Tolkien Canon

When two Tolkien references differ in details, which details do you choose to portray?

Specifically, I adore the detailed and imaginative descriptions that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in "The Book of Lost Tales".  They often amplify but sometimes differ in detail from his better-known "The Silmarillion".  Both books (and many others) were edited by Christopher Tolkien and published posthumously.  Both carry about the same authority because they're largely JRRT's own writing, but he didn't finalize either one of them.  Thus, neither is quite "canon Tolkien". 

 "Canon" (from the Greek kanon "rule") is defined

1. a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged.

2.

 a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine

     3. the works of a particular author or artist that are recognized as genuine.

The two works JRRT published in his own life-time are recognized as canon:  The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  While reenacting some events of "THE WAR FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELVES" told in both Sil and BOLT but not TH or LOTR, we must guess what would JRRT have written, had he written it out in full.

Happily, we have an example of that:  The last two pages of the 365 page-long Silmarillion collection tell all of Hobbit and LOTR.  Comparing the Silmarillion version and a canon version of the same story gives us what JRRT left out of "The Silmarillion":  Hobbiton, Sam's name,  Merry and Pippin,  all the families from Boffinses to Proudfoots, and that's just the first chapter.   Bilbo's name didn't make it to Silmarillion, even though he's the main character in the already-published The Hobbit,  and illustrates other differing details:  In Hobbit, Bilbo is fleeing goblins when he finds the One Ring; in Silmarillion, he's "a wanderer fleeing orcs"  These omissions and discrepancies are understandable: the Silmarillion is not a complete novel, but an outline of potential stories.  So "it's not in Silmarillion" is a bad reason to exclude people, places, and things that JRRT wrote about elsewhere. 

Discrepancies

In real life, factual accounts vary from witness to witness.  Ancient history is filled with guesses.   Modern history and news omit much.   It might be impossible to ever find the real "truth" of some real events, and even more impossible for fictional ones.  Like all authors, JRRT changed his mind about details.  He admitted sometimes that he forgot things then wrote something else in a later draft.
 

There are in-character reasons for discrepancies. The Silmarillion's lack of detail might be because the elves knew none of the details of the war for the sake of the elves.   They could not write about it unless the Valar had told them about it.  In BOLT,  a tourist hears the story from an ancient elf-princess who admits that even many elves do not know this history.  The ainu who might tell the elves what happened would differ in their tales, and not just because eye-witnesses accounts differ:  Aulë hides the truth when it suits him, Lorien distorts facts for fun, and Vairë says little but weaves pretty pictures.  The elves (and we) might never get the whole, consistent truth from them.

When bringing in non-canon elements that conflict or contradict, which do you choose to portray? Ultimately, "what is canon", like "WHAT IS TRUE"  seems to be an artistic question without an ultimate answer.   If you're exploring  literature, why choose at all?   Explore the ideas and versions and compare them. You'll enjoy the process and learn some things on the way.

Thou, Thine, Thy, Thine, and Ye

I like seeing "thee" and "thou", "thy" and "thine" being used in these olden days.  Understandably, flaws and errors in their use are common because few of us (none of us?) learned these words as any part of a spoken, living language.

One using language incorrectly appears pretentious or unschooled.  That might be wholly in character.  Thus, best it is that others do react in their own character.  The educated will, with varying degrees of indulgence, compassion and skill, wish to correct bad grammar and usage, but they might appear snooty, pedantic, or parental in doing so. 

Therefore, taking the risk of appearing EXTREMELY snooty, pedantic and parental, I shall set the example.  While there are many books and grammars that give hows and wherefores, they often demand a grasp of grammar that most (mono-lingual Americans) simply do not have.  Instead, we start start with:

YE* CHART 

Read this aloud:
speaker:
                   I am   mine,   as me, my thing,   mine end.  
speakers:
                  We are  ours,  as us, our thing,   our end.     
one male:
                   He is     his,   as him,  his thing,    his end.  
one female:  
                    She is  hers,  as her, her thing,   her end. 
one whatever:
                   It is   its,         as it,      its thing,    its end.
a group:
             They are theirs,   as them, their thing, their end.
one listener:      
                 Thou art thine, as thee, thy thing,  thine end.   
listeners:
                 Ye* are   yours, as you,  your thing, your end. 


Whatever way you want to use one of these words, something in the above chart will guide you thus.

