by David Day
However, in Tolkien’s tales of creation of his world of Arda in The Silmarillion and subsequent books, we see biblical language and themes that add an undeniable grandeur to the event. In these tales, we also see that, behind the multiplicity of appearance, Tolkien conceived a primal cause in the form of a single entity, which is not far removed from the Judeo–Christian monotheistic God.
ILÚVATAR AND MELKOR
A clear example of Judeo–Christian influences can be seen in Tolkien’s Eru the One – whom the Elves call Ilúvatar. Through him all things entered the great void of space. In the beginning these were his “thoughts” in the form of the Ainur, or “Holy Ones”. These vastly powerful Ainur spirits were given life and independent powers, and in the Timeless Halls Ilúvatar commanded them to sing in a celestial choir. This is known as the Music of the World, out of which all things came.
Religious overtones such as these continue when Melkor, the most powerful of the mighty Ainur spirits, being the lord of darkness, saw things differently. This resulted in his disruption of the celestial music, and ultimately a war of powers in the heavens, which is later transferred to a war of powers on earth.
Illuin, one of the two Lamps, that brought light to the Isle of Almarin, the first kingdom of the Valar within the spheres of the world
Melkor and Ungoliant in Valinor
Once the Ainur spirits enter Arda, they are transformed and become the Valar who strongly resemble the early pagan gods of Olympus and Asgard. However, in their early celestial manifestations, the Ainur are very like powerful Judeo–Christian angels and archangels. Certainly the grand conflict that arises between the Eru and Melkor owes much to the war between God and his rebel angel, Satan, as portrayed in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Melkor’s revolt both in its celestial form and within the spheres of the world greatly resembles the cataclysmic War in Heaven, when Satan led his rebel angels against the angels of God.
In character and deeds, Melkor is very like John Milton’s Satan, who is destroyed by pride and ultimately damned. His is very much a case of one who, like Milton’s Satan, would rather “reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven”.
Melkor the Lord of Darkness, and his eventual successor, Sauron the Dark Lord, make war on Ilúvatar by proxy within the spheres of the world. Their grudge with Ilúvatar drives them on to destroy and corrupt all that He has created. This is the basis for all conflict on Tolkien’s Middle-earth and results in a morality of absolute good and evil.
HEBREWS AND ELVES – CHOSEN PEOPLES
Many other Hebrew heroes and leaders were associated with rings of supreme authority or power. In the Middle Ages, Moses, who led the exodus of the Hebrews out of Egypt back to the promised land of Israel, was commonly associated with the use of magic rings.
Aside from this, Tolkien draws further biblical parallels in The Silmarillion between his Elves and the Hebrew tribes of Moses. Like Moses’ people, the Elves are a “chosen people” who endure terrible hardships of mass migration to a “Promised Land”. The “Great Journey” of the Elves across the wildernesses of Middle-earth is to Eldamar, the promised homeland of the Elves in the Undying Lands – just as the Hebrews come to Israel, the promised homeland of the Jews. Both are comparable in that they are divinely summoned: the Elves by the Valar Manwë; the Hebrews by the god Jehovah.
Much later, Tolkien describes a second migration of the Noldor Elves back to Middle-earth, which is also reminiscent of the Hebrew exodus. However, it differs in that the Hebrews’ leader, Moses, acted at the command of his god, Jehovah, while the Elves’ charismatic leader, Fëanor, acted against the command of the Valar Manwë.
BIBLICAL RINGS OF POWER
Beyond the philosophical comparisons, however, the strongest links between biblical legends and Tolkien’s tales relate to beliefs in the power of rings. By biblical times, all kingdoms and nations had long accepted the tradition of the ring as a symbol of a monarch’s authority. The king’s ring not only marked him as the monarch, but the ring could be said to possess power in itself. Often, in the absence of the king, the ring or the ring’s seal could be used to carry the full authority of the ruler. In such a way, the king might make a proclamation over all his lands, or delegate authority to his servants and subjects.
