Home » Reading & Literature » J.R.R. Tolkien » Moving Sale: Magic Rings and Other Trinkets Half Off - Page 3

Moving Sale: Magic Rings and Other Trinkets Half Off - Page 3

© Michael Martinez

So what became of all the stuff the Noldor took with them? For example, a lot of Noldor were slain when the Feanorians took the ships from Alqualonde. Did Feanor scoop up their belongings and take them aboard the ships? Were piles of duffle bags and the equivalent left on the quays or by the shoreside? And what happened when Fingolfin and his people awoke to find that Feanor had abandoned them? Did they construct tents and huts, or perhaps even create a whole moving city? Would they have invented travois-like contraptions to haul their goods and children, or perhaps little pull-carts? Or did each Elf take only what he or she could carry on his or her back? A harp, a few extra clothes, some jewels, and a small case of precious tools? What treasures were lost when the ships sank in Uinen's storm? And of Fingolfin's people, how many brought all their gear across the Helcaraxe? Who carried the tents and the wine? Who brought the ropes and the nets? Was there even so much as a first-aid kit among them? In one place Tolkien suggests that all the special lamps of the Eldar were made in Aman, perhaps even by Feanor himself (they were powered by special gems). That seems a bit constricting, but perhaps Fingolfin's people were indeed burdened by carrying such devices (in fact, traveling by starlight without even the benefit of a moon in the wilds can be pretty rough -- I know, I've done it, and Tolkien may have, too). Fortunately the Elves had prodigious memories and they typically kept their lore in their memories. In Beleriand books were most often composed if the authors believed they might not live to pass on their knowledge. So there may have been few books among the Elves during their wanderings. But nothing the Noldor made should have been "mundane" (by our standards). That is, the Elves were artists (according to Tolkien) and they were always practicing their "art", which was the making of new things. The Noldor, especially, were "technologists". They must have always been looking for the next best thing for the kitchen. "Honey, look at this new knife I fashioned! It slices, it dices, it Juliennes fries!" An Elven craftsman would have enchanted the items he made, not because he could get a better price for them but because that is what he would do. Think of a carpenter putting an extra finish on a piece of furniture to protect it from buffing and scratching, or adding some ornamentation. Carefully he carves a pattern into each leg, paints something simple but beautiful into the wooden surface. Perhaps a hidden drawer is added, or a set of hinges are used to make a loose piece fold out. In Lorien the Silvan Elves told Pippin they put "the thought of all that we love into all that we make". This may have been only something the Elves of Lorien did, but I don't believe so. Tolkien's various discussions of the Elves' sub-creational (magic) abilities, and the fact that the Mithrim Sindar seem to have woven the same kind of grey cloaks used by the Lorien Elves, seem to imply that this was a fairly standard Elven concept.

The copyright of the article Moving Sale: Magic Rings and Other Trinkets Half Off - Page 3 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish Moving Sale: Magic Rings and Other Trinkets Half Off - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.