I have already written extensively about Tauriel and the fact that the criticism towards her is both inaccurate and sexist. This post is to show how Tauriel fits perfectly into Tolkien's legendarium. It is a supplemental post to my Tauriel essay, for scene details please read that. Bold in Tolkien's quotes is my emphasis.
Tauriel is a Warrior
Elven nature is fundamentally different from human nature. Elves are completely egalitarian, are naturally peaceful, and only fight “at need.” There are only three cases of an elf killing another elf, and they are held as some of the most traumatic and devastating events in elven history (the kinslayings). (since I don't have my Elven culture essay finished, if you want evidence of this just message me)
Unlike the dwarrow, no elves had weapons of war before Melkor's corruption found them:
Against the words 'Melkor spoke to the Eldar concerning weapons, which they had not before possessed or known’ my father wrote on the typescript: 'No! They must have had weapons on the Great Journey.’ Cf. the passage in QS on this subject (footnote to §49): 'The Elves had before possessed only weapons of the chase, spears and bows and arrows.’ - Morgoth’s Ring, Annals of Aman
And when Melkor saw that these lies were smouldering, and that pride and anger were awake among the Noldor, he spoke to them concernineapons; and in that time the Noldor began the smithying of swords and axes and spears. Shields also they made displaying the tokens of many houses and kindreds that vied one with another; and these only they wore abroad, and of other weapons they did not speak, for each believed that he alone had received the warning. And Fëanor made a secret forge, of which not even Melkor was aware; and there he tempered fell swords for himself and for his sons, and made tall helms with plumes of red. Bitterly did Mahtan rue the day when he taught to the husband of Nerdanel all the lore of metalwork that he had learned of Aulë. - The Silmarillion, Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor
But the Teleri withstood him, and cast many of the Noldor into the sea. Then swords were drawn, and a bitter fight was fought upon the ships, and about the lamplit quays and piers of the Haven, and even upon the great arch of its gate.
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Thus at last the Teleri were overcome, and a great part of their mariners that dwelt in Alqualondë were wickedly slain. For the Noldor were become fierce and desperate, and the Teleri had less strength, and were armed for the most part but with slender bows. - The Silmarillion, Of the Flight of the Noldor
Therefore Thingol took thought for arms, which before his people had not needed, and these at first the Naugrim smithied for him; for they were greatly skilled in such work, though none among them surpassed the craftsmen of Nogrod, of whom Telchar the smith was greatest in renown. A warlike race of old were all the Naugrim, and they would fight fiercely against whomsoever aggrieved them: servants of Melkor, or Eldar, or Avari, or wild beasts, or not seldom their own kin, Dwarves of other mansions and lordships. Their smithcraft indeed the Sindar soon learned of them; yet in the tempering of steel alone of all crafts the Dwarves were never outmatched even by the Noldor, and in the making of mail of linked rings, which was first contrived by the smiths of Belegost, their work had no rival.
At this time therefore the Sindar were well-armed, and they drove off any creatures of evil, and had peace again; but Thingol’s armouries were stored with axes and with spears and swords, and tall helms, and long coats of bright mail; for the hauberks of the Dwarves were so fashioned that they rusted not but shone ever as if they were new-burnished. And that proved well for Thingol in the time that was to come. - The Silmarillion, Of the Sindar
Both Galadriel and Idril use swords:
Galadriel: “Even after the merciless assault upon the Teleri and the rape of their ships, though she fought fiercely against Fëanor in defence of her mother's kin, she did not turn back.” - Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn
Idril:
Now is the face of that chieftain grim and he looks not to live long - and there in his house upon the walls Idril arrays herself in mail, and seeks Eärendel.
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But his mother coming set about him a tiny coat of mail that she had let fashion in secret, and at that time he was glad and exceeding proud, and he shouted in pleasure. Yet Idril wept, for much had she cherished in her heart the fair city and her goodly house, and the love of Tuor and herself that had dwelt therein; but now she saw its destroying night at hand, and feared that her contriving would fail against this overwhelming might of the terror of the serpents.
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Then Tuor and his men must get them to the battle of the Gate, for the noise of it has grown very great, and Tuor has it still in his heart that the city may stand; yet with Idril he left there Voronwë against his will and some other swordsmen to be a guard for her till he returned or might send tidings from the fray.
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Coming now at length to a greater quiet Tuor asked Voronwë for tidings, in that Idril spake not and was well-nigh in a swoon; and Voronwë told him of how she and he had waited before the doors of the house while the noise of those battles grew and shook their hearts; and Idril wept for lack of tidings from Tuor. At length she had sped the most part of her guard down the secret way with Eärendel, constraining them to depart with imperious words, yet was her grief great at that sundering. She herself would bide, said she, nor seek to live after her lord; and then she fared about gathering womenfolk and wanderers and speeding them down the tunnel, and smiting marauders with her small band; nor might they dissuade her from bearing a sword. - The Book of Lost Tales 2, The Fall of Gondolin
There is a notable difference in how the elven soldiers are referred to here (gendered male), versusthe published Silmarillion and all of the later (after LotR) drafts that I have read (I have not read every single paragraph). Tolkien never uses a gendered term for any of the elven armies in any of those texts. This is a distinct and explicit change. Here are a few examples:
Thereupon Fëanor left him, and sat in dark thought beyond the walls of Alqualondë, until his host was assembled. When he judged that his strength was enough, he went to the Haven of the Swans and began to man the ships that were anchored there and to take them away by force. But the Teleri withstood him, and cast many of the Noldor into the sea. Then swords were drawn, and a bitter fight was fought upon the ships, and about the lamplit quays and piers of the Haven, and even upon the great arch of its gate. Thrice the people of Fëanor were driven back, and many were slain upon either side; but the vanguard of the Noldor were succoured by Fingon with the foremost of the host of Fingolfin, who coming up found a battle joined and their own kin falling, and rushed in before they knew rightly the cause of the quarrel; some thought indeed that the Teleri had sought to waylay the march of the Noldor at the bidding of the Valar.
Thus at last the Teleri were overcome, and a great part of their mariners that dwelt in Alqualondë were wickedly slain. For the Noldor were become fierce and desperate, and the Teleri had less strength, and were armed for the most part but with slender bows. - The Silmarillion, Of the Flight of the Noldor
And the eastern host of the Orcs was taken between the armies of the Eldar, north of the Andram and midway between Aros and Gelion, and there they were utterly defeated, and those that fled north from the great slaughter were waylaid by the axes of the Naugrim that issued from Mount Dolmed: few indeed returned to Angband.
