Q: What is A Word of Command?
ANSWER: There are two passages in The Lord of the Rings where J.R.R. Tolkien uses this expression. The first is in “The Ring Goes South”, when Gandalf lights a wet faggot of wood to create a fire for the company on the trail crossing over Caradhras:
‘You may make a fire, if you can,’ answered Gandalf. ‘If there are any watchers that can endure this storm, then they can see us, fire or no.’ But though they had brought wood and kindlings by the advice of Boromir, it passed the skill of Elf or even Dwarf to strike a flame that would hold amid the swirling wind or catch in the wet fuel. At last reluctantly Gandalf himself took a hand. Picking up a faggot he held it aloft for a moment, and then with a word of command, naur an edraith ammen! he thrust the end of his staff into the midst of it. At once a great spout of green and blue flame sprang out, and the wood flared and sputtered.
Gandalf actually uses this “word of command” again in “A Journey in the Dark” when he confronts the “demonic wolves” apparently sent by Sauron to attack the company as they shelter on a hill-top in Hollin:
`Fling fuel on the fire!’ cried Gandalf to the hobbits. `Draw your blades, and stand back to back!’
In the leaping light, as the fresh wood blazed up, Frodo saw many grey shapes spring over the ring of stones. More and more followed. Through the throat of one huge leader Aragorn passed his sword with a thrust; with a great sweep Boromir hewed the head off another. Beside them Gimli stood with his stout legs apart, wielding his dwarf-axe. The bow of Legolas was singing.
In the wavering firelight Gandalf seemed suddenly to grow: he rose up, a great menacing shape like the monument of some ancient king of stone set upon a hill. Stooping like a cloud, he lifted a burning branch and strode to meet the wolves. They gave back before him. High in the air he tossed the blazing brand. It flared with a sudden white radiance like lightning; and his voice rolled like thunder.
`Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!‘ he cried.
There was a roar and a crackle, and the tree above him burst into a leaf and bloom of blinding flame. The fire leapt from tree-top to tree-top. The whole hill was crowned with dazzling light. The swords and knives of the defenders shone and flickered. The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew, and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain. All the others fled.
Some of these words appear in other passages (in fact, this particular citation has been analyzed in many linguistic essays). Students of Sindarin sometimes compare this expression to Gandalf’s “spell” before the West-gate of Moria:
He stepped up to the rock again, and lightly touched with his staff the silver star in the middle beneath the sign of the anvil.
Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen!
Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!he said in a commanding voice. The silver lines faded, but the blank grey stone did not stir.
In The Treason of Isengard Christopher Tolkien translates “Naur an edraith ammen” as “Literally: ‘fire be for saving of us'”. The original form of the “were-wolves” sentence he gives as “Naur ad i gaurhoth!” Christopher does not translate the phrase but I believe it means something like “fire against the were-wolves”. I’ll come back to these expressions shortly. The other passage where Tolkien specifically refers to a “word of command” is in Gandalf’s brief description of his first encounter with the Balrog of Moria:
`As I stood there I could hear orc-voices on the other side: at any moment I thought they would burst it open. I could not hear what was said; they seemed to be talking in their own hideous language. All I caught was ghâsh; that is “fire”. Then something came into the chamber – I felt it through the door, and the orcs themselves were afraid and fell silent. It laid hold of the iron ring, and then it perceived me and my spell.
‘What it was I cannot guess, but I have never felt such a challenge. The counter-spell was terrible. It nearly broke me. For an instant the door left my control and began to open! I had to speak a word of Command. That proved too great a strain. The door burst in pieces. Something dark as a cloud was blocking out all the light inside, and I was thrown backwards down the stairs. All the wall gave way, and the roof of the chamber as well, I think.
It may be significant that Gandalf’s use of “command” here is capitalized but the narrative use is not — however, Tolkien’s capitalizations were not always consistent so it’s hard to interpret the text on the basis of one letter. In Other Minds magazine Issue 8 (November 2009) Daniel Vacaflores describes the “word of Command” as a “poetic description” of a spell. I find this unsatisfying if only for lack of detail supporting his conclusion.
