Studia Litteraria Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis 2 (2007)
ALEKSANDRA KLĘCZAR Instytut Filologii Klasycznej Uniwersytet Jagielloński
THE BLACK GATE OF ALEXANDER? TRACING POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF THE GATE OF ALEXANDER
MOTIF IN J.R.R. TOLKIEN’S THE LORD OF THE RINGS
Introduction: Tolkien the Medievalist and the Origins of The Lord of the Rings'
J.R.R. Tolkien, undoubtedly the mostcelebrated author in the fantasy genre and the founding father thereof12,iscommonly known amonghis fans as The Profes
sor. The nickname is well earned: beforehe became a successful writer, he was already a specialist on Germanic and Celtic languages as well as Old English literature at the University of Oxford3who had published several important arti
cles, translations and editions. The composition ofThe Lord ofthe Rings was a long term process4, occurring simultaneously with the author’s studies on the formation of Old English language and literature as well ason early Medieval epic. The result was a novel ostensiblytraditional in its form,based onmytho
logical and linguistics concepts stemming from various European cultures and immersed in Epic tradition.
1 The edition quoted in this essay: J.R.R.Tolkien, TheLord of the Rings: vol. I, The Fellow
ship ofthe Rings, vol.II, TheTwo Towers,vol. Ill, TheReturn ofthe King, London1999;abbre
viationsused: FOTR (The Fellowship of the Ring), TT (The Two Towers), ROTK (Return ofthe King).
1 On Tolkien’s biography, educationand both scholarly and literary career see especially H. Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, London 1977; M. White, Tolkien: A Biography, London 2001.
3Cf. M.White, op. cit., pp. 101 ff.
4 Cf. M. White, op. cit., pp. 160-184.
TheLord ofthe Rings, unlike vastmajority of fantasynovels, is a complex work ofart. Interestingly enough, the novel, set in a fantasy world which has
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only some suggested tieswith ourreality5 is perse a work inwhich intertextual links to various traditions of Europeanculture play averyimportant role.These links operate on a range of different levels, from linguistic and onomastic to those concerningtheconstruction of thestoryline and characters.The linguistic component of Tolkien’s creation is by farthemost thoroughly analyzed6; more and more attention, however, is being paid to the literary form of thenovel and the complex interplay of epic motifs that constitute the fictional world of the Lord of the Rings. In constructing his masterpiece Tolkien used numerous sources and themes taken from both European, mostly Northern mythologies (most notably ThePoetic and ProseEddaaswell as Kalevala) and the literature of the Middle Ages7. The use of Biblical concepts and imagery, the ideas of heroism, the mythical connotations of Tolkien’s characters are more and more often analyzed and discussed by scholars.
5 Cf. M. White, op. cit., pp. 203-205:Middle-Earth is, without doubt, a distorted version of Earth (p. 203);cf. also Tolkien’s ownstatements comparing the geography of Earthandhis imag ined land as quoted in C. and D. Plimmer, “The Man who Understands Hobbits”, Daily Telegraph Magazine, London, 22 March 1968.
6 Cf.e.g. V.Flieger, Splintered Light: Logosand Language in Tolkien’s World, GrandRapids 1983; Lobdell J. (ed.), Guide to theNames in "The Lord ofthe Rings", the TolkienCompass, La Salle 1975.
7 Cf. the analysisby Shippey in his excellent critical bookonTolkien: T. Shippey,The Roadto Middle Earth,London1982.
’ FOTR, p. 66-67.
In the present analysis I would like to draw attention to one ofthose im
ages in the Lord ofthe Rings that remain tenaciously in the reader’s memory long after the last page of the novel is read through: the Black Gateof Mor dor. Theidea of the great gate that divides the world into two spheres: that of light and good and that of darkness and evil is powerful and fascinating.
I would liketo look closerinto itspossible affiliation with the conceptknown from variouslate ancient and medieval version of the Romance ofAlexander, namelythat of the Gateof Alexander.
