Numenor, Westward Movement, and Lust for Immortality

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

I came across an interesting idea this afternoon, I thought I'd put it up here for comments and ideas: "Westward the Course of Empire". It's a bit of a fixation in European History certainly, but somehow this time my mind jumped to Tolkien and I connected it with Westward movement in Middle Earth.

Throughout the first age, all the movement in ME was Westward. The Elves first came West from Cuivienen, followed by the Fathers of the Dwarves, the Fathers of Men, and eventually even Hobbits crossed the Misty Mountains. Invariably, the groups that came West were the most highly cultured and usually the most moral among their respective kinds.

The level of cultural advancement was generally proportionate to the distance west these societies moved. This can be seen clearest in Elves (partially because there are so many divisions). Among Elven people the Avari (who didn't heed the call of the Valar at all) are practically unknown, the Silvan elves who abandoned the journey before the Misty Mountains are generally the least cultured (compare Mirkwood to Rivendell), while the Sindar are next, followed by the three kindreds of the Calaquendi (in order): the Teleri who lived at Alqualonde on the eastern shore of Aman, the Noldor at Tirion on Tuna, and the Vanyar--fairest of all who dwelt in Valinor itself.

In other races the "peak form" of civilization were often also the westernmost: Numenor among men, the Shire among Hobbits, and Belegost among dwarves (a bit of a judgment call on my part, but a case can be made). Ultimately however, while the move to Aman was fulfilling and beneficial for elves, the longing to reach westward brought ruin to mortals. The desire to continue westward past Numenor brought the downfall of Westernesse and the removal of Aman from the circles of the world.

Time to connect all this background up to RL. From what medieval/early modern history I've studied, it has been a recurring theme that Europe (particularly Britain at the height of its empire) saw the entire movement of civilization as a westward flow. Christianity originated in the Middle East but found its homeland (so to speak, admittedly it existed in other places even then) in Western Europe, Western Europe became the launching point for colonialism, The US is the heir of this attitude with the idea of "manifest destiny" and so forth.

Tolkien intended his work to serve as a new mythology for the British. Perhaps it's more than coincidence that his societies are focused on the North-West of Middle Earth, and the men who became its rulers in the Fourth Age are descended from the race who altered the shape of the world by their lust for immortality. Part of the reason for legend is explanatory power. And Tolkien's works contain quite a bit of that. The stars and the sun are explained, and why the moon sometimes shines during the day. Perhaps this is another explanans of that sort. People desired to move westward out of a half-forgotten and impossible desire to reach the undying lands. We know he tied in more recent legendary paradises like Avallon and Atlantis (which is explicitly tied to Numenor), perhaps also El Dorado and Shangri La could fit these categories?

Either way, I find it a pretty thought. To steal Mithadan's sig quote here: "And tales and rumours arose along the shores of the sea concerning mariners and men forlorn upon the water who, by some fate or grace or favour of the Valar, had entered in upon the Straight Way and seen the face of the world sink below them..."

Sophia

[davem]

Well, the West is the place towards which the Sun travels each day. There's the old phrase about someone who has died - that they have 'gone west'. I've even heard it applied to things that are broken or worn out.

I think Tolkien's races are following the Sun. Our ancestors would have seen the sun arising in the east & passing across the sky to the west. As it would have seemed the most powerful of all forces to them there would have been some curiosity, I suppose, about its destination, & its 'draw'. It may have exerted an almost 'magnetic' pull for them. They would have witnessed even flowers turning with the sun.

Certainly the sun is used as a 'divine' image throughout history - solar gods abound - so perhaps westward movement was almost a kind of 'worship'.

Perhaps the ancients would have seen the west as the place not only of the 'death' of the sun, but also its rebirth. At the end of each day it sinks (or appears to) into the earth, & be buried. Next day it arises, reborn, after its 'UnderWorld journey'. Its a primal story - birth in the morning, rising to the height of its power at noon, & sinking back into the earth, dying, going through the darkness of the earth ( a mysterious place of renewal) & arising, next morning to begin its journey all over.

