#but lorien is associated with visions

[aotearoa20]

Ainur and the Children

Tar-Palantir the far-sighted and Lórien, master of visions and dreams @ainurweek

[suzannahnatters]

I Re-Read Tolkien's "Lay of Leithian" For the First Time in Like 15 Years And It's Still My Favourite Poem In the Whole Wide World: Selected Ravings

CANTO I mostly scene setting, but it's so fun to get more worldbuilding details on Doriath. Also this poetry is just gorgeous

CANTO II thou shalt to the moonless mists of hell descend and seek thy Eilinel AUGH

A bunch of details are different in this early version (Gorlim seeking out the Enemy, and being taken to Morgoth not Sauron) but the one that gets me most is Gorlim sneaking away from the phantom without making himself known because he doesn't want her to be hurt T_T

LOTR Orcs are cockneys. Lay of Leithian Orcs have clearly been to university

CANTO III OH HERE'S WHY LUTHIEN HAS SLEEP MAGIC!!!!! Because her mother Melian was associated with Lorien in Valinor, the Vala of dreams and visions, who in Line 439 of the Lay Tolkien calls "the Lord of Sleep"

Okay this is amazing: There after but an hour, him seems, he finds her where she lies and dreams, pale Melian with her dark hair upon a bed of leaves. Beware! There slumber and a sleep is twined! He touched her tresses and his mind was drowned in the forgetful deep, and dark the years rolled o'er his sleep MESS WITH THE ENCHANTRESS AT YOUR PERIL

And now his heart was healed and slain With a new life and with new pain

They enchant each other T_T when he calls "Tinuviel!" there's magic in it

CANTO IV the deathless in his dying shared feels faintly redolent of the Gospel

CANTO V TEXTILE MAGIC Rapunzel joins the list of stories Tolkien looked at, sniffed, and said "I can do better"

CANTO VI We find out why Sauron (here, Thu) is called The Necromancer:

In glamoury that necromancer held his hosts of phantoms and of wandering ghosts, of misbegotten or spell-wronged monsters that about him thronged, working his bidding dark and vile: the werewolves of the Wizard's Isle.

CANTO VII I love SO MUCH the fact that in this version what gives them away to Sauron is the fact that they won't blaspheme the gods and declare Morgoth the king of all earthly kings

CANTO VIII I think it's super important to note that this begins with an absolutely gorgeous passage describing the Bestest Boi, and also there's this beautiful beautiful little Sir Orfeo reference that lives in my head rent free:

Hark! afar in Nargothrond, far over Sirion and beyond, there are dim cries and horns blowing, and barking hounds through the trees going.

Lúthien's meeting with Huan:

Huan alone that she ever met she never in enchantment set nor bound with spells. RIP to you Beren

CANTO IX this whole canto is unbeLIEVably epic, possibly my favourite in the whole Lay, but my favourite part is Sauron hearing the song from the bridge and saying

A! little Lúthien! What brought the foolish fly to web unsought? ee hee hee hee

CANTO X Tolkien just really wants you to know that these guys are Beyond It:

Thereafter never hound was whelped would follow horn of Celegorm or Curufin.

It's interesting that Tolkien at this stage had Beren telling Lúthien to stay in Doriath waiting for his return specifically because Sauron had informed him that Morgoth was keen to capture her. It's like he realised that with all of Lúthien's evident capabilities he needed to give Beren a convincing reason to leave her behind lol

CANTO XI Lúthien catching Beren in the middle of his dramatic farewell will never not crack me up but in this version she tells him off for not putting his trust in her might so weak and then when he asks where's the hound he left to guard her she tells him how much wiser and kinder Huan is than him at which point Beren demands to know why she doesn't just marry the dog

The description of them putting on the werewolf and vampire disguises, and their journey to the gates of Thangorodrim, is fanTAStically creepy and epic and also, I'm surprised to note, HIGHLY reminiscent of the hobbits' trek into Mordor.

CANTO XII this bit about how Carcharoth has not yet come

disastrous, ravening, from the gates of Angband

has STRONG Voluspa echoes -

Loud bays Garm before Gaping-Hel; the bond shall be broken, the Wolf run free

CANTO XIII I love these descriptions of Angband (even Morgoth has tree themed decor) and I love EVEN MORE the fact that when Lúthien flies into the hall a Dark Lord, all his Balrogs and a ton of werewolves suddenly feel the Valar walking over their graves -

A nameless doubt, a shapeless fear had entered in their caverns drear, and grew, and towered above them cowed, hearing in heart the trumpets loud of gods forgotten.

She stood revealed in hell. (chewing glass)

CANTO XIV (fragment) I am going to haunt Tolkien in the afterlife for leaving it off here.

[youareunbearable]

What if Hobbits aren't creations from Yavanna like everyone thinks?

Sure they like growing things, and sure their home is a beautiful little paradise of green and goodness, and sure, I love the parallels of Dwarf/Hobbit ships because they reflect Aule/Yavanna

But Yavanna already created the Ents, she already made her creatures to protect her beloved trees and green things.

But shes not the only Vala to live in a beautiful, nature filled garden

So I'm suggesting another Vala made the hobbits: Irmo

Irmo is the Vala of Dreams and Visions, he lives in the Gardens of Lorien with his wife is Este, the Vala of healing and rest for the weary.

He is never called upon during times of war or strife, but he would still work behind the sceens and in subtle ways to send hope amongst the Children of Illuvatar. He is associated with hope, inspiration, love, desire, dreams, sleep, and visions.

Don't a lot of these traits sound familiar? Aren't all of these traits the roles hobbits play in every story they're involved in?

