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Circles: Symbolism, Imagery and Plot
by BelladonnaTook
Circles have been symbols of power or unity for thousands of years � think of the stone circles and henges of ancient Britain, for example.
The circle, with no beginning or end, can be seen as an image of mystical perfection. A ring on the finger can be a symbol of status, power or love.
Tolkien used many circle images and circular plot devices in his writings.
I�ll give you an (obvious) example of an image:
The rings of power
And what I call a �circular plot device� � this is more complex. Many of Tolkien�s stories within the main plot form perfect circles; a chain of events occur that complete a cycle. I�ll explain it better with an example:
(***spoiler***)
In the Silmarillion, Ungoliant destroys the Trees that give Light to the Valar.
The Silmarils embody that Light.
Earendil takes a Silmaril into the heavens and becomes a star.
In LOTR, the Light of Earendil is given to Frodo.
The Light is used to defeat Shelob, who is a descendent of Ungoliant.
That is one of the more complicated ones! There are many more. Which other circle images/symbols/plots can you spot?
Looking forward to your responses.
Reply from Lightningbug
Excellent observation, Belladonna! Wow. All I can think of off the top of my head ( and I will try to ponder it more) is Bilbo going there and back again, and the ring making a circuit of ME, from being forged in Mt Doom up to the Gladden Fields, the Misty Mts, (OK, a bit of a loop off to the Lonely Mountain)Hobbiton...etc and back to Mt Doom. Obvious, I know, but I'm tired.
Reply from Eliador
The palantir: first it belong to the Numenoreans, then it was thought lost...was found by Saruman...Gandalf took it and returned it to the descendent of the Numenoreans: Aragorn... Another one could be the return of Galadriel to Valinor...i think..
Reply from ChapaevandPetka
A very good observation, Belladonna, and an interesting topic!
I can�t think of any more plot circles right now (too lazy�), but for anyone who is interested in the symbolism of rings/circles, I hightly recommend the book �Ring of power� by American Jungian psychologist Jean Shinoda Bolen. She explores the symbolic power of rings (mostly based on Wagner�s ring trilogy, the nationalistic elements of which she is quite critical, though, and rightly so). The book starts with a Tolkien quote!
Reply from Alizarin
How about...
Isildur taking the Ring from Sauron and ending the first darkness, becoming corrupted by the ring and as a result causes the diruption of the monarchy, which leads to Aragorn's life of wandering and reluctance to become involved; and then by becoming involved with the quest - with the very thing that caused all of this, the ring - Aragorn becomes key in destroying the forces of darkness and in turn regains the monarchy.
Reply from Broc
Being extremely simplistic --
The story begins in the bucolic Shire - evolves throughout Middle Earth -- and returns to the destroyed Shire, which culminates in a Renaissance, [thanks to Galadriel's dirt].
Reply from BelladonnaTook
The story of Aragorn and Arwen forms a circle in their family tree:
Aragorn is a descendent of Elros (Elrond's brother) who chose mortality and became the first Numenorean King.
Aragorn marrying Arwen completes the circle.
Reply to the above from Shicasu
i'm not completely sure about this, but i read somewhere that since they both were descedants from maiar/elves/men, they had three children, and each one was of pure race, i mean a pure maiar, a pure elf and a pure man.
Reply to Shicasu from Eliador
If Aragorn was half elf (and he could be, being a descendant from elves) and picturing that the man gen was the dominance...it could be possible...
Aragorn: Mn and Arwen: nn
=50% of changes of being human and 50% of changes of being elf (using the mendel method)...
Reply to Eliador from Lady Eowyn
But he isn't half-Elf at all. Elros chose mortality; he is therefore no longer an Elf. He is now completely Human, though he may have some Elf-like characteristics (lifespan, wisdom, talents, etc). Assuming he marries a Human dame, all of his offspring are 100% organic Human. Aragorn is the first in Elros's line of descendents to marry an Elf; Aragorn is therefore also 100% organic Human.
Arwen herself isn't completely Elven either. Elrond is called Halfelven because (I think... not completely sure) his parents were Beren and L�thien... or else they were his grandparents. I'm not looking this up right now, but if he is "Halfelven," then they were his parents. Anyway, so he is half-Elven. He marries an Elf, presumably, and Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen are 75% Elf.
Therefore, Aragorn and Arwen's offpsring are, adding the parents' genes, 125% Human and 75% Elven. If we reduce that, their genetic ratio is, Human to Elven, 5:3. They are predominately Human.
Unless, of course, you allow for incomplete dominance... but I'd rather not get into that.
This has been rather fun...! I don't mind at all if you utterly dispute me and show me that I'm completely wrong; this is great review for my final (which is in three months, but oh well).
Reply to Lady Eowyn from BelladonnaTook
Just to clear up your point Eowyn - (the reason why Elrond is called Half-elven). Elrond is an elf because he chose to be one (at the same time that his brother Elros chose to be mortal - Elros is, however, also called half-elven). His lineage is quite complicated, but I'll try to keep it as simple as possible!
Idril (elf) married Tuor (man)
Their son was Earendil
Earendil Married Elwing (the daughter of Beren and Luthien)
Their sons were Elrond and Elros
Earendil, Elwing, Elrond and Elros were given the choice to become elven or mortal by the Valar, because Earendil was the first (and only? not sure) mortal man to venture to the forbidden shores of Valinor. Elrond chose to be an elf, and was granted the Grace to pass into the West when he became weary of middle earth. Elrond's children were also allowed to choose whether to pass into the West or to become mortal. Elros chose to be a man, and became the first king of Numenor.
Reply from fleabite
The structure of the story itself is very cyclic, particularly in FOTR.
The Hobbits encounter hardship and danger on the road to Bree, followed by a moment of respite (no matter how brief) at the Inn of the Prancing Pony.
They again encounter hardship and danger on the way to Rivendell, followed by a more profound respite with the Elves.
Hardship and danger again through the Mines of Moria, followed by respite in Lothlorien.
Through each cycle, the stakes and the sacrifices become greater, as does the profoundness and depth of the Fellowship's moments of rest.
Maybe it's more of a spiral than a circle.
Haven't given much thought to how this pattern carries over into TTT or ROTK.
Reply to fleabite from athene-5
I like your mention of the spiralling nature of the story. I've gone into length before on the many transitions that the characters make, and to me it always seemed that they were involved in sort of an upward spiritual spiral, a journey of awakening to higher levels of awareness. There's a discussion about the use of the spiral as symbolism on "The Art of the Rings" web site, which is unfortunately down today. When it's up again, I'll post the url (do you have it on your links post?). This site takes a very Jungian interpretation of the symbolism used in the movie, so I think it will be very interesting reading to other posters here.
The circle is also, of course, the symbol of perfection. It is smooth and it conjoins without a border. It represents cohesion, consistency, something unchanging and complete. How then, is it that a RING is the symbol of evil in ME? The reason why this comes to mind, fleabite, is that the spiral is an open-ended circle. Does this imply that perfection is best symbolized by something unending and open to change, than by something closed? Is the symbol of perfection a symbol of an undesirable kind of perfection? Just curious...
Reply from Broc
The Ring really isn't a Ring --
Think of the dualism, expressed in above posts about the Aragorn=Arwen genetics stuff, and the symbol of unities, etc...
The True Ring is a Double Helix...
Think of the Eternal Consequences!
Reply from adalheidis
One thing I like is that Tolkien includes several different versions of The Road Goes Ever On and On, forming a progression and possibly circling around, though I am too tired to look it up now in order to see whether it really circles or just sort of meanders.