But the victory of the Elves was dear-bought. For those of Ossiriand were light-armed, and no match for the Orcs, who were shod with iron and iron-shielded and bore great spears with broad blades; and Denethor was cut off and surrounded upon the hill of Amon Ereb. There he fell and all his nearest kin about him, before the host of Thingol could come to his aid. Bitterly though his fall was avenged, when Thingol came upon the rear of the Orcs and slew them in heaps, his people lamented him ever after and took no king again. - The Silmarillion, Of the Sindar
But the host of Morgoth, aroused by the tumult of Lam-moth and the light of the burning at Losgar, came through the passes of Ered Wethrin, the Mountains of Shadow, and assailed Fëanor on a sudden, before his camp was full-wrought or put in defence; and there on the grey fields of Mithrim was fought the Second Battle in the Wars of Beleriand. Dagor-nuin-Giliath it is named, the Battle-under-Stars, for the Moon had not yet risen; and it is renowned in song. The Noldor, outnumbered and taken at unawares, were yet swiftly victorious; for the light of Aman was not yet dimmed in their eyes, and they were strong and swift, and deadly in anger, and their swords were long and terrible. The Orcs fled before them, and they were driven forth from Mithrim with great slaughter, and hunted over the Mountains of Shadow into the great plain of Ard-galen, that lay northward of Dorthonion. There the armies of Morgoth that had passed south into the Vale of Sirion and beleaguered Círdan in the Havens of the Falas came up to their aid, and were caught in their ruin. For Celegorm, Fëanor's son, having news of them, waylaid them with a part of the Elven-host, and coming down upon them out of the hills near Eithel Sirion drove them into the Fen of Serech. - The Silmarillion, Of the Return of the Noldor
Thus they would enter into the realm of Hithlum from the west; but they were espied in time, and Fingon fell upon them among the hills at the head of the Firth, and most of the Orcs were driven into the sea. This was not reckoned among the great battles, for the Orcs were not in great number, and only a part of the people of Hithlum fought there. - The Silmarillion, Of the Return of the Noldor
Now Fingolfin, King of the North, and High King of the Noldor, seeing that his people were become numerous and strong, and that the Men allied to them were many and valiant, pondered once more an assault upon Angband; for he knew that they lived in danger while the circle of the siege was incomplete, and Morgoth was free to labour in his deep mines, devising what evils none could foretell ere he should reveal them. - The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
Many of the stoutest of the foes of Morgoth were destroyed in the first days of that war, bewildered and dispersed and unable to muster their strength. War ceased not wholly ever again in Beleriand; but the Battle of Sudden Flame is held to have ended with the coming of spring, when the onslaught of Morgoth grew less. - The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
The sons of Finarfin bore most heavily the brunt of the assault, and Angrod and Aegnor were slain; beside them fell Bregolas lord of the house of Bëor, and a great part of the warriors of that people. [cut] There King Finrod Felagund, hastening from the south, was cut off from his people and surrounded with small company in the Pen of Serech; and he would have been slain or taken, but Barahir came up with the bravest of his men and rescued him, and made a wall of spears about him; and they cut their way out of the battle with great loss. - The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
So great was the onslaught of Morgoth that Fingolfin and Fingon could not come to the aid of the sons of Finarfin; and the hosts of Hithlum were driven back with great loss to the fortresses of Ered Wethrin, and these they hardly defended against the Orcs. - The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
Thus the great fortress upon the Hill of Himring could not be taken, and many of the most valiant that remained, both of the people of Dorthonion and of the east marches, rallied there to Maedhros; and for a while he closed once more the Pass of Aglon, so that the Orcs could not enter Beleriand by that road. - The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
The gender-neutral elven warriors is not just a writing style – in the very same sentence (third quote from the bottom) we have neutral elven warriors and male human warriors mentioned.
Elven armies are egalitarian, so Tauriel fits perfectly as a warrior.
And also a Healer
Healing is not only one of the most important themes in Tolkien's legendarium, it is also an important part of elven culture.
Many Tolkien fans incorrectly say that elven warriors cannot be healers. This is because of a text titled Laws and Customs Among the Eldar, in which Tolkien wrote: “And the Eldar deemed that the dealing of death, even when lawful or under necessity, diminished the power of healing,[cut].”
However, this is a fundamental contradiction to the rest of the legendarium. Many renowned warriors are also healers, and their healing abilities play crucial roles throughout the texts:
There they fell, but three of their company returned, for they were succoured by Mablung of Doriath and healed of their wounds. - The War of the Jewels, The Wanderings of Húrin
Now Beleg was sorely wounded, but he was mighty among the Elves of Middle-earth, and he was moreover a master of healing. Therefore he did not die, and slowly his strength returned; [cut]. - The Silmarillion, Of Túrin Turambar
Beleg yielding to his love against his wisdom remained with him, and did not depart, and in that time he laboured much for the good of Túrin's company. Those that were hurt or sick he tended, and gave to them the lembas of Melian; and they were quickly healed, for though the Grey-elves were less in skill and knowledge than the Exiles from Valinor, in the ways of the life of Middle-earth they had a wisdom beyond the reach of Men. - The Silmarillion, Of Túrin Turambar
Glorfindel caught Frodo as he sank to the ground, and taking him gently in his arms he looked in his face with grave anxiety.
Briefly Strider told of the attack on their camp under Weathertop, and of the deadly knife. He drew out the hilt, which he had kept, and handed it to the Elf. Glorfindel shuddered as he took it, but he looked intently at it.
“There are evil things written on this hilt,” he said; “though maybe your eyes cannot see them. Keep it, Aragorn, till we reach the house of Elrond! But be wary, and handle it as little as you may! Alas! the wounds of this weapon are beyond my skill to heal. I will do what I can - but all the more do I urge you now to go on without rest.”
He searched the wound on Frodo's shoulder with his fingers, and his face grew graver, as if what he learned disquieted him. But Frodo felt the chill lessen in his side and arm; a little warmth crept down from his shoulder to his hand, and the pain grew easier. The dusk of evening seemed to grow lighter about him, as if a cloud had been withdrawn. He saw his friends' faces more clearly again, and a measure of new hope and strength returned. - Lord of the Rings, Flight to the Ford
“Good!” said Gandalf. “It is mending fast. You will soon be sound again. Elrond has cured you: he has tended you for days, ever since you were brought in.”
“Days?” said Frodo.
“Well, four nights and three days, to be exact. The Elves brought you from this where you lost count. We have been terribly anxious, and Sam has hardly left your side, day or night, except to run messages. Elrond is a master of healing, but the weapons of our Enemy are deadly. To tell you the truth, I had very little hope; for I suspected that there was some fragment of the blade still in the closed wound. But it could not be found until last night. Then Elrond removed a splinter. It was deeply buried. and it was working inwards.” - Lord of the Rings, Many Meetings
Aragorn went first to Faramir, and then to the Lady Éowyn, and last to Merry. When he had looked on the faces of the sick and seen their hurts he sighed. “Here I must put forth all such power and skill as is given to me,” he said. “Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power.” - Lord of the Rings, The Houses of Healing
At the doors of the Houses many were already gathered to see Aragorn, and they followed after him; and when at last he had supped, men came and prayed that he would heal their kinsmen or their friends whose lives were in peril through hurt or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow. And Aragorn arose and went out, and he sent for the sons of Elrond, and together they laboured far into the night. And word went through the City: “The King is come again indeed.” - Lord of the Rings, The Houses of Healing
Mablung, Beleg, Glorfindel, Elrond, Elladan, and Elrohir are all renowned warriors and capable healers. By the time of LotR, Elrond is the best healer left in Middle-earth.