Dwarves are going on an impossible mission to reclaim their home from a dragon? you are gonna need a lot of hope for that, and here is Bilbo, noticing things that need to be noticed (like the Hidden Door) and is always working behind the scenes to get the Dwarves to the mountian, and to find their stone, was the only not to be corrupted by the Gold Sickness, and inspired love and dreams of a better future to so many during the quest (like Thranduil, Bard, Thorin, Gandalf, Elrond, etc)

Being a symbol of hope and inspiration is literally Frodo's role in the LotR. Along with Merry to the Rohirrim, and Pippin to Faramir and Gondor, and both of them to the Ents. They become these types of mascots because people feel joy and love and hope when they see these cheery little folk

Hobbits are just friend shaped. Bilbo stole 13 Dwarves from Thranduil's dungon and he was so charmed by him that he called him Elf Friend. You just see one and wanna adopt them. They just emit these vibes of hope and love and dreams of a better world where everyone could just live as peacefully as Hobbits do

None of the Hobbits (besides Gollum) are really tempted by the visions and desire the Ring pushes forward, and if they are they shake it off fairly quickly, and I think this is because of Irmo. Of course he would make HIS children impervious to wicked temptations/desires/dreams, which is why none of Sauron's evils really tempt them, and if it does they don't really do anything with the power given. Like Gollum had it for a couple hundred of years and all he did was sit in a cave and look at it. If ANY OTHER race had that ring kingdoms would have fell.

I like to think that Irmo saw how fell whispers, temptation, greed, and hope was used against the Elves in Valinor, so he created his people (Hobbits) and their perfect little pockets of peace in Middle Earth for them to find rest and care.

But he messed up.

The Garden of Lorien is located very far away from everything else in Valinor, to help make it a peaceful getaway, so he does the same thing with his Hobbits. Except that no one knows where they are and now can't find them. This becomes a habit of his people, that since Hobbits were so isolated when they were born, they don't really like to interact with others. Of cource they'll accept any that comes to their land, but making them leave it?? naw nice try.

But they do have some interactions with others during the First Age, as they live between the Greenwood and Moria in the Gladden Fields, they probably talked with the Avari and Durin's Folk. Then in the Second Age they had Oropher's Sindarin people too. Then in the early Third Age they travel Westward. They befriend human Kings and the Dunedain and settle in the Shire, and it becomes a Haven, one that Gandalf recognizes. Oh sure it doesn't have the splendor of Lorien, nor the echo of delicate voices in the air to calm you, or the brilliant beauty in its landscapes, But it is a place to recuperate and even the air seems lighter in this lands then any other he's been within Middle Earth.

(If Maglor was found and rested in the Shire, he would heal there just as he would in the Gardens of Lorien in Valinor, for only he, with his mastery over Song and Music (for an Elf) could hear and understand and appreciate the strings of the Song of Irmo within the heartbeats and breaths of the Hobbits, as it dances around their Party Tree, burbles in the Brandywine, and echos from the branches of the Old Forest)

The Shire doesn't hold the same beauty of Lorien, but it holds a beauty that suits the peoples Middle Earth, and it still a haven for all that come across it, the people that dwell within, and to those that meet it's inhabitants .

For Hobbits follow in their Creator's footsteps and bring love, dreams, visions, desire, inspiration, and most importantly, Hope to the peoples of Middle Earth

One little, subtle, sneaky Hobbit at a time

[taiey]

There are 15 Valar in the Silmarillion (including Morgorth), and 15 Fears in The Magnus Archives (including the Extinction). So clearly I need to match these lists.

In roughly descending order of fit,

Orome, a hunter of monsters and fell beasts, is the Hunt.

Mandos, the keeper of the Houses of the Dead, is the End.

Tulkas, who came last to Arda, to aid the Valar in the first battles with Melkor, is the Slaughter.

Vairë the Weaver, who weaves all things that have ever been in Time into her storied webs, is the Web. 

Morgoth, who descended through fire and wrath into a great burning, is the Desolation.

Lorien, master of visions and dreams, is the Spiral.

Yavanna, lover of all things that grow in the earth including the small and secret things in the mould, is the Corruption.

Aule, who desired to make things of [his] own that should be new and unthought of by others, is the Extinction.

Estë the gentle gets Buried because rest is her gift and it kinda has a frequent thing about sleep.

Manwe, who sees further than all other eyes, through mist, and through darkness, and over the leagues of the sea, is the Eye.

Nienna the weeper dwells alone and comes seldom to the city mourns for every wound that Arda has suffered yeah shut up it’s sort of kind of Lonely.

Nessa gets to be the Stranger purely because in dancing she delights.

Vána, the Ever-young, gets to be Flesh because it is also the youngest. this is Not Going Well ok

Varda is constantly associated with light so, uh, we’re going to assign her the Dark.

[ainurmoodboards]

Lorien, Uinen, and the Silver Tree

Telperion was the White Tree of Valinor and was also known by the name of Silpion, particularly in the early stages of Tolkien’s works. Tolkien’s earlier writings provide connections between the White Tree and some of the Ainur. 

Irmo, more commonly known as Lorien after his dwelling place, was the master of dreams and visions and the brother of Namo/Mandos and Nienna. Their isn’t a lot of detail about Lorien in The Silmarilion, but in earlier works he has a strong connection to Telperion/Silpion. A youthful Ainu named Silmo was a servant of Lorien (the concept of the Maiar wasn’t quite developed yet). Silmo was in charge of keeping the tree Silpion (Telperion) watered, just like how Arien watered Laurelin. The dews of Silpion were collected into a cauldron called Silindrin which was located in the gardens of Lorien. Here, Irmo/Lorien would gaze into the cauldron and see many mysterious visions. Silpion, Silmo, and Silindrin all come from a root word associated with shining, silver light. 

Since the last flower of Telperion later became the Moon, Lorien’s connection to the tree as the Master of Dreams and Visions may be due to the Moon’s association with the occult, the supernatural, and of course sleep. 

Uinen has an interesting connection to Telperion as well. After the deaths of the two trees, Vana cut her golden hair short to weave for the sails of the ship of the Sun. Meanwhile, Uinen is described as weaving the sails of the ship of the Moon out of foam and mists, with some glittering like fish scales and others shining with tiny points of star-like lights. 