One can see how many myths & religious beliefs would come into being simply by our ancestors meditations on the journey of the sun. Death is the great mystery, & the west is where the magical transformation took place - what powers must exist there if they could resurrect even the sun itself?

The West is the 'Land of Heart's Desire', because it is the place where the thing we most fear, death, is overcome by the 'powers' that dwell there - & if they have the power to do that, what other powers must they have? What wealth & glory must exist there?

All Tolkien's most 'civilised', or perhaps 'spiritually-inclined', races are drawn to the West, as you say. Yet at the same time, for many of them this proves to be their destruction; but not all. I suppose its down to their motivation for seeking the west. Are they seeking to understand the 'mystery' - ie are they motivated by a desire for 'spiritual' knowledge - or are they seeking power & 'worldly' knowledge?

The Numenoreans didn't want spiritual knowledge - they wanted power. They sought the West in order to attain the power of immortality & to return with that - 'divinity' - into the world to order it as they would. This is virtually the same case as with the Noldor. They may not have gone into the West with the desire to return to Middle earth in might, but when they found a reason for doing so that's what they did. The Noldor & the Numenoreans share the trait of Hubris & suffer as a result. The Vanyar & Teleri seem free of it & live in peace, growing in true wisdom.

The Noldor, by the end of the Third Age are like the Prodigal Son, returning home after a long journey instigated by desire & ending in humiliation. Like him they are welcomed back. But we can assume that their return is motivated by a desire for 'wisdom',( 'gnosis' - the 'wisdom' of the heart) rather than 'power'.

Anyway, I don't know if I've dragged this off in a direction you didn't want it to go - maybe I'm being a pest again (I know - 'I think we shall get tired of that word soon' ).

Just some early morning ramblings.....

[Child of the 7th Age]

I have long wondered about this question of East and West in the Legendarium. It's true that the general course of expansion in secular history has been to the west, at least in terms of Europe and its American offshoot. Yet it's also my understanding that, in a religious sense, many traditions have a special reverence for the East. Let me cite just a few examples....

The Garden of Eden was said to be in the "East", and likewise the Temple in ancient Israel faced towards the East. The tribe of Judah piched their tents to the east of the other ancient tribes because they were deemed the most precious. Even today, synagogues face east and observent Jews have a plaque in their house to show them where the East is when they pray.

But this preference for the East is not confined to Judaism. It's my understanding that in both the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the traditional sanctuary faced East and prayers were to be said in that direction:

THE MASS FACING EAST

The most important consideration in the building of churches and the construction of sanctuaries was the fact that, in the East and in the West, Mass was always celebrated facing eastward. The rising of the sun in the East each day was seen as a symbol of the Resurrection of the Saviour and of His Second Coming. St. John Damascene
[c. 675-c. 749] wrote:

At His ascent into Heaven He went to the East, and so do the Apostles pray to Him; He will come again as the Apostles saw Him going, and so the Lord Himself says: "As the lightning comes forth from the East and shines even to the West, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." Since we wait for Him, we pray toward the East. This is the unwritten tradition of the Apostles

I believe the Bible verse that is quoted comes from Matthew 24: 27.

In the orthodox Church, icons are placed on the east wall, and the altar is on the east side. A friend of mine who is Eastern Orthodox once explained that they view the term "eastern" not as a geographical location for their church, but as an indication that it faces towards the light and the direction from which the resurrected Christ will come.

In a traditional Catholic sanctuary, the altar also faces east. After Vatican II's reforms, there was considerable controversy in the Church because the priest now faced the congregation rather than the traditional eastern orientation. People registered their opinions on both sides of the issue, but the amount of disagreement generated suggests just how strong the old ways were in identifying the "sacred" realm with the East. I also know of at least one "negative" symbol in regard to the West: the Cross was said to have been placed so that Christ faced West.