The Laws and Customs quote cannot be ranked higher than the other quotes; especially those from LotR. Warriors can also be healers – in fact, they are probably required to know the basics of healing so they can respond immediately in the aftermath of a conflict.
Both Lúthien and Galadriel heal and fight magically, but Lúthien also uses athelas:
It is told that Huan pursued the sons of Fëanor, and they fled in fear; and returning he brought to Lúthien a herb out of the forest. With that leaf he staunched Beren's wound, and by her arts and by her love she healed him; and thus at last they returned to Doriath. - The Silmarillion, Of Beren and Lúthien
Then Huan came and bore a leaf,**
of all the herbs of healing chief,
that evergreen in woodland glade there grew with broad and hoary blade.
The powers of all grasses Huan knew,
who wide did forest-paths pursue.
** Against this line my father wrote in the margin of the B-text the word athelas. - The Lays of Beleriand, The Lay of Leithian
There the eagles laid her at Beren's side and returned to the peaks of Crissaegrim and their high eyries; but Huan came to her, and together they tended Beren, even as before when she healed him of the wound that Curufin gave to him. But this wound was fell and poisonous. Long Beren lay, and his spirit wandered upon the dark borders of death, knowing every an anguish that pursued him from dream to dream. Then suddenly, when her hope was almost spent, he woke again, and looked up, seeing leaves against the sky; and he heard beneath the leaves singing soft and slow beside him Lúthien Tinúviel. And it was spring again. - The Silmarillion, Of Beren and Lúthien
tinw says:
So here we have a dilemma. In the Lay of Leithian, written before Lord of the Rings, athelas is used by Lúthien and is said to be the most powerful healing herb. But Aragorn says it's Númenorean. We could resolve the discrepancy by assuming it existed in Beleriand, but it was lost when Beleriand sank, save that some of it was preserved and taken to Númenor, where it was re-introduced to Middle-earth. Evidently it is rare in the north, and I would further suggest the Elves might use it sparingly, only for the most serious wounds, lest they lose this precious herb by overharvesting. That would prevent godmodding.
I agree with this, and it's the easiest way to solve the matter. Also, language is significant - kingsfoil is the Westron term, athelas is the Sindarin term, and asëa aranion is Quenya term. The fact that athelas exists in both elven languages is another strong indicator that the elves used it.
Many fans incorrectly say only Aragorn can use athelas/kingsfoil, and no one else, because he is the rightful king. However, we see even ordinary Gondorians use athelas:
“Oh that!” said Ioreth. “Well, if your lordship had named it at first I could have told you. No, we have none of it, I am sure. Why, I have never heard that it had any great virtue; and indeed I have often said to my sisters when we came upon it growing in the woods: kingsfoil I said, 'tis a strange name, and I wonder why 'tis called so; for if I were a king, I would have plants more bright in my garden. Still it smells sweet when bruised, does it not? If sweet is the right word: wholesome, maybe, is nearer.”
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Thereupon the herb-master entered. “Your lordship asked for kingsfoil, as the rustics name it, he said; or athelas in the noble tongue, or to those who know somewhat of the Valinorean...”
“I do so,” said Aragorn, “and I care not whether you say now asëa aranion or kingsfoil, so long as you have some.”
“Your pardon lord!” said the man. “I see you are a lore-master, not merely a captain of war. But alas! sir, we do not keep this thing in the Houses of Healing, where only the gravely hurt or sick are tended. For it has no virtue that we know of, save perhaps to sweeten a fouled air, or to drive away some passing heaviness. [cut] It is but a doggerel, I fear, garbled in the memory of old wives. Its meaning I leave to your judgement, if indeed it has any. But old folk still use an infusion of the herb for headaches.”
“Then in the name of the king, go and find some old man of less lore and more wisdom who keeps some in his house!” cried Gandalf. - Lord of the Rings, The Houses of Healing
Gondor has forgotten the properties of athelas, but a few people still use it and feel it's effects. Also, if you reread Aragorn's healings of the Black Breath, you will see that his mental/spiritual power does most of the work and athelas only assists it. So athelas is a powerful herb that effects both spirit and body, but it's those with strong spiritual power (like Aragorn and the elves) who are able to get the most out of it.
Tauriel is Moral and Rebels
Again, see essay for scene details.
“And when we drive them off, what then? Will they not spread to other lands?”
“If I go back, I will not forgive myself. The king has never let orc-filth roam our lands, yet he would let this orc-pack cross our borders and kill our prisoners. It is our fight. It will not end here. With every victory, this evil will grow. If your father has his way, we will do nothing. We will hide within our walls, live our lives away from the light, and let darkness descend. Are we not part of this world? Tell me, mellon, when did we let evil become stronger than us?”
They do not truly live, locked inside the Woodland Realm. Yes, evil has always been present; but it will continue to grow, and to come after them. There is no way to truly lock the rest of the world out. Is a life that's hiding, and not truly lived, worth others dying? Is it worth letting evil win?
Good deeds are good deeds. It does not matter what comes after. We are all a part of this world, and we all have an obligation to stand and fight for what is right.
Contrary to what the haters say, Tauriel's morals, compassion, and rebellion come straight from Tolkien.
Legolas reiterates Tauriel's moral message: “Follow what may, great deeds are not lessened in worth,” said Legolas. “Great deed was the riding of the Paths of the Dead, and great it shall remain, though none be left in Gondor to sing of it in the days that are to come.” - Lord of the Rings, The Last Debate
Aragorn also knows this: “A time may come soon,” said he, “when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defense of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.” - Lord of the Rings, The Passing of the Grey Company
askmiddlearth eloquently says:
This basic decision - leaving home and previous responsibilities in order to try and defeat some larger evil and save the world - is one that we see many people make in Tolkien’s writings. Even if we limit ourselves to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Tauriel would be joined by Legolas (who not only did the exact same thing as Tauriel in The Hobbit, but also does it again by joining the Fellowship when he was only meant to be delivering a message), Merry, Sam, and Pippin (all three left their families without warning in order to join Frodo - Merry and Pippin are even the heirs with political positions awaiting them), Eowyn (who’s meant to be leading her people, but instead sneaks into the army traveling to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields), Frodo (whose friends would never have joined the Fellowship if he hadn’t offered to take the Ring at the Council of Elrond), and Aragorn (who’s the last heir of a line of kings spanning about six thousand years, but instead decides to join the Fellowship, probably the most dangerous thing he could have done), just to name a few. Generally speaking, these are all considered to be noble decisions, and hardly whimsical.