Since Uinen and her husband were the Lord and Lady of the Seas and friends of the seashore-dwelling elves, Uinen’s association with the Moon may symbolize the Moon’s connection to the tides. 

[irmolorienasks-imagines]

Irmo Headcanons Summary (part 1)

Not including AU headcanons or headcanons that aren’t made by me. Also, I have excluded any headcanons about Irmo’s nightmare form or Dark!Irmo, because this post would have been too chaotic; as well as the concepts related to his Cult (courtesy of @elf-in-a-mask) or anything concerning shipping. These are all the headcanons I have come up with to this day.

IRMO’S APPEARANCE

Irmo’s featues are very delicate; the best way to describe them is probably “doll-like”. His skn, too, is pale like porcelain and his body frail and gaunt; like he is about to break. Unlike most of the Valar whose fanas are impressive in size, Irmo has chosen to have this tiny, lithe, physically feeble fana simply because the nature of his work is not based on the physical realm; thus he does not need to be either strong or big in size. His use of many substances also contributes to his frailness.

He is also incredibly beautiful, and the personification of desire. After all, he was created before the concepts of beauty or desire, hence these concepts were created after his own image.

Same as the fanart I have seen so far, I imagine Irmo to have long, wavy silverish-white hair, which sometimes switches colors, according to his moods (it might turn pastel blue when he feels melancholy or pink in the same way that people blush).

Irmo is the perfect example of Androgyny™. Being the Vala of desires he invented both male and female desires, after all. I cannot help but think of him as an actual hermaphrodite. However, since he invented carnal desires, he also knows how to control them and not leave himself at their mercy. 

Also, he often switches between a female and a male form.

The scariest thing about Irmo is his eyes. His gaze has this eerie expressionless tranquility and looks like he is gazing into nothing; but when he turns to look at someone; that someone has the feeling that Irmo’s eyes penetrate their very soul; all their thoughts and secrets revealed to the Master of Dreams; an experience commonly seen as unnerving and terrifying. His eyes do not have pupils; the irises are iridescent; changing colors according to the angle one looks at them and the illumination, and they emit a strange, purple light. But when he is upset or mad at someone, his eyes turn pit black -very much resembling his brother’s eyes.

Irmo’s eye color usually varies from pale white to silver, to gold, to blue, to pink, to purple.

Irmo’s skin and wings are bioilluminescent and they glow in the dark (that is one of the many reasons butterflies and moths are attracted to him). There are areas of his skin, (like the butterfly pattern on his face) where the bioilluminescene is more intense. Those spots are also full of neural endings, which makes them really sensitive to the touch (a.k.a erogenous zones) 

Speaking of Irmo’s bioilluminescence, this ability cannot be consciously regulated by him. The glowing is completely tied to his emotions and how he is feeling. When sleeping, the light is soft. If he is angry, the light is piercing and will sear your eyes. He will also glow a certain way when he is aroused as well, which leads to some uncomfortable situations.That is because the glow comes from a part of the fea that is related to the unconscious self; and since Irmo’s powers are very much related to the unconscious (as I like to think of it, he IS the vala of the unconscious mind) it makes sense that his glowing is much stronger than the other valar. But still, even though he is the vala of the unconscious mind, he, too, has an unconscious part of the fea; therefore he cannot control the glowing. 

Much like his moths, Irmo’s skin emits pheromones that can influence the thoughts and emotions of the people who come across him.

IRMO’S WINGS

Irmo’s wings are similar to fairy wings; only they are much larger.

His wings do not have a standard color; instead, they are iridescent and translucent; the holographic patterns on them changing according to the illumination.

They look like butterfly wings at first glance, but in fact they are a bit thinner than those and just about equally smooth to the touch.

The best way to describe their structure would be to compare them to stained glass windows; a network of connective tissue and blood vessels providing the basis on which the wing is built.

Naturally, his wings contain also a great amount on nerve endings; which means that they are super sensitive to the touch.

That, combined with how thin they are, is the main reason why he does not let others touch them; unless he trusts them a great deal.But if he does, he REALLY enjoys it.

However, this sensitivity of theirs causes Irmo all sorts of problems. For example, clothing that fully covers his back makes him feel uncomfortable, because the fabric -no matter how soft- irritates and stifles them.

For that reason, Irmo’s fashion choices are on the more…inventive and sensual side, including laces and multiple straps so that they tie around his back instead of covering it.

…and of course, they are very susceptible to injuries and lacerations if handled inappropriately. On the good side, though, they heal really quick.

His wings cannot disappear at will. Instead, they release some kind of pheromone that makes them stick onto his body like a second skin. In that form, etched onto his back, shoulders, waist and thighs, they look like a whole-body tattoo from a distance, until one notices that they are holographic and shimmer; that is.

When Irmo needs to use his wings again, they just stop releasing that pheromone, and as a result, they dry out and detach from his skin, ready for flight.His wings, much like insects’ wings are waterproof. Instead of absorbing it, they form droplets that gradually slide off them. Needless to say; the spectacle of Irmo’s wings being wet after he has had a bath or early, when they catch the morning mist, is priceless to behold.

His wings display such an odd behavior sometimes, that it might seem as if they have will of their own. They tend to make involuntary moves that give away his emotional condition at any given time; be it surprize, annoyance, fear or awkwardness. They also tend to move while he is asleep; somehow managing to keep up with their surroundings. If, for example, someone who Irmo likes sits next to him while he is asleep, his wings will start caressing their face. If someone who Irmo is not that fond of sits next to him, however, they pat them angrily, trying to shove them away.

IRMO’S POWERS/ABILITIES/WORSHIP

The behaviors which are attributed to Irmo are: dreams, desires (carnal or otherwise), visions/hallucinations, slips of the tongue, neuroses, psychoses ritualistic behavior, inspiration/art, meditation, transcendence.

