Tumblr crosspost (11 October 2020)

[anghraine]

I’ve been babbling about it on Twitter, but I think there’s an unnamed, unknown character who really deserves more credit than he gets: the Dúnadan who crafted the Barrow-dagger that Merry uses to stab the Witch-king.

Think about it for a second. The Witch-king is a sorcerer using a Ring of Power. He is nigh invulnerable!

Meanwhile, some completely unknown Dúnadan is like … you know what? Hell with him and hell with his Ring. I’m going to craft weapons that are specifically designed to break the spells holding him together. And then he just up and does it, and one of them actually works in disenchanting the King of the Nazgûl. Tolkien says that “no other blade” could have done it.

People are like Elves this and Ainur that, and they do lots of amazing things, but let’s not forget to pour one out for Unknown Dúnadan.

Tagged: #people are also like ... dúnedain don't have special powers they're just big and long-lived #random dúnadan: okay time to enchant this with lvl 9 dispel magic #(necromancy) #jkasdfjk; i just love the whole concept of enchanting an item with 'fuck that guy in particular' #but also how much dúnadan specialness is tied to /craftsmanship/ #also other things but it forms a big (sometimes literally big) part of it #regardless kudos to this dude #and maybe there were other ones like him and they were just That Good #either way that's work to make aulë proud

Comments

[dragoness_e]

That ties in with most Elven "magic" being their incredible craftsmanship. Even Galadriel finds the hobbits' use of the term 'magic' for elven craft a bit puzzling, even though from the hobbit point-of-view, the elves make "magic" swords that glow when orcs are around, magic ropes that come when called, magic cloaks that hide you in any terrain, magic boats that can't sink (well, we can do that), "magic" food that keeps you on your feet for days and days, etc.

Dwarves, likewise, have elevated craft to near-magic.

[anghraine]

Hmm, I'm not sure I'd say that most of what we would term Elvish magic is simply highly skilled craftsmanship or that Dwarves are doing the same thing (though what they do is certainly related to Elvish craftsmanship). IMO it's more that Elvish magic in all its many forms is intrinsic to their beings as Elves, and pervades every aspect of their lives, very much including craftsmanship.

IIRC, Galadriel's main "????" is that hobbits use the same term for anything hobbits(/readers) would consider supernatural, even when those things are fundamentally different (Sauron's more mechanistic sorcery vs Elvish powers), and even when those things are not supernatural from the perspective of peoples from whom it is entirely natural (Elves, Númenóreans, etc). Consequently, the line hobbits draw between standard craftsmanship and "magic" craftsmanship such as the unknown Dúnadan's, while flattening the distinction between what Sauron does and what Elves (et al.) do, does not make sense in the context of their cultures or experience of the world.

I like this as a trope (or group of tropes), but I'll add that this framing of Elvish magic (or Númenórean or whatever) is an in-story one as I see it. For out-of-story discussion purposes, it actually is magic and there is a genuine distinction between "very high quality craftsmanship" and "literally magic weapon", all these people are doing magic in different ways, the Barrow-daggers are enchanted and the unknown Dúnadan's art/craftsmanship involved magic.