"am", "are", "is", and "art" stand in for any action or being word (verb).
"as" stands in for any relational word. (preposition)
"thing" stands in a word starting with a consonant.(noun)
"end" stands in for a word starting with a vowel.(noun)

[rant] I'd argue that this distinction between nouns beginning with vowels or not affecting "my" to "mine" and the pronunciation of "the" is evidence of linguistic gender in Modern English, but most linguists ignore or discount this. [end rant]

* "Ye" is especially confusing.. "Ye" sometimes substitutes for "the", since an old y-like letter  " þ " called "thorn" for the "th" sound got often confused for "y".  Why "thorn" disappeared from the alphabet is a whole epic, but it left "y" and "th" to fill in for it while it's gone.  Further, "ye" as "you-all" shifted to being "you" much earlier than "thee" and "thou" did.  Thou mayst use "You are" instead of "ye" correctly in even the oldest of ages, but only when speaking of several listeners.  Thus, "ye" is rarely ever the best choice of word, but use it anyway if so moved.

THEE or THOU

"Thou hast", "Thou art", and "thou dost"  are correct;
"Thee hast" and  "thee dost" are not.
"To thee". "For thee", and "of thee" are correct.
 "To thou", "of thou", or "to I" are not..
"Thee" and "Thou" replace "you" as when talking of one person,
"Thy" and "Thine" replace "your" and "yours" when talking of one person

Use "thine" or "mine" before a vowel:  "mine eyes".  "thine anger"
Use "thy" or "my" before a consonant:  "my stars", "thy grief"
"Thine" and "mine" can stand alone, "thy" and "my" cannot:  "My heart is thine."

One quick test for these:  change the idea to talking about one's self:

• Thou <=> I
• Thee <=> Me
• Thy <=> My
• Thine <=> Mine

Nicely for memory, these even mostly rhyme.  "I gave my love a cherry".  <=>  "Thou gavest thy love a cherry". It's not always perfect, especially if thine own grasp of  the difference between "I" and "me" is weak in the first place, but even so, thou wilt hit right on often. 

NOTE:  "-st", "-th", "-en" verb endings were undergoing huge changes in usage during the "Early Modern English" period, from about 1500 when all this "thee" stuff was still happening even to today.  Just about anything thou canst dream up for them was written by some reliable sources sometime or another when used with "thou", "thee", and "you".  Even the "Great Bible" of 1538 and Shakespeare (b1564, d 1616), the best known example of the Early Modern English writer himself, inconsistently used these endings.  However, those endings were became old-fashioned and ceremonial by 1780, giving up to the simpler, more modern forms we now enjoy.  Art thou old-fashioned and ceremonial?  Useth thou these forms, then.

UNCHANGED

"I", "we", "he", "she", "it", and "they", and the rules that govern them are unchanged thru Modern English since about 1500.  Your modern ear will guide you correctly.  Parts of "you" are still the same:

• Your superiors, even only one of them,  are always called "you", never "ye", "thee" or "thou".  
• This "you" is the other side of "Royal We"  "We are not amused." "Your Majesty is not."
• For your social equals, the obsolete rules above for "thee", "thou", "thine", and "thine" apply.
• If you love "ye", then use "ye", unless you are talking to your betters:  
• When talking of many listeners, use "you", "your" or "yours", with the rules you know...

"Hear Ye!  These lessons, dear friends, are yours. You may have and hold them."


All this is good old English, but not good Old English, or even good Middle English,
The elvish is much more complex.

Aulë versus Noldor Elves

I've been asked: "Why, when one can role-play an Ainu like yourself, would one chose to play as a Noldor Elf?" The simple answer: even the Valar chose to do so.

As spirits, the Valar have no fixed physical form, although they could assume any form they chose, or cast aside their shape altogether and travel formless and invisible through Arda. By preference, though, they often took the shapes of the Children of Ilúvatar: Elves and then Men.

[The Valar] were filled moreover with the love of the beauty of the Elves and desired their fellowship. At the last, therefore, the Valar summoned the Quendi to Valinor, there to be gathered at the knees of the Powers in the light of the Trees for ever;

The Thought of Iluvatar cares for the Children of Iluvatar. But the Children do not understand this, even fearing the Caretakers.

But the Elves were at first unwilling to hearken to the summons, for they had as yet seen the Valar only in their wrath as they went to war, save Oromë alone; and they were filled with dread. Therefore Oromë was sent again to them, and he chose from among them ambassadors who should go to Valinor and speak for their people; and these were Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë, who afterwards were kings. And coming they were filled with awe by the glory and majesty of the Valar, and desired greatly the light and splendour of the Trees. Then Oromë brought them back to Cuiviénen, and they spoke before their people, and counselled them to heed the summons of the Valar and remove into the West

It is now that the elves divide, first into three tribes of Vanyar, Noldor and Teleri, but further into those from each tribe who are willing to take the Great March, and the Unwilling (Avari, in Quenya).