Irmo and Este have also invented pharmacology and consequently, all types of drugs; both recreational and pharmaceutical; whose starting materials are found in abundance in Lorien’s gardens.The maiar are making concoctios of every flower or plant has psychoaffective properties and they try them themselves, noting down what their effects are. However, the maiar cannot get dependant on any of these substances; they view them merely as a part of their work.Similarly, Irmo himself may enjoy the effects that recreational drugs produce, but he cannot get dependant on them or even get high enough to be incapable of rational thinking and normal functioning.Irmo may know more about drugs than anyone else, but he is very strict when it comes to their consumption by people who are not in need of them; that is why phenomena such as drug dependency really disappoint and confuse him.

Additionally, Irmo represents he horror of nightmares and creeping insanity.

The gemstones that are attributed to Irmo (and irmo’s worship) are amethyst, moonstone and opal. 

Moths, butterflies and other kinds of insects are canonically associated with Irmo because of the whole “metamorphosis” concept. Serpents too; because they shed their skin -so they go through a kind of metamorphosis too- and are poisonous. And of course, amphibians like axolotls and toads, -they go through a metamorphosis, shed their skin AND produce substances with psychoaffective and even toxic properties

One of the most famous phrases that are linked to Irmo is “Edro Sēlda”, which in Quenya means “Open your Eye”.

Irmo cannot leave the gardens of Lorien, except for very short periods of time; because the gardens themselves are an extension of his self. Without his presence there, the flowers wither and winter comes to the gardens. 

Although he has all the good intentions in the world, he just cannot communicate in a common-sense-compatible way, which makes getting along almost impossible. Not all hope is lost, though, because his dream logic does makes sense if someone sleeps or meditates upon what he has said; besides, he can still communicate in non-verbal ways, like sending visions and interacting directly with the other person’s fea. Due to his odd antics, his company is obviously not everyone’s cup of tea, but he does maintain a small circle of loyal friends. He is very lenient and caring with his maiar, always willing to listen to their ideas and viewpoints; and he trusts them enough to let them run the gardens when he is too preoccupied in creating dreamworlds (which is most of the time). However, there is a set of unspoken rules that he maintains and should be respected by everyone in the Gardens; though they are in a form of ever-present subtext, subtle enough to go unnoticed and clear enough not to be misinterpreted.

Irmo can see into the thoughts of all beings, including those of the other Valar. Doing that includes not only hearing the thoughts themselves, but is also accompanied by sounds, colors, shapes and their unique atmosphere.

He can also manipulate their thoughts and send them visions at will.However, he maintains a confidentiality and privacy policy when it comes to reading/manipulating one’s thoughts, because he considers that to be a very intrusive and disrespectful act.

Irmo follows a strict “do no harm” policy; almost like the hippocratic oath (which is probably one of the reasons he married Este). So when he has to go to battle he does not carry any weapons; he is only equipped with a magical dreamcatcher-like net that when thrown against his enemies it puts them into a deep sleep, thus debilitating them. 

Very few are aware of it; but that net is one of Irmo’s only weaknesses; for one can capture him only by tangling him in it; in any other case he will be able to somehow escape. Namo is one of the very few who know this, and that is why when they ride to battle he always keeps an eye out for his brother, lest he finds himself in danger. 

Some sorts of dreams Irmo creates are meant for the Valar alone, because no mortal mind can bear them. Sometimes, even the Valar can barely handle them.

Even though many people -the Valar included- clearly do not enjoy those dreams; Irmo doesn’t mind, because he loves experimenting and pushing the limits of the mind.

Irmo finds creating nightmares more interesting than creating pleasant dreams, because he finds fear and objects of fear fascinating.Irmo can bend anyone to his will, using fears as a threat to obtain all he wants. Also, if he so wishes, he can drive anyone insane.

Creating dreams -and especially nightmares- is way more draining of a task than what it seems, and even Irmo needs to rest from time to time. Of course he has created dreams for himself; however when he is exhausted, he prefers to have a dreamless sleep.

Being more sensual than sexual does not prevent Irmo from seeing sexual intercourse as a therapeutic means to help others feel bette. If he thinks someone is going to be immensely benefitted by a session of tantric sex, he is going to provide it himself; or at least provide a vivid vision of it. He thinks nothing of it; merely a part of his work; and consequently, he does not allow himself to take any pleasure from it.

Irmo, being the master of desires, can make someone drowed by lust or petrified by fear with a mere gaze or touch. If he is feeling really playful, he would accompany those effects with visions or he’d whisper to their ear with his soft sultry voice, just to observe the effects it has on them.

Really few beings can actually grasp how difficult it is for Irmo to keep his powers under control and not accidentally probe one’s mind or evoke some unwanted emotion or desire by touching or even by looking at someone. The ones who can grasp that are the ones in whose presence Irmo accidentally put down his guard for even a fraction of a second because the effects were…. memorable.That also explains why the Eldar and the Edain often behave in odd, erratic ways. Their unconscious minds were formed in Irmo’s image, but since they are not Valar, they have much lower level of control over them.

The exclamation that is most frequently directed towards Irmo by the Children of Eru is “I didn’t realize how exhausted I was”, closely followed by “I didn’t realize how horny I was”, because his presence has those effects on them, even without him doing anything in particular that causes either.

Often, when he is too busy making his dream worlds, Irmo won’t be able to greet guests himself. Instead, he sends a flock of butterflies to them and turns the patterns onto their wings into eyes, to let them know he is aware they are there and that he can listen to their woes.

It is impossible to take a picture of Irmo that isn’t blurred or paradoxical.

IRMO’S HABITS

Irmo smokes some sort of hookah when he is lying on his favorite recliner; when he roams his gardens though, he always has an opium pipe with him. Thus, his breath (and entire being, really) has the sweet and exotic smell of incense, orchid essence, danish pipe tobacco and opium.

Irmo might seem quite sweet and pleasant, but he hides a really creepy and dark interior; and he is, in fact, one of the most unintentionally creepy Valar, along with his brother.