I. The Black Gate of Mordor: its place and functions in The Lord of the Rings
Oneof the unforgettable scenes in The Lord of the Rings is the moment when two of the main characters, the hobbits Frodo and Sam, approach for the first timethe gates of the“land of Mordor when the shadows lie”8. The description of the terrifying Black Gate is vivid and evocative, already suggesting the horrors that await within the Dark Land:
Across the mouthofthe pass, from cliff to cliff, the Dark Lord had built a rampart of stone. In it there was a single gate of iron, and uponits battlement sentinels paced un
ceasingly. Beneath the hills on eithersidethe rock was bored into ahundred caves and maggot-holes; there a host oforcs dwelled, ready at asignal to issue forth like blackants going to war. None could pass the Teeth ofMordorand not feel their bite, unless they
The Black Gate of Alexander?Tracing Possible Presence ofthe GateofAlexander... 57
weresummoned bySauron, or knew the secret password that would open the Morannon, the blackgate of his land9.
9 TT,pp. 299-300.
10 TT, pp. 299: “In days log past they were built by the Menof Gondorin their prideand power,after the overthrowof Sauron and his flightlesthe shouldseekto returntohis oldrealm.
But the strength ofGondorfailed, and men slept, and for longyears the towers stood empty”.
11FOTR, p. 318.
12 FOTR, p.391,Aragom describing the hillsof EmynMuil: “the windblowsfrom theEast there, for they lookover the DeadMarshes and the Noman-lands to Cirith Gorgor and the blackgates of Mordor”.
13 TT,p. 284-285.
HTT, p. 286: “Dead grasses androttingweed loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long-forgotten summers”.
15 Ibidem: “The onlygreen wasthe scum ofalivingweed on the dark greasy surface of the sullenwaters”.
16 Ibidem.
In Tolkien’s universe, theMorannon is, as we know from the quotation above, ahuge iron gate in the stone wall, built by the Dark Lord himself. As such, its main function is to isolateMordor from its main enemies, thepeople of Gondor.
The “Teeth ofGondor”, mentioned in the quoted passage, had originally been built by Men10 toprotect their lands from the invasion of the creatures of Dark ness. The Gate is nearlyimpassable: neither the two hobbits trying to sneakin or the armies trying to breach it cannotreally accomplish the deed. The great battles against Mordor, like the one foughtby Elvin king Gil-Galad and hishuman ally, Elendil ofGondor,always take place before,and not behind, the“Black Gate of Mordor”11. As such, it symbolizes the isolation of Mordor, but at the same time signifies its permanence: evenifa battle is won, evil persists, and with it itssym
bolic borderline, theMorannon.
The Gate is one of the main symbols of the landof darkness: forbidding and frightening, it epitomizes thedangers ofMordor and represents the provinceof evil, the place whichis difficult toenter and nearly impossible to leavewithout the consent of its ruler. It is set, as we are told, in the heart of the wilderness, where no humans live12; surrounded by empty, scorched land and the deadly marshland. It lays in a close vicinity to the Dead Marshes, described as empty and dangerousarea:
On eithersideand infrontwide fens andmires nowlay, stretching away southwardand eastward into the dim half-light. Mists curled and smoked from dark and noisome pools. The reekof them hung stifling in the stillair. Far away, now almost duesouth, the mountain-wallsof Mordor loomed, like a black bar ofrugged clouds, floating above a dangerous fog-boundsea13.
The landscape of this permanent winter14 is set in dark colours; specifically, the lack ofhealthy green, the colour commonly associated with life, is men tioned. Instead, the shades associated with decay and putrefaction prevail15. The dominant mood here is that of lifelessness and desolation; “dreary and weari
some”16 is the way the travelers feel. The Marshes are indeed the land of the Dead, especiallythat, as wesoon find out, the bodies and spiritsof those killed in battle many centuries before still, by some powerful and sinister magic, dwell
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there17. Thus the land in the vicinity of the Gate already suggests the meaning and mood that the Gate itselfembodies.
17 IT, pp.288-289.
TT,pp. 293-294.
19 TT, p. 294.
20Ibidem.
21 Ibidem.
22 TT,p. 316.
23 ROTK,p. 96.
24ROTK, p.189.
