Tolkien and the Gold that does not Glitter

Commenting on Strider, the future King, Aragorn (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 10), Gandalf says this:

"All that is gold does not glitter."

I have enjoyed The Lord of the Rings both in English and in its Spanish translation (edición Minotauro); the Spanish edition is of high quality and I have savored it for many years. It translates Gandalf's words in this way:

"No es oro todo que reluce."

For some time now the Spanish translation of this line has been a thorn in my mind. It seems not a felicitous rendering. The inexact translation of Tolkien's phrase actually provides an exact translation of another phrase, very common in English:

"All that glitters is not Gold."

I do not note this so as to criticize the Spanish edition. On the contrary, it seems to me very likely that many who read "The Lord of the Rings" in English think that the saying Tolkien wrote and the common saying basically mean the same thing. My disquiet arises from that ambiguity over what Tolkien wanted to say in English. The Spanish translation actually helps to clarify a not insignificant point about the profoundly Christian perspective of the great teller of tales.

If we take Tolkien's phrase in the sense of the Spanish (No es oro todo que reluce), the sense of the common English saying (All that glitters is not gold), then the meaning of the text falls like lead on the side of things that glitter. There is ever a danger that we will find false gold, fooling us by its glitter.

But it is clear that Tolkien was a master of language and idioms, and by changing the position of the key terms of the common saying (gold and glitter), Tolkien wanted to change the sense of the common saying. The common English phrase is precisely what Tolkien did not want to say; he wanted to say something quite different. Tolkien's phrase (All that is gold does not glitter), translated literally into Spanish, would sound like this:

"Todo que es oro no siempre reluce".

Note carefully, because the change signals something quite important. Tolkien's phrase places the focus upon something that does not glitter, or rather, on something which does not capture the eye. Such a man can also be gold. And Strider was such a one, a king who appeared as a common man, but was in fact quite noble. Tolkien's saying falls like a ray of light (lightly) on the side of what in fact is truly gold.

The common English saying (All that glitters is not gold) situates us in the environment of human desire. The one who seeks gold often becomes captivated by what he sees as shiny and glittery, fooled by a lack of discernment. The common saying invites us to discern between rocks that shine; Tolkien's saying, on the other hand, invites us to discern each rock.

Tolkien is aware of the enormous human capacity to notice only what glitters, losing thereby the ability to appreciate what is of real value. Tolkien thus teaches through the voice of Gandalf that in this world the best things tend to arrive in forms both simple and common. Those who are used to seeking the noble in obvious signs of majesty and power risk overlooking the presence of the truly noble. As ever, Tolkien places the worth of each character in an interior mystery, while those who live under the shadow of the Eye usually seek and prize that which fascinates that same eye.

"The Lord of the Rings" never mentions the Gospel or the Reign of God. It is a work deliberately imagined in a human mythic context prior to the full revelation of grace. But this does not mean that grace does not insinuate itself in the persons and deeds of Middle Earth. On the contrary, the grace present in the tale anticipates and prefigures the Kingdom. To see this grace one must discern between broken lights and heavy shadows.

By telling us that gold does not always glitter, Tolkien reminds us that the path marked out by grace always invites us to seek the extraordinarily noble precisely as it appears in common forms. Just as, with discernment, the saying "All that glitters is not gold" is distinguished from the saying "All that is gold does not glitter", so also eyes that look for nobility in glittery forms can be distinguished from eyes seeking nobility in common appearances.

The prophet Isaiah had pointed toward the Messiah with attention to his lack of majestic appearance: "He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye, no beauty to draw us to him (Is 53, 2)." Tolkien was not speaking of the Messiah, but he was speaking of the discernment needed by those blessed one day to encounter him. And today, those who seek the Reign of grace will find it in common forms and in persons of humble estate, and in the God-Word present in the little ones of the earth.

Quite a paradox. It is common to look for what is great in what is uncommon. But grace urges us to seek what is great within the ordinarily common. And that attitude is not so very common.

+df