by David Day
To the alchemist, the ring shaped like, or engraved with, the “eternal” serpent and made of “immortal” gold was the symbol for universal knowledge. It was – one might say – the “One Ring” by which all others are ruled.
THE SHAMAN, THE SORCERER AND THE SMITH
The power of the alchemist traditionally evolved through a combination of natural science and supernatural wisdom, which are embodied in the crafts of the shaman and the smith. These are derived from the symbols and mysteries of metallurgy, and are ultimately emblematic of the physical and spiritual mastery of fire.
Traditionally, the alchemist – like the magician and the smith – is given the title “master of fire”. The smith’s mastery of fire is obvious enough in his forging of metals. The magician – from the most obscure tribal shaman to Tolkienian Wizards like Gandalf – handles fire and flame as a demonstration of mastery of spiritual power. Indeed, in many cultures the magicians, fakirs and shaman are traditionally renowned for walking on hot coals and spitting fire. The alchemist employs both physical and spiritual fire to transform the natural world.
The Shaman
In Tolkien’s world of The Lord of the Rings, we have the ultimate evil alchemist in the form of Sauron, the Ring Lord. Sauron is both a magician (or sorcerer) and a smith who forges the supernatural One Ring of Power. He has the perfect evil alchemist’s pedigree. He was originally a good fire spirit apprenticed to the Vala Aulë the Smith. He betrayed his master and became the disciple of Melkor, the Dark Sorcerer. Through a combination of his skills as a sorcerer and a smith, he creates the ultimate weapon in his One Ring of Power. We are told that the mortal Easterlings and Southrons saw Sauron as both king and god and feared him, for he surrounded his abode with fire. Sauron built the Dark Tower of Mordor near the fiery volcano of Mount Doom.
THE “ALCHEMICAL” RACES OF MIDDLE-EARTH
There are several other instances of the theme of alchemy in The Lord of the Rings.
Many races fall quickly and easily under the spell of the One Ring, but those enemies of Sauron who cannot be immediately enslaved are resilient chiefly because they too possess elements of alchemical power. These are the Noldor Elves, the Dwarves and the Númenóreans.
The greatest of these are the Noldor Elves, who are already gifted with “Elven magic” before they become the students and disciples of Aulë the Smith. (In Tolkien’s original drafts the Noldor were actually called the Gnomes, from the Greek genomos, meaning “earth-dweller”; while Noldor is Elvish for “knowledge”, just as Gnostic – the alchemical sect – is from the Greek gnosis, meaning “knowledge”.) Greatest of the Noldor Elves is Fëanor (meaning “spirit of fire”), who in The Silmarillion combines Elvish spells and smith’s skills to forge the famous Silmarils. These are the “jewels of light” stolen by Sauron’s master, Melkor, the Lord of Darkness, and over which the wars of the First Age are fought. Fëanor’s grandson is the Noldor prince Celebrimbor, the Lord of the Elven-smiths of Eregion, who forges the Rings of Power, over which the wars of the Second and Third Ages are fought.
The Fathers of Dwarves fashioned by Aulë the Smith
The Dwarves are also tough opponents who possess elements of alchemical power, for they are a race who were shaped by Aulë the Smith. They are resilient to fire both physical and sorcerous. They are a stubborn race who mark their weapons and armour with Dwarf runes and spells. The greatest of the Dwarves was Telchar the Smith, whose weapons are blessed with such powers that one (the knife called Angrist) is used to cut a Silmaril from Melkor’s (Morgoth’s) iron crown; and another (the sword Narsil) is used to cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand.
fathers of dwarves == made by alule
The Númenóreans and their Dúnedain descendants on Middle-earth learn their alchemical skills from the Noldar Elves and the Dwarves, and in some creations even outdo their masters. So, as the Dúnedain of the North and the Men of Gondor are the surviving descendants of these great people, and the chief inheritors of ancient wisdom which gives them the power to resist evil temptation, these people are seen by Sauron as the chief obstacles to his dominion of Middle-earth. However, there are also the Istari, or Wizards, who have been sent by the Valar to Middle-earth as adversaries of Sauron the Ring Lord. Yet, of the five Wizards who came, only Gandalf is able to stand against Sauron. For it is Gandalf wearing Narya – the Elf “ring of fire” – who best understands the alchemical nature of the conflict with Sauron. It is Gandalf who discovers and translates the “secret language” of the One Ring which is “written in fire”.
