#not because Tolkien decided to get rid of Beren's depression

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

Thoughts on Beren, grief and depression

(This post includes a discussion of suicide/suicidal tendencies.)

One of the things that strikes me about Beren is that his early life was so full of suffering. Dorthonion was overrun by the forces of Morgoth when Beren was still very young, only in his early twenties. His mother left with the remnant of their people and it is implied that he never saw her again. After five years of defending Dorthonion with a small band of men, he lost his father under terrible circumstances, when Gorlim betrayed them, and Barahir and the other men were killed. Not only was Beren’s father killed by the treachery of one of his own men, his body was mutilated; Beren had to win back the ring of Barahir from the Orcs, who had taken his severed hand. Beren swore an oath of vengeance upon his father’s grave and defended Dorthonion alone as an outlaw until he was finally forced to escape to the south.

What it says in The Lays of Beleriand about Beren during this part of the story is really heartbreaking. When he buried his father, he ‘wept not, for his heart was ice,’ and because Barahir was dead, ‘sorrow now his soul had wrought to dark despair, and robbed his life of sweetness, that he longed for knife, or shaft, or sword, to end his pain.’ And afterwards, ‘danger he sought and death pursued.’ This is painful to read, but it also makes sense to me that Beren would feel this way: he has experienced so much trauma and loss. Even though it doesn’t say that he was planning to kill himself, pursuing death in battle seems to be so similar to suicidal ideation that it is almost indistinguishable from it, and that’s what these lines suggest to me.

I kept thinking about this part of the Lays of Beleriand, and why I found it so moving, and I think the reason is because in a lot of stories, heroic male characters like Beren aren’t usually shown to be depressed. If they’re portrayed feeling something after the death of a loved one, it’s usually anger, not deep sadness, grief and depression. And it’s comforting to see a heroic character like Beren portrayed as someone who went through all this—the grief, the depression, and wanting to die—and still had a happy ending. In many ways, it reminds me of Éowyn’s struggle with depression in LOTR.

I also think that Beren’s time in Dorthonion seems to reflect aspects of Tolkien’s own life. We all know that the tale of Beren and Lúthien was based on Tolkien’s relationship with Edith, but I think there are other aspects of his life reflected in Beren’s story: losing his parents at a young age, losing all of his closest friends, and the depression that would come with that. When I read about Beren living in Dorthonion, after his father and all his companions are dead, I think about how Tolkien lost all his friends in the war and was the only survivor. Along with characters like Frodo and Éowyn, Beren strikes me as another character where Tolkien’s own experiences of grief and loss really come through.

[garden-ghoul]

appendix blog part 2

“hahahaha did you think you could get rid of me by pushing smith of wootton major in my path? you fool!”

OF ARAGORN AND ARWEN!

Uhhhhh well it starts out with Arathorn marrying Gilraen, who is too young to be marrying. But like, war is coming, so it’s fine. I’m a prophet trust me. The point is that if they didn’t have Aragorn ASAP Arathorn was going to get killed and the line of kings would die out. Which he did! When Aragorn was two! Gilraen took him to live at Imladris, where they nicknamed him Hope Baby. Because... he is the hope of the Dunedain. It says Elrond loves him like a father, which is cute. But he doesn’t call Aragorn by his actual name (rather than Hope Baby) until the first time he comes home from doing murders, when he is 20.

At this time Aragorn is judged to be An Adult; Elrond gives him the ring of Barahir (I can’t believe they still have that!! that’s really exciting!) and the shards of Narsil. But NOT the Scepter of Amdsndnirsongsd. He’s Not Ready Yet. Wait omg this next part is SO goofy listen

The next day at sunset Aragorn walked alone in the woods, and his heart was high within him; and he sang, for he was full of hope and the world was fair. And suddenly even as he sang he saw a maiden walking on a greensward among the white stems of the birches; and he halted amazed, thinking that he had strayed into a dream, or else that he had received the gift of the Elf-minstrels, who can make the things of which they sing appear before the eyes of those that listen. 

For Aragorn had been singing a part of the Lay of Lúthien which tells of the meeting of Lúthien and Beren in the forest of Neldoreth. And behold! there Lúthien walked before his eyes.

Aragorn is SUCH a baby, I love him. His first thoughts are “am I asleep?” and then “did I just get MAGIC POWERS?” Tolkien is laying it on PRETTY thick with the Luthien and Beren comparison here though. Aragorn shouts “Tinuviel!” and Arwen just, is super super grave about everything. When he asks why he has never met her despite her being Elrond’s daughter she like, dramatically and gravely looks away toward the mountains and says “I dwelt in Lorien” or something.