I think Davem has made an excellent point by indicating the central importance of the Sun in this entire discussion. But it could also be said that the Sun rises in the East so that is the point where "light" comes from.

I guess my central question is this. If the Judaeo-Christian tradition, including Catholicism, gave a special meaning to the "East", why did Tolkien break away from this in his Legendarium? Was it just a matter of convenience? If Aman was in the West, it's natural that everything spiritual should face west. (I am reminded of the scene when Faramir's men stood and faced West at their meal to remember Numenor and what lay beyond.) But then why did Tolkien place Aman there? Just a practical thing, a convenient space to fill on the map across the ocean, or something more? Is there anything about "east" and "west" in the land of faerie, or the old Northern legends?

Another possibity....did Tolkien specifically want to distinguish his spiritual images and landscape from that given in the Bible and generally adopted by the Catholic Church and, therefore, he made his earthly paradise to the West?

[Turin]

Well, I don't think that it was to follow the sun because, remember that in Tolkien's conception, the sun didn't arise until the coming of Men.

However, I think that the first point to start from is when the Elves awoke. Orome found the Elves and advised them to travel to Aman, which just happened to be West. The Encircling Seas would have been made it impossible for the Elves to cross through the East since they had not yet learned the Art of shipbuilding. Thus, the Elves developed a natural tendency to "go West", where they were promised the Light of the 2 Trees in what otherwise was a dark world without the sun. They were told (whether for good or bad is debatable) that they would be living in a more or less paradise on earth.

The dwarves, I think, are a different case all together. Durin is said to have awoken at Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains. He travelled south until he reached the Mirriormere and took it as a sign to create a dwelling place there. The Petty-dwarves were cast offs from these original dwellings and they are said to have travelled to Beleriand even before the elves got there. Yet, they had no particular desire to go west. It just seemed a convenient place for them to go there. Indeed, dwarves are said to have hated the sea and feared it. The dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod were the furthest west of the dwellings of the dwarves, though even these did not exactly lie in Beleriand.

Then we come to the awakening of Men. We are told that Melkor tried to seduce Men to his Will. He succeeded, apparently, for a time. However, some repented and tried to find safer and better dwelling places. They met Avarin elves and dwarves before they ever met the Sindar. These Avari told them of the Light, although not having desired it for themselves and not crossing the Misty or Blue mountains, they did not exactly know where it lay, although they told them that it was West. Therefore, these Men travelled West and eventually came into Beleriand.

It was only in Beleriand (and possibly Khazad-dum, Belegost and Nogrod) that there was a significant civilisation. Of course, these stemmed from the teachings and guidance of Melian and Osse on the Sindar. Therefore, it can be assumed that this was the core reason why so many came west.

The Numenoreans were a different kettle of fish all together. They had been granted a "reward" for their part in the overthrow of Morgoth, which included a peaceful, isolated dwelling AND long life. However, they were enamoured of the bliss and immortality (of sorts) of Aman so that was their reason for looking to the west. They knew that in the west dwelt the Valar and believed (wrongly) that if they came to that land they would obtain immortality.

[Aiwendil]

There are two ways to discuss the issue of west versus east: intra-Legendarium and extra-Legendarium.

Within the Legendarium, the reason for the special significance of the west is simple: it was in the west that the Valar chose to make their home after the destruction of the Lamps and Almaren. One could, I suppose, try to find some special reason for their choice of the west - but the texts give the impression that it was chosen not for some deeply significant reason. Perhaps they could just as easily have settled in the east, but needing to choose one place they chose the west. Or perhaps it so happened that the breaking of the lands that occurred during their wars with Melkor left a more suitable continent in the west.