GOOD AND BAD ALCHEMY
Gandalf’s Elf Ring and Sauron’s One Ring are both symbolic of the control of alchemical fire, but alchemical fire of different types. The evil alchemy that made the One Ring commands the dark satanic fire out of the bowels of the earth. This power transforms the material world – or at least gives that illusion – and the accompanying illusion of world power. The good alchemy of Gandalf’s Elf ring commands the celestial fire of the spirit. This “good” alchemical fire has no power over the material world. However, the fire of the spirit does have the power to impassion and uplift the soul because ultimately its source is the sacred “Flame Imperishable” of Eru the One – the Supreme Being who gave all things life.
The One Ring forged in the fires of Mount Doom by Sauron the Dark Lord
This head-on conflict, of course, leads to mutual destruction. Gandalf foresees this, but makes the sacrifice because no other way is possible. However, Gandalf also understands that, ultimately, the only way to defeat Sauron and his evil One Ring is not to attempt to overthrow him or to seize its power, but to undo the alchemical process by which the Ring of Power has been made. Once Gandalf understands the “language of the ring”, he knows that only by reversing the alchemical process can Sauron be defeated. Just as common folklore tells us one can undo a spell by reciting it backward, so Gandalf understood that the only way the One Ring could be destroyed was to reverse the process by which it was made. This was the reason for The Lord of the Rings’ “backward” ring quest. The One Ring had to be taken back to the crucible where it was made. Only there in the fiery furnace of the “Cracks of Doom” where it was forged could the One Ring be unmade – and Sauron’s power destroyed.
In its creation, Sauron’s One Ring was the ultimate heresy against the alchemical tradition. It was the evil opposite of the Ouroboros, or serpent ring of the alchemist. When Sauron came to the Elven-smiths of Middle-earth and persuaded them to forge the other Rings of Power, he came in disguise as Annatar, “giver of gifts”. He appeared as a benevolent alchemist very like the Greek hero Prometheus. But he was, in fact, the exact opposite. Prometheus’s ring marked the saviour who enslaved himself and gave mortals freedom, knowledge and life. Sauron’s ring marked the tyrant who enslaved the world and gave mortals bondage, ignorance and death.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF GNOSTICISM
When considering the alchemist tradition of the serpent ring, the Ouroboros, it is essential to recognize that it was also the symbol of the early Christian religion and philosophy known as Gnosticism. In the Fourth Book of the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia, Jesus tells the Virgin Mary: “The Outer darkness is a great serpent, the tail of which is in its mouth, and it is outside the whole world, and surroundeth the whole world.”
Three Elven Rings: Vilya the Blue Ring of Air, Narya the Red Ring of Fire and Nenya the White Ring of Water
Gnosticism also taught that the serpent and the Christ were interchangeable figures, and that both were saviours or “redeemers”.
By the 1st century CE, Gnostic religion and Western alchemical doctrine were largely indistinguishable. This eventually proved to be unfortunate for the older tradition of alchemy. Gnosticism became such a successful competitor for converts that St John and St Paul constantly railed against (and shamelessly libelled) its missionaries and saints. Later Christians so ruthlessly suppressed Gnostic teachings that the possession of an Ouroboros ring was sufficient grounds for the charg
e of heresy and sorcery. The result was that even after the virtual extermination of Gnosticism by the 6th century, Christian fanatics tended to view the alchemist’s ring as a satanic relic.
Naturally enough, in the hostile world of Christian suppression, the already obscure and symbolic language of the alchemist and Gnostic became even more veiled and secretive.
