The Folly of the Elves

This week's chapter is called "Lothlorien."  It is the name of an elven realm.  In fact, we are told it is "The heart of Elvendom on Earth", though it has faded somewhat as the Elves have begun leaving Middle Earth.  But Legolas speaks longingly of it, saying he has heard many tales of its beauty.  And indeed it is a beautiful place, though that beauty is complicated by, ummm, well, you'll see.

The chapter begins with the Fellowship escaping Moria sans Gandalf.  Though they are devastated by the loss, they must press on.  Orcs are pursuing them.  Aragorn leads them away from the mountains, towards Lothlorien, which he knows is nearby.  Though they arrive in one piece, they are not really welcomed in.

They are tracked by elves who, when reveal themselves, mockingly tell the Fellowship "You breathe so loud that [we] could shoot you in the dark."  Legolas lobbies on their behalf, however, and they are let up into the trees - which is where the Elves live.  They are greeted by an elf named Haldir.

Haldir expresses reservations about welcoming so many non-elves into the realm.  He is particularly wary about allowing a Dwarf in.  He tells Legolas they have "not have not had dealings with the Dwarves since the dark days."  It's unclear what he's referring to, but we understand what he means: There is bad blood between them.

Haldir tries to strike a compromise: Gimli can come through Lothlorien, but he must be blindfolded - he cannot be permitted to see it.  Gimli refuses, saying "I will go forward free or I will go back and seek my own land, where I am known to be true of word, though I perish alone in the wilderness."

They argue for a time, and finally Legolas loses his patience and says, "A plague on Dwarves and their the stiff necks!"  Aragorn steps in and suggests everyone go blindfolded so Gimli doesn't feel singled out.  Gimli says he'd be satisfied if only Legolas joined him.  Legolas objects, to which Aragorn says 'Now let us cry: "A plague on the stiff necks of the Elves!"'  Legolas relents, and they all enter blindfolded.  Once they all consent, but before they are blindfolded, Haldir says, "Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him.  Yet so little faith and trust do we find now in the world beyond Lothlorien, unless maybe in Rivendell, that we dare not by our own trust endanger our land.  We live now upon an island amid many perils..."  He speaks of dark days  in the past, but clearly dark days persist in the present.

Elves are usually viewed as benevolent and wondrous creatures.  Many cultures believe in elves .  We know the Creative Wizard drew upon real mythology when creating Middle Earth.  Surely his elves should also be seen as benevolent and wondrous.  Look!  Here's someone analyzing how the elves in Middle Earth represent the passing of a great age, in a way similar to how America used to look upon the Founding Fathers.

I believe that is an erroneous analysis.  It begins by assuming it's probably true and doesn't examine the text very closely, just the themes and summaries of stories.  I contend that, when the text is closely analyzed, it becomes clear that the elves are arrogance, incarnate, and while their passing may bring some sorrow their leaving Middle Earth is crucial to the future of that land.

Let's examine the evidence.

First, we know from past weeks that the only reason Sauron makes The One Ring as powerful as his is because of the Elves.  They sought control but he proved too powerful and cunning for them.

Moving closer to the present, Haldir and Legolas provides more good evidence of the arrogance of the elves:

• Greeting anyone by telling them "You breathe so loudly we could..." is obviously a power play and not a useful or friendly communication.
• Haldir refuses to let Gimli through without being blindfolded, as if his seeing Lothlorien might diminish its wonder.
• Legolas calls Gimli stubborn when Gimli refuses, but when Legolas might be blindfolded, he resists it.
• After all this, Haldir laments how far trust has fallen between the enemies of Sauron, who should be allies.  He takes no responsibility for his part in this lack of trust (That he does not trust dwarves and that he has done nothing to gain their trust).  He then goes on to say the elves of Lothlorien are so put-upon that they only "maybe" trust Rivendell - which of course is another elven realm.  That's not just arrogance - that's racial arrogance.

The chapter goes on, though.  Eventually the elves receive word from the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien - the Fellowship can all walk with eyes unbound.  "[Haldir] removed the bandage first from Gimli's eyes.  'Your pardon!' he said, bowing low.  'Look on us now with friendly eyes!'"  Aside from removing the blindfold from Gimli first this response is far from the apology one might expect in such a situation.  It is clear Haldir doesn't think he did anything wrong.

So the elves: are wary of non-elves; both enforce rules on others while also and expecting leniency for themselves; overestimated their own power; and are leaving Middle Earth while also complaining that Middle Earth itself is falling from its height of glory.

A final piece of evidence from this chapter - the one which initially caught my eye.  The pursuing orcs do eventually reach Lothlorien.  On the border of Lothlorien is a river called Nimrodel.  When Haldir hears orcs entered Lothlorien (though they were swiftly destroyed) he says "[The orcs] crossed the Nimrodel - curse their foul feet in its clean water!"

What an absurd thing to say.  The Nimrodel is a river of running water.  The dirty water is taken downstream, eventually out into the Great Sea.  The Nimrodel remains clean.  Further, the Nimrodel is known to have healing properties.  That suggests it regularly is used to remove impurities from living beings.  What makes the orcs so terrible that their feet merely touching the water defiles it, rather than heals them?  This is not how water works.  It is clear that Haldir is more interested in the purity of the river than its uses.  And as we know, persons and groups who have obsessions with purity rarely end up on the right side of history, no matter their intentions.

Whether on purpose or not, I believe the elves of our text are arrogant racists.  They are too dedicated to their traditions and too interested in purity for the coming age of Middle Earth.  Dwarves and hobbits and wizards and humans are able to cooperate just fine.  It is only the elves who express reservations.  They do not trust the others to be able to succeed.  Because Isildur, Aragorn's ancestor, failed, they believe Aragorn, and by extension all humans, will fail, too.  They do not believe in redemption.  Things had once been perfect but have been decaying ever since.  "All downhill from here."  The only option is to leave for a place that is still pure.

I am interesting to read the rest of the series with this view in mind.  The leaders of the elves seem to have recognized the error of their ways and are acting in defiance of these traditions.  Recall that Elrond assembled the racially diverse Fellowship and the "Lord and Lady" of Lothlorien ordered the Fellowship go unblindfolded.  However the rest of the elves hold to their old ideas.  I wonder how Legolas will end up - will he understand the need for broader cooperation, or will he think the Fellowship is the exception to a generally good idea - separation of the races.

A final thought.  Repeat readers like us know that Aragorn marries Arwen, an elven lady (Elrond's daughter).  By taking Aragorn as her husband Arwen surrenders her immortality.  Elrond is a great lord of elves and to lose (for, to him, it is very much a loss) his daughter in this way is significant.  We can also view this as an atonement sacrifice.  Arwen is given a choice and chooses the impurity of a mortal life.  While we have already seen that the elven leaders understand the dangers of demanding purity, now Elrond must sacrifice something personal.  Elrond's otherwise immortal family is broken, a permanent reminder to him of the folly of the elves of Middle-Earth.

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