Conversely, the land that lays directly in front of the Gate is described as
“desolation” and “the lasting monument to the dark labour ofits slaves that should endure when all their purposes were made void; a landdefiled, diseased beyond all healing - unless the Great Sea should enter it and wash it with oblivion”18. Thehobbits’ reactiontothe sight is disgust anddesperation:“’Ifeel sick’, said Sam. Frodo did not speak”19. It is worth adding that in accord with Tolkien’s generalattitude, this desolation is presented as connected with indus trial civilization and with whatmaybe called, for the lack of a betterword, the war industry of Sauron: in the same passage “mounds of slag” and “poisonous fumes” are mentioned, together with “gasping pits”, some ofwhich are filled with “foulsump ofoily, many-colored ooze”20. Onthe other hand, the image has certain dreamlike qualities: the characters watch it “like men on the edge of a sleep where nightmare lurks”21. The whole image, as it seems, is designed to evoke atthesame time the feeling of solitude experienced by a human being lost inadegradedand devastated modem landscapeas well as theunreal feeling of a vague, danger-fillednightmare. Realistic image of polluted environment and a visionfrom a terrifyingdreamareunitedto form a haunting and chillingimage of a land inhabited and governed by theforces of darkness and evil.
The description of the lands surroundingtheGate matches the mood that its presence introduces. The name of the Gateis often usedby Tolkienas meton ymy for the whole land and its influence. When Frodo and Sam get ashort res pite inthe beatificlandof Ithilien,they are nonethelessall the time aware of the presence of theGate. “But they did not forgetthe danger”, we read inchapter IV of book four, “northeBlack Gate thatwas still all too near, hidden though it was behindthe gloomy heights”22. In this passage the memory of the Gate serves as a reminder of the power of Mordor. Similarly, the armies that gather to help Mordor in thecomingwar are often describedas “drawing to the Black Gate”23 andwhen the allied armies are preparing for thefinal battle, they aresaidto be ready to “challenge the Black Gate and the mightof Mordor”24. The importance of the Gate as symbolic representation of the whole land of Mordor is thus strengthened and underlined.
The Black Gate ofAlexander? Tracing Possible Presence of the GateofAlexander... 59
II. The Gate of Alexander: the origins and development of the motif
Forthose unfamiliar with Tolkien’s work, but well acquainted with Medieval literature, the concept of the Black Gate quoted abovemay seem strangely fa miliar, recallingthewell-known motifof theGate of Alexander. The description ofthe Gate set by the mythologizedAlexander the Great to close andbarricade the Unclean Nations can be traced back to Pseudo-Callisthenes. In the Greek version of theRomance ofAlexander we can reada brief description of the gate that the king built atthe endof the world25. Having defeatedthe evil king Eury- mithres, Alexander and his men reached the “two mountains in the unseen world, which they called the Breasts of theNorth”. WithGod’s help, Alexander made thesetwo mountains come together,
25The narrative is to be foundin the yversionof the Greek AlexanderRomance(III 35); cf.
R. Stoneman (ed.), TheGreek Alexander Romance, London 1991, pp. 185-187.
26 Ibidem,p. 186.
27Ezech. 38.
28Rev. 20:8-10
29“These are the namesof the nations: Goth, Magoth, Anougeis etc.” Ibidem,p.186.
30 Cf. A.R. Anderson, Alexander’s Gate, Gog and Magog andthe Inclosed Nations, Cam bridge, MA, 1932,which still remains the most valuable monograph on the topic.
31Cf. E.A. Wallis Budge, The History of Alexander the Great, Cambridge 1889, pp.144-161.
eventhoughtheyhad previouslybeen 18 feetapart. (...) Thenhe builtbronzegates, fixed them in the narrowsbetween thetwomountains and oiled them. The nature of the oil was such thatit could not be burnedbyfire or dislodged by iron.Withinthe gates, stretching back tothe open country, [for a distance of 3000miles] heplantedbrambles, which he watered well so that they formed a densemane over the mountain. SoAlexander shut in twenty two kings with their subject nations behindthenorthernboundaries- behindthe gates thathe called theCaspian and themountainsknown as the Breasts26.
