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Of Odd Numbers and the Undying Lands

May 6, 2007 2:47 AM

n the mythology of Tolkien, Valinor--the Undying Land--was an island off the West coast of Middle-Earth that was inhabited by the Valar, essentially the gods that ruled over all of Arda (that is, the world). To give some sense of the power of the Valar, Gandalf, Saruman, and Sauron--probably the three most powerful beings we ever encounter in the Lord of the Rings trilogy--were all Maiar, a race of inferior spirits created to serve the Valar.

Long before Frodo and the War of the Ring, the Elves awoke on Middle-Earth. The Valar, seeking to protect the newly born race from Morgoth, the First Dark Lord, who ruled Middle-Earth at that time, left the Undying Lands to find the Elves and return them to Valinor where they would be safe. Some of the Elves came with the Valar, some stayed in Middle-Earth.

Later, the race of man awoke on Middle-Earth. Unlike the Elves, men could die. Because they were not immortal, they could not go to Valinor.

Eventually, man built a great kingdom--Numenor. The Valar promised the king of men that Numenor would be prosperous and that they would protect Numenor as long as no ship sailed so far West that it could no longer see Numenor. For a long time, the kings of men obeyed this command.

After creating the Rings of Power, Sauron took over Middle-Earth and ruled there for some time. But then the Numenoreans defeated him and imprisoned him in Numenor. Over time, Sauron was able to gain the trust of the king and grew to be his most trusted advisor. Ultimately, Sauron convinced the king that the Valar were arrogant and greedy. Man need only set foot on Valinor, he told the king, and he, too, would be immortal. The king believed Sauron and amassed a great navy.

The boats set sail due West, towards the Undying Lands. But as soon as the ships lost sight of Numenor, there was a great cataclysm. The ships all sank. The Valar then bent the world such that Valinor was no longer accessible by normal ships. Numenor fell into ruin. No mortal would ever set foot on Valinor's shores.

Thousands of years later, after the destruction of the One Ring, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, by special permission of the Valar, became the first mortals to go to Valinor. They were taken there together with Gandalf, Elron, and Galadriel. As Ring-bearers, they were welcomed as heroes. It is speculated that Samwise Gamgee followed them years later.

But poor Merry and Pippin, who had never carried the Ring, were not alowed to follow their friends, despite having been almost as heroic.

I always thought it would kind of suck to be Merry and Pippin in this regard. I mean--their best friends essentially got to go to heaven while Merry and Pippin got to, well, hang out in the Shire. There's nothing wrong with the Shire, but it's not the same as hobnobbing with gods, I'd imagine.

I'm saying all of this in an attempt to express how I'm feeling in some oblique way. I guess I kind of feel like Mr. BrIsmaelbuck and Mr. Took. Neither one of them ever carried the Ring, but Middle-Earth might well have been lost but for their efforts. Still, they got shafted. I might never have fought the Witch-King, run from the Nazgul, or watched the Ents attack Isengard, but I've still done my fair share of awesome things.

But I guess none of what I've accomplished matters, really. Instead, I get to hang out in the Shire by myself while all my friends--literally almost every single one of them--gets to go to Valinor. I feel like I've been here for years. And I guess I just want to know when it's going to be my turn.


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