Contrary to common belief; Irmo is almost never “horny”; he is just quite sensual by nature. What might be considered as “leading people on” for Irmo is only “expressing affection”. In the kind of rare situations where he IS horny though, his skin emits a very pleasant scent (like a pheromone), he gets feverish warm and his eyes glisten more than usual. Also, when that happens, he usually avoids the object of his desires; but when it finally comes down to it, with a single touch or a stare he can inspire great lust. Sleeping with Irmo not as therapy but as an act of love might be very rare; but the few who have can testify that is a transcendental experience, dream-like and unlike anything they experienced before. That is what one gets for bedding the master of desires.

Both Irmo and his maiar are what others would describe as narcoleptics; they fall into that deep sleep state at random moments and even during conversations or while they are walking.Basically they are asleep most of the time; which short intervals of wakefulness are all the more important to them, because that is when they have the opportunity to rest and socialize.

They might not seem like it, but they are in fact VERY HARD WORKING. What others perceive as a period of inactivity, is actually their main reality; they LIVE into the dream world and build it like the Valar built Arda.

He LOVES sweets. Like, REALLY loves sweets. He barely eats anything that is not sweet. Marshmallows, candy floss, grapes, plums, figs; anything goes. Even straigt-up sugar cubes and sugar water. He is the type of person who adds a ton of milk and sugar in their tea; HOWEVER he drinks coffee black as the Void, because the bitter taste does not annoy him. But give him something that tastes even slightly sour or salty, and you are bound to make him cry. 

Irmo is very fond of all kinds of art. Artists, writers and composers often turn to Irmo in their prayers to grant them with inspiration to create. 

Irmo has a very strange sense of humor. He finds the most random or morbid things to be amusing

Irmo prefers walking around naked and covered only by his wings. He has gone through countless fights with Este because of that habit, but still he does not understand why she insists that he puts on some clothes when around people. 

Irmo’s favorite color is purple; he loves all of its shades, from lavender to royal purple and he feels calmer when he is around purple objects in general. His least favorite color is bright yellow, because it stresses him out with its intensity. 

Given that he is a being who sleeps 90% of the time, it is astonishing how easily he can get stressed; as if he is not used to normal life paces. He frets and panics over minor issues, most people would have no trouble dealing with; but when it comes to more complex issues things that would confuse others, he is the calmest person to be around. 

Since there is dim lighting at all times in the gardens of Lorien, it is safe to assume that Irmo hates hAteS HATES bright light and loud noises, because -guess what- they stress him out. It is also safe to say that he is also not very fond of complete darkness (he wouldn’t admit it, but it scares him; so if he suddenly finds himself in a complete dark space he is definitly going to clutch on anything close to him, be it a pillow, a plushie or another person) and closed spaces. 

Irmo has absolutely no idea what all the fuss about the Silmarills is about or why everyone is obsessed with shiny objects, because he cannot stand shiny/bright things himself.

Irmo has at least 10 butterflies or moths on his person at all times. They just love him - probably because they see his white hair and iridescent fae wings and they think of him as a mother figure.

Irmo doesn’t like wearing “normal” clothing cause his wings feel so stifled underneath the fabric; so he prefers having his whole back exposed, and his clothes being tied with ribbons around his waist and shoulders so that his wings sprout and move freely. Bonus: he is not aware how sexy his clothes are considered to be -or how sexy he is for that matter-.

Irmo is an absulute fan of stained glass structures. All the buildings in Lorien’s gardens, including Irmo’s and Este’s private quarters are made exclusively out of stained glass. 

He also loves the sound of the Glass Harp (or Glass Harmonica). For those who do not know the particular instrument, it was a predecessor of the piano and his sound is in equal parts dream-like and eerie. 

Irmo’s favorite sea creatures are jellyfish. Somewhere in the gardens Irmo has a huge tank filled with jellyfish. He spends many hours just watching them, because he finds their movements so graceful and relaxing. Their swimming around remind him of the dance of fëar when leaving their mortal hröar. 

One of the things very few know about Irmo, is how deep his insecurities and self hatred go. That is a part of him that he prefers keeping buried deep inside him, but it exists nonetheless. For that reason, being ravished in a punishing, hurtful way is one of the desires he is too afraid to admit to even himself, although it makes sense since there is that one voice deep inside his mind that tells him that he deserves all the pain he would get. Knowing oneself so intimately can be a curse, you see; and even though he is the master of dreams and desires, being loved by someone for whom he really has feelings is such an incomprehensible concept for him. The only situation he would let himself reveal that desire would be if he was extremely sad and upset, and the object of his affections tried to comfort him. Well, yes; in the realms of the subconscious sanity and insanity are both relative.

IRMO AND THE FEANTURI HEADCANONS

Let’s begin with canon: Namo’s surname is Vefantur/Vefantor or Nurofeantur, which means by word “the one who reveals all alike” (hence, the one who reveals the common fate, the nihilist). His name “Namo” means “he who judges”.Irmo’s surname is Olfantor/Olfantur or Olofeantur, which means by word “the one who reveals the hidden path” or “the one who reveals the nightly path” (hence, the one who reveals the unconscious truth). His name “Irmo” means “he who desires”. 

I like to think that the Feanturi have their own language that they use to speak to each other (this includes Nienna and Estë). None of the other valar can understand it no matter how hard that they try to study and learn it.

All three siblings have these strange eyes like deep dark pools of liquid void. No one, not even the Valar, can make direct eye contact with them for long without feeling like they are being consumed.

When the Feanturi all show up to a feast, everyone stops and goes silent. It is a rarity to actually have all together in one place as well. Part of this reaction is because they are associated with bad things happening to people.

Both Namo and Irmo are TERRIBLE at talking to people because nothing they say ever makes sense. Námo always gives extremely ominous statements out of nowhere and gives NO EXPLANATION as to what they mean. Is he foretelling your doom? Is he just joking? NO ONE KNOWS; which is why he makes everything awkward.- Irmó on the other hand, seems like he’s talking in riddles. He makes really weird analogies and metaphors that are impossible to understand and in general he works with dream logic, so nothing he says makes sense unless one sleeps on it.

