Antagonistic Characteristics: Sauron vs The White Walkers

Throughout the fantasy novels of The Lord of the Rings the and Game of Thrones, there are a plethora of reasons why each was so successful when they were first released to the public and have been gaining popularity ever since. This is due to their unique story lines that take the reader on an adventure beyond the limitations of reality. These fantasy novels have transported millions of people to the worlds of Middle-Earth and Westeros so that they may explore the endless opportunities that lay before them as opposed to being restricted to the limitations of the real world.

We will begin by analyzing what exactly makes the antagonist of the dark emperor Sauron so cinematic ally appealing within the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. For starters, in the beginning, we are introduced to the origin story of the dark lord emperor Sauron and how he came to power. According to the ancient myth, Melkor was a the first dark lord of Middle-Earth but with his defeat in the "First Age" his successor Sauron came to power and desired more than anything to rule Middle-Earth and all it's inhabitants. His plan was to create nineteen magical Rings of Power; three of the rings were to be worn by Elves, seven by Dwarves, nine by Men, and the remaining on was intended to rule the others which was worn by the dark master himself as he resided in Mount Doom. These rings were meant to corrupt the hearts of teh rulers of each kingdom thus allowing Sauron to gain control of Middle-Earth with no opposition. A character by the name of Frodo Baggins is then introduced following the conclusion of the origin story of Sauron. He is a Hobbit born and raised in a peaceful village called The Shire. Frodo is then given a ring by his cousin Bilbo which turns out to be the same ring that the dark lord Sauron wore during the War of the Last Alliance in the Second Age. As the story progresses, we learn that Frodo eventually defeats Sauron in the War of the Ring as it is destroyed in the volcano which it was originally forged. 

Next we will analyze how the antagonist; White Walkers within The Game of Thrones novel by George R. R. Martin. adapted a new method of public appeal and differed from it's fantasy counterpart Sauron. The White Walkers are an ancient race of humanoid ice creatures that live North of the Great Ice Wall of Westros. They are a considered to be thousands of years old and born of powerful dark magic which make them nearly impossible to stop. They pose a threat to every living thing in Westeros and desire nothing more than eradicating the humans that inhabit the seven kingdoms that make up Westeros. Sauron and the White Walkers are similar in that they both desire to rule their respective realms and destroy all those that oppose them. The two fantasy novels that we have been analyzing would be nothing without the antagonistic rule of each of these malevolent beings. Sauron is described as being more manipulative and strategic ruler while the White Walker Army is depicted as being bloodthirsty, violent creatures that have no purpose except when used to kill those that seek to destroy them. 

In conclusion the antagonistic rule of the White Walkers and The Dark Lord Sauron play a pivotal in the overall development of the story-line for these revolutionary fantasy tales. 

➹If Tolkien is a Racist, Hello Kitty is a Power Ranger➷

An ongoing debate in the Tolkien universe: Does the author qualify as a white supremacist? While pitiful Orcs like to claim so, his portrayal of humanity, his careful inclusion of flaws with regard to every race, and his reasoning in selecting the Eastern portions of Middle-Earth to function in an evil role actually all support the opposite.

First and foremost, Tolkien puts each mortal—regardless of personal attributes like skin color—on an equal playing field, without prizing one ethnicity over another. Hence the general character failure intrinsic to mankind in its entirety: according to The Lord of the Rings, it receives nine deceptively powerful rings from the main villain, Sauron, rings covertly loyal to their creator, who wields the One Ring, the controlling ring—and proves collectively “doomed to die” (Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings). Along the same lines, both virtuous and immoral Caucasians exist in his works; in the midst of his realm’s Second Age, the white Numenorean people, their kingdom corrupted from within by Sauron, split into two divisions: the noble Numenoreans—the founders of the Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor—and those committed to Sauron, the group that settles in the East, in Umbar and the lands of Harad, to become his servants (Kovach). Consequently, hazy superficial categorizations—“whites” representing “good” forces with “blacks” comprising their “bad” counterparts—fail to work here, something reflected in one protagonist’s inner monologue.