On a side note: I think it’s interesting that I’m spending so much time on this blog defending Tauriel’s behavior, since she really isn’t all that different from the vast majority of the other characters we meet in Tolkien’s stories…
We have to add Faramir to this list:
“Were I as hasty as you, I might have slain you long ago. For I am commanded to slay all whom I find in this land without the leave of the Lord of Gondor. But I do not slay man or beast needlessly, and not gladly even when it is needed.
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I should now take you back to Minas Tirith to answer there to Denethor, and my life will justly be forfeit, if I now choose a course that proves ill for my city. So I will not decide in haste what is to be done. Yet we must move hence without more delay.”
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“Here, alas! I must do you a discourtesy,” said Faramir. “I hope you will pardon it to one who has so far made his orders give way to courtesy as not to slay you or to bind you. But it is a command that no stranger, not even one of Rohan that fights with us, shall see the path we now go with open eyes. I must blindfold you.” -Lord of the Rings, The Window on the West
Both Tauriel and Faramir are captains. Both have clear orders. Both disobey said orders to do what they feel is right, and the narratives validate them as being right.
Tauriel is Far-sighted and Compassionate
Tauriel joins several elven females (Nerdanel, Idril, Galadriel, Arwen) in being far-sighted. She is very future oriented, and sees the whole 'system' of Middle-earth and the powers within it. Thranduil is equally far-sighted and perceives the exact same things Tauriel does; however their reactions to the problem are polar opposites (she engages, he withdraws).
Compassion/pity is one of the central themes in Tolkien's legendarium:
Therefore, in spite of the greater visibility of the many martial conflicts that occur before the Ring meets its doom, moral conflicts, and the spiritual weapons used to win them, emerge as central concerns of the text. One of the spiritual strengths Enright rightly notes as especially strong in Frodo is his ability to empathize with, and so pity, the unlovely Gollum. This gift is not exclusive to Frodo, however; all hobbits appear to have this ability to some degree, and it can be augmented through instruction and having shared similar experiences. The innate empathy of hobbits proves vital to coping with and overcoming the spiritual challenges the Ringbearers encounter. Quite apart from resisting the impulse to use the Ring to impose their own wills on others, Bilbo, Sam, and Frodo must also defeat the superficially lesser temptation to use similar tactics of domination when each encounters a chance to end Gollum‟s life. Empathy enables all three to rise above the desire to yield to the temptation offered by the Ring even in this microcosm. Only the unmerited mercy the hobbit Ringbearers show Gollum through the agency of empathy preserves him until he fulfills his final destiny, inadvertently saving Middle Earth from subjugation to Sauron‟s will as a result.
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In Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, internal battles fought against the militaristic desire for power and dominance by individual forces of good count most in the ultimate victory of the forces of the West. In such battles, especially central in the role of Ringbearer, empathy provides the most reliable weapon to defeat the selfish desire to rule others. Putting themselves in the position of the other and feeling as the other feels reveals the true harm of controlling actions, enabling each to resist the desire for dominance.
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The miraculous reversal of these expectations through Gollum‟s death and the Ring‟s destruction creates what Tolkien terms the eucatastrophe, a concept based on the death of all hope and hope‟s unlooked-for resurrection in the biblical narrative. Providence, an unspoken but strong source in Tolkien‟s work, rewards each hobbit‟s loyalty to his nature when all the suffering Gollum has caused in his thin, stretched life is turned to good in the greatest eucatastrophe since Eru Iluvatar‟s revelation of snow-flakes to the Valar and an abashed Melkor, proving that even destruction can serve the ends of an omnipotent deity. (source)
At the center of a good story lies a key action that defines the whole work and that depends on a specific value and worldview. Like an onion, it has many layers that have to be peeled away so we can get to the center where everything intersects, the story’s crux. Once you understand the crux, you can see and better understand the rest of the story in relation to it.
In this article we will trace the acts of mercy that lead to the climax of The Lord of the Rings: the Ring’s destruction at Mount Doom. But to examine the crux of the tale, we must go back to a scene many years before our story.
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At this point, we should take a step back and see the background of the one directing this conversation with Frodo. Who is Gandalf and why is he in Middle-earth? We know that Gandalf has been sent from the West as emissary of higher powers. In The Silmarillion he is associated especially with Nienna, a Valar who weeps for the evil in the world. Tolkien tells us that Gandalf learned from her pity and patience and then gives a one-sentence summary of his whole purpose in Middle-earth saying that “he was the friend of all the Children of Ilúvatar, and took pity on their sorrows; and those who listened to him awoke from despair and put away the imaginations of darkness.” (The Silmarillion, p.31) Gandalf’s whole mission in Middle-earth is one of pity, and his pity takes the form of giving others hope and strength to overcome darkness. (source)
Tauriel is incredibly compassionate. She worries about the spiders moving to other lands. She will never kill any being not evil incarnate and judges everyone on their own merits - she would not have been able to fall in love with Kili if she did not believe some dwarrow can be good. She wants to follow the orcs and dwarrow even when they leave elven territory, because she cannot forgive herself if the orcs kill the innocents under her charge. She cannot forgive herself if evil grows in the world and she does nothing, because it is our fight. She focuses on Sigrid and Tilda during and after Smaug's attack and is incredibly tender and supportive to them. When she sees Bolg's army her immediate thought is that they have to warn the dwarrow and humans, and she will not let Thranduil leave so they can be slaughtered.
boromirs eloquently says:
Additionally, I’ve always found it strange/rather insulting that sometimes Tauriel’s decision to stay and heal Kili instead of hunting Bolg is cast off as her being “in love”/”womanly”/whatever demeaning terms people what to use. I mean, Tolkien shows us, again and again, that within the world of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, (I’ll leave out Unfinished Tales and the Silm in my argument,), that choosing to save a life instead of seeking to take one is something to be valued and celebrated. For all her desire to vanquish not only her own world, but a world she has never known and can only dream of, of evil all the same Tauriel pauses to try and save the life of someone she has been taught to distrust and hate. If it’s an act out of love, it’s an act out of love, but nonetheless Tauriel acts out of genuine kindness and compassion.
Tauriel is in an Interracial Relationship
Tolkien is known for his interracial relationships, and Middle-earth's history is fundamentally shaped by them. Many people have talked about how Tolkien explicitly and consistently condemns internal racism throughout the legendarium. The Fellowship is the most well known example, but there are many different examples of how great things always happen when the different races come together. Haldir summarizes it perfectly when he says, “Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him.”
Alternatively, many haters say that Tauriel/Kili invalidates the importance Legolas and Gimli's friendship because now Legolas and Gimli were not the first elf and dwarf to get along.
This is completely nonsensical. Legolas and Gimli's friendship was never the first. Elves and dwarrow have a long history together that began before the First Age (see here for a complete covering of that history).
This also ignores the fact that Legolas and Gimli's friendship only starts after Gimli's relationship with Galadriel; and that that relationship is part of an often overlooked yet fundamental part of Tolkien's legendarium – the majority of Tolkien's romantic relationships are also interracial, and most of them are explicitly stated to be divine order. All of them follow a distinct pattern.