After this, west quite naturally becomes the holy or sacred direction and east of course becomes the domain of Melkor. The Elves travelled west with the goal of reaching Valinor, and the various sunderings of the Elves therefore reflect their decisicions concerning how Valinor; some are willing to suffer whatever hardships are necessary to reach it, some will stay behind only for the sake of their beloved king, some have little or no desire to undertake the journey at all. It also happens (quite naturally) that the further west the Elves go the more contact they have with the Valar - and thus the more 'cultured' they become. A similar thing happens with Men. The Edain are the ones that chose to reject Morgoth (if you consider the Tale of Adanel) and follow the sun. Of course, the sun travels from east to west because the Valar dwell in the west. The men that come into Beleriand encounter the Noldor and Sindar, and their culture is enhanced. And it is these same western men that are given the island of Numenor, between Middle-earth and the land of the Valar.

It's quite another thing to ask why Tolkien chose west. I can offer no hard evidence here, but I have always thought it had to do with the sea. Tolkien clearly loved the sea - that much comes through very strongly in the Legendarium. And from a European perspective, west is naturally associated with the sea (just as to someone like me, who lives on the east coast of the U.S., east is the direction of the sea). If the sea is in the west (as it must be, for the familiar areas of Middle-earth are supposed to be ancient Europe) then one must associate the sea-longing that is such a powerful theme in the mythology with the west.

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

Well this has brought up many things already that I hadn't thought about.

davem , who is certainly not being a pest , I never connected the direction of the sun, although I don't know why. It seems so obvious now that it has been brought up. Child 's point about where the sun comes from and yours about where it goes are both interesting considerations.

Turin :

The Numenoreans were a different kettle of fish all together. They had been granted a "reward" for their part in the overthrow of Morgoth, which included a peaceful, isolated dwelling AND long life.

Part of the lure of that reward was that they would be permitted to dwell closer to Aman than any mortals before or since. I'm not 100% sure of the accuracy of this map but it does show pretty vividly how close Numenor really was to Aman. Closer even than to Beleriand.

Aiwendil, I like the idea of Tolkien's personal sea longing as partial motivation for his choice of West. I too live on the East Coast of the US (although I'm currently and temporarily stranded in the Midwest) and now that it's pointed out East is the direction I think of when I think of the sea.

I guess I'm just enamoured of the idea of pepople with a half hidden longing for Aman sailing around the world westard and never reaching it.

Sophia

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

II think Davem has made an excellent point by indicating the central importance of the Sun in this entire discussion. But it could also be said that the Sun rises in the East so that is the point where "light" comes from.

With regards to Men, and the Rising of the Sun, it is important to remember a point that I don't recall being raised yet in this discussion: when the Sun first rose, it rose from the WEST, not the East. At the same time as the Rising of the Sun, Men were supposed to have first awakened. It was only later, after the re-organisation of the celestial movements by Varda that the Sun and Moon moved East to West.

Of course, this ignores the questions Tolkien himself later brought up with his pondered changes to the cosmology of Arda, and doesn't touch on WHY Tolkien placed Valinor (and thus the Sun and Moon's original rising point) in the West, but it is perhaps important to be noted.

I believe that it was Tolkien's original intention that Men, rising to see the Sun in the West, and then later seeing it seek Westward every day, would naturally be drawn Westward. Later, like the Elves, they were drawn by rumours of safety and peace.

[drigel]

Interesting thread. I wonder if the original motivation towards the west was:

Was the west so great, or perhaps it was just that the east (or mid-east) was not so very great?

Concerning Europe / migration: If you partake of the radiation theory out of Africa, once one clears the meditteranian/black sea, consider the joy one would feel, contemplating the west and the open opportunity (neanderthals aside) that the vistas of the west would present...

[davem]

Originally Posted by Child

But then why did Tolkien place Aman there? Just a practical thing, a convenient space to fill on the map across the ocean, or something more? Is there anything about "east" and "west" in the land of faerie, or the old Northern legends?

There is the land of Hy Brasil in Celtic myth: http://www.fionabroome.com/history/hybrasil.htm & http://www.islomania.com/brazil/

Of course, the east is the place of the arising of the light, but the west is the place of its death & subsequent passage into the Underworld.