There are no mentions of what weapons Namo and Irmo used in battle (although it is CANON that they rode on a carriage dragged by a black and a dappled grey horse), but for some reason I think they both worked together, Irmo throwing a kind of a magical net that puts all those captured by it to sleep and Namo collecting their fëar with a scythe.

Both Irmo and Namo are into taxidermy, after Nienna suggested that they should find a hobby. Namo is more into preserving skeletons, making skeleton props and decorating the Halls with them. Also, he pretty soon discovered that carving intricate decorative patterns on random skulls is oddly relaxing.

…as for Irmo, he is into diaphonizing different specimens and enclosing them into crystals. Many of his creations can be seen throughout the gardens of Lorien; adding to the eerie and dream-like atmosphere.

Nienna too, didn’t take long to join her brothers’ taxidermy obsession, and she likes making bone jewellery in her free time.

Irmo really enjoys sending wet dreams to Namo of all the acts they are forbidden and unable to perform together. And Namo is… um… highly impressed of Irmo’s creativity in that particular aspect of desires. 

Irmo’s and Namo’s favorite game is 20 questions, but with a twist: Namo presents some random information about an elf’s death and Irmo has to make out the whole scenario of how and why they died from scratch.

Noone should ever dare to insult Silmo in front of Irmo. He is his favorite Maia. He even gave Namo the cold shoulder for a little while after Namo said some rude things about Silmo. Interestingly enough, Silmo did find some satisfaction in that. He believed that Namo deserved it. 

IRMO’S MAIAR HEADCANONS

Irmo’s maiar look like creepy haunted dolls and are most of the time asleep in a specially formed area in the gardens, which looks like a very odd cemetery, with the maiar in a near comatose deep sleep in glass ornate cases

Irmo makes sure that his maiar are comfortable while sleeping (working, really, since their field is the dream world), adjusting their pillows and covering them with blankets -and sometimes giving them something to hug (especially to those who work on the nightmare section of dreams)

Just like his Master, Silmo has a pair of fae wings; only his are white monarch butterfly type , because he has to fly long distances. A soothing,warm, intense brightness surrounds him, coming from inside him. That brightness is unlike Irmo’s colder and more mysterious one, and that is why his presence is more comforting. Irmo himself will seek out his company when he is sad, and will sleep next to him until he feels better.

GARDENS OF LORIEN HEADCANONS

The most noteworthy thing about the Garens is that they are neither fixed nor stable in their nature; instead they are ever-changing and fluid; flunctuating between impossible landscapes and labyrinths that constantly move around, with the exception of a few landmarks that stay fixed.

The Lake of Thoughts at the Gardens of Lorien: As everything at the Gardens, this lake corresponds with Irmo’s state of mind; its colors altering  along with it. Its depth is unknown, and noone dares to find out, for if someone dives too deep, the waters never let them go and they swallow them to their infinite depths. Only Irmo can dive in fearlessly, and he likes to remain there, hidden in the deep waters for days on end, when he wants his sleep to be uninterrupted and creates the most intricate of dreams.

This one is actually from Tolkien’s Lost Works: “Lorien too dwelt far away, and his hall was great and dimly lit and had wide gardens. The place of his dwelling he called Murmuran, which Aule made of mists gathered beyond Arvalin upon the Shadowy Seas. ‘Twas set in the South by the feet of the Mountains of Valinor upon the confines of the realm,but its gardens wandered marvellously about, winding nigh to the feet of Silpion whose shining lit them strangely. They were full of labyrinths and mazes, for Palurien had given Lorien great wealth of yew trees and cedars, and of pines that exuded drowsy odours in the dusk; and these hung over deep pools. Glowworms crept about their borders and Varda had set stars within their depths for the pleasure of Lorien, but his sprites sang wonderfully in these gardens and the scent of nightflowers and the songs of sleepy nightingales filled them with great loveliness. There too grew the poppies glowing redly in the dusk, and those the Gods called fumellar the flowers of sleep — and Lorien used them much in his enchantments. Amidmost of those pleasances was set within a ring of shadowy cypress towering high that deep vat Silindrin. There it lay in a bed of pearls, and its surface unbroken was shot with silver flickerings, and the shadows of the trees lay on it, and the Mountains of Valinor could see their faces mirrored there. Lorien gazing upon it saw many visions of mystery pass across its face, and that he suffered never to be stirred from its sleep save when Silmo came noiselessly with a silver urn to draw a draught of its shimmering cools, and fared softly thence to water the roots of Silpion ere the tree of gold grew hot.”

It is canon that the gardens of Lorien are dimly lit at all times; with no evidence what the nature of the illumination is -excluding the stars Varda sent. Given the whole aesthetics of the gardens though, I highly suspect that they are lit with a mixture of a constant aurora borealis of a blue-ish/purple color and thousands of fireflies hovering above the garden.

In the gardens of Lorien there is one forest made entirely out of amethyst and quarz.

Yavanna got the inspiration to create the Two Trees by observing the native species of bioilluminescent plants and flowers that are only to be found there. Yavanna had zero involvement in the creation of the gardens; all the species that inhabit there are being created by Irmo alone; that is why many of them are utterly bizzare and uncanny, as if they stepped out of a fantasy painting.

