Sorrow and Laughter
I’ve been thinking about my earlier Nienna post and the connection between her and Gandalf. One of the things that stands out about Gandalf is his sense of humour, and in particular his enjoyment of laughing at himself. We see it at the Doors of Khazad-dûm; when he gives Merry an in-depth discussion of Saruman in response to a simple are-we-there-yet and Merry calls him on it; and plenty of other times. Indeed, one of the things he likes best about hobbits is their tendency to make it impossible to take yourself too seriously.
Humour, in the form of willingness to laugh at yourself, is the antithesis of pride, and pride is the root of most evil in Tolkien’s Legendarium. The characters who go bad in Tolkien’s works - Morgoth, Sauron, and to a lesser extent characters like Fëanor and Denethor - tend to be prideful ones who take themselves very seriously. Saruman, in the Unfinished Tales backstory, responds to Gandalf’s teasing with scorn and resentment.
So I’m trying to work through the connections between sorrow, compassion, humility, and humour. I think one of the things that the sorrow and compassion associated with Nienna gives to a person is “perspective”. In the words of the Valaquenta, “She does not weep for herself; and those who hearken to her learn pity, and endurance in hope.” Sorrow and compassion are tied to understanding how much larger the world is than you yourself, or the things/people/lands closest to you. It’s why Gandalf’s lack of fixed abode is so crucial to his escaping the failures of the other Istari - he values and seeks to understand everyone, not one realm. (This is made most apparent in two exchanges with Denethor, which could sustain a whole essay in themselves.)
And so it is the compassion associated with sorrow that produces a recognition of one’s littleness in the world, which frees a person from obsession with their own dignity and enables them enjoy laughing at themselves.
(This still feels rambly; there were some excellent additions to my Nienna post, so if anyone has something to add to this I’d be very appreciative!)
Category: gandalf
warrioreowynofrohan: Sorrow and Laughter I’ve been thinking about my earlier Nienna post and the…
Sorrow and Laughter
I’ve been thinking about my earlier Nienna post and the connection between her and Gandalf. One of the things that stands out about Gandalf is his sense of humour, and in particular his enjoyment of laughing at himself. We see it at the Doors of Khazad-dûm; when he gives Merry an in-depth discussion of Saruman in response to a simple are-we-there-yet and Merry calls him on it; and plenty of other times. Indeed, one of the things he likes best about hobbits is their tendency to make it impossible to take yourself too seriously.
Humour, in the form of willingness to laugh at yourself, is the antithesis of pride, and pride is the root of most evil in Tolkien’s Legendarium. The characters who go bad in Tolkien’s works - Morgoth, Sauron, and to a lesser extent characters like Fëanor and Denethor - tend to be prideful ones who take themselves very seriously. Saruman, in the Unfinished Tales backstory, responds to Gandalf’s teasing with scorn and resentment.
So I’m trying to work through the connections between sorrow, compassion, humility, and humour. I think one of the things that the sorrow and compassion associated with Nienna gives to a person is “perspective”. In the words of the Valaquenta, “She does not weep for herself; and those who hearken to her learn pity, and endurance in hope.” Sorrow and compassion are tied to understanding how much larger the world is than you yourself, or the things/people/lands closest to you. It’s why Gandalf’s lack of fixed abode is so crucial to his escaping the failures of the other Istari - he values and seeks to understand everyone, not one realm. (This is made most apparent in two exchanges with Denethor, which could sustain a whole essay in themselves.)
And so it is the compassion associated with sorrow that produces a recognition of one’s littleness in the world, which frees a person from obsession with their own dignity and enables them enjoy laughing at themselves.
(This still feels rambly; there were some excellent additions to my Nienna post, so if anyone has something to add to this I’d be very appreciative!)
bronweathanharthad: It recently occurred to me that Gandalf only counsels Frodo when it’s just the…
It recently occurred to me that Gandalf only counsels Frodo when it’s just the two of them.
He doesn’t tell Frodo about the Ring until Frodo is in Bag End and they assume that nobody is around to listen in on their conversation. When Gandalf checks in with Frodo between Caradhras and Moria, he calls Frodo away from the rest of their Fellowship, at which point they talked in hushed voices and pause their conversation when other members of the Fellowship pass them. They likewise talk about Gollum in a place where the rest of the Fellowship probably can’t hear their conversation. In the books, Gandalf is accompanying the hobbits back home on the one-year anniversary of Weathertop, and Gandalf only asks Frodo whether he is in pain once he is riding alongside Frodo, and again he talks quietly to prevent the other hobbits from eavesdropping.
Gandalf knows Frodo well enough to know when Frodo is distressed, and he also knows that Frodo is often reluctant to talk about his troubles. Frodo trusts Gandalf in a way that he doesn’t really trust anyone else, not even Sam, and he always takes Gandalf’s advice to heart, even if he doesn’t understand it right away. But sometimes, as he shows on the one-year anniversary of Weathertop, Gandalf also knows that sometimes Frodo just needs a listening ear, someone who will listen and offer sympathy without being overly pitiful.
That mutual trust is possibly one of my favorite things about their relationship.