These rings of authority were made in many forms. Most often they were signet rings inscribed or marked with the symbol and name of their master on fixed seals of stone, crystal, amber or even hard gems. These could then make the mark of the king’s seal with ink, or on wax or clay. Assyrian monarchs wore rings with engraved cylinder seals set in roller bezels. Some carried no marking at all, but in some such cases the properties of the sacred stone or precious metal carried their authority.
The pharaohs of Egypt wore the great scarab ring of ebony stone inlaid with gold. The scarab was set on a swivel bezel so it might be turned to reveal the cartouche: the great seal of the pharaoh. Control of the ring brought control of Egypt, for the seal was the word of the pharaoh, and the word of the pharaoh was sacred law.
Earendil the Mariner with the Silmaril on his brow in his celestial form as the Morning Star
KING SOLOMON’S RING
The most famous ring legend in the Judeo–Christian tradition is the one linked with King Solomon. Tradition tells us that Solomon was not only considered a powerful king and wise man, but he was also believed to be the most powerful magician of his age. These magician’s powers were attributed largely to his possession of a magic ring. The legend of “King Solomon’s Ring” is certainly the one tale of the Judeo–Christian tradition that had the most profound influence on the imagination of Tolkien in his composition of The Lord of the Rings.
There can be little doubt that Tolkien was familiar with this ancient biblical tale of a sorcerer-king who (like Sauron) used a magic ring to command all the demons of the earth, and bent them to the purpose of ruling his empire. Just as Solomon uses his magic ring to build his great temple on Moriah, so Sauron uses the One Ring to build his great tower in Mordor. Of all rings of myth and legend, Solomon’s Ring most resembles the One Ring of The Lord of the Rings.
Solomon’s Ring is also like Sauron’s One Ring in that its power can corrupt its master, even one as wise as Solomon. In the figure of the demon Asmodeus we see the subtle agent of evil who corrupts the wise but fatally proud King Solomon of Israel, and through possession of the ring causes his downfall. In the figure of the demon Sauron we see the subtle agent of evil who corrupts the wise but fatally proud King Ar-Pharazôn of Númenor, and through possession of the ring causes his downfall.
Curiously, the tale of Solomon’s Ring also has elements that invite comparison with that other miraculous quest object of Tolkien’s mythology. Just as the Elven King Thingol succeeds in acquiring the brilliant, light-radiating jewel called the Silmaril, so the Hebrew King Solomon succeeds in acquiring the brilliant, light-radiating jewel called the Schamir. Both are heirlooms of their races: the Silmaril was once the sacred jewel of the ancestral leader of the Elves, Fëanor; while the Schamir was the sacred jewel of the ancestral leader of the Jews, Moses. In Tolkien, the Silmaril is finally set into a gold headband and shines from the brow of the celestial traveller, Eärendil the Mariner, in the form of the Morning Star. Once the Schamir is returned to the Hebrews, the radiant jewel appears to fit perfectly on the golden bezel of Solomon’s Ring. The jewel doubles the power of Solomon’s Ring and illuminates the “One Name” of God.
King Solomon enthralled and corrupted by the demon Asmodeus
THE GIFT OF THE RING
The story of how the ring came to Solomon is bound up with the tale of the building of the Temple of Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty. Solomon had set the slaves of Israel and the craftsmen of Tyre to work on the wondrous Temple of Mount Moriah, but Yahweh had forbidden the use of iron in its construction. Although a great multitude strove to build the Temple, its growth was slow. The slaves and craftsmen laboured longer and longer each month, but it was as if nothing was accomplished and eac
h day the king’s builders grew paler and thinner. At last one named Jair, who was a master builder and Solomon’s favourite slave, came to him. Once young and vigorous, Jair was now shrunken and utterly emaciated. Each night, he claimed, a vampire came and sucked his blood and the blood of his workmen. And the same demon spirited away food and gold, and materials of marble, cedar and stone.