When Samwise Gamgee, a naïve and bumbling Hobbit, experiences his first taste of war, he does not like it much. Seeing a Harad warrior from Sauron’s armies “crash … nearly on top of [him,] … [the fighter’s] corslet of overlapping brazen plates … rent … and … his black plaits of hair braided with gold drenched with blood [as] his brown hand … still clutch[es] the hilt of a broken sword” (Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings), he feels deeply moved. The gruesome scene drives him to “wonder what the man’s name [is] and where he [comes] from; and if he [is] really evil of heart, or what lies or threats [have] led him on the long march from his home” (Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings). Hardly an uncaring or impersonal perspective, Sam’s insight reveals that, while putting pen to paper, Tolkien considered every human individual in his legendarium unique and worth cherishing, no matter how he or she looked, and a skeptic need search no further than his worst representatives for verification.

The Hobbit—the child-oriented precursor to The Lord of the Rings trilogy—provides examples of impartial racial disasters…poor members of the perfectly bleached Elves, stalwartly bland Dwarves, and glaringly untanned Lakemen alike. Moreover, these less-than-impressive persons respectively stand as leaders of their separate coteries. Thranduil, an Elvish king, and Thorin, a Dwarvish monarch, quarrel greedily to such an extent that Bilbo, another innocent Hobbit figure, must intervene to solve the dispute (Tolkien 229). As for the Master of the Lake, his overwhelming greed brings him to his death (Tolkien 260). Clearly, the sunless components of the Tolkien universe suffer from some severe shortcomings, especially in relation to wealth. However, select critics, not satisfied with this obvious imperfection, continue to assert that the East’s alignment with Sauron in the series attests to Tolkien’s underlying racism.

Symbolism—a simple term explains what they deem a convoluted mess. Since the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West, placing Sauron in the East figuratively removes him as far as possible from a happy ending—from concluding his days bathed in endorphin-inducing sunshine. Simultaneously, it ensures they stay swelteringly, miserably hot during the afternoons. Beyond buoying a cruel authority’s destroy-the-world-and-promote-hatred agenda, the daily parched and nightly iced desert climate parallels plot devices: in literature, hotter temperatures correspond to more heated, more stressful or tension-aggravating events, which, of course, never cease where Sauron lives, torturing free peoples to get up-to-date on Gandalf and his pals, feeding annoying minions to his giant spider, and relaxing on his cozy iron throne (Foster 171-181). Representatively and literally awful, an Eastern desert rounds out his nastiness. Biology says the region’s two-legged inhabitants will possess darker coloring and utilize assistive cooling technologies and designs. Logic says they will likely attempt to appease—perhaps worship—their proximate dastardly overlord. Small wonder the Fellowship confronts an Eastern power, small wonder his underlings adopt cleverly adaptive Middle Eastern and African customs and dress, and small wonder they opt to help him out—most of them, anyway.

Anyone stubbornly refusing to acknowledge Tolkien’s open-mindedness can evaluate the story of Bór the Faithful. A die-hard Elven friend, he stuck with his democratic companions in spite of the warnings of Morgoth, the first Dark Lord—and he and his kin perished for it ("Bór"). Not everyone in the East wants to kill and hurt, and the Eastern masses readers observe engaging in bloodthirsty warfare do not know or trust anything other than their sadistic dictator’s bloodlust. Bór presents an extraordinarily rare case for a reason.

After analyzing Tolkien’s level depiction of mortals from varying backgrounds, egotistical Caucasian powerhouses, and symbolic considerations concerning Sauron’s location in the East and his unswerving—and heavily African- and Middle Eastern-influenced—followers there, his so-called injustices lose their divisive quality. Unless Sauron established residence across Middle-Earth, only a specific section of the map would immediately need to submit to his influence, and, due to light and darkness patterns, the East made literary sense.

Works Cited

"Bór." LOTR.wikia.com. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017. <http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/B%C3%B3r>.

Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: Revised Edition. N.p.: n.p., 2014. Kindle.

Kovach, Ciaran. "The Lord of the Rings Is Racist: A Counter-argument." Wordpress. Wordpress.com, 28 Jan. 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2017. <https://interstate1965.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/the-lord-of-the-rings-is-racist-a-counter-argument/>.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. N.p.: HarperCollins, 1995. Kindle.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. N.p.: HarperCollins E-, 2005. Kindle.

