The Silmarillion
Summary
The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien’s world. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part. The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-Earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. (Goodreads)
Egyptomania narratives or motifs
In contrast to the conflicting views of Egypt that we can observe in The Lord of the Rings (see the corresponding entry in this database), where positive and negative aspects are combined, in The Silmarillion the image of Egypt, and Tolkien's explanations of it throughout his life, are profoundly negative.
If we take a look at some of Tolkien's reflections, especially in his letters to colleagues, readers, and editors, the description of the Númenóreans as distinctly Egyptian is frequent. Above all, in the sense that their attachment to the afterlife and the good deeds that they had to perform to earn their way into it had become more than unhealthy:
This feature, clearly noticeable in Númenor‑Atlantis, as it is about to be engulfed by the waters, is the most pernicious legacy received from the otherwise praiseworthy Gondorians in their origins beyond the sea. Tolkien provides a very graphic description of the Númenóreans in his “Akallabêth” (The Silmarillion, 266), with obvious Egyptian associations:
As can be seen, Tolkien explicitly mentions the yearning for longevity, the custom of embalming, and the construction of large tombs, reflecting the great evils inherited from Númenor, a clear reference to the accusations that classical authors constantly levelled at the Egyptian culture.
Thus, the corruption of Númenor is motivated by its inhabitants’ relationship with death, even leading them to be tempted by Sauron himself, whose influence was brought to the island by its arrogant last king Ar‑Pharazôn. There are two clearly Egyptian elements in this character. To begin with, his name itself is a very obvious allusion to the title of pharaoh. In addition, the fact that this king is called “the Golden” suggests an Egyptian inspiration, since this colour was associated with divinity in the Nile Valley civilization, as it was considered the flesh of the Gods. The king's blatant desire to attain immortality and equate himself with the gods best exemplifies the link with Egypt. This is why this evil character, and his behaviour leading his people to ruin while trying to attain immortally by armed force, is evocative. And so, Tolkien writes:
If we take a look at some of Tolkien's reflections, especially in his letters to colleagues, readers, and editors, the description of the Númenóreans as distinctly Egyptian is frequent. Above all, in the sense that their attachment to the afterlife and the good deeds that they had to perform to earn their way into it had become more than unhealthy:
The Númenóreans of Gondor were proud, peculiar, and archaic, and I think are best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms. In many ways they resembled “Egyptians” – the love of, and power to construct, the gigantic and massive. And in their great interest in ancestry and in tombs.
This feature, clearly noticeable in Númenor‑Atlantis, as it is about to be engulfed by the waters, is the most pernicious legacy received from the otherwise praiseworthy Gondorians in their origins beyond the sea. Tolkien provides a very graphic description of the Númenóreans in his “Akallabêth” (The Silmarillion, 266), with obvious Egyptian associations:
[…] they began to build great houses for their dead, while their wise men laboured unceasingly to discover if they might the secret of recalling life, or at least the prolonging of Men’s days. Yet they achieved only the art of preserving incorrupt the dead flesh of Men, and the filled all the land with silent tombs…
As can be seen, Tolkien explicitly mentions the yearning for longevity, the custom of embalming, and the construction of large tombs, reflecting the great evils inherited from Númenor, a clear reference to the accusations that classical authors constantly levelled at the Egyptian culture.
Thus, the corruption of Númenor is motivated by its inhabitants’ relationship with death, even leading them to be tempted by Sauron himself, whose influence was brought to the island by its arrogant last king Ar‑Pharazôn. There are two clearly Egyptian elements in this character. To begin with, his name itself is a very obvious allusion to the title of pharaoh. In addition, the fact that this king is called “the Golden” suggests an Egyptian inspiration, since this colour was associated with divinity in the Nile Valley civilization, as it was considered the flesh of the Gods. The king's blatant desire to attain immortality and equate himself with the gods best exemplifies the link with Egypt. This is why this evil character, and his behaviour leading his people to ruin while trying to attain immortally by armed force, is evocative. And so, Tolkien writes:
He [Sauron] finally induces Ar‑Pharazôn, frightened by the approach of old age, to make the greatest of all armadas, and go up with war against the Blessed Realm itself, and wrest it and its “immortality” into his own hands.
Author: Alfonso Álvarez-Ossorio Rivas
Other information
Álvarez-Ossorio Rivas, A. 2019. Sword, sorcery… and something else. The Ancient World and the Classics in Fantasy Novels, in A. Álvarez-Ossorio Rivas, C. Alarcon Hernandez, F. Lozano Gómez (eds.) The Present of Antiquity. Reception, Recovery, Reinvention of the Ancient World in Current Popular Culture: 156-161. Beçanson: Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté.
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Carpenter H. 1981. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: 295-299. London: Geroge Allen & Unwin.
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Scull C., and Hammond W. G. 2006. The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide. Reader’s Guide: 370-371. London: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
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Walsh J. 2007. Egypt. relationship to Númenóreans, in M.D.C. Drout (ed.) J .R .R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. Scholarship and Critical Assessment: 146. New York: Routledge.
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