APOLLONIUS OF TYANA – TALKING TO RINGS
Going back to the “language of the ring”, it is interesting to look at this idea historically in relation to the many beliefs in the power of rings that have permeated our culture. An important example was one of the major historical figures in alchemy and Gnosticism, Apollonius of Tyana. Apollonius was a learned man who in the 1st century CE had been initiated into the famous Pythagorean cult mysteries of Greece, along with some of the wisest men of his age. After many years of study, he then observed five years of silence and wandered into the lands of the Indian Brahmans, where he gained even greater knowledge and wisdom. There he is said to have received seven rings as a gift from the Brahman master and Indian prince Iarchus. Each ring was marked with a different stone, and Apollonius wore them one by one in order of the days of the week, “for it is said that he revered them as divine, so that he changed them each day and made them partakers of his greatest secrets.”
Historical evidence suggests Apollonius was a blamelessly compassionate scholar who brought healing and knowledge to many during his lifetime. Yet he became the victim of 15 centuries of Christian attack. So vilified was he in Christian propaganda that his ring consultations began to sound rather like Tolkien’s evil character Gollum, who insanely talked to his “precious” evil ring. Tolkien tells us that the One Ring seemed to possess Gollum more than Gollum possessed the Ring, and that “he talked to it, even when it was not with him”.
What is behind all this business of “talking to rings”? Are these testimonies about people communing with spirits in rings total fabrications made up to condemn Christian heretics? Or was there some real basis for these strange accusations?
Looking more closely at the case of Apollonius, it is very likely that Apollonius of Tyana did “consult” his rings, as was rumoured. Furthermore, in a very real sense, those seven rings did in fact contain much of his secret knowledge. And as he was a renowned teacher, we are told – probably correctly – that when others came under his influence, they also acquired similar “magic rings” which they too would consult in the manner of their master.
THE ART OF MEMORY
As the historical scholar Frances Yates recorded in her book The Art of Memory, the primary and often sole means of teaching in ancient and medieval times was oral, and knowledge was retained by human memory alone. For even with the advent of literate scholars and handwritten books and records, it was not until the invention of the printing press that knowledge had any broad circulation outside of oral teaching traditions. For the majority of Europe’s population up to the 19th century, it remained the primary means of learning.
Consequently, the first priority of all scholars or potential scholars was the acquisition of a system of memory by which knowledge acquired could be stored and retrieved when needed. Every teaching institution or sect had a system of some kind. These systems varied widely in shape and complexity. Most often, Frances Yates suggests, they took on an architectural form, such as massive temples with extensive grounds and gardens. Each part of the building represented a different category within which information about a different art or science would be stored. Within these larger systems were often smaller ones involving staircases, ladders, ropes and even rings.
It is quite obvious that Apollonius taught an alchemist memory system that was a kind of “ring oracle” or an intellectual’s form of dactylomancy. It was a memory system where each ring was a catalogue file to a library of Gnostic and alchemical knowledge.
So, strangely enough, these recurring accusations of sorcery by consulting rings begin to make some sense.
The problem was that the early Christian opponents of Gnosticism were primarily fundamentalist and anti-intellectual in nature. Christian archbishops proudly burned ancient Greco-Roman libraries, closed universities and drove scholars into exile. Many scholars had to flee to Baghdad and other parts of the Muslim world. Indeed, if it had not been for the tolerance and intellectual enlightenment of the leaders of Islam at this time, much of the art, science and literature of the ancient Greco-Roman civilization would have been lost forever. The madness and paranoia of fundamentalist Christianity emerged again and again throughout the Middle Ages and inevitably resulted in the persecution of anyone with intellectual pretensions who was not directly under the protection of the Church.
Consequently, it is easy to see how charges about alchemists and other scholars “speaking with devils” imprisoned in rings could gain currency. However, from such a simplistic point of view, any kind of memory system or recitation used to retain and pass on knowledge was suspect.
