The Locus Amoenus in Middle Earth: Elvish Spaces

It's been a while since I've written a notable moment post, or written about Tolkien or the locus amoenus in Lord of the Rings in particular, but I bought myself a copy of the complete Lord of the Rings for Kindle (on sale for $5!) with my Christmas gift card, and started reading on a recent trip back from New Orleans, so it seemed an opportune time to resume.  (Quotes will be from the three-volume Houghton-Mifflin edition, copyright 1994.)

I started at the beginning again, reading the Forward and the Prologue, and a very long textual note that outlined all of the many times errors were introduced into the volumes and corrected by Tolkien and his publishers.

Reading very specifically with the locus amoenus in mind, I am approaching the farm of Farmer Maggot, with Black Riders on the road--Farmer Maggot is an important personage, and even though his farm is not a locus amoenus, per se, it is a resting place where the weary have food and drink, and Tom Bombadil himself attests to the farmer's wisdom.  Before the hobbits find Farmer Maggot, however, they encounter first a Black Rider, and second Gildor Inglorian of the House of Finrod with a host of High Elves.

I resist discussing the elves when analyzing the locus amoenus and the priesthood of Middle Earth.  Elves are the most obvious priests of Middle Earth.  They are in possession of two of the three Rings of Power.  They posess the wisdom (at least of their own kind).  They are fair and have the most fair dwellings.  Their dwellings--to which they admit outsiders in the Ring quest and in The Hobbit--offer food, drink, and rest.  They feature stories of the sacred history of Middle Earth.  They are the closest to Illuvatar (with the possible exception of Gandalf); they know--and evoke--the name of Elbereth.  They drive away Black Riders simply with their presence.  When Frodo journeys with them to their banquet placr, a "veil is lifted"--more or less--and the hobbits glimpse different stars than the ones they have yet glimpsed on their journey.  These elves are not rooted to the particular place, but with their presence and their celebration they consecrate the place.  This is the first time on the journey that the hobbits receive the food and drink of the elves.

But there is a problem with elves.  They are remote.  As a result, they are held in awe, but they are also feared.  They are concerned with their own affairs to the exclusion of all other races.  They are also leaving--their time is done.  So while the dwellings and sacred places of the elves obviously represent the locus amoenus as sanctuary, and priestly sanctuary in particular, the places that are sanctuaries and sacred spaces, priestly dwellings, rest for the journey, but are not associated with elves seem the more significant--both because they are less expected, and because they tap more specifically into the sacred that is grounded in Middle Earth.  Nevertheless, elves--and elvish spaces--set the standard.

So what of the elvish space on the road from the Shire to Buckleberry Ferry?

It is in the "woods on the hills above [the town of] Woodhall" (79).  When they approach the space, the trees become denser and younger.  The clearing is surrounded by woods on three sides, but "eastward the ground fell steeply" and the tops of trees are far below (80).  Time is significant--the time for celebration is marked by the movement of the stars:

Away high in the East swung Remmirath, the Netted Stars, and slowly above the mists red Borgil rose, glowing like a jewel of fire.  Then by some shift of airs all the mist was drawn away like a veil, and there leaned up, as he climbed over the rim of the world, the Swordsman of the Sky, Menelvagor with his shining belt.  The Elves all burst into song.  Suddenly under the trees a fire sprang up with a red light. (80)

The veil of mist--presumably revealing stars that would have been seen on Middle Earth anyway--anticipates the veil that separates Middle Earth from Valinor, through which Frodo, Bilbo, Galadriel, Gandalf, and Elrond pass after the aftermath of the War of the Ring.  The same veil recalls the veil of the temple, "rent in two" when Jesus died.

The boughs of trees make a kind of roof over the natural space, which is like a hall.  There is a fire and food--"good enough for a birthday-party" (81), although Gildor apologizes for the poor fare.  Specifically, the food is eucharistic: "bread, surpassing the savour of a fair white loaf to one who is starving," fruit of the vine "sweet as wildberries and richer than the tended fruits of gardens," and "a cup that was filled with a fragrant draught, cool as a clear fountain, golden as a summer afternoon"--a foretaste of heaven indeed.

Though Gildor is friendly and responsive to the hobbits' fears and wish for information, he remains distinctly above them.  Sam, who has wished to see elves above all elves, is speechless and wears "an expression half of fear and half of astonished joy" (79-80).  When Gildor attempts to give Frodo warning, Frodo "cannot imagine what information could be more terrifying than [Gildor's] hints and warnings" (82), and cites a proverb: "Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes" (83).  Gildor's advice is guarded because "advice is a dangerous gift," but also because

[t]he Elves have their own labours and their own sorrows, and they are little concerned with the ways of hobbits, or of any other creatures upon earth.  Our paths cross theirs seldom, by chance or purpose. (83)

The wisdom of the Elves is great but has limits, as Gildor discerns that there may be a purpose to their meeting, but he does not know what it might be, and thus is even more hesitant to give advice.

After the meeting with the Elves, who do provide sanctuary, the hobbits are rested and refreshed, and provided with (literal) food for their journey.

Sam's reflective observation proves particularly insightful:  that Elves "seem a bit above [his] likes and dislikes" (85).  While all of the consecrated of Middle Earth are beyond the hobbits' understanding, the Elves occupy the space that is the most remote.  The relationships that the hobbits form with other priestly figures close some of the distance, while also bringing the humble hobbits closer to experience of the divine.