Re: Simile vs. Metaphor [was: Re: Purely informal Balrog wings poll]                                                              more options

Author:    Steuard Jensen
Email:     sjensen -aaatt- hmc -daht- edu
Date:      1998/04/16
Forums:    alt.fan.tolkien
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This debate seems to have worked its way down to some very subtle
nitty gritty, so maybe it would be a good idea to see what each side
is trying to say.  To pick a couple of relevant passages:

>In article <3532A038.257D1E76@gamewood.net>, William says...
>>The Balrog was cloaked in a palpable Darkness which is not a
>>conventional Primary World shadow.  Tolkien tries to help us
>>understand: "it was like a shadow."

Quoth Michael Martinez  <<<Michael -aaatt- xenite -daht- org>>>:
> If you're going to say there were no wings because there was a
> simile, then you are saying there was no shadow -- because there was
> a simile.
                 (and later)
> Either there were wings or there was no shadow.

In this case, I think that I'm going to have to agree with William's
interpretation of the passage (all other parts of the argument set
aside for the moment), because in fact there WAS no shadow.  If I
understand him correctly, this is exactly what William is trying to
say.

Now, that sounds rather odd, as there was clearly _something_
shadowish being discussed in the passage, but let's look at the
primary dictionary definition of shadow: "partial darkness or
obscurity within a part of space from which rays of light are cut off
by an interposed opaque body."  Now, Tolkien is not describing the
shape that we see along the floor where the Balrog cuts off the
firelight, but rather _something_ that is actually in the air around
it.  By that definition, there can't be a shadow _in_ the air, as air
(being clear) is never dark in and of itself.  Whatever Tolkien is
describing, it is not literally a shadow.

I think that this point is what William is getting at with his term
"palpable Darkness".  In my mind's eye I can imagine such a thing
(indeed, I have done so every time I've read that passage), but it is
rather difficult to describe in words better than Tolkien did.  My
mental image is akin to a cloud of moderately dense black smoke
sweeping out to the Balrog's sides in a shape reminiscent of a pair of
wings.  My mental image, when I examine it closely, still shows
ghostly images of the orcs and the chasm of fire behind the "wings"; I
have never imagined them to be opaque (as real wings would be).

At any rate, I believe that both Michael and William are _literally_
right (no wings means no shadow, and there isn't a literal shadow
present), but in this case at least Tolkien did not intend for the
Balrog to have literal wings.  (Which is rather odd, because I find
Michael's _interpretation_ of the "winged speed" passage to be more
convincing than the alternative, though I believe that there is room
for either within the texts.)  I have a feeling that Tolkien never
truly decided on the Balrog wings issue either, and included them or
not depending on which way he was leaning at the time.  You'd think he
could have been more considerate of all of us devoted fans, now,
wouldn't you?

                                                Steuard Jensen