Deeply troubled, Solomon climbed to a high jutting rock on Mount Moriah and prayed unto Yahweh. Suddenly the emerald-winged archangel Michael, in a vision of brilliant light, appeared before him bearing a gold ring and said: “Take, O Solomon, King, son of David, the gift which the Lord God, the highest Zebaot, hath sent unto thee. With it thou shalt lock up all the demons of the earth, male and female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem. But thou must wear this seal of God.” Solomon was amazed but took into his hands the ring which was small and of pure gold. On the bezel of the ring was the seal of God: the five-pointed star of the pentalpha and the four letters of the name of Yahweh (YHWH). This was the ring from beneath the throne of God, which some claimed had been Adam’s before the Fall of Man, and others claimed was Lucifer’s before the expulsion of the rebel angels.
Standing alone on Mount Moriah, Solomon slid the ring onto his finger and suddenly he was filled with the sound of a great music. It was the music of the many spheres of the universe in the symphony of their turning. He was possessed now of an understanding of life and beauty beyond the grasp of other mortals. By the power of the ring he understood the language of the birds, animals and fish. He could talk with the trees and herbs and knew the deep secrets of earth and stone. Within the world nothing was hidden from him.
BEELZEBUL, LORD OF DEMONS
Armed with the ring, Solomon now dared to employ its greatest powers and summoned the vampire Ornias, who had weakened Jair and frustrated the building of the Temple. He told Ornias that he must compensate him by cutting stones by day for the Temple, and Ornias bowed low and obeyed the command of the ring lord. But first Solomon asked Ornias, “Who is the lord of all the demons?” Ornias answered, “Beelzebul”. Solomon gave Ornias the ring and told him to summon Beelzebul to his presence. Ornias took it, went to Beelzebul and said, “Hither, Solomon calls thee.” And Beelzebul laughed and said, “Who is this Solomon?” Then Ornias threw the ring at Beelzebul’s breast, saying: “Solomon the King summons you under the seal of Yahweh.” Beelzebul cried aloud with a mighty voice, emitted a great flame and came into Solomon’s presence.
So did Beelzebul, proud lord of the demons, bow low before the feet of the master of the ring and await his pleasure. At Solomon’s command Beelzebul summoned all the demons of the earth before the king. Never had so many great spirits been gathered at the command of a mortal. There were demons of two kinds: the common demons of the mortal earth, who are the spirits of disease; and the sons of Heaven, fallen.
In the first group were the thirty-six Decani, the genii of sickness for every part of the body, and the seven who in the shape of stars cause moral sickness. All of these were deformed and ghastly. Upon them Solomon set his seal and they fell afflicted with their own maladies. Then he imprisoned them in copper cylinders. Some say that no man fell sick until the Temple was finished; others that there was no more sickness until the Chaldeans sacked the Temple, opened the bottles in ignorance, and inflicted sickness once more upon the world.
In the second group were the fallen angels in many forms. There was Rabdos, who travelled the earth in a dog’s likeness and always had a dog’s head. There was the Pterodrakon and the three-headed dragon. There was Envy, who had the limbs of man and no head, and in consequence ate people’s minds in his search for a head. There were the three Liliths, beautiful enchantresses: Onoskelis the fair-skinned and naked; Enepsigos the winged; and Obyzuth the serpent-tailed; together with the hermaphroditic Akephalos, who had eyes for nipples. There was Epiphas the great wind, Kunopeigos the lord of the Red Sea, Lix Terrax the Sandstorm; and many others of changed or combined shapes: asses’ ears above the manes of lions; elephants’ trunks under the wings of bats; vultures’ talons in the scales of fish; toothed feet; headed arms; and some composed all of entrails and organs. And though Beelzebul was their lord, he was not Solomon’s chief adversary among all the demons. This was the great Asmodeus: tall, mocking, sardonic and handsome, albeit bat-winged and cloven-footed.
ASMODEUS AND THE SCHAMIR
Before this terrible host Solomon raised his hand adorned with the gold ring, and he commanded them all to work upon the Temple of Yahweh. Those who rebelled were shut under the great seal into jars, like the demons of disease. So at this time Solomon used the power of the ring only to achieve the work of Yahweh, and all went well with him and his kingdom. But still, because of God’s prohibition of iron, the building went slowly, for the cutting of the great stones of the Temple was long and difficult work.