The majority of these relationships are female elves and male humans: Lúthien/Beren, Idril/Tuor, Nimloth/Dior (Dior was mortal, contrary to popular opinion), Finduilas/Túrin, Mithrellas/Imrazôr, Arwen/Aragorn
We also have a female maia and a male elf: Melian/Thingol
And platonically, a female elf and a male dwarf: Galadriel and Gimli
There is only one case of a male elf and a female human: Aegnor/Andreth. Unlike the other relationships, this one is hidden away in an obscure text and has no effect on the overall plot of Middle-earth.
Because of all of this, many fans have wondered why it's always the female who loves down and has to suffer the consequences. For some reason many even believe it's because of sexism. What those fans miss is that it's a clear metaphor to the history of racism and interracial relationships between white women and black men (see here).
The fact is this incredible metaphor underpins all of Middle-earth's history, and the filmmakers were not at all stepping away from Tolkien when they created Tauriel/Kili. The LotR films have Arwen/Aragorn; and since The Silmarillion has never been filmed, Tauriel/Kili is crucial for giving important context about this theme and Arwen/Aragorn.
Many haters say the fact that Galadriel and Gimli's relationship is platonic means it doesn't count, whilst they simultaneously play up Legolas and Gimli's platonic relationship. What they choose to overlook is that Gimli's relationship with Galadriel is the deepest and most significant one he has. He pledges himself to her and will never fall in love with another, and this is not made less deep just because said love is platonic and not romantic (see here for a full analysis of their relationship).
Haters also say that Tauriel and Kili fall in love too quickly, and that their romance is unnecessary. Like with the rest of the haters' criticisms, these two are fundamentally at odds with Tolkien's legendarium.
comdleksa says:
All this hatred for Tauriel and Tauriel/Kíli is just … off-putting. I’d really like to see all those who disapprove of Kíli/Tauriel rage against Lúthien, calling her weak because everything she does she does to save Beren and hey, that is the ultimate Tolkien love story.
It’s not about saving the world, not about having a bigger agenda. It’s all about fighting for the one you love. Oh, did I mention it’s love at first sight? Lúthien is singing and Beren just falls for her as he listens.
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As for Lúthien? She but looked upon Beren and she loved him. End of story. And you know what? There’s no reason to explain why they fell in love, why it happened, why so all of a sudden etc. Love needs to explaining. And the story of Beren and Lúthien is one of the most wonderful and touching love stories ever written.
I’ve inserted a few paragraphs from the Silmarillion behind the cut. Just for fun. For if in Tolkien’s universe such a love story can exist? Then by all means, a blossoming romance between Kíli and Tauriel is totally okay with me.
Andrew Manns says:
Fascination in the context of romance means “love at first sight;” the lightning striking, heart-piercing feeling of awe that the lover experiences once catching sight—or more specifically catching the eye—of the beloved. Working like an enchantment, fascination is a branch of love that is best defined as a situational and instant kindling of the appetite that paralyzes or stuns the lover, entrapping him in a dream-like phantasy. Like the Greek hero, Actaeon who was stricken by Artemis’ beauty, so Thingol, Beren, and Aragorn were pierced through the heart once catching sight of their respective beloveds. In the Silmarillion we read that Thingol, once taking Melian’s hand, is overtaken by a spell that lasts for many years. Beren likewise, after catching sight of Luthien becomes, “dumb, as one that is bound under a spell…” Later he lays “upon the ground in a swoon,” pining for his beloved like the courtly knights mentioned in Tolkien’s Letters (#43). Aragorn too, imitates Beren’s behavior, calling Arwen “Tinuviel,” and standing transfixed and amazed, as in a dream.
All three of these relationships (Melian/Thingol, Lúthien/Beren, Arwen/Aragorn) are explicitly stated to be divine order and are fundamental to the legendarium.
Jeff LaSala says about Melian/Thingol:
And man oh man, is he smitten. This is the first of just a few (but very important and world-altering) love-at-first-sight moments in Middle-earth. In a book that’s essentially one epic fairy tale, this is a real fairy tale moment. “Enchantment” falls on him, and when he actually hears Melian’s voice, he’s done. It’s over. Her song fills “all his heart with wonder and desire.” And that’s before actually seeing her. When he finally does set eyes on her, he’s transfixed all the more. Her complexion is to die for, for the “light of Aman” is reflected in her face.
Love overtakes him. He takes her hand, and “straightway a spell is laid on him.” Suddenly his plans—to reunite with his friend Finwë, to lead his people to Valinor, to dwell again in the light of Two Trees—just vanish. He forgets everyone and everything: his brother (Olwë), his pet gerbil, his appointments, all his passwords. All gone. And yeah, this seems very heavy-handed. We’re not told that he’s enslaved or that he was joined with Melian against his will. Trust me, we’ll see uncomfortable stuff like that later and the difference is clear. So while it’s some kind of spell, it’s still love. Tolkien is deliberate with his words. What we’re not told is who laid this enchantment on him. Melian seems powerful enough to be the source, but why? Nothing here suggests that this is her plan or that she has foreknowledge of their meeting. She’s no Mandos. And she herself was moved to come to Middle-earth when she did.
And that’s not even the weird part. What’s most interesting about this moment is that these two people—one a Maia, the other an Elf lord—just stand there, looking at one another, hands clasped and perfectly still, for years. Decades. Maybe centuries. The trees of the forest grow tall around them. And since no one else knows that Elwë is here, his people look for him all around Beleriand and do so in vain.
That these two meet and fall in love at first sight (at first sound?) could be attributed to many things, but the stasis they enter feels more like “doom”—and perhaps the hand of Ilúvatar—though that is just speculation. What comes of their relationship lays the foundation for many events and heroes to come—not to mention the division in the Elves that this creates—so it’s like this needed to happen.
And no one writes more beautifully about Lúthien/Beren than Tolkien himself:
Melian said nothing to him at that time, but afterwards she said to Galadriel: “Now the world runs on swiftly to great tidings. And one of Men, even of Bëor's house, shall indeed come, and the Girdle of Melian shall not restrain him, for doom greater than my power shall send him; and the songs that shall spring from that coming shall endure when all Middle-earth is changed.” - The Silmarillion, Of the Coming of Men into the West
And he passed through the mazes that Melian wove about the kingdom of Thingol, even as she had foretold; for a great doom lay upon him.
It is told in the Lay of Leithian that Beren came stumbling into Doriath grey and bowed as with many years of woe, so great had been the torment of the road. But wandering in the summer in the woods of Neldoreth he came upon Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and Melian, at a time of evening under moonrise, as she danced upon the unfading grass in the glades beside Esgalduin. Then all memory of his pain departed from him, and he fell into an enchantment; for Lúthien was the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar. Blue was her raiment as the unclouded heaven, but her eyes were grey as the starlit evening; her mantle was sewn with golden flowers, but her hair was dark as the shadows of twilight. As the light upon the leaves of trees, as the voice of clear waters, as the stars above the mists of the world, such was her glory and her loveliness; and in her face was a shining light.
