Tolkien’s Magic

This study is my interpretation of Tolkien’s personal concept of magic in Middle Earth and how magic was used by the various races. In a letter to a fan (Letter 131), he refers to ‘inherent inner power or talents’ and to the fact that the Rings of Power ‘enhanced the natural powers of a possessor’. The point we can draw from this is that what Men, or Hobbit adventurers, regarded as magic was actually the use of natural powers. As Tolkien puts it in another letter:

"...a difference in the use of ‘magic’ in this story is that it is not to be come by lore or spells; but it is an inherent power not possessed or attainable by Men as such."

Letter 155

In Middle Earth those unfamiliar with such powers regarded them as magical but the people possessing the abilities did not view them as unnatural. When offering Sam and Frodo a chance to use her Mirror, Galadriel says

"For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe, though I do not understand clearly what they mean..."

(LOTR.B2.VII, p.353)

In LOTR, we see magic used in various ways: Firstly with physical effects, such as Elrond controlling the River Briunen or Gandalf fighting the Nazgul on Amon Sul and lighting fires to warm his companions. Secondly, magic is used to effect the will of others: for example creating illusions, such as the image of horses Gandalf crafted onto the flooding of the river Bruinen, or to control individuals and animals, such as Sarumans use of birds to spie on the Fellowship in Eriador or his attempts to sway Theoden at the foot of Orthanc. Thirdly, a person's power could be used in the creation of objects. Hence we have Elven swords like Glamdring, which glowed at the presence of Orcs. Artefacts like the Mirror of Galadriel, the Palantiri and the Doors of Khadzad-dum are other examples of objects that reflected the power of their makers.

Examining Gandalf’s use of his powers, it is possible to get some general ideas of how magic was channeled. Gandalf made use of spells, words that invoked his powers. For example, lighting a circle of treetops he says ‘Naur an edraith ammen!’. Were spells essential or merely a focus for using magic? The opening quote from Tolkien implies that mere knowledge of the words of a spell did not sufice and that a person would need natural talent and an understanding of what was being done by that spell.

Spells could not be cast freely. They required time and strength. Even then they could be resisted or overcome: explaining the shutting spell he put on their exit from Balin’s burial chamber, Gandalf said

"...to do things of that kind rightly requires time, and even then the door can be broken by strength."

(LOTR.B2.V, p. 318)

Gandalf’s shutting spell was attacked by the power of the Balrog, another Maiar.

"The counter-spell was terrible. It nearly broke me. For an instant the door left my control and began to open! I had to speak a word of Command."

(LOTR.B2.V, p. 319)

The clash of magic involved peril for those involved. Furthermore, Gandalf was wearied by this struggle with the Balrog. The use of magic thus could drain a person much as if they were drained of bodily strength by physical effort.

The Powers of the Different Races

It is probable that magic was part of the fabric of Elven lands and lives more so than most places in Middle Earth.. Tolkien described Elven ‘magic’ as Art; its objective was creation, not Power (i.e domination). They used their Art to preserve and beautify their lands in Middle Earth. The Three Rings created by the Nolder in the Second Age were wielded by Elrond and Galadriel to preserve and enhance the beauty of Rivendell and Lothlorien. Elves used their powers in the crafting of objects (boats, clothes, weapons, for example) or songs even, so that they possessed a ‘magical’ quality:

"For we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make."

(Elf to Pippin, LOTR.B2.CVIII, p.361)

All members of this race appear to possess a natural power; their lords were especially strong, and so were feared by the Nazgul and other evil creatures.

The Elves also used their power for war and defence. Elrond defeated the Nazgul by flooding the River Bruinen:

"The river of this valley is under his power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford."

(Gandalf, LOTR B2.I, p.218)

Lothlorien’s success in resisting Sauron is attributed to power of that country

"The Power that dwelt there was too great for any to overcome, unless Sauron had come there himself."

And Galadriel doubtlessly uses her power destroying Sauron’s stronghold at Dol Guldor (see LOTR Tale of Years).

Among the other races, Dwarves definitely had their own natural powers. This they manifested in their physical works, such as the secret entrance to Erebor, which could not be distinguished from the mountain rock and which had a lock that would only appear on a certain day; or the western Doors of Khadzad-dum (created with Elven aid), which again were set into the mountain fabric and had to be activated and opened by commands.

We can picture the Dwarf smithies at their forges chanting and channeling their power into their creations - helms with undimming brightness, axes with deadly sharpness, gates of unbreakable strength, and toys of wonder.

"The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,

While hammers fell like ringing bells "

(The Hobbit, Chapter 2, p.14)

The extent of Dwarfen powers is unknown, such is the nature of this secretive race. They do not appear to have employed them in anyway bar to influence what they shaped. It is known though that their race were particularly resistant to control by magic (Sil. p.347).

Dragons, having immense physical power and cunning, might appear to have little need of additional talents. But Glaurung, the great First Age dragon, seems to have been able to exercise mind-control over individuals (Unf. 1.II, p.118-119). His descendents had some similar power, a danger referred to in Bilbo’s conversation with Smaug: whenever the dragon’s gaze swept where he hid, Bilbo felt an urge to reveal himself;

"In fact he was in greivous danger of coming under the dragon-spell."

(The Hobbit, Chapter XII, p.202)

Of other creatures like Tom Bombadil & Old Man Willow or races like the Ents even less is known, though I would guess that it is only the nature of their natural powers, not their existent, that would be in doubt. Of Hobbits it can be said that they had no power (apart from their stealth or appetites) that would be held to be magical. Men were almost similar.

