Music. It’s a part of everyone’s life. No matter who you are or where you come from, music has been a part of your life. Everyone has their own taste in music, but everyone agrees that music is a powerful thing. It has structure and harmony unlike almost anything else. Music reaches across social status, race, everything, to touch everyone. In The Silmarillion, Tolkien uses music in the creation of his fantasy world. The concept of music forming things is supported by examples in reality. Tolkien uses music in a way that mirrors what we see in reality. Though Tolkien claimed his work was not allegorical, we can still find echoes of God and Christianity.
Just as music has its different parts, various instruments playing their own parts, we each have our own part in God’s plan. Tolkien’s God-like figure Illúvatar relates song to the Ainur, the first beings he creates (3). It is pure, and each one of them has a part. Illúvatar desires to listen to the marvelous music. Each one of them had their own part with their own wisdom: “But for a long while they sang only each alone, or but a few together [...] for each comprehended only that part of the mind of Illúvatar from which he came.” Each of the Ainur only understand their own part in the music. When Illúvatar reveals to them a mighty theme, they understood the full beauty of the theme. No part was complete by itself, just like none of us are complete by ourselves. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthian church, writes, “For the body does not consist of one member, but of many [...] But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose” (1 Corinthians 12:14, 18). God is the master designer and creator of the universe, and I like to think of Him as the master composer as well. In an orchestra or chorus, each person learns his part on his own. When everyone comes together and contributes his part, the entire song is revealed in all of its beauty. On earth, we do not know all of God’s plans. But when we join Him in Heaven, we will truly be able to see the culmination of all His works.
The music of Illúvatar cannot be overthrown just as God’s plan will always continue. The beautiful music is disturbed when Melkor, one of the Ainur, attempts to drown out Illúvatar’s theme with his own: “Then the discord of Melkor spread ever wider, and the melodies which had been heard before foundered in a sea of turbulent sound” (4-5). Melkor attempts to pervert Illúvatar’s theme, but Illúvatar is the creator of all things. In a “Battle of the Bands” scenario, Melkor and Illúvatar compete their melodies, and Illúvatar’s music absorbs Melkor’s and makes it harmonious with his theme. When Illúvatar releases a final chord, all the music ceases and the Ainur are silent before him. Illúvatar then says that Melkor’s attempt to overshadow Illúvatar’s theme has only shown how powerful Illúvatar is:
“And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me,
nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine
instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined” (6).
Illúvatar’s theme is similar to God’s mighty works. God alone has all wisdom and power. Things of the earth may try to drown out His theme, but in the end, all things come from God, and He can use anything for His glory.
Music is a large part of the life of the Ainur, just as it is a large part of our lives. The theme of music continues when the Valar go down to Eä and begin creating. Yavanna, one of the Valar, sits upon a hill outside the gates of the city and sings two trees to life (31). The trees, different in appearance, drip light from their leaves, and they are truly a beautiful creation. In the story of Lúthien and Beren, Lúthien sings and spring comes to the forest: “And the song of Lúthien released the bonds of winter, and the frozen waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where her feet passed” (194). In The Silmarillion, music has life-giving and rejuvenating properties. Tolkien uses music in creation and rejuvenation in order to show how important it is. Music is also very prevalent in the Bible. David, a man after God’s heart, wrote psalms, many of which were set to music. He wrote psalms of joy and of sadness. James, in his epistle, writes that if we are happy that we should sing (James 5:13). We are commanded to sing in worship to God (Ephesians 5:19). We know from scripture that music will be a large part of Heaven: “And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb…” (Revelation 15:3). Music is an important and powerful part of our lives on Earth.
Music is an important part of The Silmarillion, and Tolkien was very clever in his use of it in creation. Whether or not Tolkien meant to allude to God and creation, we can still see aspects of God in Tolkien’s work, especially in regards to music. There are many aspects of music that point back to God. Music has beauty because it has structure and harmony. The harmony within music points to the harmony among the Godhead. When we hear dissonance in music, we immediately desire resolution. Music is powerful enough to affect everyone, and it must be important to God since He places so much emphasis on it. I am inclined to think that the reason music is so impactful to us is because, as seen in Tolkien’s work, it was part of our creation.