But she vanished from his sight; and he became dumb, as one that is bound under a spell, and he strayed long in the woods, wild and wary as a beast, seeking for her. In his heart he called her Tinúviel, that signifies Nightingale, daughter of twilight, in the Grey-elven tongue, for he knew no other name for her. And he saw her afar as leaves in the winds of autumn, and in winter as a star upon a hill, but a chain was upon his limbs.
There came a time near dawn on the eve of spring, and Lúthien danced upon a green hill; and suddenly she began to sing. Keen, heart-piercing was her song as the song of the lark that rises from the gates of night and pours its voice among the dying stars, seeing the sun behind the walls of the world; and the song of Lúthien released the behind the walls of the world; and the song of Lúthien released the bonds of winter, and the frozen waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where her feet had passed.
Then the spell of silence fell from Beren, and he called to her, crying Tinúviel; and the woods echoed the name. Then she halted in wonder, and fled no more, and Beren came to her. But as she looked on him, doom fell upon her, and she loved him; yet she slipped from his arms and vanished from his sight even as the day was breaking. Then Beren lay upon the ground in a swoon, as one slain at once by bliss and grief; and he fell into a sleep as it were into an abyss of shadow, and waking he was cold as stone, and his heart barren and forsaken. And wandering in mind he groped as one that is stricken with sudden blindness, and seeks with hands to grasp the vanished light. Thus he began the payment of anguish for the fate that was laid on him; and in his fate Lúthien was caught, and being immortal she shared in his mortality, and being free received his chain; and her anguish was greater than any other of the Eldalië has known.
Beyond his hope she returned to him where he sat in darkness, and long ago in the Hidden Kingdom she laid her hand in his. - The Silmarillion, Of Beren and Lúthien
The importance of both these relationships, but especially Lúthien/Beren, cannot be overstated:
Thus from the union of Luthien and Beren which was made possible by their return, the infusion of a 'divine' and an Elvish strain into Mankind was to be brought about, providing a link between Mankind and the Elder World, after the establishment of the Dominion of Men. -Morgoth's Ring, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth, Note 3
The chief of the stories of the Silmarillion, and the one most fully treated is the Story of Beren and Lúthien the Elfmaiden.* Here we meet, among other things, the first example of the motive (to become dominant in Hobbits) that the great policies of world history, 'the wheels of the world', are often turned not by the Lords and Governors, even gods, but by the seemingly unknown and weak – owing to the secret life in creation, and the pan unknowable to all wisdom but One, that resides in the intrusions of the Children of God into the Drama.[cut]As such the story is (I think a beautiful and powerful) heroic-fairy-romance, receivable in itself with only a very general vague knowledge of the background. But it is also a fundamental link in the cycle, deprived of its full significance out of its place therein. For the capture of the Silmaril, a supreme victory, leads to disaster. The oath of the sons of Feanor becomes operative, and lust for the Silmaril brings all the kingdoms of the Elves to ruin. - Letter 131/Silmarillion Prologue
I never called Edith Lúthien– but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief pan of the Silmarillion. -Letter 340
Tolkien draws many explicit parallels between Frodo and Sam and Lúthien/Beren in LotR. Like with Galadriel and Gimli, Frodo and Sam is another platonically profound relationship (see here for an excellent essay that goes over all of the parallels between Frodo and Sam and Lúthien/Beren).
There is another crucial aspect that Lúthien/Beren, Arwen/Aragorn, and Tauriel/Kili all share.
Eric Gihlooly says:
The Lord of the Rings references this story more than any other and there are a number of parallels in the plot structure. Sam even tells us that he and Frodo are “in the same tale still!”
So seeing how central this story was for Tolkien, we can indicate several aspects central to his view on love and romance.
First of all, Beren is not worthy of Lúthien. He is a mortal man, she an elf and daughter of a king. Thingol, Lúthien’s father, despises mortals so much that he allows none of them to enter his kingdom and his first reaction to Beren is to try and arrest him as a criminal.
Under the spell of her beauty, Beren falls in love with her at first sight and she with him. For him, her love is life-giving light that dispels the darkness in him. Beren calls her Tinúviel, which means daughter of twilight. She is light for him, yet mixed with shadows: beauty deepened by suffering. Here, as in most other of Tolkien’s love stories (Aragorn and Arwen, Túor and Idril, Galadriel and Celeborn… and even Thingol and Melian!) men have the tendency to marry up. Nothing Beren can do will make him worthy, and being loved in return is pure grace.
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Thirdly, we learn that human love cannot be lived in isolation, but should contribute to the greater good, follow a higher calling. Tolkien notes a failed case at the start of the chapter: that of Gorlim, a member of an outlaw band led by Beren’s father. Gorlim’s wife has disappeared, and he is captured by Sauron (at the time, Morgoth’s chief servant), who uses a vision of his wife to lure Gorlim into a trap. Sauron offers to free him and reunite him with his wife if he will betray the rest of the band. He agrees and through his information everyone in the band except Beren is killed. Sauron reveals that Gorlim’s wife is dead and kills Gorlim, thus sending him to be with her. Gorlim’s fatal mistake is to pursue his love through treachery and disloyalty. Yet for Tolkien, human love is not the absolute end, independent of any further moral binding.
Beren is faced with the same choice. He has made an oath to win Lúthien’s hand by bringing Thingol a Silmaril. His choice is between fidelity that means risking loosing Lúthien forever and immediate happiness through ignoring his vow.
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As an aside, Tolkien uses the word “doom” in its original sense: a judgement or a choice. It implies both fate, or a divine plan, and human freedom to cooperate with that plan. A greater doom guides them, yet Beren and Lúthien are free to say yes in their love or not. By following the higher call to sacrifice, their love is completed through being placed in a greater love, their plans in a greater plan.
This doom, Tolkien tells us, leads to the fulfillment of the quest (as when the eagles rescue them—success can’t be achieved alone), and in the big picture, to Beren and Lúthien becoming ancestors of generations of kings and heroes. Their fidelity matters.
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Finally, Tolkien paints for us the necessary sorrow that comes with parting and death. Yet he insists on a love that transcends the tragedy. Lúthien pleads for Beren’s life with Mandos, keeper of the Houses of the Dead—but her song is not just of personal sorrow, but that of both elves and men: “The song of Lúthien before Mandos was the song most fair that ever in words was woven, and the song most sorrowful that ever the world shall ever hear.” Beauty won through suffering, love deepened in sorrow—no other beauty and no other love can compare.
Mandos grants them life, but by marrying Beren, Lúthien herself takes on the mortal life of men, and both will eventually die. While elves live forever in this world, men die and no one knows what happens to them afterwards.
