“Not all those who wander are lost.”

[Estelyn Telcontar]

One of the recurring themes of Tolkien’s works is that of change. We’ve discussed it before, but a lecture at ‘Tolkien 2005’ in Birmingham made me think about it more deeply. This post is based on Marjorie Willetts’ presentation: ‘The Good, the Bad and the Static: Wise Wanderers and Tired Travellers in Middle-earth’, augmented by my own thoughts and research, and limited to an introduction, in the hopes that many others will have something to add.

In his Letters, Tolkien mentions several times that the weakness of the Elves is their unwillingness to change.

…‘change’ viewed as a regrettable thing… (#131)
But the Elves are not wholly good or in the right… they were ‘embalmers’. (#154)
…the Elvish weakness is…to become unwilling to face change… (#181)

An important passage, which mentions change in connection with a journey is in Letter #183:

For if there is anything in a journey of any length, for me it is this: a deliverance from the plantlike state of helpless passive sufferer, an exercise however small of will, and mobility – and of curiosity, without which a rational mind becomes stultified.

(And later …calculable people reside in relatively fixed circumstances…

These statements show us that Tolkien considers change not only necessary, but important and beneficial. When we study his books, we see that he shows us the effects of staying static in his characters. Here are some examples, using the more important characters. I’m sure we can find others.

Wanderers are: Gandalf, Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Bilbo, Gimli, Legolas…

Fixed persons are: Saruman, Denethor, Bombadil…

Those who change from fixed to wanderers: Théoden, Treebeard, Éowyn…

Those who are fixed have a limited vision – inaccurate because incomplete - not seeing the concerns of others or other viewpoints; they are not open for possibilities outside their control. Stopping change is stopping growth. We see that in Saruman, who has settled down in Orthanc, which has relatively small windows in a stony wall. In limiting himself to one place, he loses sight of his mission and ultimately fails. He refuses to leave the tower until the end of the story, when it is too late for him to change.

We see it in Denethor, who says, “I would have things as they were – or nothing”, refusing to leave his city to do battle against the foe and even choosing death over change. (For more on him, please check out the Chapter-by-Chapter discussion of LotR, Book 5, Chapter 7 – ‘The Pyre of Denethor’.)

We also see unwillingness to wander in a 'good' character – Tom Bombadil! In limiting himself to the small boundaries of his own land, he sets limits to his powers and influence, having withdrawn from the wider world.

Gandalf (who is Saruman as he should have been) is the ultimate wanderer of Middle-earth. His travels give him a broad outlook on life, and experience gives him more than mere knowledge, it gives him wisdom. He gets to know and appreciate the different races and knows how each of them can effectively fight the good fight. After all, who else of the ‘great ones’ knows about Hobbits?!

Aragorn’s wanderings prepare him for his fate as King and give him an outlook that sees more than merely his own country and people. He is able to see the weaknesses of others with pity, not scorn, having learned both justice and mercy.

Théoden is at first limited to his hall; his sight is dim, and he has no will of his own. By leaving it (with Gandalf’s encouragement!), he regains a broader view, giving him hope and purpose, and ultimately plays an important part to victory in the great battle of his age.


I’m sure these are enough examples with which to start; I look forward to exploring this topic in greater depth through your contributions!

[Boromir88]

Wonderful thread Idea Estelyn, I expect nothing less. Oi, speaking of the CbC I need to get my butt back there, but I've fallen so behind, I see no way in catching up, unless I just skip through to the next chapter...Then a problem is finding time to post.

Anyway, perhaps we could identify the Characters in Tolkien with the labels you give (fixed, wanderer, change...etc).

For example, I would put Gollum with the fixed. He's unable to change. Though there is slight hope shown for him, in the end he was unable to change. He constantly desired the Ring back eventhough he hadn't had it for over 60 years. He was simply unable to let go of the past. Hence, a fixed character.

I would put Faramir with the wanderers. As Denethor would say he was "Gandalf's pupil" and was wise in lore. He was open to change, and was open to going against things he was told not to (not taking the Ring back to Minas Tirith). He does this because he knows better, and he is able to decide for himself what is right and wrong. He's not afraid of going against his Father's will.

Which leads into another Tolkien theme (and I hope this isn't too far off topic, if it is just reprimand me). But, Tolkien tends to give his characters a mind of their own (atleast some of them). Examples are Faramir, Beregond, and Hama. They aren't made mindless robots that do exactly what their lord says, but they're able to judge for themselves what is right and wrong, and if necessary CHANGE and explore their past or options.