Demon Babies

     So we've learned quite a bit about the King of Tars and it's lump baby, and several stories like it, but there are also other sources we can look at that might've taken inspiration from the story as well. One of these source is none other than Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones seems to get a lot of it's content from big titles that get their inspiration from history. King of Tars surprisingly also seems to make an appearance in the series.


    In what way you might ask? Well, during the first seasons we learn all about the great Khal Drogo and how Daenerys was sold to him in exchange for a crown and his people. Skipping ahead in time a bit, they fall in love and the great stallion that will mount the world is conceived. Although this doesn't exactly fit the bill word for word when compared to that of King of Tars, it definitely has it's similarities. We have the Islamic
Sultan of Damascus that wants the princess of Tars who is Christian and then we have the Khal Drogo who worships the Great Stallion being married to Daenerys who, assuming she follows what her family followed, the "old gods". We do not know for sure if religion plays any role in what happens next for Game of Thrones, but we do know that it did for the King of Tars side. Difference in religion on the princess's part caused a lump of a child to be born, creating a conflict between the two of them and creating a battle of religions. This is much different from Game of Thrones because it's a witch that causes Daenerys's scaled mutated baby to be born. The context being that the witch hated the Khal Drogo for what he's done so when asked for help in healing his illness, she took a life to give life, that being the life of their great stallion child who was supposed to mount the world. Again, religion might not have had anything to do with the Game of Thrones side, but there are definitely similarities as far as how it started and how it ended.

     The television series has proven time and time again that it's taken many thoughts from history and popular authors like the kingdom of Westeros being the 7 kingdoms in England, Hardians wall and the big ice wall, Tolkien's books, etc. It's very interesting to see that the series might've also taken some inspiration from King of Tars, even if it's not much.

Claymore: Empowering or Degrading Women

Claymore, a medieval anime set on a fictional island terrorized by human-eating demons called Yoma, is about a group of female knights that are hybridized with the demons, by a group called The Organization, to enhance their strengths and abilities so they can defend the cities they are assigned 

to. Besides the obvious issue of all these women being blonde haired, blue eyed "beauties" (claimed to be a side-effect of gaining "enhanced" abilities) and obvious issues with their "armor" you would think, at a glance, this story was promoting female empowerment with all female main characters. However, similar to the Albina Myth, women are viewed as beings who are driven by sexual desire which is why they are so well suited to combine with these demon-like Yoma beings. Like Albina and her sisters copulating with demons and giving birth to giants the Claymore Knights fusing with Yoma is described as a sexual climax and males proved to be insufficient at this act.  On top of this, because of womens' "volatile nature" they are known to becoming an Awakened Being which is a Claymore who has used her ability too much and has become too unstable and shifts form into a demon herself, their organization tries to control them but they leave and rampage the land. Now this doesn't mean that there aren't any male Claymore or Awakened Beings but they are far and few between (1 for every 5-10 women).

This representation, dissimilar to our current stories where women are in positions of (religious) power and persuade men to change, Claymore is a group of powerful women who are secretly being controlled by The Organization, which is found to be a group of old men. This story reflects more of the stories in our first unit like HKB, the Albina Myth, and even King of Tars where women's actions were dictated by ruling men and, in some instances, they had to defy them if there was any hope of freedom but this freedom was usually met with some form of negativity in the eyes of the society at the time (Albina sleeping with demons). With the King of Tars the princess's path is dictated by her father, the king, but she is given some religious power by being sent to the sultan.

Although a tale of a group of all female knights seems to be a step in the right direction the implementation of this tale resembles a step backwards towards some of the stories of old and leaves much room for improvement. 

The Historical Origin of Elvenkind in Tolkien's Fantasy

Elves form an integral part of contemporary high fantasy and have done so since the days of Tolkien, who first included them as a key race on the side of good in The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series. Most, if not all, contemporary depictions of the elves owe much to Tolkien's works. And these contemporary depictions are present in various media, from literature, tabletop games, and even videogames.

