The magic of the minstrels

» Findegil - An Entertaining Thought

In the first sentence of the article on minstrels in Middle-earth, Mr. Martinez states "Two things you won't find any mention of in Tolkien's Middle-earth are clowns and actors." He also states that there are no jugglers or acrobats, among other missing elements of entertainment. However, there is one small reference that Mr. Martinez overlooked that does point to the existence of certain entertainers.

In "The Two Towers," the second book of "The Lord of the Rings," Gandalf and others ride to Orthanc to confront Saruman (in chapter 10, "The Voice of Saruman"). Saruman first attempts to cast the spell of his voice on King Theoden. When he fails, he then attempts to entice Gandalf. But Gandalf laughs and says, "Saruman, you missed your path in life. You should have been the king's jester and earned your bread, and stripes too, by mimicking his counsellors."

The fact that Gandalf uses the word "jester" and that apparently everyone in earshot knows what he's talking about makes it clear that the occupation of king's jester is well known in Middle-earth. A jester is another form of a clown, and many (in European tradition) were indeed actors, jugglers, or acrobats. Gandalf also makes clear that some jesters "earned their stripes" by non-musical entertainments, such as mimicking counsellors. I thus submit that the first sentence of the Middle-earth minstrels article needs a little revision.

-- posted by Findegil

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» Michael_Martinez - Re: An Entertaining Thought

In response to message posted by Findegil:

Jesters certainly fall into that category, but though I had indeed overlooked the reference, it nonetheless doesn't fit into the class of entertainer I had in mind.

-- posted by Michael_Martinez

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