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Celeborn Unplugged - Page 2

© Michael Martinez

Nor did Tolkien mean "Celeborn the Wise-cracker". "Hey, Gimli! How many Dwarves does it take to change a light-bulb?" But when people speak of "The Wise", they often leave me with the impression that they feel "The Wise" were the smartest Elves around. Yet what is the justification for that belief? Feanor was the smartest Noldo in his day, and look where his brains got him. Does possessing intelligence confer some sort of wisdom? Absolutely not. In fact, intelligent people often make the most foolish or stupid mistakes. History is addled with the errors of the brilliant. Wisdom is a combination of knowledge, experience, and intuition. And Tolkien's Elves all possess knowledge, experience, and intuition. Even Legolas, who seems to be a bit young for an Elf (probably being no more than a few hundred years old), possesses knowledge, experience, and intuition. He is wise beyond the years of any mortal being, certainly. But is he one of the Elven-wise? Apparently not. After all. He signs up to go on the Quest of Mount Doom and ends up meeting his doom by the sea. Good-bye, Middle-earth. Hello, forced retirement in Aman. Some people seem to feel that good deductive reasoning skills are an aspect of wisdom. After all, a wise person would pick up on all the clues and figure out that Moriarty is really the bad guy. But Celeborn is no Sherlock Holmes, my dear Watson. Nor should he be. After all, Celeborn understands who his enemy is. He isn't riddled with grave doubts and temptations like his wife. He has a pretty solid personality in that respect. Celeborn's credibility as a wise person is usually questioned on three points: why is he rebuked by Galadriel in front of their court and the Fellowship; why isn't he on the White Council; and why doesn't he want the One Ring? Of course, the reason why he is rebuked is that Tolkien wants to convey something to the reader. And what is the author trying to tell us? Celeborn is as astonished as everyone else at the (premature) news of Gandalf's death. When Celeborn says, "And if it were possible, one would say that at the last Gandalf fell from wisdom into folly, going needlessly into the net of Moria," many readers get their hackles up. Hey, don't be dissin' our favorite Wizard, dude! But Celeborn's reservation is a necessary restatement of Aragorn's previous warning to Gandalf not to enter Moria. Gandalf's credibility as one of the Wise has been severely weakened. He could not find a way around the obstacles in his path, and when push came to shove he was outwitted by the Balrog (which dragged him down into the abyss). Many people assume the Balrog was after the One Ring. And yet, where are we told that it even knew about the One Ring? I think Gandalf had one ticked off Balrog on his hands, and that was about all. The old boy had blithely dropped part of the mountain on top of the Balrog when he couldn't think of what else to do. I'm pretty sure that Balrogs, being the flame-filled critters that they are, don't appreciate having mountains dropped on them.

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