From: gds@york.cs.ucla.edu (Greg Skinner)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.tolkien
Subject: Re: Tolkien a Racist?
Date: 15 Dec 92 01:12:10 GMT
Reply-To: gds@cs.ucla.edu (Greg Skinner)
Organization: in your face!
Originator: gds@york.cs.ucla.edu

In article <1992Dec14.214815.20461@leland.Stanford.EDU> jchokey@leland.Stanford.EDU (James Alexander Chokey) writes:
>	One of the more significant tropes in LOTR (and one that has been
>adapted by countless cureent writers of fantasy lit) is the division and
>hierarchization of races into gradations of moral, cultural, and physical 
>superiority.  I think it's interesting and that Tolkien adopted such
>a racial structure -- we can't just assume that it's an inevitable
>part of any work of fantasy.  I thus think it's worthwhile to reflect
>upon _why_ that racial hierarchy is there in LOTR.  To say that it's
>just "a work of fantasy" explains nothing; it's a way of evading the
>question rather than answering it.

>	So the question remains --  why this great concern with race
>and with the superiority of some races over others in LOTR?

Someone posted an article suggesting that Elves are considered the
"superior beings" of Middle-Earth, because they are "fair",
"golden-haired", etc.  (It has been noted that many Elves are
dark-haired.)

So, are Elves really "superior" in Middle-Earth?  It would not
necessarily seem so.  For example, those who did not have direct
contact with Elves tended to shun and fear them.  Also, from the
Elves' perspective, they are not really the "privileged" beings.  Men
are, because they die and leave the Circles of the World.  (Some) Men
envied Elves their immortality.

From a standpoint of physical strength, there are many examples of Men
who were as strong, if not stronger, than Elves.  Certainly Aragorn
and Boromir could hold their own with the sons of Elrond.  Also, in
the First Age, Men such as Beren and Turin are among the mightiest
warriors of the Age.

From a standpoint of natural "power", Elves (and Men who have a strain
of Elvish in them) are considered superior in this respect, and
considered more "regal".  The same could be said for intelligence
(some of their intelligence comes from their natural power, some
comes from the wisdom of having lived a long time, and some comes from
their having access to certain types of information, or information
sources, that would give them knowledge).

One could say that any prejudices that arise among the peoples of
Middle-Earth arise for the same reasons they do on our Earth.  The
people of Middle-Earth who had regular contact with all the races
tended to hold all of them in equal regard, valuing each for the
contributions they made.

I would say that Tolkien's perspective is eurocentric rather than
racist.  Some people seem to equate the two.  While it is true that
many of the "enemies" of Middle-Earth live in the south, and
(geographically) one can make an analogy of the south to parts of our
Earth where "dark" people live, "dark" people are not the only ones
who are evil, or corruptable.  Numenorean Men were corrupted (the
Ringwraiths), and Maiar were corrupted as well (Saruman).

Even Vala were "led astray" (Aule created the dwarves on his own
initiative, and Osse troubled the seas).  Only Elves were not
corrupted (by Morgoth), and this is because Morgoth took Elves and
made Orcs out of them.  Elves became the chief enemies of Morgoth (and
in turn, anyone associated with evil), and could not ally themselves
with him.  Arguably, Feanor and his people were corrupted to the
extent that they murdered their own kin in the quest for the
Silmarils, and the elves of Doriath were corrupted to the extent that
they went to war over the Silmaril that Beren brought to Thingol.
This is a more subtle type of corruption, and arguably more harmful
than the direct types of corruption Morgoth used.

--gregbo