Irmo has the ability to bring creatures and objects of his imagination into existance; however that ability can be applied only within the gardens of lorien

Speaking of which; i am persuaded that somewhere in those gardens floating mountains and islands like these exist, just because they overturn the laws of physics

Most of the species that live in the gardens of Lorien are not to be found anywhere else in Arda. One of the most famous ones is the fairy dragon. These are so few of them, and they are quite as temperamental and reclusive as their master, so spotting one in the gardens is said to bring luck. They are very small in size; the biggest of them barely reaching the size of a cat, their scales are colorful and as soft as flowerpetals, and once they reach adulthood, their wings take the shape and colors of butterfly wings, hence their name. Although having adopted the good willed and peaceful nature of their master; they are proud and regal creatures that stand out as the kings of the gardens’ ecosystem, and Irmo’s favorite pets. Irmo himself created them, after he was inspired by Melkor; and hurting one of his favorite pets is considered a great insult. It is pretty hard to go after them, however, because they rarely walk too far away from their master, and Irmo is known to carry at least two of them on his person at all times. When they want attention they make small needy squeals, and when they petted they trill and purr. If they are not handled with care, though, one should be careful of their anger, because their bite is poisonous. Thankfully, they usually prefer to fly away with a huff and a smack with their tail.

The temperature of the Gardens at night is somewhat chilly, so that the sleepers can snuggle with their blankets.

When Irmo is crying or he is sad, it is raining at the gardens. 

In the rare occassions Irmo gets REALLY angry, the sky turns into a blood red color; the gardens are being buried by a forest of poisonous thorns and the water at the lorien springs and fountains starts boiling. 

The color of the sky in Lorien’s gardens, as well as the color of the water in the fountains, springs and lakes is controlled by Irmo himself, reflecting his emotional state and mindset. Irmo adores swimming in the lakes and springs of the gardens; especially laying underwater for hours on end while brewing dreams

The most usual material for clothing at the Gardens is silk; with so many moths around. However, since killing the sacred insects of Irmo in order to produce silk is not allowed, there is a whole new method of making the fabric. Instead of boiling the silkworms’ cocoons to kill them off, they wait for the silkworms to metamorphose into moths and then they collect the empty coccoons and process them to liquify the silk and then make it into thread anew. Moreover, unlike regular silk which only comes in white, various species of moths in the gardens produce colored and/or phosphorescent silk. 

[bobbynolanios88]

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

The author, Angus Brown, says regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) released a consultation paper on policy proposals for crypto assets after engaging constructively with many participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including Centbee.

In June 2018, I was invited to address the Sarb and it may have surprised some when I said: “The Reserve Bank is letting us all down by not providing enough regulation.” Failure to regulate creates an opportunity for public abuse and deception.

Money is a fundamental part of the way any society operates, and governments have controlled how it is created and used. I have spent the majority of my professional life either working for, or building banks. They are relatively fragile financial entities, as the 2008 global financial crash reminded us. They pose a systemic risk to the fabric of society, and historical bank crashes have set entire countries back by decades. Central banks were created to try and control these risks. However, like any government-run business, they have a patchy record.

We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide

I was a founding member of a team that launched eBucks.com, the world’s first bank-backed digital currency, in 2000. Our original vision was to create an entirely new digital currency that could be used to transact freely on the Internet. Years later, I was fascinated by Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper as I recognised the same spirit and intentions. Bitcoin is one of the critical financial innovations of our time.

In 2016, I took a giant leap of faith and co-founded a bitcoin payments start-up, Centbee. We provide an app that makes bitcoin the easiest way for people to pay each other.

My co-founder, Lorien Gamaroff, and I have been invited regularly to provide advice and education to central banks across the world. We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide. We have a healthy relationship with the Sarb, which has a relatively open view towards cryptocurrencies.

‘To make regular’

People often think of regulation as “establishing controls”, but it also means “to make regular”. Regulation helps to bring order to a situation, bringing the chaotic to the mainstream. Although early adopters typically have a high risk appetite, most people shy away from disorder, especially when it is associated with illegal activity.

If we truly want bitcoin to succeed, it needs to be owned and used by hundreds of millions of people. To achieve that, bitcoin has to be perceived as safe, easy to use and easily available. We must recognise that regulators as the agents of government are the gatekeepers.

Historian Niall Ferguson noted that “highly regulated” is not always synonymous with a sound and safe financial system. New regulations always have some unintended consequences as the marketplace adapts. This is not to suggest that cryptocurrencies should be entirely unregulated; rather, a call for regulation should be seen by policymakers as an ever-adapting process.

Governments are challenged by bitcoin because they have a very limited ability to control the technology. They face a paradigm challenge whereby they ordinarily license a specific product in a specific jurisdiction, and must now deal with a technology that is borderless. Not only does this pose problems to regulators attempting to provide a harmonised national policy approach across different product types and fiscal domains, but they have to address the issue of services provided across borders. The market of cryptocurrency users is a global audience.

Although some cryptocurrencies are currently viewed as alternative assets by speculators, it must be emphasised that the original vision, and likely longer-term outcome, is that bitcoin is a protocol.

At Centbee, we believe it is more fruitful to regulate apps and use cases than to attempt to control the cryptocurrencies themselves.

I am confident that a transparent and respectful approach towards regulators will help them develop enabling legislation. Regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of bitcoin.

Angus Brown is CEO of Centbee and co-founder of eBucks.com

Original Source http://bit.ly/2S0nVCz

[nerd-who-writes]

Stars of Love

Chapter 1

Note: Reader is from Gondor, and is as such, tall. My derp brain associates people from Gondor as being tall, sorry. If you're not tall, pretend. 

Disclaimer: I'm bad at pick up lines.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

You arrived in Mirkwood weary, hungry, and in serious need of a bath. Your hair was tangled with dying leaves and matted to the sweat on your forehead. Being from Gondor, your current state didn't bother you much, you had the constitution of a warrior. Nevermind the fact that you were used to traveling; it had been your main affair for nearly a year.

Eleven months ago, you left Gondor to travel throughout Middle Earth. You were unmarried and wanted to see the world before you grew old. With that mindset, you stepped out your wooden door and into the light spreading over the world. In that light you had traveled far, to Ronan and even venturing as far as the woods of Lothlorien, hoping to catch sight of the fair folk.

