Welcome to a special edition of the Mueller Report!
The summer has been busier than I anticipated, though I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising since we started managing The Abbey ourselves starting a few days before we arrived in Leadville….I hope to share more about what we have experienced learning how to run an inn later in the summer.
We have also had family and dear friends visiting us over the past two weeks - wonderful, but busy. Still, I’ve left my wife with our five (occasionally) unruly children for an hour so I can get this edition of the Mueller Report to you this week. [editor’s note: I wrote the previous sentence over a week ago...An hour obviously wasn’t enough.]
We’ve also been going through a kind of sustained torture routine where our two youngest children wake up crying multiple (and different) times every night. I can generally handle a lot of chaos and a high workload but I start to crack under sleep deprivation.
Anyway, enough about why I haven’t written in a while!
This special edition is unusual in that I have a chance to talk about a work of fiction. I rarely read fiction during the school year because our family runs at a pretty high tempo and I don’t want to tempt fate by inducing sleep deprivation by reading late into the night. But….I really enjoy fiction and it is always a treat to pick it up.
While I was working at the Lake County Library in Leadville a couple weeks ago, I noticed, seemingly by chance, some of J. R. R. Tolkien’s work. The Silmarillion, which this letter is about, as well as edited works by his son: Beren and Luthien, and Children of Hurin. I’ve been reading the Silmarillion every spare moment (and some not spare moments) I’ve had - which may also be related to why I didn’t send a newsletter the past two weeks.
Context of The Silmarillion
For those who are not familiar with Tolkien’s work, you should know that his creative genius is almost unparalleled. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are wonderful stories in their own right: complex, epic, tragic, inspiring, and beautiful. But Tolkien literally developed entire languages for the different races of beings in his work, including separate script and vocabulary. And it doesn’t stop there.
Tolkien drew detailed maps, not only of Middle Earth in the setting of the Lord of the Rings, but of earlier times when the lay of the land: the countries, nations, borders, rivers, etc. were different.
And if that were not enough, Tolkien developed a detailed history of Middle Earth, stretching all the way back to creation itself. He developed dozens and dozens of genealogies, sometimes spanning thousands of years, as well as songs, lore, poetry, and “side plots” for many of the lesser characters. The Silmarillion captures many of these things.
It describes thousands of years of history, several different “ages” according to Tolkien, and weaves together the fortunes and failures of dozens of leading characters. Although many narrative threads run from The Silmarillion into the Lord of the Rings, the world he describes is very different.
Summary
The Silmarillion is chock full of stories and remarkable detail of people, places, and events. I give a brief summary here with trepidation, fearing that I will do Tolkien a great disservice. Still, for those who have not read The Silmarillion or are not familiar with it, you ought to understand the basic story arc - especially to make sense of the themes I discuss in the next section. So without further adieu…
The book begins with creation through the thought and song of God (Iluvatar). Powerful spirits or gods that he creates join in the song and contribute to creation. The greater spirits are called the Valar, the lesser spirits are called the Maiar. At first there is great harmony and joy as all sing, and in singing contribute, to different parts of creation. But a spirit named Melkor, the greatest of the Valar, desired to sing his own song and to create something new and different from what Iluvatar had put into their minds to create.
As he changes the song he introduces discord and trouble into creation. He also draws other spirits after him to do the same. Eventually a physical world comes into being and many of the Valar enter it to shape it into the form that they had sung, Melkor also enters and continually mars whatever good is created. This leads to war. Melkor is defeated and bound with a chain, but the world is scarred.
Then Iluvatar creates a new race of beings, the elves or the “Eldar”, in middle earth. The elves are immortal but have less power than the Valar and the Maiar. The Valar bring many of the elves to their own habitation full of light and bliss (in the west, across the sea from middle earth). The elves who come prosper and grow in knowledge, ability, and power. But then Melkor is released based upon feigned repentance and a promise of good behavior.
For a while Melkor dwells among the Valar and the Eldar. He is fair in form and has both great power and great knowledge to share. Among the Eldar some suspect his motives but others eagerly learn all they can. But Melkor secretly plants seeds of doubt and suspicion among the Eldar of the intentions of the Valar. Eventually pride grows in the greatest craftsman of the elves, Feanor.
Feanor creates three jewels of unparalleled beauty: the Simarils. In these jewels he puts the light of the Valar’s two great trees that give light to their whole land. The Silmarils are remarkable - even the Valar are impressed by them. And Melkor covets them more than anything else.
Through a series of twists, turns, and deception, Melkor destroys the trees of the Valar, kills Feanor’s father, steals the Silmarils, and flees to middle earth where he rebuilds his immense fortress.
Feanor, in wrath, pride, and sorrow, stirs up many of the Eldar to leave the land of the Valar (against the will of the Valar) to go to middle earth to wage war on Melkor, who he names Morgoth, and reclaim the Silmarils. Many of the Eldar leave in defiance of the Valar but Feanor and his seven sons take a terrible oath that hunts all of them down over thousands of years. Their doom is sealed, according to Tolkien, before they even set foot in middle earth.