Faramir with not taking the Ring to Minas Tirith.
Beregond committing treason and murder to save the life of his beloved innocent Captain. (This gives me a thread idea, for I just thought of something but indeed this would be off topic).
Hama after being told to take Gandalf's staff judges for the better and doesn't.

Would this make these characters wanderers then?

Then perhaps we see Eowyn begin to change from a fixed to more of a wanderer. She first starts out as an anxious Shieldmaiden wanting to die in battle, and not sit back at home. And she desires Aragorn because she thinks he can give him this. Then there's a change when she meets Faramir. She's more settled down, and she weds the life of a man who is more of a Guardian to the throne until the King returns from business, not a guy that goes out and fights.

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

I would put Gollum with the fixed. He's unable to change.

Not so sure I'd go along with this. Gollum certainly wandered far and wide for many years, and developed a certain amount of worldly wisdom after his fashion. He was eminently adaptable and managed to stay in the game right up to the very end -- in fact, succeeding at the last in his quest to recover the Ring.

Also, going with the theme of the positive effects of wandering, Gollum's put him within a hair's breadth of real redemption.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

We see it in Denethor, who says, “I would have things as they were – or nothing”, refusing to leave his city to do battle against the foe and even choosing death over change. (For more on him, please check out the Chapter-by-Chapter discussion of LotR, Book 5, Chapter 7 – ‘The Pyre of Denethor’.)

The paragraph above got me thinking about Aragorn's end, where he accepts change even at the end of all things. It is one thing to passively accept death, or to run from it as the Númenóreans did in their later years, but in Aragorn we see that he actively chose to change from this realm to whatever lay ahead. He knew that it was time to go, to change. And that's not an easy thing to do as one gets older and more "set in one's ways."

Similarly Denethor chose the timing of his own and almost that of his second son's ending, but to me it was an act of despair in which he wanted all thing to just STOP! Having lost one son, he now wanted to freeze time, keep his remaining son close and ward off the Darkness. In his pitiable mind it must have seemed that only immolation would stop change from finding him.

Great thread; will continue to think on it.

[davem]

Of course the first character we meet in the whole Legendarium is a wanderer - Eriol/Aelfwine the mariner - which is another thing that strikes me - how many of Tolkien's wanderers have links to the Sea - Tuor, Earendel, the father-son pairs in Lost Road & Notion Club Papers, Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, Sam, Legolas & Gimli - even the more 'static' characters like Elrond & Galadriel - all finally seek the Sea. Even in SoWM Smith finds the Sea of Windless Storm.The Kingdoms of Gondor & Arnor are founded by Men who come from over the Sea.

The Road goes ever on, & it seems that that Road leads to the Sea - & ultimately over it to what lies beyond. I wonder whether what inspires Tolkien's wanderers to set out is the pull of 'something' they don't understand, but whatever it is is a 'spiritual' pull. Perhaps those who stay where they are are the ones who have refused to listen to the voice of Eru in their hearts? What's that line in Augustine? 'Our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee'? Or in the psalm:

O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a weary land where there is no water.

I think Tolkien is using the idea of the 'wanderer' as a symbol. As Bilbo says, you have to be careful stepping into a road, because unless you keep your feet there is no knowing where you may be swept off to.' The physical journey seems the first step on the spiritual journey. Refusing to wander is refusing the goal, choosing the self & its desires over spiritual things. Tolkien's wanderers seem not just wiser & more 'useful' in the world, but more spiritually aware & compassionate too.

The odd thing is that Tolkien himself was someone who hardly travelled at all - well hardly at all physically.

[drigel]

Here we contemplate one of what I feel is a theme that was actually intended by the author. The reader doesnt read road, the reader reads Road. I always interpreted this theme as mainly an internal journey for the reader, for some reason. Especially from the meek hobbits POV.

The sea represents the ulitmate journey, or IMO representing the barrier that separates the corporeal from the non-corporeal, the physical from the spiritual. Aelfwine's passage, or Frodo's footsteps, representing one's life journey (or struggle) from darkness to enlightenment. And what strikes me as I read this thread is how neither of them, for better or worse, are ever the same again. They cannot return from whence they came.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by davem

Of course the first character we meet in the whole Legendarium is a wanderer - Eriol/Aelfwine the mariner - which is another thing that strikes me - how many of Tolkien's wanderers have links to the Sea - Tuor, Earendel, the father-son pairs in Lost Road & Notion Club Papers, Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, Sam, Legolas & Gimli - even the more 'static' characters like Elrond & Galadriel - all finally seek the Sea. Even in SoWM Smith finds the Sea of Windless Storm.The Kingdoms of Gondor & Arnor are founded by Men who come from over the Sea.