Overthe time the motif evolved and the Unclean Nations enclosed withinthe Gate became identified with the Biblical Gog andMagog, known fromthe Book ofEzechief'1 28 and, even more notably, The Book of Revelation*. Gog andMagog are mentioned already in the Green version of the text29. The fact that thesepeo ples, known from the Biblical texts mentioned above, have been incorporated into the versionof the Alexander legend, becomes of increasing importance in the later versions of theRomance.
The identification of the UncleanNationswith Gog and Magog brought in several significant changes in the location of the Gate30 31, but also added one more dimension to its interpretation. Since the war with Gog and Magog is portrayed in the Revelation as preceding the final battle and the end of the world, the Enclosed Nations were bound to set free one day. Thus themotif of the breaching of the Gate of Alexander appeared: when the final days come, the Unclean Nationswill break free and wreak havoc to civilized lands. Such an interpretation appears for the first time in the Christian Syrian version of the Romancei{. Having enclosedtheenemies(in this particularcase, the Huns) behind thegate, Alexander, inspired by God, predictsthat
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(...) whenthe Huns have gone forth,as God has commanded, the kingdomsof theHuns and the Persians andthe Arabs, the twenty fourkingdoms, that are written in this book, shall comefrom theends of the heavens and shall fall upon one another, and the earth shall melt through the bloodand dung of men.
This unclear and much-disputed passage32 suggests, for the first time, the future breaching of the gate and Apocalyptic dimensions of this act. The same theme, enhancedand augmented,reappeared laterin numerous important texts reworking the Romance, most notablyin Pseudo-Methodius33, whose immense influence on the thought of the Middle Ages and the literature of the period34 addedto the popularity of the motif.
32 Cf. A.R.Anderson,op. cit., p. 24,n. 1.
33 Cf. E. Sackur, Sybillische Texte undForschungen, Halle 1898 (edition with commentary),pp.
72-75.
34 Cf. Ibidem, pp.4-7.
35 Cf. Pseudo-Methodius: “deforme vel sordidae gentes, cuncta quae magicae artis malorum abunduntur” (...), inSakur, op. cit., p. 74.
36Cf. Tolkien’s generalview ontechnical civilization(e.g. Foreword pp.xviii-xix).
To summarize, it seems important to stress once morethemainpoints of the characteristics of the Gate of Alexander. It is located at the end of the known world; it was builtby therighteous king, but inspired by God’s idea;its purpose is to keep the unclean nations of cannibals, monsters and dark magicians35 at bay; yet it willbe breachedoneday and this event will startthe Apocalypse; the Unclean Nations will pour over the civilized lands, bringing destruction and chaos.
III. Morannon and the Gate of Alexander: points of comparison
As we can see, the similarities between the two images are rather suggestive.
First and foremost,inboth cases the image is similar: a huge, darkiron gateset between the mountain. The impressionis that of desolation andcoldness, a place at the same time man-madeand connected with civilization and technique36 as well as associated with solitude and desolation. As we can see from the com parison of the scenes ofAlexander building thegate and thehobbits seeing the Morannon, also the surroundings of the structure are in both casesimilar: near the gate we can find only thomy bushesand brambles, whichadd to the image of wilderness, uninviting and unapproachable.
Just as the descriptions are similar, so is the purposeof both structures. In caseofAlexander’s gate, all the authors stateratherunanimously that the king built it (or had itbuilt)in ordertokeep atbaytheUnclean Peoples, ableto bring pollution and destruction to the world. Similarly, in case of the Black Gate, it was built to separate Mordor fromthelands inhabited by men, namelyfrom the kingdom of Gondor. As such, it is a barrier between two parts of the world:
a barrier well guarded and not easy to breach, as the adventures ofFrodo and Samprove. The GateofAlexander is built bya championof light and goodness;
The BlackGate of Alexander?Tracing Possible Presence of the Gate of Alexander... 61
the Black Gate, even though it originally started as the construction of Men directed against the orcs, have later beendeveloped and strengthened bySauron.
Even though in this case we can observe a difference in the use of the motif (Sauron, theLord ofMordor, can anddoes use the BlackGate to his advantage and for the protection of his kingdom, which is not the case in the Alexander Romance', moreover, the Unclean Peoples are closedfrom without while the forces of Mordor are patiently waiting within theirown kingdom; the Gate of Alexander oppressesthe monsters and protectshumans while the Black Gate of Mordor protects, in a way, both sides, but mostly the Orcs), the main concept remains the same: the gate in both cases serves as abarrier between two parts of theworld, keepingtherealm of fiends separatedfrom that of thepeople.
