Short Takes: Tolkien’s Elves were Angelic Beings, and Rings of Power’s Elves were Not

Although we can not see them, angels are indeed real. Angels occupy a realm that only a very few privileged living souls can see: the supernatural. Over the years, various Roman Catholic saints such as St. Pio and St. Faustina could see their guardian angels and even converse with them. St. Pio even sent his guardian angel on missions to deliver messages to other holy persons.

Throughout the Holy Bible and on the rare occasions that God permits angels to manifest themselves to humans, their otherworldly presence is felt by all those who can see them. Their goodness and purity are so overwhelming that it dazzles those around them. The shepherds tending their flocks in Bethlehem saw angels in the heavens at the birth of Christ and were stupefied:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. — Luke 2: 8-12

I believe that J.R.R. Tolkien’s elves were the equivalent of angelic beings. They were revered by most of the people of Middle-earth and feared by the rest. When the hobbits were around the elves they were overwhelmed with a sense of wonder and awe.

There is one small but important scene in the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring, that Peter Jackson managed to capture from the novels that demonstrates the hypnotic effect that the elves had on others. It is a scene called The Passing of the Elves where the elves are leaving Middle-earth for good to return to the undying lands. It is a sad and sobering demographic shift that heralds the age of men and in a strange way echoes the current predicament of Western civilization. Tolkien was a prophet like fellow Catholic Hilaire Belloc.

It is easily my most favorite and treasured scene from Jackson’s Trilogy. Together with Elizabeth Fraser’s haunting voice, the scene is cinematic perfection:

Earlier this week I was watching YouTube videos that mercilessly mock the litany of awful Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark) fight scenes in Amazon’s Rings of Power series. It was in that instant, that an image of this scene from Jackson came to mind and I realized that this was one of the missing ingredients that doomed the series. Jackson captured light and truth in a bottle and for that, Tolkien fans are forever grateful.

It’s hard to imagine Middle-earth without the inclusion of elves. They are the stardust that gives his world incredible depth. Tolkien’s elves were ancient, dignified, virtuous, reverential, wise, holy, pure, majestic, and otherworldly. Everything that Amazon’s banal elves were not. That failure to respect, recognize, and recreate the essential magic of Tolkien’s elves is just one more reason why Rings of Power failed.

If you are a godless edgy abortion loving feminist young adult genre “writer” with a Skrillex hairstyle working for Amazon, it is impossible to have a true appreciation for Tolkien’s works. People with ugly souls cannot create beauty.

“The Shadow that bred them can only mock; it cannot make: not real, new things of its own.” — The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien

Nothing good comes out of Hollywood and the California entertainment industrial complex. Nothing.

–Wolfshead


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  1. AnonEntity May 2, 2023
    • Wolfshead May 2, 2023