Kipling, Tolkien, and the Iron Ring
The tradition of giving iron rings to soon-to-graduate Canadian engineers started in 1922, after University of Toronto professor H. E. T. Haultain convinced the Engineering Institute of Canada that a ceremony and a symbol would remind young engineers of their responsibilities and obligations, and motivate camaraderie and professional excellence.
Why Rings?
Rudyard Kipling was asked to design the ceremony where each engineer would be given an artefact as a memento. Kipling was familiar with the symbolic significance of rings in Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic mythology, and chose to adapt it for the ceremony. Rings were given by kings ("ring-givers") to their retainers ("ring-bearers") as a symbol of power and responsibility. Rings are an overwhelming theme in the stories of Siegfried and of Beowulf, most strikingly highlighted by the two immense works of art they inspired – Wagner's Ring cycle, and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien's Dwarves, of course, are very much the engineers and technologists of Middle-Earth. They identify themselves as miners and craftsmen. The Dwarves are not only mining engineers and metallurgists, but also architects and urban planners (they redesigned and reconstructed Minas Tirith after the War of the Ring), civil engineers (they rebuilt and reinforced both Rammas Echor, the wall that girdled the Pelennor Fields, and the Deeping Wall at Helm's Deep), and chemical engineers (Gandalf's fireworks were made by Dwarves).
There's more: the Dwarves are also prodigious brewers and imbibers of beer, hard-working and patient (Khazad-dûm wasn't built in a day) and ominously enough, died out due to a lack of women, who were only one-third of all Dwarves (still better than most engineering departments ... o.O)
In LotR, the rings are given to the rulers of each race – Elrond and Galadriel wear two of the three Elven ones. The ones given to the Dwarves are unusual, in that they do not turn the wearer invisible, or extend life-span, or bring him under the direct control of Sauron. The only influence seems to be an increase in the wearer's avarice, nothing more. This relatively mild effect is credited to the Dwarves' hardy nature, the rings being limited only to the already most powerful Dwarf-lords, and the unique provenance of the Dwarves (they were created by a lesser god, not the One who creates Elves and Men).
Why Iron?
Iron (or "cold iron") was also important to European folklore. It was supposed to ward off evil spirits in a variety of ways: a horse-shoe nailed to the door, an iron knife buried under the threshold, an iron gate at a cemetery. The phrase "cold iron" is used in the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer.
Did Kipling influence Tolkien? I'd wager so. LotR was first published in the fifties, and Kipling wrote "Cold Iron" in 1910, beginning with these lines –
Gold is for the mistress – silver for the maid –
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,
"But Iron – Cold Iron – is master of them all."
Compare:
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
Rings symbolise power and responsibility, iron symbolises fortitude and protection from evil. The Iron Rings aren't simply an arbitrary figment of Kipling's whim, but have a long tradition of mythology and meaning backing them up. If you've got yours – congratulations! Pretend to be a Dwarf-lord, do your work with diligence, and enjoy your portable protection against evil spirits : )
Tolkien's Dwarves, of course, are very much the engineers and technologists of Middle-Earth. They identify themselves as miners and craftsmen. The Dwarves are not only mining engineers and metallurgists, but also architects and urban planners (they redesigned and reconstructed Minas Tirith after the War of the Ring), civil engineers (they rebuilt and reinforced both Rammas Echor, the wall that girdled the Pelennor Fields, and the Deeping Wall at Helm's Deep), and chemical engineers (Gandalf's fireworks were made by Dwarves).
There's more: the Dwarves are also prodigious brewers and imbibers of beer, hard-working and patient (Khazad-dûm wasn't built in a day) and ominously enough, died out due to a lack of women, who were only one-third of all Dwarves (still better than most engineering departments ... o.O)
In LotR, the rings are given to the rulers of each race – Elrond and Galadriel wear two of the three Elven ones. The ones given to the Dwarves are unusual, in that they do not turn the wearer invisible, or extend life-span, or bring him under the direct control of Sauron. The only influence seems to be an increase in the wearer's avarice, nothing more. This relatively mild effect is credited to the Dwarves' hardy nature, the rings being limited only to the already most powerful Dwarf-lords, and the unique provenance of the Dwarves (they were created by a lesser god, not the One who creates Elves and Men).
Why Iron?
Iron (or "cold iron") was also important to European folklore. It was supposed to ward off evil spirits in a variety of ways: a horse-shoe nailed to the door, an iron knife buried under the threshold, an iron gate at a cemetery. The phrase "cold iron" is used in the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer.
Did Kipling influence Tolkien? I'd wager so. LotR was first published in the fifties, and Kipling wrote "Cold Iron" in 1910, beginning with these lines –
Gold is for the mistress – silver for the maid –
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,
"But Iron – Cold Iron – is master of them all."
Compare:
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
Rings symbolise power and responsibility, iron symbolises fortitude and protection from evil. The Iron Rings aren't simply an arbitrary figment of Kipling's whim, but have a long tradition of mythology and meaning backing them up. If you've got yours – congratulations! Pretend to be a Dwarf-lord, do your work with diligence, and enjoy your portable protection against evil spirits : )
