Elvish Work

As they about to leave Lothlórien, the members of the Fellowship receive gifts from Galadriel and the Elves.  Upon receiving some impressive cloaks, Pippin asks if they are magical garments.  The leader of the Elves replies, “I do not know what you mean by that… They are elvish robes, certainly, if that is what you mean.  Leaf and branch, water and stone: they have the hue and beauty of all these things under the twilight of Lórien that we love; for we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make.”

One of the tragedies of our world is that this form of labor is out of reach for so many, who are bound to systems of production and conditions of labor that are far from idyllic.  William Morris, the nineteenth-century British artist and activist, imagined something like the elvish vision of work.  Useful Work Versus Useless Toil (Penguin Great Ideas, 2008) is a great introduction to his thought, and may even show us some hidden paths to Lórien.

Image:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Morris_Tulip_and_Willow_design_1873.jpg