I suspect what we're dealing with is Tolkien's original intent to create a myth for England. In North western mythology 'paradise' has always been in the West, because its the place the sun goes to 'die'. The east is the direction of the birth of the Light - well, of its re-birth, its 'resurrection'. As Child says East is the direction light comes from, but West is the place it goes to, its destination, its home.

I can think of no other reason for Tolkien to choose the West originally, when he could have placed his Earthly Paradise anywhere. He was attempting to recreate what had been all but lost. Some traditions did survive, & one was that Paradise was to be found in the far West, the Land of the Setting Sun. Certainly we find at the beginning of Beowulf the funeral of Scyld - sent off across the sea (into the West, obviously) - who had appeared out of the West as a child :

Still hale on the day ordained for his journey,
Scyld went to dwell with the World's Warder.
His liegemen bore his bier to the beach:
so he had willed while wielding his words
as lord of the land, beloved by all.
With frost on its fittings, a lordly longboat
rode in the harbor, ring-bowed and ready.
They placed their prince, the gold-giver,
the famous man at the foot of the mast,
in the hollow hull heaped with treasures
from far-off lands. I have not heard another
ship ever sailed more splendidly stocked
with war-weapons, arms and armor.
About his breast the booty was strewn,
keepsakes soon to be claimed by the sea.
So he'd been sent as a child chosen
to drift on the deep. The Danes now returned
treasures no less than those they had taken,
and last they hoisted high overhead
a golden banner as they gave the great one
back to the Baltic with heavy hearts
and mournful minds. Though clever in council
or strong under sky, men cannot say
or know for certain who landed that shipload.

In other words, Tolkien seems to have chosen the West for the location of paradise because that's where Tradition placed it....

[littlemanpoet]

Tolkien was enamored of the tale of St. Brendan, which is wrapped up in the Hy Brasil myth, as davem points out.

There is also Tolkien's Atlantis "nightmare", dream, what have you - the green wave - from which derives his Numenor mythology.

Both these legends have to do with western seas.

It is interesting to me that the one exception (in the First Age) is the coming of the Noldor, Eastwards, out of the West. The Numenoreans are the second instance (though not an exception, having arrived from the West to establish empire in the 2nd age, not the 1st).

Historically, the oldest civilizations are in the Far East. Population growth has been enormous there compared to the west (such as Europe) for thousands of years. Since before the Roman Empire, there has been pressure on barbaric tribes to push westwards. Why Europe never developed Empire until after the medieval era, may have much to do with the land being good and the people being relatively stable (if not content) with their lot.

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

I never thought of the return of the Noldor or the flight of the Numenoreans as contrary to the pattern of the highest races moving westward. The Noldor and the Numenoreans are both in mid-fall, one might even say at their lowest points (after the Kinslaying and the Rebellion of Ar-Pharazon) when they head Eastward. And after their Eastward journey both races go into a decline and never reachieve their former glory.

Did I misunderstand you, though, LMP?

Sophia

[Encaitare]

Just a small thought pertaining to something davem said earlier, about ancient cultures seeing the path of the sun as a life cycle:

The ancient Egyptians viewed the sun's path as such; they believed that the sun god Ra was born every morning and died every night. Therefore, they viewed west as the direction of the dead, and so they built all their pyramids and tombs on the west bank of the Nile. But, they also believed that they would never truly die since they were going to have this wonderful afterlife... perhaps their very own "version" of the Undying Lands?

[littlemanpoet]

The Noldor as exceptions to the westward direction, are, is indeed an exceptional event, coming on the breath of oath and crimes against Elvendom, as it were. Besides, they didn't exactly establish empire when the reached Beleriand. Rather, they laid claim to empty land and split it between various separate hereditary kingdoms.

The Numenoreans did establish empire, and only in the waning of their culture and wisdom (if not power).

Was this not true of Rome, though, too? It could be said that the heart of Rome had left Rome by 14 B.C., could it not? I don't know enough about China to comment intelligently on that comparison. Seems like a completely different kettle of fish.