After seeing the Lord of the Rings films, not having read the books initially, it was immediately apparent that one of the over-riding themes was that of death; most noticeably in the form of war. However, when one watches the movies through or reads one of Tolkien’s other stories to the end, we see that in many ways life plays the larger role, or perhaps, at the least, the role of death isn’t necessarily the one dimensional sword through the heart. Death is an important theme in his works, but it is seen in more than one way, and in the end I would not say any of his works are tragedies despite any over-riding themes of death.

            One of the first “deaths” in The Silmarillion would be the death of Iluvatar’s grand symphony. It can be argued that Iluvatar planned to have Melkor weave his own music into the mix, but whether planned or not, Melkor killed the dream of having a perfect society. His desire to create something all his own and weave his own music in, is what corrupted and prevented Iluvatar’s perfect symphony and invariably prevented the perfect world: “But as the theme progressed, it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Iluvatar; for he sought therein to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself” (Tolkien 4). This is more of the death of an ideal or dream than a physical death, but I would count it within the over-riding theme because what is death but the end of a dream or possibly the beginning of another?

            The next most significant theme of death directly involves the creation of the Silmarils. The light of the two trees that illuminates the world can’t last forever and the residents can see it; Feanor can see it, and he opts to make the light immortal by fashioning the Silmarils to hold their radiant light so that they can be cherished forever despite the influence of Morgoth on the world: “For Feanor, being come his full might, was filled with a new thought, or it may be that some shadow of foreknowledge came to him of the doom that drew near; and he pondered how the light of the Trees, the glory of the Blessed Realm, might be preserved imperishable” (Tolkien 69). This sets in motion the inevitable downfall of pretty much everything. The death of these once beautiful trees results in the creation of the Silmarils, or possibly the creation of the Silmarils causes the destruction of the trees. Thus death of another dream is heavily bound with the story; another death, another consequence, a different future.

            As we know, Feanor was right in worrying about the trees, and the physical death of that nature comes later on through Morgoth and Ungoliant, who come to Valinor during a time of festival when the area is largely unguarded: “Then the Unlight of Ungoliant rose up even to the roots of the Trees, and Melkor sprang upon the mound; and with his black spear he smote each Tree to its core, wounded them deep, and their sap poured forth as it were their blood, and was spilled upon the ground” (Tolkien 81). Not only is this the physical death of the trees, but the slaughter is described almost as if the trees are living people, just more Valar and not plants. It says that Morgoth smote it rather than stabbed or chopped it, much like it would say if he were killing a person. It is the same with “wounded them deep” and “their sap poured forth as it were their blood,” implying that the very essence of the trees, and indeed the Valar themselves, were wounded. It personifies the tree with these human relations because of how large of an influence they have had on the Valar and the world. This is an important death despite the fact that Feanor had already created the Silmarils. It showed them that Morgoth and his influence was not to be underestimated.

            Much death originates from Feanor, the creator of the Silmarils, but not in the way that some might think. For example, he is given the opportunity to destroy the Silmarils in hopes of returning the light to the trees, but he chooses not to because he is consumed by them; he can’t destroy his own creation, and thus the lack of a death in this case is what resulted in countless deaths down the road in the fight over the Silmarils: “For the less even as for the greater there is some deed that he may accomplish but once only; and in that deed his heart shall rest. It may be that I can unlock my jewels, but never again shall I make their like; and if I must break them, I shall break my heart, and I shall be slain; first of all the Eldar in Aman” (Tolkien 84). He could have ended it then and there, but his love for the Silmarils was too great. This scene also reveals that Mandos, and many of the other Valar, know full well of the deaths that are slowly creeping into their land. As Feanor states that he would be the first slain of the Eldar, Mandos states “Not the first,” though at the time no one knows that he has seen death happening at that very moment (Tolkien 84).