Solomon held counsel with his wise men, and the scholars among them told him of that brilliant and magical gem called the Schamir, which Moses had used to engrave the names of the tribes of Israel upon the precious stones of the high priest’s ephod (apron). They claimed that the power of this gem was so great it could cut any substance. But neither the scholars nor the demons could tell Solomon where the Schamir could be found. Only Asmodeus possessed this knowledge, and during Solomon’s absence he had escaped. Yet Solomon pursued and trapped him, and with the ring forced him to reveal where the Schamir might be found. Asmodeus said that the Schamir had been entrusted to the Angel of the Sea after Moses’ death, and that it was now under the protection of the Sea Eagle. Solomon searched out the nest of this gigantic and deathless bird and laid a dome of crystal over it. When the Sea Eagle came and could not reach her young, she flew off and returned with the Schamir. She placed it on the crystal, which instantly shattered. The slaves of Solomon appeared and cast spears and bolts of iron at the Sea Eagle. In fright she fled and the slaves retrieved the magical gem that could cut rock like butter.
The Schamir fitted exactly upon the bezel of Solomon’s gold ring. Through it the pentalpha and the One Name could be seen, shimmering and pulsating with such colour and radiance that some have claimed that the ring was also set with diamond, sapphire, emerald and ruby. But in truth there was only one gem, and by its power the rock of the temple was cut.
Yahweh spoke in the night to Solomon, warning him that the power of his ring was now doubled. He told Solomon that he must no longer ignore Michael’s first instruction to wear the ring at all times. It would preserve him from harm and keep him on the throne.
SOLOMON AND NAAMAH
After the finding of the Schamir, Asmodeus was kept under bonds by Solomon in his palace. And from him the king learned many secrets of the future, for the fallen sons of Heaven – who are the stars of the zodiac – eavesdrop at the gates of Heaven, and hear the plans of Yahweh and his angels. But Solomon underestimated Asmodeus, who had never told him the full truth about God’s workings, but instead lulled him into a false security. Moreover, with the Temple finished, Solomon paid more attention to pleasure than to piety; and Yahweh would not be mocked.
One day Asmodeus enraptured the king with a tale of the power and visions of the demons. Solomon asked how they could be so happy and gifted if a mere mortal like himself could keep their greatest prince under bonds. Asmodeus answered that Solomon had only to loosen his fetter and lend him the ring, and he would prove his power and ecstatic vision. Solomon agreed. Asmodeus took the ring and placed it on his hand. By its doubled power the demon rose like a mountain before Solomon until one wing touched Heaven and the other touched the earth. He snatched up Solomon and hurled him out of Israel into the vast wilderness of the south.
Some legends say that Asmodeus then passed himself off as the king, but the authoritative version reveals that he conjured up a counterfeit Solomon who appeared in every way like the king (though some of his wives and concubines were puzzled and troubled by their lord’s strange new appetites). Asmodeus himself flew out of Is
rael and returned to the freedom of his mountain fastness, hurling the ring into the depths of the Red Sea.
For three years Solomon wandered, an unrecognized beggar, atoning for his sins, while a counterfeit king sat on the throne. He came to the city of Ammon, took service as a kitchen skivvy in the palace of its king, and proved so talented that he was made chief cook. The king’s daughter, Naamah, fell in love with Solomon, and the Ammonite king, outraged, had the lovers taken to the desert to starve.
But Solomon still knew the language of the wild things, and by his wisdom he and Naamah found enough food and water to survive until they came to the sea. There, Solomon helped a fisherman draw in his nets to the shore and he was rewarded with a fish. When Naamah cleaned the fish she found a ring in its belly – the ring that Asmodeus had cast into the sea. Solomon put on the ring, gave thanks to Yahweh, and transported himself and Naamah to Jerusalem in a trice. The counterfeit Solomon fell before the true king and vanished under the ring’s seal.
THE CORRUPTION OF SOLOMON
The true Solomon was restored to his kingdom and his great wealth. Yet as time passed, Solomon became once again corrupted. He grew lustful and hedonistic, and thus fell from grace with Yahweh. He began sacrificing to the gods of his various wives as well as to the Hebrew God. Above all, he was besotted with his Jebusite queen and used his ring to build her goddess, Ashtaroth, a great temple and idol on the slopes of Mount Moriah.