The fact that the Gate in both cases divides the world into two parts, the one behind it (from a human point of view) being associated with the un chartedterritorylabeled,as onemay say, ubi leones, makes it natural that the Gate should be situated somewhere on the fringes of the world - or, ofthe civilized world at least. It is, actually, the case of both Tolkien’s novel and the Romanceof Alexander. In case of Tolkien’s story, quite abit of attention has been devotedto the analysis ofthe fact thatTolkien’sMordoris situated in the eastern comerof the world; the comparison with the emerging power of the Soviet Russia has beenoften brought into consideration as an inspiration for Mordor. One may wonder whether, if such was the case, the Black Gate should be identified with the Berlin Wall. This verycomparison proves such direct allegorizing rather silly and meaningless; as Tolkien himself had said in the preface to the Lord ofthe Rings: “I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations and alwayshave doneso since I grewold and wary enough to detect its presence”37. Despite Tolkien’s own rather strong statement an
nouncing such speculations false38 they keep reemerging and returning, espe cially in popular speculations on the novel. Yet theBlack Gate beingsituated in the eastern comer of the world may have no additional special meaning apart fromthefact thatit is, indeed, a corner of the world, a place known only to few andby majority believedto bejust adark legend. Interestingly enough, one may add that while in the Greek AlexanderRomance and in its most ex
tensively preserved ancient Armenian version, the Gate is located in the North39, in the Medieval Italian version by Quilichinus of Spoleto Alexander buildshis gate on theeastern border of the world40. Justlike Alexander’sGate is situated in the Caucasus (or in northeastern Asia, or else in any other un
37 FOTR, Foreword,p. xviii.
38 Ibidem:“The real war does not resemble the legendary war in its process or its conclusion. If it had inspiredor directed the developmentof the legend [i.e. The Lordof the Rings narrative- A.K.], then certainly theRing would havebeen seizedandusedagainst Sauron; he would not have been annihilated butenslaved and Barad-dur would not have beendestroyed butoccupied. (...). In that conflict both sides wouldhave heldhobbitsin hatredand contempt:they wouldnot long have survived even as slaves”.
39 The twomountains are oftencalled ubera Aquilonis, the breasts ofthe North.
‘,0 V. 3285-3289:“Est locus ad partes orientis undique clausus(...) illic rex magnusarteretmsit eas [sc. gentes]”. Quilichinusde Spoleto, Historia Alexandri Magni, ed. W.Kirsch, Skopje1971.
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known and wild part of the world, depending on theversion ofthe Romance), so is the Morannon placed at the end of the world, on one hand beyond the reach of human civilization, on the other, still close enough to the realm of man topose danger to it andthreatenit with the possible invasionof the mon sterslocked behind theGate.
The monsters, one may add, whichare in bothcases understood rathersimi
larly. Both the Unclean Nations and theOrcs bear considerable resemblance to the stereotypical image of wild peopleand barbarians, livingoutside the state of civilization. Both the Orcs and theUncleanPeople aresavages, brutal and ruth less, reveling in bloodshed anddestruction; both know no benefitsofcivilization suchas artor social order other than that imposed by thewhip. Cannibalism and man-eating ispracticed by both Orcs and the Unclean People, asproven by the description in Pseudo-Callisthenes41 and the action ofUgluk andhis Orcs after capturing Merry and Pippin in Tolkien’s novel42. Both, finally, are of human originsorat least man-shaped43.
41“They used to eatworms and foul things thatwere not real foodatall- dogs, flies, snakes, aborted foetuses, dead bodies and unformed humanembryos; and they ate not only animals, but human corpses as well”.Stoneman, op. cit., p.187.
42 “It’s orc-flesh theyeat,I’llwarrant”, Ugluk saysaboutthe orcsof Sauron (TT, p.49); while his master Sarumanhecalls“the Hand that gives us man’s-flesh toeat” (ibidem).