            As Feanor’s hatred for Morgoth grows, so does his damage upon the land. One of the most notable instances of this is the kinslaying in Alqualonde and the destruction of the swan boats. Feanor comes to Alqualonde with intent to borrow the only ships available in order to seek out Morgoth in his dark corner of the world, but when he is refused, he takes the ships by force, resulting in the death of many of his kin. After Feanor uses the boats to reach middle earth, he then commits another act of destruction in the burning of the beautiful swan boats. Both of these actions were new to the Valar and the Elves; thus death opened their eyes to the types of evil present in their world: “So in that place which was called losgar at the outlet of the Firth of Drengist ended the fairest vessels that ever sailed the sea, in a great burning, bright and terrible. And Fingolfin and his people saw the light afar off, red beneath the clouds; and they knew that they were betrayed. This was the firstfruits of the Kinslaying and the Doom of the Noldor” (Tolkien 98).

            One of the later and more notable stories that follow heavily the theme of death is that of Turin Turambar. Early on in his story he is taken captive by a band of orcs; when his brother manages to rescue him, he is unable to make out his face in the dark and an unintentional brush of a knife results in him murdering his brother, thinking him the enemy.  Much of his story then goes on to revolve around a black sword known as Gurthang which is repeatedly seen as a bringer of death.

            Turin’s entire life is surrounded by death and suffering and yet as he wields the sword, he himself is the source of such problems. He kills and brings suffering to others and even though he manages to kill Glaurung the leader of the dragons, his life and hopes are destroyed and with them, his physical life at his own hands: “And from the blade rang a cold voice in answer; ‘Yea, I will drink thy blood gladly, that so I may forget the blood of Beleg my master and the blood of Brandir slain unjustly. I will slay thee swiftly’” (Tolkien 271).

            There are numerous little examples in this hefty novel where death plays a dominating role, but none as much as the overriding idea of Iluvatar’s perfect society failing. I mentioned earlier that Melkor’s interweaving song doomed this world from the get go, but we see even more of this in the end of the novel during the War of Wrath. This is the point where the Valar finally take a stand against Morgoth at the request of Earendil; the one and only time where these angelic figures will intervene and change the course of the future. Naturally Morgoth puts up a fight with his armies of orcs, balrogs, and dragons, and so the war begins. This struggle results in the death of countless creatures good and bad, demonstrating how large and devastating such a war can be: “The meeting of the hosts of the West and of the North is named the Great Battle, and the War of Wrath. There was marshalled the whole power of the Throne of Morgoth, and it had become great beyond count, so that Anfauglith could not contain it; and all the North was aflame with war” (Tolkien 302).

            Invariably the Valar prevail and Morgoth is banished from the world forever, but with this the Valar also must leave. They agreed only to help the struggle once and now that they had done so, man, elf, dwarf and the rest of the world is left to their own fate. This is the final death of Iluvatar’s perfect world. The Valar did what they could and nothing more, leaving man to his own problems and future. It can be argued that Iluvatar planned it this way, but the very idea of a perfect world was a dream, and this represented the end of that dream or the realization that such a thing was impossible.

            Even with all this death throughout, I can’t help but counter the theme of death with one of life. For example, when humans were introduced into the world of middle earth, they had a strange gift that separated them from the elves: death. In this instance death isn’t seen as something dark and evil but instead it’s a glorious gift that remains a mystery throughout. Death is not feared or avoided; it is accepted and admired.

            If seen as a whole, didn’t life prevail in the Silmarillion? In the end Morgoth was defeated, man and elves saved. We also know that they go on to fight again in The Lord of the Rings and again they succeed. It is true that many die in the ages to come and invariably the elves leave the shores of middle earth, but in the end good prevailed. Many of our heroes survived and went on to greater things. The main focus of the story is that of the Silmarils and in the end they aren’t destroyed, but rather become an intricate part of the world: one in the sky, one in the sea, and one in the earth. Life is precious, a gift, and I think that this overriding theme of death is necessary to truly understand that.

Works Cited

Tolkien, J. R. R., The Silmarillion. New York: Ballantine Books 2002.