Valandil
High King at Annuminas
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2004
- Messages
- 599
I'm re-reading The Hobbit. I hope to make 2026 a year to re-read The Hobbit, LOTR, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales. After too many years away, in some cases.
Just finished the chapter on Beorn - "Queer Lodgings" - and it has me thinking about the magic of Beorn, and of the animals he keeps - the horses and the dogs, etc. How does this magic best "fit" into what we know (or surmise, or even guess) of Middle-Earth? Of course, JRRT didn't have in mind to fit Beorn into a greater mythology or established world when he wrote this. But let's try anyway.
Tom Bombadil is another singular character who we meet in Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and he is described as an Enigma. But to me - he can very easily fit as a Maia. Goldberry too, along with her "father". I feel like the Maiar varied widely in their abilities and interests, which explains any differences between them (Tom, Goldberry, etc) and those who are certainly Maiar. But Beorn is more puzzling. He is a Man. A very large one. But he is not a Giant, not an Elf, not a Dwarf, certainly not a Maia - but a Man. Yet he is not like other Men at all. He has some unusual magic about him - the ability to change into a very large Bear. He can also communicate with, and command, other animals. He might have abilities beyond these. What do we make of him?
I wonder now if his magic is a "Magic of Place" - and has to do with his little corner of Mirkwood. Not that he loses it when he ventures outside of his area - he most certainly does not. But is there some magic on that place where he lives, that has given him the "gift" that he has?
As a "skin-changer" - is Beorn's nature a form of Lycanthropy? That would account for the skin-changing part, but what about the rest? And if it is like lycanthropy, is it inherited? If we see it as a blessing, was it originally a Curse, which he has turned into a Blessing? He is not terribly far from Dol Guldor. And the presence of Sauron at Dol Guldor (along with whatever else was there with him) was responsible for the transformation of Greenwood to Mirkwood. Could he and his people been transformed as well. Not by proximity - there are other men in the area (Woodmen), but selectively? Or by having been there at a certain time?
Do you think that Gandalf knows, or knows of, other "skin-changers" in Middle-Earth? Would they all be Men becoming Bears - or some other animal? Do you think Gandalf was right that Beorn, or his ancestors, came down (were driven down) from the Misty Mountains? If so - when are logical times in ME history for this to have happened?
Just finished the chapter on Beorn - "Queer Lodgings" - and it has me thinking about the magic of Beorn, and of the animals he keeps - the horses and the dogs, etc. How does this magic best "fit" into what we know (or surmise, or even guess) of Middle-Earth? Of course, JRRT didn't have in mind to fit Beorn into a greater mythology or established world when he wrote this. But let's try anyway.
Tom Bombadil is another singular character who we meet in Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and he is described as an Enigma. But to me - he can very easily fit as a Maia. Goldberry too, along with her "father". I feel like the Maiar varied widely in their abilities and interests, which explains any differences between them (Tom, Goldberry, etc) and those who are certainly Maiar. But Beorn is more puzzling. He is a Man. A very large one. But he is not a Giant, not an Elf, not a Dwarf, certainly not a Maia - but a Man. Yet he is not like other Men at all. He has some unusual magic about him - the ability to change into a very large Bear. He can also communicate with, and command, other animals. He might have abilities beyond these. What do we make of him?
I wonder now if his magic is a "Magic of Place" - and has to do with his little corner of Mirkwood. Not that he loses it when he ventures outside of his area - he most certainly does not. But is there some magic on that place where he lives, that has given him the "gift" that he has?
As a "skin-changer" - is Beorn's nature a form of Lycanthropy? That would account for the skin-changing part, but what about the rest? And if it is like lycanthropy, is it inherited? If we see it as a blessing, was it originally a Curse, which he has turned into a Blessing? He is not terribly far from Dol Guldor. And the presence of Sauron at Dol Guldor (along with whatever else was there with him) was responsible for the transformation of Greenwood to Mirkwood. Could he and his people been transformed as well. Not by proximity - there are other men in the area (Woodmen), but selectively? Or by having been there at a certain time?
Do you think that Gandalf knows, or knows of, other "skin-changers" in Middle-Earth? Would they all be Men becoming Bears - or some other animal? Do you think Gandalf was right that Beorn, or his ancestors, came down (were driven down) from the Misty Mountains? If so - when are logical times in ME history for this to have happened?
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