Like most things in
Middle-earth that differs from our world, the Stone itself has what
Tolkien defined as constituent “
Materials” (Nassër) that are derived from the “Prime Matter” (Erma) of the Universe (Eä).
And that the Nassër have constituent components of both Hröar and Fëar (Physical “Matter”/Materials and Spiritual/Soul “Matter”/Materials).
Matter and Materials are the same root, where in our Universe “Matter” tends to be the Bartyonic Matter of “Molecules” and the constituent other “Particles” that we can basically “Catch with the equivalent of a “hand,” where the “hand” is often a technological device we created to perform the same function with Micro-, Nano-, and Peta-scale “stuff” as we use our “hands” for with what is called “Meso-Scale” ”Matter.” This would include “Dark Matter.” It basically refers to anything that is not ”Electromagnetic Radiation.”
”Matter” tends to be thought of as “Distinct” from “Energy,” even though this distinction is somewhat arbitrary given the nature of Matter and Energy (
e = mc²) being “intertwined” or an “Identity” of Energy and Mass that is “Potentiated” in some fashion (Size, Speed, Relationship to other Masses, and other “Relative” things producing gradients/differentials).
But when we get into Eä, and thus
Arda, a new or “
Different” Metaphysics (The Rules out of which “Physics” emerges — or “The Rules that create the Rules of the Universe”).
Karl Hostetter’s
The Nature of Middle-earth outlines the specific distinction of Eä, and thus Arda, and thus Middle-earth, within each, respectively:
The Nature of Middle-Earth, Part Two: Body, Mind, and Spirit, Introduction. p.172:
As Tolkien famously said, “
The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” (L:172), a statement that has puzzled many critics, because both The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien’s wider legendarium are all but devoid of references to any religious cultus (let alone a Catholic system of rites and worship). As I hope the texts presented here will show, the key word in Tolkien’s statement, often ignored as simply emphatic, is
fundamentally: that is,
in its foundations, in its essential nature. In these particular texts, this is most clearly seen in Tolkien’s implied commitment to hylomorphism:, that is, the Aristotelean-Thomistic teaching that all material things are ultimately a union of created but undifferentiated prime matter (in
Quenya, erma) with a God-given form (in Tolkien’s parlance here, pattern, that which gives each portion of erma the nature and shape of the thing that it is).
As such, the Stone that is
Orthanc, and the lowest wall of
Minas Tirith has Components/Materials (
Nassër) that are
BOTH Hröar (Molecular Matter, or what we call “
Baryonic Matter,” comprising the Periodic Table of Elements that combine to make different “Stuff” that we call Minerals, Metals, Compounds, Organic Matter, etc.)
AND Fëar (and here we get into a debate that has been raging in Religious Theology for Centuries: Is the “Soul” made of
Some-Thing,. And thus is a “Material”/Nassër” as Tolkien puts it, which would be made of something akin to the
Periodic Table of Fëar-Elements, as opposed to the
Periodic Table of Hröar-Elements. Karl Popper, the Father of Modern Science said “Either the Soul is composed of materials that are
Some-thing, OR IT IS Made of NO-THING: I.e. Nothing, and thus
does not exist!” Popper is by far the only Scientists who has pointed this out, and Metaphysicians, Theologians, and Philosophers for Thousands of years have been arguing the same points).
Popper himself was pretty religious, but admitted that to date all Falsifiable tests for a “Soul” had failed (i.e. the Hypothesis was Falsified, meaning the conclusions of the Existence of “Soul-Stuff” via that Hypothesis is
False), and was pretty despondent over that, and over the Religious attitude of making claims about the Soul that were non-Falsifiable.
But we don’t need to worry about the debate over whether a “Soul” exist in Middle-earth, Arda, and the Universe containing them: Eä.
The quote from Tolkien given us by Hostetter makes it perfectly clear such a thing
does exist, and that it exists with “Fëar-Nassër” (Materials that compose the Soul/Spirit/Mind that are distinct from those of the “Body”/Hröa).
The Stone that makes up Orthanc or the Lowest Wall of Minas Tirith is either Chondritic Mantle Material (a Silicate-Boron high in Nitrate contents), or a Boron-Nitrate Crystal that is harder than Diamonds. Most likely the Wurtzite Boron Nitride:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride
BUT!
It contains that Fëar-Stuff/Nassër, that is malleable to Enchantment, or to the Imposition of Will that is “Magic” (Sorcery, Necromancy, The Occult, Satanism) within Middle-earth.
The Faithful of the
Númenóreans, like the
Elves, would not have messed with the Necromantic “Magic” that is a Tool of
The Enemy/Shadow, but
Enchantment was and is their stock in trade.
Enchantment differs from
Magic in that
Enchantment isn’t producing “
Unnatural Effects“ that result from imposing ones Will (Indo) upon the Nassër (Hröar or Fëar) of Middle-earth. Instead it produces or draws-out Natural Properties inherent in the Nassër (Fëar
and/or Hröar), producing something like Ithildin, or the Stone of Orthanc and the Lowest Wall of Minas Tirith.
This means that it can be “un-done” via a similar method, or via a method “Baked in” to the original Enchantment. A sort of “key” To the Enchanting that allows the material to be modified to produce the shapes we see in Orthanc and the Lowest Wall of Minas Tirith to begin with.
If the material was “Wholly Impervious” that means it could not have been “Shaped” to begin with, and its “Imperviousness” is a quality it gained after being shaped, or the “imperviousness” can be penetrated via this “Key” to the Enchantment.
All of this gets into some hairy and strange, arcane subjects from Theology, the Occult, Philosophy, Linguistics/Philology, and so on, where Tolkien himself was submerged in these subjects over his entire life.
But he saw “Enchantment” as a “loophole” to the Religious/Christian condemnation of “Magic” and “The Occult” (and the Specific Thomist Theology that all Magic is Necromantic, which goes further than the previous Christian determination that
All Magic is Satanic), as “Enchantment” (which has to do with “Voice,” “Song,” “Attraction”/Charm, etc. and not with the Brutal “Imposition of one’s
Will upon the Universe to alter it in defiance of ‘What is Natural‘.”) is about “drawing out the Natural Qualities of the Universe that are usually
Hidden.”
A Subtle but Critical Distinction!
Given Tolkien’s affinity for making
Aragorn the “Manifestation of the True
Númenórean,” which is itself a Humanity closest to being Elven as can exist within Arda (and possibly Eä), it would not be terribly surprising for Aragorn to be able to find the “Key” to the Enchantment of any Nassër (Fëar or Hröar) used in the construction of
Minas Ithil, or of any “Magic” in its modification by
Sauron or the
Witch-King, that would allow it to be “un-done” without resorting to unnatural or destructive methods (destructive to the Surroundings).
MB