J. R. R. Tolkien, as much as he popularized elves in modern fantasy, did not actually "invent" them. The word "elf" itself is a word inherited from the Germanic past of English, from the Old English word ælf/ælfe, which itself is cognate with Old Norse alfr/alfar. And it is largely from the literature from these two languages that most later understandings of elves developed and are derived.

The elves find a place in Nordic-Germanic myths and legends as a race of beings who are immensely more graceful, beautiful, and dextrous than humans, characteristics that tend to survive to contemporary depictions. The elves in Norse mythology are also ruled over by the god Freyr, one of the most important deities of their pantheon.

The god Freyr

Freyr was the ás (god) associated with sacred kingship who through his hamingja ("luck"; in this case, his divine power) was also responsible for virility, prosperity, and fertility. His real name, however, was not Freyr. Freyr is, in reality, his title, coming from Proto-Norse *frawjaz, meaning "lord", which referred to his function.

His true name was Yngvi, often combined with his title to form the compound Yngvifreyr, or "Lord Freyr". As stated earlier, his association was with sacral kingship, and he was probably considered the ancestor of the Ingvaeonic Germanic tribes who lived in what is now Denmark, Frisia and the Netherlands, as well as, importantly, the progenitor of the legendary Yngling royal dynasty of Sweden from whom the first dynasty of Norwegian kings claimed descent, through which they shared in his hamingja which is passed down the family line.

So where does this connect to Tolkien's elves? Their history is given in the book of Middle-earth religion and history, The Silmarillion. Well, the Vanyar, who are, in a sense, the "high elves", in that they descend from the first "patriarch" of the elves, were, in the period of migration to Valinor, home of the Valar (the gods of Middle-earth, akin, perhaps to the Old Norse Vanir of whom Freyr was a member?) which lay in the West, led by an ambassador sent from their Kindred, Ingwë, who later became their king and the high king of all elves as they settled down at the foot of the mountain that was the home of Manwë, head of the Valar. Interestingly, in the language of the "High Elves", Quenya, King Ingwë's name might not be a proper name as such, but a title, which means "chief",–much as Freyr means "lord". His full title was Ingwë Ingweron; the "Chief of the Chieftains"

Ingwë High-King of All Elven-Kindred.

This migration to the west may also reflect the Germanic migration period which led to the Proto-Germanics entering Central and Northern Europe and breaking up into several disparate groups, like the Ingvaeones. Tolkien, who was well-versed in Eddaic lore would have been familiar with the god Yngvi Freyr who had dominion over the elves, and probably, like many other things in his stories (such as the name for his world, Middle-earth, which corresponds to the ON Midgardr) based at least the Kindred of the Vanyar and their leader on the elves of Germanic myth and their god-king.

Hobbit Potter's Hidden Destiny and Concealed Greed

Of course, there are a lot of overarching concepts between the fairy like land of the Hobbit series, and the more modern and earthly fantasy world of J.K Rowling’s Wizard world. Many of the obvious connections are the magical creatures like the goblins, man sized spiders, dragons, and powerful wizards. But what about the plot, and character development? 

In the beginning both characters start their journey in a homely and mundane setting, completely unaware of their importance to opposition of the peril to come and how their existence affects the world. Harry is an 11 year-old boy who has been adopted by a horrible family which treats him more like a dog than a human. Growing up Harry is treated and starved as a lower-class ingrate living in a cupboard under the stairs and doing menial slave work. Bilbo in the book series is portrayed as a humble, self-sustaining, and kindred spirit who lives under a hill in his small cave completely unadventurous. While living in simple conditions, both characters also have somewhat of a noble ancestry that is acknowledged as immense power by some old wizard with a staff. Harry soon learns of his parent’s legacy, and slowly accepts and realizes his quest for opposing the greatest evil known to the wizard world. Bilbo on the other hand, wasn’t completely accepting of his prophesied destiny, but also was not anticipating going to far reaches of the land on an adventure with a wizard and 13 of his dwarf companions. 