Aragorn tells his mom, who immediately assumes this means he wants to marry Arwen. “This is a huuuuge aspiration for you,” she says, after he doesn’t mention having any romantic intentions toward her. What she means is, it is a huge aspiration for her. Oh no it’s because she has Mom Prophecy Powers. If Aragorn doesn’t get to marry Arwen the race of the Dunedain will dunedie out. They’re, guys, they’re dunedyin’. Aragorn is exactly as transparent to Elrond, who not only has the gift of prophecy but loves him a lot and is good at reading people. “You can’t marry Arwen until you pass The Trial,” says Elrond, and avoids mentioning what The Trial is. “Also, she won’t even bother with you unless you Come Between Us.” Yeah that’s right if you marry her she will never get to see her father again. Just like, uh, fuckin, everyone else. I am honestly finding the ‘fated’ aspect of this ‘romance’ to be pretty repellent. The only reason Aragorn can’t date someone who it wouldn’t make a bunch of people really sad for him to date.... is because of prophecy.

Aragorn leaves to be a ranger. 

It says that he starts to look kinda shaggy but when he smiles everyone falls in love with him. I’m paraphrasing. Pfff ahaha it also says he was “exploring the hearts of men.” That is DEFINITELY a euphemism for dating a whole ton of people. Aragorn “could not possibly be straight, I knew it” ben Arathorn. Anyway I like to think that having canonically had Haradrim boyfriends made him a lot more kindly disposed toward peace treaties with them than his predecessors the Stewards. Is it appropriate to use ‘haradrim’ here? I always kind of thought it was the plural of some singular word that meant “one person from Harad,” whereas I want an adjective “describing a person from Harad.” Or is the singular the same and I’m just confused because it sounds like a Hebrew plural? I sincerely want an answer to this.

Thirty years after leaving Imladris, Aragorn goes to take a break in Lothlorien. Galadriel greets him at the door and then drags him off to the changing room so he can put on the outfit she used her prophetic powers to design for him. She ships him with Arwen, who--surprise!--is hanging out here again visiting her grandma. When Arwen sees Aragorn for the first time in thirty years, dressed up all fancy and actually grown up, “her choice was made and her doom appointed.” Love at first sssss. Blech. Tepid. Oh I do like this part though:

On the evening of Midsummer Aragorn and Arwen went to the fair hill, Cerin Amroth, and they walked unshod on the undying grass with elanor and niphredil about their feet. And there upon that hill they looked east to the Shadow and west to the Twilight, and they plighted their troth and were glad.

I loooove that they are looking--together!--to their separate dooms and deciding to be joined. I like how going West to the undying lands is ‘twilight,’ a sort of classically bittersweet image. “I’ll stay with you,” she says, “but I am always going to miss my father and all my kin. I want you to know I am giving them up for you.” Doesn’t this remind you of Gogol’s heartwarming Goth Luthien meta where she pointedly learns Westron (or whatever Beren speaks? There’s a name for the language related to her ancestors I think?) because She Lives With Beren Now! No Going Back! I Am Forever Sundered From My Kin! 

Anyway, when Elrond finds out they want to get married he is like “Aragorn look, it ain’t happening until you become the king of Gondor and Arnor.” Gilraen leaves to go back to whatever they have instead of Arnor these days, and soon dies. Then [the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy]. It also says here that the reason, or one of the reasons, Elrond leaves Middle Earth is that after the Three Rings are deactivated he gets really tired. ...ah. There is some causation, not just correlation, between big cheeses of Middle Earth and havers of Rings. Probably he and Galadriel were only able to protect their realms because of the Rings, and that’s why basically all the elves lived in one of those two places. What does Thranduil have in comparison?? How is he keeping his people safe, and that close to Dol Guldur to boot?

Eventually Aragorn Feels The Death Comin On and lies down on his tomb. Adorable... Arwen is like “wait I didn’t think this through, I’m still fucking immortal.” She leaves her son the king and her beloved daughters (no names? c’mon!) and goes to dwell in Lorthlorien, alone. Since Nenya left it’s not even a land of perpetual summer. It’s just. Depressing. She lies down on Cerin Amroth and (hopefully) dies. Hopefully because if she didn’t die then she just... lay there... forever...