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Irony
Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Book 6, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Tears:
In Gondor, after Frodo and Sam are led by Gandalf to Aragorn’s feast, the host gathers in celebration of the hobbits’ courage. At the height of their rejoicing, a minstrel begins to sing, and Tolkien renders the company’s reaction through an elaborate sequence of similes and metaphors that elevate the scene from victory banquet to mythic commemoration.
And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness.
The minstrel’s “voice … like silver and gold” uses a simile to equate music with treasure, suggesting that art and memory are richer and more enduring than any spoils of war. The crowd is not enriched by conquest but by song, which becomes the true wealth of Middle-earth. The description of their “hearts, wounded with sweet words” continues the metaphor by likening music to a weapon. Song pierces them not to harm, but to open them to a fusion of grief and relief. In this way, words of beauty cut as deeply as blades, but they create healing rather than destruction.
The passage then heightens the emotion with the claim that “their joy was like swords.” Joy is no longer gentle or harmless; it is sharp, searing, and overwhelming, a reminder that victory carries as much pain as pleasure. Finally, Tolkien describes tears with a grand metaphor: they are “the very wine of blessedness," transforming sorrow into sacrament. Grief becomes sustaining, as if shared weeping were a holy drink binding the company together in fellowship and memory.
Through this chain of similes and metaphors, Tolkien casts the feast not simply as a political or military celebration but as a sacred rite. Merriment and mourning mingle until the two are inseparable, and song itself becomes both weapon and healing draught. The imagery elevates the company’s rejoicing into myth, emphasizing that the deepest victories are always touched by grief and that the true legacy of struggle lies in memory, art, and the bonds forged by shared suffering.
Related Themes:
