Tough call for this one. In Middle Earth it seems to me that magic in
closely connected to personality--there's no formula for it such that
anybody could pick up a grimoire and learn a spell. In some ways,
Tolkien's form of magic seems a kind of subsitute for grace (or
anti-grace, in the cases of Sauron and his henchpersons). It's not
something unnatural; rather, it's an extension of the divine into nature.
Or maybe it would be better to call it the substratum of nature. From
reading the Silmarillion I seem to recall that there are several classes
of beings in Tolkien's universe. The elves and dwarves and their magic
represent the last dregs of a previously large number of powerful beings,
all of whom are moving out to make room for the age of humans. Lesser
beings might use magical devices, but are likely to be overwhelmed by
them.
In other words, an astarti like Gandalf might be able to study magic and
manipulate the world with it, but an ordinary human is more likely to kill
himself trying. I also seem to recall that the absence of magic is the
price humans pay for the blessing of death, a mystery that offers a hope
of reunion with the creator, and something that magical beings lack.
Elves never die, by contrast, but they also cannot look forward to the
transfiguration of death. LoTR doesn't draw these distinctions, but I
think the Silmarillion does.
So magic should be as foreign to humans, to normal people, as death is to
angels and spirits and what-not.
Marvin Long
Austin, Texas
