COTW: Silmarillion, Chapter X. Of the Sindar

COTW: Silmarillion, Chapter X. Of the Sindar

Not a lot happens in this chapter, which mostly contents itself with
giving a résumé of events and providing a background for later
chapters. True, Melkor does return and the First Battle takes place,
but these events are only summarised, not narrated or described. The
narrator keeps events at arm's length, and the reader isn't really
drawn in.

Synopsis:

Having finished their two-hundred-year hand-holding extravaganza, Elwe
(or Thingol) and Melian carve themselves a domain. The text is a
little vague as to how they go about this, saying only that "the power
of Elwe and Melian increased, and all Beleriand [...] owned Elwe as
their lord". Thingol's subjects were known as the Sindar, or
Grey-elves; and they were the crème de la crème in Middle-earth, even
if they were distinctly middle-class by Valinorean standards. It was
during this peaceful Golden Age, when Melkor was still a captive, that
Lúthien was born.

Also at this time, the Sindar first came into contact with the Dwarves,
whom with charming Elvish ethnocentricity they called the "Stunted
People." (The principal Dwarvish strongholds are listed.) The Elves
found Dwarvish to difficult to learn, but fortunately the Dwarves
learned quickly, and were reluctant at best to teach strangers their
language in any case. Relations between the Sindar and the Dwarves
were cool but correct, and benefited both parties. The Dwarves
preferred the Noldor to other Elves, because of their reverence for
Aule, god/archangel of crafts.

Melian foresaw the end of the captivity of Melkor, and so persuaded
Thingol to build a stronghold with the aid of the Dwarves, who were
happy to do this because it was both profitable and fun. And so the
two kindreds collaborated in building Menegroth, the "Thousand Caves."

As time grew on, the Sindar and the Dwarves became troubled by rumors
of another, nasty people: the Orcs. The Elves thought they might be
Avari who had become evil and savage in the wild. As a result, the
Sindar learned the art of weapon-making from the Dwarves, who had long
been a bellicose lot.

The Nandor moved into Beleriand, and not much else happened for a long
time, apart from Daeron's invention of the Runes, which the Dwarves
valued more than the Sindar, who preserved few records. Orome still
rode in Middle-earth, and everything was spiffy, until it wasn't. Then
Ungoliant fled south and, although Melian kept her out of Doriath, yet
the monster dwelt in the Mountains of Terror, where "life and light
were strangled." Meanwhile, Melkor returned to Angband and rebuilt it,
and Orcs multiplied and assailed Beleriand. The Elves won this First
Battle, but suffered many losses, and evil things roamed about at will,
bringing property values to an appallingly low level. As a result,
Melian fenced off the core of Thingol's realm (henceforth called
Doriath) with the Girdle of Melian.

Comments and Questions

1. Most of this chapter, including the title, comes from a post-LOTR
vision of Middle-earth. The Sindar are descendants of the Ilkorin,
while their language, Sindarin, was originally the speech of the
Noldor. This can be seen in volume 5 of HOME. E.g., in the
Etymologies, the Noldorin forms correspond with what would later be
called Sindarin. Ilkorin forms seem relatively rare; but "alch"
corresponds to Noldorin (now Sindarin) "alph" ("swan").
Tolkien's explanation of the changes in Noldorin are therefore
slightly different (and a good deal more confused) than those in
Sindarin (e.g., Lhammas, LR 188 ff.).

2. The view of Dwarves summarised in this chapter is a post-Hobbit
development. Cf. Lhammas (LR 195): "But the Dwarves have no spirit
indwelling [...] and this the Valar cannot give. Therefore, the
Dwarves have skill and craft, but no art, and they make no poetry."
But this concept soon was modified, to the extent that Dwarvish
soullessness was only one possible view (see CJRT's note, p. 209).

3. How do these changes in Sindar and Dwarves affect the artistic
character of Tolkien's writing? Do they provide a greater range of
perspectives?

4. Why are Elves so cliquish? Reading Tolkien's explanations of the
different divisions of Elves, such as the bit about Sindar being not
too low-class by Moriquendi standards, and certainly a step above those
wretched Avari, sometimes reminds one of a guide to the best country
clubs. Do Elves themselves make a big deal of their relative status?
It seems that "Sylvan" Elves accepted Eldarin rulers well enough
(Galadriel and Celeborn, for example).

5. The Elves seem to have an almost American/British aversion to
learning foreign languages. The Dwarves come off as rather better
linguists, although Tolkien's essay on Eldar and Quendi in WJ assures
us that Elves could learn foreign languages with facility; they just
didn't like to. Another instance of Elvish ethnocentricity?

6. This chapter hints at a specific origin for Orcs. A different
version, or different suggestions, are found in a very short essay on
Orcs (MR, which I unfortunately don't own yet), suggesting they might
be twisted Men, or possibly one of the more proletarian breeds of
Maiar. This is all related to the tricky problem of whether Orcs have
souls or can be redeemed. One of my friends suggests that Orcs have
minds, but not souls, and IIRC has textual support (MR?) - though I
find such a thing difficult to imagine. However, it's very close to
the old view of Dwarves; see 2 above. I think we can only say that
Tolkien never really resolved the issue. Most of the time, he simply
doesn't bother with it at all: Orcs are evil, and that's all there is
to it. But even in LOTR, he sometimes treats them more or less
sympathetically (Gorbag and Shagrat, for example); and in the post-LOTR
period, he intermittently tried to fix the problem, but never really
succeeded. But is the problem really a problem, or should we just
accept that Orcs are "evil" and move on?

On 22 Mar 2006 20:57:41 -0800, "Count Menelvagor"
<Menelvagor.RemoveThis@mailandnews.com> posted the following:

>COTW: Silmarillion, Chapter X. Of the Sindar
>
>Not a lot happens in this chapter, which mostly contents itself with
>giving a résumé of events and providing a background for later
>chapters. True, Melkor does return and the First Battle takes place,
>but these events are only summarised, not narrated or described. The
>narrator keeps events at arm's length, and the reader isn't really
>drawn in.

I think the discrepancy in style comes from the fact that "Of the
Sindar" is a chapter that is never found in any text of QS that JRRT
wrote. It was a chapter made by CT cobbled together from various
other sources, mostly the Grey Annals.

-Chris
--
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