43 The enemies of Alexander are explicitly called Men in the Greek Alexander Romance (p.185), althoughtheir humanityis challengedin the later versions of the narrative; Orcs, on the other hand, are believed to be created bySauron in a parodyof Elves, Men’selder brothers.
44 Rev.21:1.
45 TT, Chapter 3,pp. 297-314.
Thereisone more element that seemsto be in common in both description.
The Gate of Alexanderwas built to ensure the permanence of human civiliza
tion. When the civilization is about to come to an end, when the days of the Final Judgment will be near, the Gate will be breached and the Unclean Nations will pour outand over the world, ready to destroy andplunder. Such an attack will be counted among the events directly preceding theApocalypse, as it was believed to bepredicted in the Book of Revelation. Thus, as it was alreadymen tioned before, the motifof theGate becomes associated with the millennialand Apocalyptic tradition. Conversely, thebreach of theGate signifies the end of the world, or rather, the end of the era and the beginningof the periodof chaos and conflict, fromwhich the“newEarth and new Heaven”44 willeventually emerge.
The motif is thus Christianized and linked with one of the central motifs of Christian theology.
Similarly, the Black Gate of Mordor keeps the Orcs and other abominations dwelling“inthe land of Mordorwhere the Shadows lie”, to recall oncemore the haunting phrase from the poem opening Tolkien’s novel, away from humans.
But the timecomes when the Black Gate will open to let the hordes of orcs and their allies pour over the lands of the Free Peoples. The significance of this changeof the Gate’s status isunderlined by the fact that the titles of two chap ters in thenovel are directlyconnected to it. When theGateis first presented to the reader, itis in the chapter called “TheBlack Gate isClosed”45. Conversely,
The BlackGate of Alexander?Tracing Possible Presence of the Gateof Alexander... 63
the chapter showing the assembly of the armiesof Mordorand the finalbattle of Light and Darkness is named appropriately “The Black Gate Opens”46; this is the final chapter of the Book Vof the novel. The significanceof the Gate and the symbolic value of itsopening as a preludeto the final confrontation of Good and Evil is thusadditionallyunderlined andstressed.Andjust like inthe case of the Gate of Alexander,the openingof theBlackGateisan event of cosmicscale and apocalyptic meaning. Thearmies of Sauron, marching against their enemies, do so believing (just as theirmaster does) that this war means the end of the worldas they knew it and the final triumphofDarkness. It is even more strongly stressed by the fact that it is in the very chapter describing the opening of the Black Gatethat theprotagonists and the readers findoutthat theLord of Dark
ness is aware of Frodoandhis mission. Adequately, even themost experienced warriors of theanti-Sauronalliancerealizethat their case is all but lost:
46ROTK, Chapter 8,pp.184-197.
47 ROTKpp. 195-196.
4" ROTK, pp.39.
The wind blew and the trumpets sang andarrows whined; butthe sun now climbing to the Southwas veiled in the reeks of Mordorand through athreatening haze it gleamed, re mote,a sullen red,asif itwerethe ending of theday, or theend, maybe, of all the world of light. And out of the gatheringmirk the Nazgul came with their cold voices crying words of death; and then all hope was quenched47.
The end of theworldof lightis approaching, the apocalypse is coming for the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. “The darkness has begun. There will be no dawn”, Gandalf the sorcerer says to his terrified companions in Minas Tirithas the siegeof the city begins48. And indeed, even though Light prevails at the end and the forces of Darkness aredefeated, the world does end, in a way: the Third Era comes to a close and the new one, the Fourth, will be that of Men, with no place for Elves or Dwarves or magic. Thechange in the world, there fore, doesoccurand it is, indeed, of great significance. Unlike in the Apoca lypse, what emerges out ofit is not the return to the primeval paradise state, embodied by the new kingdom of God: in Tolkien’s masterpiece the tide has turned and brought in the era ofmen, the one in which we live even now and the breaching of the Gate was of great importance in this change. The world did not end; instead, the newera, theperiod of the history of the worldstarted.
IV. Conclusions
One important reservation should bemadehere: the motif of the Black Gate is by no means a simple insertion of a traditional theme into the novel. Tolkien adapts it, the better to serve his aims, and, first and foremost, he changes the focus: as an author, he isinterested in some aspects of the motifand completely uninterested in other.