The Road goes ever on, & it seems that that Road leads to the Sea - & ultimately over it to what lies beyond.

Well, what would we expect from an author who was writing a mythology for an island nation?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by davem

The odd thing is that Tolkien himself was someone who hardly travelled at all - well hardly at all physically.

But didn't Tolkien travel widely within the UK? It always surprises me to read of the number of different places he did visit, either on family holidays, for work, or simply for days out. You do not have to travel far to travel - speaking as one who has never had a passport and always has plenty of adventures on the old island.

I perfectly understand the pull of the Sea. Having grown up by it I miss it, and when I see it I have to get on or into it for some reason. At first it seems as though the Sea only has an irresistible attraction for Elves, but in most cases (apart from those Elves who live on the shores of Valinor) I would say it is not so much the Sea which attracts, nor the journey, but the place you can get to by making the journey over the sea. For Men, it is literally the Sea itself which attracts, as shown in the Numenorean and Gondorian mariners.

I've been thinking about the differences between the static and the mobile characters for quite a while. I noticed the differnence initially between the Rohirrim and the Gondorians. The Rohirrim in effect emigrated to their land from the North, and the parts of the story about them are relatively full of movement - going to and from Helm's Deep and travelling to Gondor. When they meet strangers such as Hobbits, they react with interest and they seem keen to expand their borders.

Originally Posted by Esty

Théoden is at first limited to his hall; his sight is dim, and he has no will of his own. By leaving it (with Gandalf’s encouragement!), he regains a broader view, giving him hope and purpose, and ultimately plays an important part to victory in the great battle of his age.

The chapter where we first meet Theoden is strangely enough one of the few moments in the book where the Rohirrim keep still!

In contrast, the Gondorians at the time of the War of the Ring seem to have stagnated, or more specifically, the residents of Minas Tirith. One of the first reactions to Pippin is one of suspicion. They also seem to be relatively unaware of what is happening outside their walls. While the stories about the Rohirrim are full of movement, those about the Gondorians are about a closing in, a shutting up shop. Yes, they are undergoing siege so this is natural, even so, this almost seems metaphorical for their state of being closed off from the world.

The actual motif of the journey is strong in Tolkien's work - not only within the plots but the Legendarium is almost a journey in itself, moving from the simple to the complex, the comic to the serious, from the eucatastrophe of LotR to the tragedy of the Sil. Journeys can be about discovery within as well as literal discovery, and the way that Tolkien melds the two always brings to mind Huckleberry Finn - as the journey is made down the river many perils and encounters are to be had, each one teaching a new lesson.

I notice how Tolkien takes care that each character who takes a literal journey also takes an internal journey of discovery, and those who do not take a journey do not change in this way. This would include even good characters, such as Galadriel or Elrond - but then they do take a journey at the end of the book. This perhaps means that they have only one more thing to learn, to relinquish power in Middle-earth and the trip to the Grey Havens teaches them to do this.

Originally Posted by Esty

We also see unwillingness to wander in a 'good' character – Tom Bombadil! In limiting himself to the small boundaries of his own land, he sets limits to his powers and influence, having withdrawn from the wider world.

Maybe Tom does not need to travel any longer? He may have already travelled far and wide and have no more or only one more lesson to learn. Or maybe one of the ideas about him is true, that he embodies Middle-earth itself and so does not need to travel? He is a traveller within his own land, and there may be many things to see in the Old Forest which are very small but nevertheless interesting.

Which brings me back to where I was, which must mean someone was reading the Road Atlas upside down...

[davem]

Originally Posted by Bb

Well, what would we expect from an author who was writing a mythology for an island nation?

I wasn't talking about the sea, but the Sea.

Originally Posted by Lalwende

Maybe Tom does not need to travel any longer? He may have already travelled far and wide and have no more or only one more lesson to learn. Or maybe one of the ideas about him is true, that he embodies Middle-earth itself and so does not need to travel? He is a traveller within his own land, and there may be many things to see in the Old Forest which are very small but nevertheless interesting

It could be argued that Tom is the greatest traveller in Middle-earth - he may not travel far in space, but he certainly has taken a long journey in time, from the appearance of the first stars to the end of the Third Age (& beyond?).

[Dûrbelethwen]

Right now in my world literature class we are studying Don Quixote. Today my professor said that the word errant, as in Knight Errant, means a wanderer, someone on a mission, looking for glory, etc.
Something to think about in reference to this topic, especially in regards to Aragorn.