The only way to make sense of love’s painful brevity is that there is something beyond death; their love leads them to transcendence: “that thus, whatever grief might lie in wait, the fates of Beren and Lúthien might be joined, and their paths lead together beyond the confines of the world.”
Romance is grace, unselfish love, harmony, fidelity, light that gives meaning to sorrow and hope that will not give way to despair. Tolkien himself lived these ideals and invites his readers to do the same. As he says elsewhere in another love story, “In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory.”
This last line is what Aragorn says to Arwen right before his death. According to Tolkien:
Here I am only concerned with Death as part of the nature, physical and spiritual, of Man, and with Hope without guarantees. That is why I regard the tale of Arwen and Aragorn as the most important of the Appendices; it is pan of the essential story, and is only placed so, because it could not be worked into the main narrative without destroying its structure: which is planned to be 'hobbito-centric', that is, primarily a study of the ennoblement (or sanctification) of the humble. - Letter 181
Anne Mathie says so eloquently:
For Arwen, otherwise infinitely wiser than we, death is the one unknown, a new and unexpected discovery. Aragorn knows better; he knows, as all mortals should, that comfort is impossible and even unworthy in the face of death. Yet he still holds fast to what Arwen has only known as an abstract theological tenet: that death is truly God’s gift.
I cry whenever I reread this passage; it haunts me like no other, though it’s hard to explain why. At the heart of it is the phrase “the gift of the One to Men.” Tolkien looks unblinkingly at “the loss and the silence” of death, but remains steadfast: death is our curse, but also our blessing.
He has hidden this particular tale away in an appendix, but the same idea of mortality permeates the whole book. The plot centers on a ring that gives immortality and corrupts its bearer. Much of the book’s character interest arises from the interactions between mortal and immortal races, who both mystify and fascinate each other. The structure of the work also echoes mortality itself. I have heard friends criticize the long and leisurely denouement (over a hundred pages), but I’ve never understood such complaints. Myself, I was grateful for every page, always vividly aware that they would run out all too soon. Those closing chapters are a portrait of mortality: however happily a story ends, it must end, and that itself is our great sorrow. All that is beautiful and beloved dies. The Fellowship of the Ring accomplishes its quest, but with the end of its troubles comes the separation of its members. Gandalf and the High Elves win the war, but their own victory banishes them from Middle Earth. With them “many fair things will fade and be forgotten.” Frodo has saved the world but now longs to leave it. This has to be one of literature’s saddest happy endings. Tolkien makes us savor the bittersweet, for he knows (like Gandalf) that “not all tears are an evil.”
And another author says:
In Rath Dínen Aragorn, speaking to Arwen, makes reference to a hope. And the way it is stated implies previous discussion on the subject. Even so, in Aragorn and Arwen’s case it would be too simplistic to say that they understand they would live happily ever after in heaven with Ilúvatar after dying. There is doubt. Tolkien stated what he thought was one of the more important issues of the story in Letter 181.
Here I am only concerned with Death as part of the nature, physical and spiritual, of Man, and with Hope without guarantees. That is why I regard the tale of Arwen and Aragorn as the most important of the Appendices;....
Hope without guarantees.
The Silmarillion is written from an Elvish perspective, and from it we gain a certain understanding of them; they admit not understanding men well, or their fate. Arwen, coming from an Elvish background, has an Elvish view of reality (vague on the fate of men). Though she has joined herself to Aragorn, and entered into the world of men, and presumably shares Aragorn’s hope, nevertheless...it is quite a leap to give up immortality within the world for something else, even if that something else is guaranteed eternal life in “heaven.” But it’s not guaranteed, despite Aragorn’s last words. She has to make a leap of faith.
So there she is, in a barren and ghostly Lorien, all alone, and it’s so sad. But she goes through with it. And Tolkien words it as if it actually were sad. And it is sad, on a psychological plane. But on the spiritual plane it is triumphant. And I can’t help feeling the tone of the passage is written consciously in counterpoint to the real “feeling” (in spiritual terms) of joy involved.
In the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth Finrod says:
“That he knew,” said Finrod; “and he withdrew and did not grasp what lay to his hand: elda he is. For such barters are paid for in anguish that cannot be guessed, until it comes, and in ignorance rather than in courage the Eldar judge that they are made.
Nay, adaneth, if any marriage can be between our kindred and thine, then it shall be for some high purpose of Doom. Brief it will be and hard at the end. Yea, the least cruel fate that could befall would be that death should soon end it.”
The larger legendarium shows us that Finrod is wrong. Interracial relationships don't come from ignorance, but divine order.
Both Lúthien and Arwen choose to truly live a full life for a short time over existing for their naturally long lifespans because they know that no other path could bring them greater joy. The sheer amount of inner strength this takes will always blow me away and render me speechless. Just… think of everyone you know. How many people do you know who could make that choice? Who could choose to go out into the world and live every day to the fullest, even though they know they will soon die because of it?
Because this renders me speechless, I want to quote one of my favorite fanfictions, The Light Returned by Ellynn. It is from Elrond’s pov:
And then I chanced upon this one picture – I could not remember whether I had seen it earlier that day – but it immediately captured my attention. Even if I hadn’t seen the signature, I could have told it had been drawn by Lalaith, Eldarion’s daughter. She was exceptionally gifted. Her pictures were almost alive; they had their own voice and soul.
This particular one depicted almost the entire family – Arwen, Aragorn, their children and most of their grandchildren. Looking at it, I could smell the spring grass of the Pelennor fields, hear the sound of children’s laughter, feel the mild, warm breeze. I blinked, and the vision was still there. I was there, with them; they were here, with me. But most of all I was captured by Arwen’s face. She was smiling and looking straight towards Lalaith who had been drawing the picture; due to some magic, or to the skill of the artist, her gaze came out of the picture and reached me, reached the depth of my heart. I have never seen such serenity and happiness within anyone; the serenity of a fulfilled life. Her eyes were full of warmth and love for Aragorn, for their children and grandchildren…
…and for me. For her parents. I kept on staring at the picture and read everything from her gaze. A moment later I took another picture, and another, and many more, and looked them over. And over. But with different eyes than before, now unaffected by self-pity and pain. No, the sorrow did not vanish, but now I really saw. In each picture, whether crafted with a supreme skill of the artist Lalaith or with unskillful strokes of a child which Arwen encouraged to draw for the very first time, my daughter had that same expression – the expression of utter happiness and fulfillment. The emotions were the same, and they were always present.
How stupid I was not to see it right away! I must have been blinded by my pain; it must be that the parental selfishness did not want to retreat. I believe Celebrian understood it straight away; she was wiser than I was. But now I saw things differently as well. If there had ever been any doubt in my mind that this had not been the best path for her, all doubts had now vanished without a trace. Yes, I have been hoping that fate would take her down a different path; yes, I wished she had chosen one of our folk. But this was her path, there was no other which would have brought her a greater joy. Every parent wants what is best for his child, and she had the best. Even if the loss of immortality was the price to be paid. Sometimes even that which seems like the highest price is but a pittance compared to the happiness gained.