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Tolkien does not concentrate on the retelling of the creation of the Gate, which is the main point in the earlierversions of the narrative concerning the Gateof Alexander. No equivalent of the righteous Alexander is to be found in hisnovel. What really interestshim inhis versionof the story is its apocalyp- tic/millennial dimension and the motif of its destruction. In medieval versions of the Alexander narrative theGatemightbe destroyed dueto God’s will and to wreak havoc among the civilized populaceof the worldby letting the Unclean Nations out. Conversely, in Tolkien’s work, the Gate symbolically divides two worlds: the kingdoms of Men and the Landof Darkness, the latter of which is aboutto bring destruction to the former.
Also, as I have mentioned before, the comparisons between the Enclosed Nations and the Orcs and other dwellers of Mordor in Tolkien’s world are striking.The function of the Gate isalsosimilarin bothapproaches andso is,in fact, the story of its destruction: in both cases the Gate opening and letting the Unclean Nations/orcsout starts the last period in thehistory of the world, before the final change - the Apocalypse, the end of the Era - comes. Thefocus of the motif is thus shifted from that of the history of its construction (the earlier ver
sions of the Alexander Romance) to thestory of its destruction. In the Romance of Alexander, especially in its later, strongly Christianized versions, such a mo
ment is anticipated. Thegate will bedestroyed, there is hardly any doubt about that, but thiswillhappen in the future. Thebreachingof the Gateand the end of the world are still the events to come. Conversely, in Tolkien’s narrative the very act ofopening the Gate (and thus making the conflict enter its final and most decisivephase) is one of the central points of the novel. The apocalypse and theend of the era takes place here and now,beforethe eyesof the readers.
This, however, doesnot diminish the importance of the connection drawn be
tween the openingof theAlexander’s gate (which ends the days that humanity spends on Earth) and theopening of the Morannon (which closes up theera of Elves and opens the epoch of men). In both cases, the first result of the gate being opened is a terriblewar between menand monsters, followed by the ulti mate triumph of the principle of goodas well as the profound change inflicted upon theworld.
To sum up, onemay,I think, say that despite the differences betweenthe two images,theirmeaning andtheir rolewithin theworlds of their narratives remain similar. In Tolkien’s version the focus is shifted from the creator to the thing created, whereas in the Romancestories the main emphasis was lainon the per
son of Alexander as thebuilder of the gate. Additionally, what canbe observed in TheLordof the Rings is a change inthe time frame: what was supposedtobe acertain, yet distant, future in the accountof theRomance happens right before the eyesof the reader of Tolkien’s novel. One may say, and the statement will be only slightly exaggerated, that while the Romance of Alexander takes us to the beginningof the Gate, in The Lord of theRings we havea chance to see the its end. This shift ofperspective does not, however, abolish numerous similari ties between thetwo gates, in regards toboth their looks, their origins and their aimwithin theconstruction of their respective stories.
The BlackGateofAlexander? Tracing Possible Presence ofthe GateofAlexander... 65
Few fantasy writersother than Tolkien couldbe suspected of consciously us ing the motif taken directly from ancient and/or medieval literature - onewould rather expect re-working of thetheme used already in the genre, which seems to be one of the most common practices amongthe fantasywriters49. Tolkien’s case, however, is special. It seems tome that both hisbackground as Medieval scholar, his profound knowledge of the literature of European Middle Ages and the fact that the world of The Lord of the Rings has been created using numerous refer
ences andallusions to variousworks of Medieval literature maketheassumption that the Black Gate ofMordor is a re-working of the Gate ofAlexander motif quite plausible. Moreover, the similarities in both the description of the gate and thefunction of the motif within theworld of the noveland theRomance seem to point atthe factthat we are actually dealingwithwhatseems to bethe reworking ofthelateancient/medieval theme in themodemfantasynovel.
