Q: Why Did Magic Leave Middle-earth?
ANSWER: Magic did not leave Middle-earth. Where do people get this stuff? Wikipedia? The Mary Sue?
There is not one story where J.R.R. writes that magic passes from Middle-earth. Middle-earth doesn’t lose magic. Magic doesn’t fade away, vanish, sail over sea, expire, run out, vanish, or do anything else. How can it? It’s magic. It is a part of the universe.
Elves sail over sea.
Rings of power fail.
Elves, Dwarves, and Numenoreans lose the crafts and lore of their forefathers.
Magic goes on.
I have seen a few people refer to Tolkien’s letters when discussing the “end of magic” in Middle-earth, or however you want to put it. But J.R.R. Tolkien never discusses such a thing in the letters that have been published.
One of the most frequently misused and abused entries in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien is the unsent fragment titled “No. 155 To Naomi Micheson (draft)”, which is introduced with an editorial note that reads: “A passage from a draft of the above letter [No. 154], which was not included in the version actually sent.” This unsent draft is the one where Tolkien goes on about magia (“producing real results”) and goeteia (which is “artistic”). This abandoned text led Tolkien to write something which violated facts established in the published story (that Numenoreans created swords with spells). But though much of what he explains prior to that point may seem valid and relevant, I have never seen anyone acknowledge what Tolkien actually wrote: both the Elves and Sauron used magia and goeteia (only men were “deceived” by goeteia), and neither of these forms of “magic” were diminished in any way over time.
Elves faded or fled Middle-earth, Sauron was rendered impotent with the destruction of the One Ring, but magic went on. Dwarves continued using magic, Men continued using magic, Elves continued using magic, etc. Dragons also continued to do their dragony thing, whatever that was.
Some people have written that magic diminishes in each age, which is utter nonsense and pure fabrication on the part of people who imagine Middle-earth may have been somehow altered by changes in calendar systems. That is entirely all that happened at the end of each “age”. The world-altering events were wars that ruined lands, killed lots of people, and generally changed the politics of Middle-earth. But these wars did not diminish magic in any way.
People may be confusing the changes in Eldarin history with magic, but if that is the case then this logic still fails because Gil-galad’s kingdom lasted for thousands of years and he grew to be more powerful than any Elven king in Middle-earth before his time. And it was during the Second Age that the Rings of Power were made by the Elves of Eregion; the Elves of Beleriand created no great artifacts. Eldarin civilization in Middle-earth peaked in the Second Age. But magic continued after the death of Gil-galad.
See also:
- How Does Magic Differ Between Harry Potter’s World and Middle-earth?
- Are There Two Kinds of Magic in Middle-earth?
- Can Dwarves Use Magic?
- Can Men Use Magic in Middle-earth?
- Did Aragorn Use Magic?
- How Rare Was Magic in Middle-earth?
- Magic by Melkor, No Returns Accepted
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I basically agree with this thesis, particularly that magic is an inherent part of the world. However, I’m struck by a passage in Gil-galad’s letter to Tar-Meneldur in SA 883: “The memories of the First Age are dim, and all things in Middle-earth grow colder. Let not the ancient friendship of Eldar and Dunedain wane also” (Unfinished Tales, p. 200). Of course, when he says “all things in Middle-earth grow colder,” he could mean any number of things. But he seems to imply that many things were on the wane that had been potent during the First Age. The First Age featured a great deal of what we might call “high magic”: Silmarils, shape-shifters, the Girdle of Melian, Glaurung’s sorcery, talking dogs, talking swords, etc (depending on when the First Age is held to have begun). The word “colder” in Gil-galad’s letter might also be significant, since the First Age was arguably dominated by the legacy of Feanor, who was associated with both fire and what we might think of colloquially as “magic items.” Therefore, with the “cooling” of Feanor’s legacy after the First Age, Gil-galad might have perceived that Middle-earth was becoming more complacent and mundane. (Incidentally, I wonder if this letter is the first time that a character in Middle-earth divided the history of Middle-earth into ages.) Granted, that’s a lot to read into a few lines of a letter that was primarily meant as a request for aid. On the other hand, it could be that Gil-galad was asking for aid because he felt that the world was changing.