PART
FOURTEEN
WAGNER'S RING
Richard Wagner’s first performance of The Ring of the Nibelung in 1876 has often been cited as the first great expression of the identity of the recently unified German nation. Certainly, Wagner saw art as a political as well as an aesthetic act, and with his epic music drama he was attempting to claim a mythological heritage and a national art. For Wagner, art and myth were linked. He believed that true art must arise from the primordial depths of a people’s collective being, the Volk The Ring of the Nibelung was a purposeful act of making a statement of German identity and claiming the root of that identity was to be found in the Germanic epic tradition of the ring quest myths.
Criticized as Wagner may be for his manipulations and distortions of Norse myth and medieval German literature, it was his genius which recognized the significance of the ring myth, and the importance of reclaiming it for his own time. Furthermore, one must recognize that Wagner’s opera brilliantly conveys the huge spirit of this ancient tale on a truly epic scale. Just as the Völsunga Saga and The Nibelungenlied were interpretations of the quest appropriate to their times, so Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung was true to the spirit of his time.
THE RHINEGOLD
SCENE ONE
In the limpid green depths of a river, the three water nymphs – the Rhinemaidens – play and sing. These are the beautiful daughters of the River Rhine, who are spied on by Alberich the Nibelung. The ugly dwarf has made his way down into their watery realm, where he lustfully and fruitlessly pursues the teasing nymphs. Enraged by their mocking, the dwarf is suddenly overcome by a brilliant golden glow. Rays of sunlight catch on a gold pinnacle of rock, which fills the murky river with shimmering gold light. The nymphs sing praises to this treasure, the Rhinegold, which is a stone that, if forged into a gold ring, would allow its master to become lord of the world.
However, the Rhinegold can be taken and mastered only by one who is willing to curse love and renounce all love’s pleasures. Since Alberich is too ugly to win love anyway, he will take power: he swears an oath renouncing love. The Nibelung then snatches the Rhinegold from the pinnacle and flees into the dark.
SCENE TWO
Dawn comes to a mountain height above the Rhine Valley where Wotan, the king of the gods, and his queen, Fricka, sleep. In the distance stands a magnificent castle with gleaming battlements, up on an impossibly high peak. Fricka wakes Wotan, and the god is filled with delight at the sight of the newly completed kingdom of the gods. This was a realm built by the brute force of giants, but conceived in Wotan’s dreams.
Unfortunately, the price promised to the giants Fasolt and Fafner for building this kingdom is the hand of Fricka’s sister, Freia, the goddess of youth. However, with Freia the gods will also lose the golden apples of immortality of which she is guardian, and, without this fruit, they will soon grow old and die.
When the giants come for their payment, Donner, the god of thunder, Froh, the god of spring, and Loge, the trickster god of fire, come to
side with Wotan to defend Freia. But the bargain cannot be broken as Wotan has sworn to make payment upon his sacred spear of law. It is up to Loge to come up with an alternative payment. The giants agree: they will have the ring of the Nibelung which Alberich has forged from the stolen Rhinegold, along with all the golden treasures he has amassed through its power. Loge also reveals that, if the ring is not soon taken from Alberich, he will rule over all of them anyway. The giants take Freia as a hostage, as Wotan and Loge descend into the bowels of the earth in search of the realm of Alberich the Nibelung.
SCENE THREE
The subterranean caverns of Nibelheim, the home of the Nibelung dwarfs, are a vast stone labyrinth of tunnels and chambers. This is a dark and sinister world lit only by the red glow of furnace and forge. Here, Alberich the ring lord torments his enslaved brother Mime, who has just completed the forging of the magic helmet called Tarnhelm on Alberich’s orders. Tarnhelm has the power to make the wearer invisible or change him into whatever form he wishes. It can also transport him to any place he wishes. Alberich places the Tarnhelm on his head and immediately vanishes. The invisible Alberich then cruelly kicks and beats Mime until he cries out for mercy. Delighted with his new toy, Alberich goes off to terrorize his other enslaved dwarfs.
Mime continues to bewail his enslavement, as the gods Wotan and Loge enter the cavern. Alberich soon returns, driving his treasure-bearing dwarfs before him. They pile up a huge hoard of purest gold. Alberich contemptuously greets his guests and arrogantly reveals how he will build up such vast wealth and power that he will eventually overthrow the gods and rule the world.