Assuming that Gandalf’s second utterance of “Naur an edraith ammen” is also to be considered a use of a word of Command, there are only three clear uses of “words” of Command: when Gandalf lights a fire that neither Elf nor Dwarf (both users of magic in Middle-earth) can light; against the demonic wolves; and against the door to the Chamber of Mazarbul where Gandalf and the Balrog were struggling (via spell / counter-spell) for control over the portal. All three situations imply very unusual circumstances.
If, however, Gandalf’s use of “hi ammen” before the West-gate is a fourth use of a “word of Command” then the pattern is broken, for the spell he utters appears to have no useful effect (although the illuminated script on the gate fades). Given a lack of context I will say this spell is not similar in nature to the other three where Gandalf achieves an unusually pronounced and significant result. The fact he could light a wet faggot of wood in a snow storm made it clear that he was present; the deed would not have been mistaken for the action of an Elf or Dwarf. Hence, by extension, when Gandalf sets the treetops on fire in a circle of fire to protect the company of the Ring from the demonic wolves he is also doing something extraordinary compared to what Elf and Dwarf would be expected to accomplish.
It may therefore be useful to look outside of Tolkien’s writings to infer significance for his use of “word of C/command” on precisely two occasions (whereas he liberally uses the word “spell” and similar words throughout his Middle-earth stories). Let’s look at the Bible, where “word of command” is used in reference to the authority of God. So far as I know this usage is consistent but I could be mistaken. Nor do I know what the Catholic church teaches about the expression or concept of “(words of) command”. Nonetheless, a command(ment) is only expressed with authority.
In other words, in the Biblical sense (as I understand it) a “word of command” is not simply an imperative statement such as “behold!” or “hear me!” Rather, it conveys an imperative directive from God (either from him directly or through an intermediary). If Tolkien held a similar view of the phrase “word of command” he might have used it sparingly in The Lord of the Rings so as to borrow or extend that meaning into his own literature. He did, after all, describe The Lord of the Rings as “a Catholic work” and much interpretative analysis of Tolkien’s literature has been constructed on the basis of comparisons between Tolkien’s idiom and Catholic principles.
I don’t believe a thoroughly convincing case can be made for identifying Tolkien’s “word of command” with an invocation or appeal to a higher authority as in the Biblical sense but it feels right to me. This is not merely a metaphorical or symbolic association — rather, it takes the form of a direct borrowing from Tolkien’s Catholic faith. Gandalf, as an emissary of the Valar, calls upon his authority in extraordinary situations to “get the job done”. One cannot simply speak a “word of Command” — rather, one must have the appropriate authority to do so; otherwise it is just another “spell” or expression and as such wields no particular power.
By admitting to having used a word of Command in Moria, Gandalf may have been hinting at his true nature to his companions (a fact he did not attempt to conceal from Faramir, when he told the young prince his name was Olorin in the West). The Istari did not openly speak about who they were or where they came from, but it’s clear from occasional passages that they were viewed as representatives of the Valar. Tolkien discloses this knowledge of the relationship between the Istari and the Valar in Letter No. 246 (written to Eileen Elgar in 1963) where he writes in a footnote of Arwen’s gift of passage over Sea to Frodo:
It is not made explicit how she could arrange this. She could not of course just transfer her ticket on the boat like that! For any except those of Elvish race ‘sailing West’ was not permitted, and any exception required ‘authority’, and she was not in direct communication with the Valar, especially not since her choice to become ‘mortal’. What is meant is that it was Arwen who first thought of sending Frodo into the West, and put in a plea for him to Gandalf (direct or through Galadriel, or both), and she used her own renunciation of the right to go West as an argument. Her renunciation and suffering were related to and enmeshed with Frodo’s: both were parts of a plan for the regeneration of the state of Men. Her prayer might therefore be specially effective, and her plan have a certain equity of exchange. No doubt it was Gandalf who was the authority that accepted her plea. The Appendices show clearly that he was an emissary of the Valar, and virtually their plenipotentiary in accomplishing the plan against Sauron. He was also in special accord with Cirdan the Ship-master, who had surrendered to him his ring and so placed himself under Gandalf’s command. Since Gandalf himself went on the Ship there would be so to speak no trouble either at embarking or at the landing.
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