I think what Gil-Galad says here is that with each age the changes in the world are getting more rapid (from elven perspective anyway), the world itself is fixed and matured in it’s form as it was shaped by the Valar (and they willfully more and more disengage from direct interventions) but the time flow does it’s work mercilessly. The new ages are signifying the waning of Elves as a race and the humanity’s growth (the Second Age is also time of dominion of Sauron who builds his ever growing empire he rules as god-king, it’s the Dark Years) that was started with the rising of Sun for the first time. In comparison with the First Age and mysterious eons earlier the next time periods indeed seem more diminished, the heroes of Third Age almost appear to be shadow of those from before, as if older was greater and grander, in some ways it is so but not completely. Over time empires and kingdoms wane and fall, miraculous technologies of great civilizations are being lost but there are still many old and strong powers, there are those who have special abilities and continue to use them. The magic on it’s own is always there (and just to add this end of an era thing, it is not like that it’s actually slow and long process, it is hinted that Elves didn’t sail away completely that there were many of them still in Fourth Age, some who belonged to Middle Earth would stay even longer, there would be also still many mysteries uncovered and beings whose powers we can only spculate about) there are setbacks but also certain progress happening again after some time (not always good mind you). Magic is in the many parts of the world of Tolkien’s fiction, it is mysterious and vague in operations but intricately woven into all things in some measure.
Only two days ago, I saw a Christopher Tolkien clip on TV. He reminded the interviewer that his father’s definition of magic was (of course) not exclusively positive, saying that JRR actually saw modern machinery as dark magic.
Well Elves, Dwarves, at least some of Men (Dunedain with their spells on weapons or wizardry in certain structures, like Seat of Seeing and supposedly something more, there are also examples of ‘psychic’ or mental powers, then there is ‘skin-changer and bit of magician’ Beorn and his descendants and sorcerers and necromancers who actually were often thaught by Sauron himself), even Ents (Treebeards magic lights in Wellinghall, hehe and possibly Entwives with their ability to tell plants how to grow as old Fangorn says, does that mean they had some sort of special plant growth powers?) appear to be still using their skills and most likely would continue to do so as long as their species existed (interestingly while we don’t see much of dwarven magic there is lots of hints towards it, either items like magical toys or weapons (though I wonder would a craftsman of say Erebor from the time of Lotr be able to make some magic sword or armor element with the properties of Narsil which glowed with light and like dragon helm of First Age that supposedly protected wearer from wounds better than any ordinary helmet and what were the reaches of their capabilities).
My take on it is that magic did “leave”, but it’s a matter of perception, rather than a real change. Men (and Hobbits) had very limited “talent” for “magic”, compared with the other races. For us, machines are usually easier than “magic”, so we use them, especially since we also have very limited lifespans, and have to do things quickly, or not at all.
Thus, while the “magic” didn’t go anywhere, the “magic” users did, and there is little or no visible “magic” in the world today. Thus, people think the “magic” itself is gone.
Would you say that magic has been more present during the First Age than during the Third Age?
I would say it was more VISIBLE in the First Age, simply because there were many more, and more powerful, users. Like Michael says, the amount of “magic” itself hasn’t changed, any more than gravity has changed. It just “is”.
In my opinion, “magic” probably isn’t even a real, measurable force, like gravity or radiation. It’s simply the ability of a living being to influence physical reality by mental effort, using natural forces. And, if that’s the case, it probably takes as much “work” to do something by “magic” as by hand, although the nature of the “work” would be different, and some things are probably easier one way or the other.
As an example, a strong “magic” user could probably drive nails by thinking at them, but hitting them with a hammer would probably be easier, even for a powerful Elf. One way to do it would be to alter the molecular motion, basically heat energy, of the nail, so that all of the molecules went the same direction for a moment, rather than random motion. There’s no physical reason that couldn’t be done, under present theories, but hitting the nail would seem to be simpler.