in his noble task to bestow upon England a mythology with dignity and complexity, was not only successful, but also quite resourceful. With all original ideas being at first lost in the Norman invasion, England became a melting pot for all western fairy tales. Shakespeare drew from Celtic tales to craft his fairies, who were readily adopted by the people of not only England, but the world. Tolkien himself did have to resort to different cultures for his cultural bases, one might say. Elves grew from the Norse and Anglo-Saxon tales, though were touched by Tolkien’s own hand.

Tolkien’s work is, “the product of a visionary who ultimately presents us an alternate world using factors of our own” (Skeparnides). We the readers can relate to the world of Middle Earth, not only because Tolkien uses repeated themes found throughout fairy literature, presenting us with something familiar, but also because he takes these themes and uses them with dignity. The creatures found are far from the flighty pixies of yore, and can therefore be taken quite seriously. Tolkien has truly given a mythology worthy of not only England, but of the rest of this world we have inherited.

Works Cited

Briggs, Katharine M. The Anatomy of Puck, an Examination of Fairy Beliefs among Shakespeare’s Contemporaries and Successors : Katharine Briggs: Selected Works. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Briggs, Katharine Mary. Fairies in Tradition and Literature. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Croft, Janet B. “Bid the Tree Unfix His Earth-Bound Root”: Motifs from Macbeth in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” Seven 21 (2004): 47. 15 Oct. 2008. MLA International Biography. E.H. Butler Library, Buffalo. Keyword: Tolkien shakespeare.

Curry, Patrick. Defending Middle-Earth : Tolkien: Myth and Modernity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997.

Dunkerson, Conrad. “Do the Elves in Tolkien’s stories have pointed ears? Frequently Unanswered Question.” The Tolkien Meta-FAQ. 10 Oct. 2008 <http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/ears.html>.

Johnston, Allegra. “Clashing Mythologies: The Elves of Shakespeare and Tolkien.” Tolkien and Shakespeare : Essays on Shared Themes and Language. Ed. Janet B. Croft. Boston: McFarland & Company, Incorporated, 2007.

Lakowski, Romuald I. “”Perilously Fair” Titania, Galadriel, and the Fairy Queen of Medieval Romance.” Tolkien and Shakespeare : Essays on Shared Themes and Language. Ed. Janet B. Croft. Boston: McFarland & Company, Incorporated, 2007.

Shippey, T. A. “Light-elves, Dark-elves, and Others: Tolkien’s Elvish Problem.” Tolkien Studies 1 (2004): 1–15.

Skeparnides, Michael. “A Reflection on Tolkien’s World: Gender, Race & Interpreted Political, Economic, Social & Cultural Allegories.” The Grey Havens. 15 Oct. 2008 <http://tolkien.cro.net/tolkien/mskeparn.html//>.

Tolkien, J. R., and Christopher Tolkien. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Trade & Reference Division, 2000.

Devon Cozad ? December 10, 2008, at 12:19 PM

Page last modified on December 10, 2008, at 12:19 PM