49Theexamples aretoo numerous to bequoted. Note, however, for example,that the majority of fantasy writers decided to take on Tolkien’sbestiary andhis concept of the sentient races (hu mans, short-lived andwarrior-like; Elves, nobleand wise, long-living; Dwarves, not too tall,ex
tremelystrongand not necessarily intelligent; Hobbits,small, practical and cunning) as if they were part of theconventional mythology andtradition; very little has changed in an average fantasy author’s approach to those characters. Fantasy, in general, isa repetitive genre witha very strong preference forconventions andevenstronger dependenceon the earlier works of the same kind: for thevast majorityof authors the setof rules (the use of magic, thequest formula), typical characters and world image (based on Romanticizedversion of the Middle Ages) can easily be predicted. The examples of a different approach are relatively (though not extremely) rareand, predictably,form the most interesting part of the genre’s corpus.
Abbreviations:
FOTR: Lord of the Rings I: The Fellowship of theRing.
TT: Lord of the Rings II: The Two Towers.
ROTK: Lord of theRings III: TheReturn of theKing.
Streszczenie
Czarna Brama Aleksandra? O możliwym wpływie motywu Wrót Aleksandra na Władcę Pierścieni J.R.R. Tolkiena
Wprzypadku niewielu innychautorówfantasy możnaby bezpiecznie postawić tezęo świa
domym zapożyczeniu przeznichmotywu z literatury antycznej czy średniowiecznej. Prędzej dałoby śię odnaleźć motywy pochodzące z tej tradycji, ale przejęte raczejz tradycji istniejącej w gatunku. W przypadkujednak J.R.R. Tolkiena, mediewisty, językoznawcy i badacza lite
raturśredniowiecznej Europy, takie założenie wydajesię jaknajbardziej na miejscu.
Wartykule staram się porównaćmotywłTrót Aleksandra, znanyjuż z greckiejwersji pseu- do-Kallistenesa iobecny w całejeuropejskiej orientalnejtradycjiRomansuo Aleksandrze, z kon cepcjąCzarnej Bramy Mordoru, znanąz dzieła Tolkiena.W obu przypadkach podobnyjest opis
66 ALEKSANDRA KLĘCZAR
wrót(ogromnabrama z czarnego żelaza), miejscepołożenia (na końcu znanego świata, na gra
nicy cywilizacji) oraz ich cel (powstrzymanie potwornych plemion kanibali i barbarzyńców przed atakiemna cywilizowane ziemie). Istnieją równieżspore podobieństwa wopisie nieczys tych ludów, zamkniętych za bramą przez Aleksandra,orazTolkienowskich orków. Wobuprzy
padkach mamy równieżdo czynienia z apokaliptycznym wymiarem momentu przekroczenia przez owe ludybarbarzyńców bramy: iw tradycji Romansu, i w dziele Tolkiena moment, kiedy nieczyste ludy czyorkowie wydostaną się poza bramę, oznaczakoniec świata (w Romansie przezutożsamienie ich zbiblijnym Gogiem i Magogiem) lub zagrożenie dla świata i koniec pewnej epoki(wojna z wojskamiSaurona weWładcy Pierścieni).
Różnice w użyciu tego motywu w tradycji Romansu o Aleksandrze i uTolkienadotyczą przedewszystkim dwu kwestii: popierwsze, w powieści Tolkiena nie ma nacisku na postać twórcy Bramy; zupełnieinaczej wygląda to wRomansie, gdzie uwypuklona jest rola Alek sandra jako tego,który z boską pomocądokonał zamknięcia nieczystych ludów. Po drugie, o ile w Romansie moment przekroczenia wrót zostaje zapowiedziany jako odległa, choć nieunikniona, przyszłość, w dziele Tolkiena właśnie wokół tej chwili i jej konsekwencji skupiona jest narracja powieści. Te zmiany perspektywy nie zmieniają jednak faktu, że w sferze znaczenia i funkcji obu motywów istnieją znaczące podobieństwa międzydziełem Tolkiena a różnymi wersjami opowieści oczynach Aleksandra.
Wydaje się, iż w świetle przedstawionych przeze mnie argumentów w przypadku tego motywu można mówić o świadomym zapożyczeniu i przetworzeniu przez Tolkiena wątku wywodzącego się z literackiejtradycji późnego antykui średniowiecza, aznanegoz Romansu oAleksandrze.
