Thursday, March 28, 2013
The Cats of Queen Berúthiel
One cool side-story that we didn't get a chance to talk about in class is "The Cats of Queen Berúthiel". Christopher Tolkien put it in note 7 of the Istari chapter on page 419. I don't know about you guys, but I was really excited to see this note. Tolkien mentions the story somewhere (of course now I can't remember where) in The Lord of the Rings, but not a whole lot of information is given about it. Anyway, I found it interesting because Tolkien hardly ever talks about cats. There are a few dogs (Huan and Garm) and plenty of horses but no cats. Queen Berúthiel is portrayed negatively in the story and her cats are basically spies for her. I wonder if this suggests that Tolkien hated cats. He probably wasn't a cat person (and neither am I). What sort of attributes do cats have that make them unlikable in Tolkien's world? The only thing I can think of is that dogs are very loyal (which is a good trait to have) whereas cats are more aloof. What do you guys think?
2 comments:
Another trait of cats that Tolkien draws attention to in the story of Queen Beruthiel is their ability to move about almost soundlessly. Whenever I see a cat jump down from a fence, the cat hardly makes noise when it lands. Perhaps the tendency for cats to travel virtually undetected made them less likeable/trustworthy in Tolkien’s world.
Yes, Tolkien definitely does not mention cats as much as some other animals! The cats in Queen Beruthiel's story act a lot like spies. I don't care much for cats and how sneaky they can be (perfect example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzzjgBAaWZw&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1). I think cats have a much more independent character, which is why they can't be written as a friend in Tolkien's works.
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