The Men of Middle Earth

Men from the time of Middle Earth did not have powers different from ours and regarded as magic that which others could do that was beyond their understanding or ability. As stated above, magic was not ‘possessed or attainable by Men’. A possible reason for this lack of natural powers could be their position in the grand scheme of Illuvatar. Unlike Dwarves, Elves and Maiar, Men were not bound by the Circles of the World. After death they would pass beyond to another place. Perhaps by not being bound they could not be linked to the power of the world. Hobbits, lacking natural powers too, may have shared a similar fate.

However, among Men there were exceptions to the rule. Aragron displayed great healing powers against the Black Shadow. This could be attributed to his distant ties to the Eldar. But in addition we have the shape-changing ability of Beorn and references to Malbeth the Seer, who served the last two kings of Arnor. Finally there is the story of the Faithful Stone from the First Age, in which a Druedain called Aghan put some of his power into a watch-stone he had made to guard his friends. In the story the watch-stone comes to life to beat off orc raiders and stamp out a fire. Some of the damage suffered by the watch-stone is passed onto Aghan as injuries, a consequence of placing his powers in an object. The use of power displayed in this story is equivalent to the use of powers by Elves and Dwarves in their crafting. Though the Druedain of the Third Age are not known to have this talent, it does prove that not all Men were alike in their talents.

The abilities of each of these people, Aragorn, Boern, Malbeth and Aghan, were natural. Some men, however, sought to achieve enhanced powers by unnatural means.

Faramir of Minas Tirith, in conversation with Sam and Frodo, gave a brief history of Gondor in which he noted that his people were not tainted with the use of sorcery

"It is not said that evil arts were ever practised in Gondor..."

(LOTR B4.V, p.662)

However, he tells of the Numenoreans obsession with death, and how in their longing for longer life some turned to alchemy:

"Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars."

(LOTR B4.V, p.662-663)

Such arts were probably kept secret because of a person’s fear of being regarded as an evil sorceror, rather than because they were sinister or successful. Far darker was the practise by Men and other beings of the Black Arts.

The Black Arts

Morgoth and Sauron had great natural powers (as a Valar and Maiar, respectively). Although they could rely on massive armies, machines and tributary lands, magic provided the Dark Lords with a powerful weapon in pursuing their goal of domination.

The form of magic associated with the Dark Lords was known as the Black Arts or sorcery. It was evil and unnatural. Among its practioners were Men. Examples of such men were the Numenoreans who settled the southern coasts in the Second Age and fell under Sauron’s influence:

"Many became enamoured of the Darkness and the black arts..."

(LOTR B4.V, p.662)

The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dur (who parleyed with the Captains of the West before the Gates of Mordor) was one of these Black Numenoreans; we are told he ‘learned great sorcery’ in Sauron’s service (LOTR B5.X, p.870). Another specific example are the men who Sauron ensnared with the Nine Rings; some of them were sorcerors in mortal life:

"Those who used the Nine Rings became mighty in their day, kings, sorcerors, and warriors of old."

(Silmarillion, p.348).

Like natural powers, the magic of the Black Arts could be channeled into physical creations. Grond, the great battering-ram that destroyed the gates of Minas Tirith, was one such object:

"Long had it been forging in the dark smithies of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin lay."

(LOTR B5.IV, p.810)

A unique aspect of the Black Arts was that it did not draw on a person’s inner power alone, but tapped into something external and dark. This can be surmised from the fact that Men could practise sorcery. As Men lacked magic powers, they must have got their power from somewhere else, a violation of one of the natural laws of magic in Middle Earth.

Another feature of the Black Arts was the summoning and control of undead spirits. Little are known of these spirits, whether they were natural inhabitants of Middle Earth, or shades of the dead (such as the Dead Men of Dunharrow), or whether they came from beyond the world, from the Void where Morgoth was banished.

There are a few known examples of the Enemies’ use of spirits:

The Ring-wraiths were men whose spirits were enslaved by Sauron and became undead. Their leader, the Witch-King, was a powerful sorceror.

The Barrow Wights of Eriador were a legacy of the Lord of the Nazgul’s sorcery. He used them in 1636 to befoul the Tyrn Gorthad, the former dwellings of the Dunedain of Cardolan. They were bound to the burial chamber they inhabited and ensnared passerbys with their powers. Only by scattering the treasure of a mound could the spell binding a wight be broken.

The Two Watchers of Cirith Ungol.The entrance to the fortress was guarded by the power of the undead creature inside the two statues:

"...some dreadful spirit of evil vigilance abode in them."

(LOTR B6.I, p.882)

The power of the Two Watchers was encountered by Sam Gamgee, who felt an unseen force blocking him; later the spirit emitted a warning cry when the Hobbits broke past it.

The use of magic for the summoning and control of spirits appears to be unique to the Black Arts; others may have had communion with unseen spirits, but were unlikely to dominate them or contact the undead.

Conclusion

Magic pervaded Middle-Earth. Though rare and misunderstood in Hobbit or Mannish societies, it was a part of the very nature of other races. Its presence was strongest among the Elves. Indeed by the end of the Third Age Lothlorien and Rivendell had come to rely on magic for their preservation. Magic required personal strength and was a delicate task, assisted by spells or receptacles of power. Natural powers tended to be used for creative, practical or protective reasons. They were also be used to control and destroy. This was the main use for sorcery, an abused form of magic practised in lands ruled by the Enemy.

The strength of magic in Middle Earth can be seen as strongest in the First Age, declining from the Second Age with the gradual departure of the Elves and the growth of Men. This is hastened at the end of the Third Age by the ending of the power of the Three Rings. In the age of the Dominion of Men, the practise of the Black Arts may have survived in lands formerly dominated by Mordor. Use of their powers continued naturally among the non-Mannish races, but in time magic may have faded from Middle Earth.

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Since composing this work, I have come across articles by other fans on the same theme. I will hopefully include links to these related sites when I rediscover the sites.

Bibliography & List of articles