In The Lord of the Rings, in “A Part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen” (from Appendix A) we learn that Aragorn’s birth name was Estel, which means “hope” in Elvish (Sindarin specifically). But did you know that in Middle-earth, in Arda, and possibly the real world, there are two varieties of hope: estel and amdir?
When Aragorn’s mother, Gilraen, is on her death bed. . . .
‘Aragorn tried to comfort her, saying: “Yet there may be a light beyond the darkness; and if so, I would have you see it and be glad.”
‘But she answered only with this linnod:
Ónen i-Estel Edain, ú-chebin estel anim,
An endnote translates her words: ‘I gave Hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept no hope for myself.’
It’s crazy sad, to be sure. But that estel means “hope” is all we get from The Lord of the Rings. Yet in 1993, the book Morgoth’s Ring reveales that Tolkien devised two varieties of hope, as explained by Finrod (the greatest Elf to ever Elf) in his debate with the wise-woman Andreth (back in the First Age). And which I wrote about in this article about Elven immortality vs. Mannish mortality.
He explains that Men have the one word, “hope.” But the Elves have two: They use amdir, or “looking up,” for the sort of hope that’s grounded in experience and expectation. Andreth calls that “An expectation of good, which though uncertain has some foundation in what is known.” And she points out that because of death, no, Men have none of that variety.
But estel—the word Gilraen later gave to her son—means “trust.” Finrod explains it this way to Andreth:
‘It is not defeated by the ways of the world, for it does not come from experience, but from our nature and first being. If we are indeed the Eruhin, the Children of the One, then He will not suffer Himself to be deprived of His own, not by any Enemy, not even by ourselves. This is the last foundation of Estel, which we keep even when we contemplate the End: of all His designs the issue must be for His Children’s joy. Amdir you have not, you say. Does no Estel at all abide?’
So admir means hope based on precedence, on observation of reality, or of realistic expectations.
- If you’re good with a sword and you’re wearing decent armor, you might have amdir-hope that you’ll defeat that orc who’s running toward you.
- Or, if you’ve led an alliance of Men and Elves right to Barad-dûr itself and now laying siege against Sauron’s forces, you might have some amdir that you’re actually strong enough to defeat him!
But estel means you’re trusting that things might work out, just because. Because you’re placing trust in the One, Eru Ilúvatar (or God), and are hoping that what you want is part of what he wants. It’s the hope of faith.
- If you’re weaponless and not a particularly good fighter, you conceivably could still have some estel-hope (and definitely not amdir) that you might somehow survive that orc who’s running toward you.
- And if you’re sending a halfling from the Shire out with the One Ring in hope that he can get past all the armies of Mordor and then toss it into the fires of Mount Doom, well, you’re counting mostly on estel alone. Gandalf and Elrond exhibited estel when they hoped that the stealth-quest might succeed, because it’s extremely irrational to point the halfling south with no nuanced strategy.
Make sense? I do love that Tolkien invented two varieties of hope. As a Tolkien nerd, I find myself thinking in such terms in everyday life. When I have hope for something, it’s usually one of those two varieties. Can it be both? Sometimes. But usually not.