The rest of The Silmarillion describes the hopeless wars of the Eldar against Morgoth. At several points Tolkien suggests that the Eldar are on the verge of victory, but pride or chance or treachery steal the victory from them. And like the tide going out from the beach, the power of the Eldar slowly recedes over the centuries while Morgoth’s power grows.
There are many feats of heroism, especially by men who enter the scene during the elves’ long war with Morgoth. There is romance and always tragedy - and fate rules over all. Eventually, the Eldar are driven back until they remain only in hidden fortresses (Gondolin, Doriath, and Nargothand) - places of peace and power and beauty. But even these Morgoth overthrows and ruins, first by introducing treachery and betrayal among those who should be friends.
The book concludes with Morgoth’s total victory over the Eldar. A victory which is reversed by the return of the Valar to middle earth. ONly at the end, when there is no strength and no hope among men and elves, do the Valar return to battle Morgoth. This development itself was directed by fate as the offspring of the union of men and elves, Earendil, sails to the Isle of the Valar with a Simaril wrested from the crown of Morgoth on his brow, and pleads for them to return.
Reflection on Themes
As I re-read The Silmarillion, I was struck by the deep tragedy, sadness, corruption, and even hopelessness that permeates the entire story. Even though God (Eru or Iluvatar) rules over all and is good, corruption and evil mar creation. Tolkien describes how the enemy (Melkor or Morgoth) becomes progressively more corrupt. And he shows how that corruption spreads among the immortal spirits, among the immortal elves, and among mortal men.
I also found Morgoth’s ability to corrupt even those who hated him fascinating. Feanor, perhaps the greatest elf and Morgoth’s most bitter foe, becomes evil himself as he unknowingly accepts lies and twisted thoughts that originated in the mind of Morgoth. And his sons, to varying degrees, follow suit.
Tolkien describes a world full of doom. Though there are great warriors and kings among the elves and among men, and they do great deeds and have periods of relative peace and joy, Morgoth always has the upper hand. Part of the doom laid upon the elves for their rebellion was that they will never be able to vanquish Morgoth without the aid of the Valar.
Another recurring theme in The Silmarillion is betrayal. Although Morgoth is powerful, his greatest successes come from deceiving and corrupting his enemies. Elrond, a key figure in the Lord of the Rings, makes this observation saying that “In all the long wars with the Dark Tower treason has ever been our greatest foe.” This was all the more true of the wars with Morgoth.
Tolkien offers no final solution to the problem of evil. Morgoth is defeated once and then set free because the other Valar believed he had repented. Eventually, he is finally defeated a second time in a great war and banished to the outer darkness, but Tolkien tells us that the evil Morgoth brought into the world continues on. As men become great on an island called Numenor, they also become proud, jealous, and resentful. They were given long life and wisdom, yet they began to want to live forever. Most of the Numenorians are destroyed because they are corrupted by Sauron, one of Morgoth’s chief servants.
Knowing Tolkien’s religious beliefs as a practicing Catholic sheds more light on the themes developed in The Silmarillion. The idea of corruption and evil in the world clearly matches the Christian view of The Fall and of nature being placed under a curse. The high points throughout the story of brave deeds and faithful friendship resonate with the idea of common grace; that men can do virtuous and noble things and for a time drive back the worst of the darkness.
But the darkness always returns and grows. Tolkien’s story is marked by decay and destruction. As the elves attempt to rebuild cities to match the glory of their home beyond the sea, and as they attempt to reclaim the light of the silmarils that they made, they seem to succeed for a time only to see the work of their hands utterly destroyed through treachery, pride, and corruption. Every major elf kingdom (Nargothond, Doriath, Gondolin, Beleriand) succumbs to one of these problems
Doom or destiny play an important part in Tolkien’s stories. Certain characters have specific and weighty destinies placed upon them - often to accomplish great acts of courage and valor, but also to serve as catalysts for disaster. Sometimes the characters are aware of their doom, sometimes they are oblivious. Occasionally they are offered a specific choice of destiny. But perhaps the most interesting stories are those where the characters are aware of their destiny, and their danger, and yet walk into it anyway.
At multiple times in The Silmarillion, elven kings are warned of impending disaster by extremely reliable sources, yet they refuse to take the recommended precaution or course of action. They are bound by their desire and pride, or they listen to the wrong counsellors. This theme of fate and doom, even when the characters are warned, again fits nicely with the Christian view that we are bound by our sin, and so are often led to do that which we hate.
The pessimism and hopelessness of final victory, and the seeming madness of those who are warned of their danger and doom yet walk in it anyway, may have drawn much of its inspiration from World War I with the seemingly pointless death and slaughter and almost criminal stupidity and recklessness of generals who sent thousands or tens of thousands of men to their deaths over and over again trying to take their enemy’s trenches.
One final short observation on Tolkien’s work relates to something I deeply love about his writing: his remarkable ability to convey glory. More than any author I can think of, Tolkien regularly conveys the gravitas, nobility, power, and glory of certain characters, artifacts, and cities that leave one inspired or in awe. He certainly talks about their physical appearance, but what he really conveys is their presence. And it is a certain kind of presence that generates awe, humility, fear, or adoration in those who behold it.
That’s it for this special edition. I hope you will hear from me again later this week - but no promises!