The transgressions of previous generations seem to catalyze the disfiguration and metamorphosis of evil in both worlds. In the Potter series a young half blood wizard by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle, becomes the most powerful and dangerous dark wizard of all time, splitting his soul and attaining immortality. Born out of a lustful love potion, and raised in an unforgiving orphanage, Tom became a glutton for power, so much so that he fixated his ambitions and greed of obtaining the magical properties of immortality, wanting to go “further than any wizard had gone before”. By means of sacrificing and mutilating his soul, Tom sloughs off his name and mortality for the title “Lord Voldemort”, deforming his physiognomy forever. Similarly, in the Hobbit, the greedy nature of the dwarves whom have mined and harvested precious gold form the depths of their mountain home, Erebore, leads to their own peril. Upon their discovery of the most precious stone of their time, The Arkenstone, the dwarves greed of power and possession becomes overwhelmingly present and physically manifests into Smaug, a dragon the brings incursion upon their homeland. 

Lastly, apart from these few similarities, both protagonist of the series find a seemingly innocent but rare and useful item. In the potter series Harry inherits a magic cloak which is considered extremely rare and invaluable as it is a part of 3 part set that compose “the Deathly Hallows”. In the movie, this cloak of invisibility along with its counterparts grant the owner powers similar to a God of Death, which becomes of interest to the dark lord Voldemort in his desires for immortality.  In the Hobbit series, Bilbo comes across a ring that also grants him the power of invisibility, of which he uses to fight his own evil doer, Smaug. 

Though the protagonist for the Harry potter and Hobbit Series live in separate fairy and fantasy worlds, the nature of their importance to the world stems from the same type of past injustices that have come back to haunt those responsible. 

Bilbo and Harry: The Chosen Ones

Although the books came out almost sixty years apart, two of the most famous authors, J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling, present several similarities within their main characters, Bilbo Baggins and Harry Potter. The message that is being conveyed through The Hobbit and the Harry Potter series is that bravery is often a quality that is possessed by the most unsuspecting of individuals; it is often present within a person without the person knowing it. Throughout these books, the main characters go through a series of tests and adventures that develop their characters and help them grow into heroic figures. Within The Hobbit, Bilbo starts off as a lazy and unadventurous Hobbit who goes on to defeat trolls, goblins, and the great Smaug. Within the Harry Potter series, Harry starts off as a child who is unaware of his magical powers and his abilities, but over the course of his seven years at Hogwarts, he develops into a courageous man who faces many enemies and fights to protect the people.

During the beginning of their quests, both characters present nervousness and lack confidence in their ability to complete their tasks. In the first book, Harry worries that he will not be chosen by the sorting hat to be in any house because he is not worthy enough.  Later, he continues to believe that he will not be able to live up to the expectations of others. Harry questions his role as “The Chosen One” and his ability to defeat Voldemort. Bilbo also presents signs of nervousness when the dwarves and Gandalf recruit him for the adventure because he has never taken part in anything adventurous or dangerous. However, he is chosen to partake in the dwarves’ quest even though he does not want to be. He is unaware how the others expect him to contribute, but he is worried that he will not be able to fulfill his task and their expectations.

Harry and Bilbo both also become owners of magical devices of invisibility: Bilbo possesses the ring while Harry possesses the cloak of invisibility. The possession of these items provide Harry and Bilbo with more confidence, allowing them to perform tasks that they would not normally take part in. Both of the characters use these invisibility devices for either survival or helping others. In Harry Potter, Harry uses his cloak to sneak Norbert, the dragon, into the tower after hours in order to save the dragon’s life. In The Hobbit, Bilbo uses the ring in order to save his friends from danger when they are attacked by the spiders and when they are captured by the elves. The use of these magical devices allows both Harry and Bilbo to embrace their roles and develop into more heroic characters.

Both of the books also have wizards that serve as mentors for the heroes. In The Hobbit, Gandalf accompanies Bilbo and the dwarves through the first part of their journey. Along the way, he guides Bilbo and helps him understand his role in the quest. In Harry Potter, Dumbledore serves as the mentor for Harry and he helps Harry understand the death of his parents, improve his magical skills, and confront his enemies. Both Gandalf and Dumbledore further the plots of the books by answering the questions presented by Bilbo and Harry throughout their journey. The wizards prepare the heroes on being successful in meeting the challenges that lie ahead in their quests.  

In conclusion, Harry and Bilbo are heroes that developed over time. They grew into their heroic nature as they gained confidence in their abilities and an understanding of their purpose.