The smallest host and the first to set forth was ... The Vanyar; they are the Fair Elves, the beloved of Manwë and Varda, and few among Men have spoken with them.

Next came the Noldor, a name of wisdom, the people of Finwë. They are the Deep Elves, the friends of Aulë; and they are renowned in song, for they fought and laboured long and grievously in the northern lands of old.

My prior post lays some background Aulë's kinship with the Noldor.

Aulë it is who is named the Friend of the Noldor, for of him they learned much in after days, and they are the most skilled of the Elves; and in their own fashion, according to the gifts which Illúvatar gave to them, they added much to his teaching, delighting to tongues and in scripts, and in the figures of broidery, of drawing, and of carving. The Noldor also it was who first achieved the making of gems; and the fairest of an gems were the Silmarils, and they are lost.

JRRT elaborates further on their relationship.

the Noldor were beloved of Aulë, and he and his people came often among them. Great became their knowledge and their skill; yet even greater was their thirst for more knowledge, and in many things they soon surpassed their teachers. They were changeful in speech, for they had great love of words, and sought ever to find names more fit for all things that they knew or imagined. And it came to pass that the masons of the house of Finwë, quarrying in the hills after stone (for they delighted in the building of high towers), first discovered the earth-gems, and brought them forth in countless myriads; and they devised tools for the cutting and shaping of gems, and carved them in many forms. They hoarded them not, but gave them freely, and by their labour enriched all Valinor.

Compare to Aulë himself: the delight and pride is in the deed of making, not the owning, the giving not the hoarding. Here is how the Noldor shared when the last group of Elves arriving in the Noldor-built city of Tirion on completing the Great March to Valimar

last and latest [the Teleri Elves] came to Aman and the shores of Eldamar.

There they dwelt, and if they wished they could see the light of the Trees, and could tread the golden streets of Valmar and the crystal stairs of Tirion upon Túna , the green hill; but most of all they sailed in their swift ships on the waters of the Bay of Elvenhome, or walked in the waves upon the shore with their hair gleaming in the light beyond the hill. Many jewels the Noldor gave them, opals and diamonds and pale crystals, which they strewed upon the shores and scattered in the pools; marvellous were the beaches of Elendë in those days.

But the memory of Middle-earth under the stars remained in the hearts of the Noldor, and they abode in the Calacirya, and in the hills and valleys within sound of the western sea; and though many of them went often about the land of the Valar, making far journeys in search of the secrets of land and water and all living things, yet the peoples of Túna and Alqualondë drew together in those days.

Wanderlust is an important part of Elvish character, the Noldor more than any other. While the Vanyar were content to stay near the Valar, and the Teleri as often as not were content to stay where fate had already led them on the Great March, the Noldor were reputed explorers.

Fëanor [High Prince of the Noldor] and his sons abode seldom in one place for long, but travelled far and wide upon the confines of Valinor, going even to the borders of the Dark and the cold shores of the Outer Sea, seeking the unknown. Often they were guests in the halls of Aulë;

This urge is going to lead the Noldor back to Middle-Earth in time. Even there, their kinship with Aulë is manifest:

the Naugrim [Dwarves] gave their friendship more readily to the Noldor in after days than to any others of Elves and Men, because of their love and reverence for Aulë; and the gems of the Noldor they praised above all other wealth.

When many Noldor decided to depart Aman under Fëanor's leadership, not all went. Noldor passions ran high.

And of all the Noldor in Valinor, who were grown now to a great people, but one tithe refused to take the road: some for the love that they bore to the Valar (and to Aulë not least), some for the love of Tirion and the many things that they had made; none for fear of peril by the way.

The parting and how it occurred was a mortal blow to Aulë and the Noldor's relationship. We hear that Aulë never spoke of the Noldor again. The Noldor who left Aman did a similar thing to Aulë's name: the word in their Middle-Earth Sindarin language means not the inventive Ainu nor "invention" as it does in Quenya, but "shaggy."

In JRRT's literature, the Noldor go on to great things, even returning to Aman after the War of the Rings. But, after the chapter describing that first parting, Aulë appears very little: it is the Noldor that define Aulë, not the other way around.

Love, broken, is bitterest. 

Who wins? 

 Nobody.