Cats and Tolkien - Work done within the semester PDF

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1 Cats in Tolkien’s Works While cats are not the most prominent or heroic characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, they are still vital to many of his stories. Tolkien paints cats in particularly negative light—Cats in Tolkien’s stories are villains. As such, it is interesting to debunk Tolkien’s attitudes on cats. Arguably, Tolkien’s attitude towards cats is rather ambivalent; on one hand, cats are villainous dark creatures in his stories. "I fear that to me Siamese cats belong to the fauna of Mordor, but you need not tell the cat breeder that." ― J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter (Olga 2017). Tolkien was left shaken by the experience. Then there's Tolkien's poem "The Fat Cat on the Mat," which may or may not be hostile to cats (depending on how you interpret it) but is clearly respectful of them. This is why he loathed cats from then on, and in his early works, he utilized a wicked cat called Tevildo as an opponent. A cat, or "four-legs," was also mentioned in an ancient riddle Bilbo questioned Gollum about (B 2014). In his early married life, he produced a series of drawings. They featured two cats that "used to dance when his wife played the piano," according to the report. There are just two places in The Lord of the Rings where cats aren't despised. Frodo's first poetry in Bree (IIRC) has a cat. Second, Aragorn compares Gandalf's pathfinding to that of Queen Beruthiel's cats, which, if you overlook the fact that Queen Beruthiel was despised, is quite complimentary. One of the most prominent mention of cats as villains in Tolkien’s works is in the story of Beruthiel (Olga 2017). “The Queen of Gondor kept many cats; nine black cats and one white cat. She used these cats to spy on her enemies and individuals whom she was suspicious of; and even set the white cat to spy on the other nine (Olga 2017).” Beruthiel, according to legend, was able to read her kitties' recollections (B 2014). As a result, this was a dreadful rule. To put a stop to his wife's rise to power, Tarannon, King of Gondor, placed her and her cats on a shift and sent it

2 adrift (Tolkien, 1998). Another popular cat in Tolkien’s stories is Tevildo who appears in the early stages of Tolkien’s legendarium. Tevildo, mentioned early in the Book of Lost Tales, was the ‘Prince of Cats’ and the demonic servant of Melko (Tolkien & Tolkien, 2015). According to this work, “Tevildo was a harsh, sardonic and patronal master to those in his service until he was defeated by Huan, the captain of dogs.” Huan fought with and defeated the evil cat before forcing him to reveal the spell that bound the servants of his castle and also taking away his golden collar. John Garth would later note in his review of Beren and Luthien that the cat’s golden collar resembled the One Ring of Sauron. While Tevildo did not survive Tolkien’s revisions, he is popularly remembered as the predecessor of Sauron as Morgoth’s right hand. Of fact, the few cats that occur in Tolkien's novels are not always the manifestation of the Professor's potential disdain of these animals: cats figure in several of his poetry in a positive or, at the very least, neutral light (Noel). "It would scarcely be true, I think, to say even that Sauron 'originated' in a cat: in the next phase of the legends the Necromancer (Thû) has no feline attributes" (p. 54, The Book of Lost Tales, Part II) (B 2014).

The general public's view of cats has always been ambiguous. While cats were revered in certain mythology and cultures, they had a nasty reputation in others (B 2014). Felines, for example, were connected with witchcraft and devilry throughout the Middle Ages, and were often avoided or even slaughtered, but some individuals kept them as pets (B 2014). Cats were prone to being targets for numerous superstitions and beliefs all throughout the globe because they were independent, had a mysterious character, and did not show much ability for training (Noel). Tolkien's cats have the same nefarious reputation as their real-life counterparts. Despite the fact that cats and dogs aren't the most prominent characters in Tolkien's writings, they play an

3 important role in numerous scenes (B 2014). In the 'Lay of Leithian,' the greatest illustration of this may be found. Huan, the finest dog that ever lived, played a crucial role in Beren and Luthien's attempt to catch a Silmaril. Luthien would not have made it to Tol-in-Gaurhoth if it hadn't been for him, and who knows how much more devastation Carcharoth would have inflicted (Noel).

One of Tolkien's most well-known cat characters has unmistakable ties to Middleultimate earth's evil (B 2014). The charismatic Tevildo Prince of Cats was Melko's demonic servant and the precursor of Sauron in an early version of The Tale of Tinviel (Olga 2017). This figure did not make it through the author's edits as he perfected his tales, and only appears in The Book of Lost Tales II. Tevildo was the ruler of all cats in Melko's household, and they had the responsibility of bringing food for the Dark Lord's feasts (Noel). He was mighty and "possessed with an evil spirit" (Book of Lost Tales II, p. 16). He was, without a doubt, a unique individual. Cats play a significant part in Beruthiel's narrative as well. After Huan's victory Lúthien is able to destroy Tevildo's lair: "The behold, the air was filled with the voices of cats and the house of Tevildo shook; and there came therefrom a host of indwellers and they were shrunk to puny size and were afeared of Tinúviel." (p. 29, The Book of Lost Tales, Part II) (B 2014).

This Queen of Gondor had ten cats, one white and nine black, which she employed to spy on her adversaries and suspects. She even utilized the one white cat to keep an eye on the other nine cats. She was reported to be able to communicate with these creatures as well as read their thoughts and memories (Olga 2017). “Beruthiel's dreadful reign came to an end when she and her cats were thrown onto a boat and allowed to float away” (Olga 2017). While cats aren't the

4 most famous or heroic characters in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings, they play an important role in many of his novels (Olga 2017). Cats are villains in Tolkien's novels, and they are shown in a particularly bad light by Tolkien (Noel). As a result, it's fascinating to disprove Tolkien's views on cats (Olga 2017). Tolkien's stance with cats may be described as ambiguous; on the one hand, cats are malevolent dark animals in his writings.

5 References

B., Andrew. “Tolkien and Cats.” Musings of a Tolkienist, 9 June 2014, musingsofatolkienist.blogspot.com/2014/06/tolkien-and-cats.html.

Noel. “Tolkien and... Cats.” TolkienTruth.info, www.tolkientruth.info/tolkien-a-z/64-tolkien-andcats.

Olga. “Feline Fall from Favour: Cats Turn Villains in Tolkien's Stories.” Middle, 8 Aug. 2017, middleearthreflections.com/2017/08/08/feline-fall-from-favour/.

Tolkien, J.R.R. & Tolkien, C. (2015). The Book of Lost Tales. Part II. Harper Collins Publishers. Tolkien, J.R.R. (1998). Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. Harper Collins Publishers....