I do not think that even Power or Domination is the real centre of my story. It provides the theme of a War, about something dark and threatening enough to seem at that time of supreme importance, but that is mainly ‘a setting’ for characters to show themselves. The real theme for me is about something much more permanent and difficult: Death and Immortality: the mystery of the love of the world in the hearts of a race ‘doomed’ to leave and seemingly lose it; the anguish in the hearts of a race ‘doomed’ not to leave it, until its whole evil-aroused story is complete.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 186
Welcome to the 2026 September Series here at the Blog of Mazarbul! It is, perhaps, not the merriest of series this year — but it is nonetheless one that I am excited to be dealing with, and really looking forward to working through! This year, the September Series will be concerned with death and its treatment in Tolkien.
That questions of mortality and death run prominently through the works of JRR Tolkien is unlikely to be news to anyone who is even somewhat acquainted with the works. Men, the younger of the Children of Eru, exist in tension with the Elves and envy their (limited) immortality — an envy that culminates in the cataclysmic downfall of Númenor. The Elves are in turn at least somewhat defined by their ever-living natures: their permanence within the world being drawn in contrast with the swift-burning lives of Men. The question of death as being a “Gift” as granted by Eru informs the actions of Morgoth, drives the story of Beren and Luthien, and runs through the tales of their descendants, all the way through to Aragorn and Arwen. The Rings of Power bestow a prolonged lifespan upon their wearers. And for many characters — Beren, Túrin, Boromir, Théoden, Denethor, Gollum, and so on — the manner and circumstances of their deaths end up being pivotal not only to the narrative, but shape and inform our own perspectives upon their lives and characters.
Death, and a relationship with death, permeates all of Tolkien’s works. It is inevitably a question that must be considered when working upon many of the other themes and problems of Middle-earth, and it is itself so very central to near-all of the tales. And we have Tolkien’s own word for it that he himself was preoccupied with the exploration of death — and it is itself a theme that I am fascinated by.
As such, this year I’m going to be considering death in Tolkien from three distinct perspectives. Death and the half-elven, which will examine why it is so that these descendants of Mannish and Elvish unions are fated to the Gift of Men — and how it is congruent that there are several exceptions to that rule. Death and the Ring, which will consider how and why the Rings of Power acted as they did upon Men, and will consider whether Frodo and Bilbo could ever die “naturally.” And death and redemption — examining several of Tolkien’s characters and how the manner of their deaths (or not-deaths) informs our understanding of the character as a whole.
And, as always, there may well be some small postscript toward the end of the month — but you’ll have to wait for that.
So, without further ado, I’m delighted embark upon this year’s September Series — I hope you’ll enjoy it.
‘ “Nay, dear lord,” she said, “that choice is long over. There is now no ship that would bear me hence, and I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill: the loss and the silence. But I say to you, King of the Númenóreans, not till now have I understood the tale of your people and their fall. As wicked fools I scorned them, but I pity them at last. For if this is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive.”
“The Tale of Aragorn & Arwen,” from Appendix A of The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien
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