My daughter died. We will not meet in this world, for as long as Arda does not change. The pain was still there. But now I look at her life – blessed more than a person could ever wish for – and I cannot but thank Eru for granting her such a wonderful family and a life full of love. Thank you, my daughter, for making it possible for your family to become a part of my life forever, although I thought I had lost everything that day many years ago, when I left Middle-earth for good.
The pain is still there, but a smile appears through the tears; the pain is no longer the only thing I feel, now there is joy as well. For her gift is the greatest one I have ever received, a gift of boundless love which triumphs even over the greatest sorrow. It is still dark outside. But I am no longer in the darkness. The light returned.
Unlike Lúthien and Arwen, Tauriel lets her fear rule her until it's too late (again, see my Tauriel essay).
Minki says:
So Tauriel is left with the biggest of all regrets. She only allowed her doubt to get the best of her because she thought she still had time. And when the time was suddenly removed, the doubt became insubstantial. A waste of precious last days…and the regret that she never completely reciprocated Kíli’s affection while she still could.
The unspoken message that I have chosen to take from this whole thing is that doubt will most certainly have regret as a consequence. If you put your feelings/dreams/ambitions on the back burner for propriety or the sake of others or out of your own fear and doubt, chances are you will miss every opportunity and wonder for the rest of your life at what could have been.
At the beginning of Echopraxia by Peter Watts there is a fantastic paragraph about man standing on a hill and wondering if there are higher hills that can offer a better view…but in order to get to those other (possibly imaginary) hills, man has to first descend the hill he is on. He has to give up all the work he has done to gain the first hill, leave everything behind and take that leap of faith that there are better, higher hills across the plain.
It is this fear of losing the carefully crafted equilibrium we have created in our lives that causes us to hesitate. But sometimes, if we are lucky, we can gain something better. Something transcendental that changes us forever. And I bet that if Tauriel was granted a do-over, she would not doubt again.
LotR gives us another platonically profound relationship with Legolas and Aragorn. Legolas, unlike Tauriel, has the bravery to choose to stay in Middle-earth with Aragorn until the end of Aragorn's life (for more on Legolas and Aragorn, see here).
Gimli wept openly.
“I have looked the last upon that which was fairest,” he said to Legolas his companion. “Henceforward I will call nothing fair, unless it be her gift.” He put his hand to his breast.
“Tell me, Legolas, why did I come on this Quest? Little did I know where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I known the danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in this parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for Gimli son of Glóin!”
“Nay!” said Legolas. “Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. But I count you blessed, Gimli son of Glóin: for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlórien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale.” - Lord of the Rings, Farewell to Lórien
Being immortal, Legolas's “boat is on the running stream.” He understands that it is fate to both find and lose. Legolas is doomed to lose not only Aragorn, but all of his mortal friends.
Gimli has been irrevocably changed by meeting Galadriel. He has finally felt that encompassing and indescribable awe of true love and joy, and now he has to let it go. Fate has intervened. Legolas says Gimli is blessed because he was selfless and chose to do what is right (keep his word and continue on the Quest), instead of what is easy. Thus, Gimli's memory will forever be spiritually unstained.
Moving away from the deeply profound themes of mortality and spirituality, there are more superficial parallels as well. Like Thingol, Beren, and Aragorn; Kili is rendered dumbstruck by Tauriel when they first meet. Like Lúthien, Tauriel saves Kili's life over and over. Both Arwen and Tauriel show and hold to a fundamental moral message that comes straight from Tolkien and shapes their films.
On a side note, there are two other wonderful quotes that show just how highly Tolkien believed in love:
Only the rarest good fortune brings together the man and woman who are really as it were 'destined' for one another, and capable of a very great and splendid love. The idea still dazzles us, catches us by the throat: poems and stories in multitudes have been written on the theme, more, probably, than the total of such loves in real life (yet the greatest of these tales do not tell of the happy marriage of such great lovers, but of their tragic separation; as if even in this sphere the truly great and splendid in this fallen world is more nearly achieved by 'failure' and suffering). In such great inevitable love, often love at first sight, we catch a vision, I suppose, of marriage as it should have been in an unfallen world. - Letter 43
I think the simple 'rustic' love of Sam and his Rosie (nowhere elaborated) is absolutely essential to the study of his (the chief hero's) character, and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life (breathing, eating, working, begetting) and quests, sacrifice, causes, and the 'longing for Elves', and sheer beauty. - Letter 131
Tauriel Loses Her Innocence
Tauriel starts out her arc innocent and ignorant to just how cruel the world can be. After Kili's death she is young, and heartbroken, and doesn’t understand why. She just wants the pain to stop. She cries out to Thranduil, confiding in him, pleading for him to save her and make it all go away. She is, in essence, a young child seeking her fathers comfort.
Tauriel's fundamental conflict with Thranduil came from the fact that she had no understanding of why he made the choices he did. When he says that her pain over Kili's death is because her love was real, she realizes this anguish is what he experiences every day, and the reason why he has made the decisions he has. It’s not about letting evil become strong, evil is strong. And it will hurt you without mercy. Tauriel finally understands this, and Thranduil. (however, even though Thranduil's isolationism is completely understandable, as I went over above, Tauriel is still morally right)
Evangeline Lilly said:
Tauriel’s story ends in classic Tolkien fashion. And I think that Tolkien was a master of the greater life lessons and bitter life truths and he didn’t shy away from anyone’s storyline. I think that’s what made him so particularly good. He really had whole and complete arcs for all of the characters that he took the time to introduce you to.
And boromirs says:
ok but like, one of the major themes of the lord of the rings and the hobbit is people who have been confined to their homelands, (i.e bilbo & frodo), leaving the comfortable, safe world they’ve always known to go on adventures and learn to care for something greater than themselves, right?
bilbo cares for thorin & co, they are his friends and he will save them if he can god dammit. frodo absolutely and wholly sacrifices himself, his heart and hope and the light that’s taken from him, in order to carry the ring and save a world beyond his understanding. yes, adventures are grand, but there is a profound grief to them. bilbo loses his friends, frodo loses himself to the ring. both experience loss, their innocence is shattered and they’re forever changed.
so you have the addition of tauriel, who gets to venture beyond the borders of Mirkwood and comes to care for someone she’s never known, for people she’s been taught to hate, (and if it’s borne out of love, so what?). she goes on an adventure of her own, to save both the world she’s never known, (it is our fight) and someone she grows to care for. and she too experiences loss, she is marked with a grief, a loss of innocence that will follow her unto the end of her days. tauriel experiences the great grief that comes with caring for others, just like bilbo & frodo and so many other characters within tolkien do.
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I hope this post has helped you that not only is Tauriel Tolkien, she is a fundamental addition for placing The Hobbit into the larger legendarium.
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