It was in that way that your spirits couldn't be dampened, unlike your brow. You weren't immune to sweat, especially in mid June. The air in the woods was thick, an impenetrable shield of dampness seeping into your clothes. You had already shed your fur coat in favor of your tunic top, the coat hanging loosly at your hips tied by the arms. On your back was a pack laden with supplies. Your food store was running thin, you dearly needed to restock. The problem was, you would run out of food before reaching Dale. This meant you had to stop in Mirkwood, dwelling of the elvenking and fair folk.

Even in Lothlorien, your interaction with elves had been little. Only the marchwarden had greeted you, wishing to know your name, home, and purpose. After deeming you harmless, you were left alone, watched only from afar. Even then, you could feel their eyes, staring through the forest like glittering gems gazing out from unmined halls. Your journey through Lorien made you wary, but barely. The atmosphere had been too pleasant to focus on your silent gaurdiens.

Here, though, you were uneasy for another reason. It wasn't the eyes of fair folk that watched you. The woods themselves marked each movement, staring out from the crevices in trees and the gaps between shrubbery. From under each upturned leaf, a face peered out from where it hid, beady black eyes beckoning you to wander farther. The wood was a pulsing thing, thirsting for you to become lost within its labyrinthine pathways. A heavy fog settled over the tree trunks, and soon you could see no farther than your outstretched arm.

Here and there, ghostly glimmers of light and bits of broken song reached your senses. You knew better than to chase what you thought was there. What you percieved were phantoms made to lure you from your path. Chasing them would lead to nowhere, an empty section of wood, and you would be terribly lost. Still, leaving the path for rest gradually became more appealing an option. The mist clouded your vision, and your eyes drooped with magic-induced weariness.

This then was how she found you, your body curled into the space between tree roots. One hand rested lazily on the hilt of your sword, the other under your head. Your pack lie beside you, a brown lump crushing scattered leaves. You slept deeply, as if submerged by a tidal wave, or perhaps drowned in the Anduin. Your breathes disrupted a strand of hair lying across your face. Tauriel studied you, kneeling down to examine your face and determine where you were from.

You woke, suddenly aware of a presence close to your own. Startled, you lunged out, drawing your sword. It was a hidden treasure, it's hilt carrying emeralds mined long ago. They trailed down the bronze plating to make swirling vines with leaves. The blade whistled just past the cheek of the creature near you. They jerked back, their reflexes just saving them from the bite of steel. Elegantly, they caught their balance and crouched back down, bow drawn. The arrow grazed the tip of your nose.

"Who are you, mortal? Why do you sleep at the feet of our trees?" You had been told stories of voices that enchanted men, elves, and dwarves alike. Magic tongues that spoke like the wind through trees, or the pattering of rain against tin.

"I-" 'am at a loss for words,' you thought.

"I am Y/N. I come from Gondor. I am a mere traveler, but I have run out of food. Perhaps you would aid me?"

It was all Tauriel could do to keep from staring. The way your head tilted, letting messy hair flop to frame your face took her breath away. Your eyes held hers, big and bright and beautiful. At was as if Tauriel had found all the world's light in two small pools, brimming with curiosity and awe. She wanted nothing more than to run her hands over your face, but still her arrow sat on its string, nearly poking you.

She relaxed her bow hurriedly. "I will see what I can do," she breathed. "Perhaps we can offer you rest in the halls of Thranduil, but we must go there anyway. He will be curious to see you." Tauriel stood and beckoned you follow her.

You sheathed your sword and donned your pack, following her firey hair through the twisting maze of trees. She walked with such grace, you felt uncoordinated bedside her. Her movements were so fluid you wondered if she was not a river. Perhaps a strand of the Anduin, powerful and beautiful, dancing all the way to the sea and stretching to Valinor, where she could never die. She turned to you, night air falling from her lips.

"You're lucky I found you before something else did." Tauriel was not used to women standing taller than she did, so she was surprised when she found herself looking up at you. She only had to tilt her head slightly, but enough for her to notice she was definitely looking up at you.

You looked down to meet her eyes. "What other thing could have found me?" A chill crept down your spine, skittering along your back like a scurrying spider.

"Spawn of Ungoliant dwell here, making webs high above us. There they lurk, waiting for victims to wander through the wood. A darkness has infected this forest. It was bright, once." Her words trailed off and she set long fingers against the bark of a tree, recalling a far off memory from the recesses of her brain.

"That was long ago, then? I'm sorry the forest has grown sick. Perhaps there is still hope for healing." You tried bringing light into your words. It must have worked, for the woman's eyes grew wider and her features brightened.

"Perhaps it might reassure you to know not every spider is evil. It is interesting, comparing the differences between Gondor and other kingdoms. In Gondor, the spider is a wise teacher." Your mind wandered to the tale of the first tapistry artist of the Nuemenör, her skill derived from a spider's teaching.

"Long ago, a woman lived alone with no husband to provide for her. She had to make money to feed herself, but she loathed washing the men's clothes while they trained, knowing full well she had no man of her own. As she sat, making fabric for tunics, she saw something in the corner of the ceiling. There, a spiderweb." You paused to hop over a singing brook.

"The waters will get wider," the elf warned. She paused, "did the woman knock the web away?" She brought her eyebrows together, forming the question on her face. "I have not yet heard this tale," she admitted. 

"No," you answered, delighted by her curiosity. "She instead studied it carefully. In it was a pattern unlike any she had seen. Thus, she copied it into her fabric. She used many colors to bring the pattern to life. The fabric was the talk of town. Everyone wanted to know how she made such a thing. Others were jealous."

"What happened to her then? I have heard of the cruelty of men. They did not punish her; for her skill?" Tauriel was genuinely concerned for the poor woman. Men were known to be brash and unreasonable. She knew some who were good, like Bard and his children. Others she knew as evil, such as the previous master of Laketown.

"Days went by, and the patterns from the corner she found elsewhere. They were in her bathroom, under her bed, in kitchen cupboards. Each time, she copied what she found there, until she was copying pictures. 

Stories of men in times passed filled her weaving room, covering the floor and walls. People bought much from her. She flourished with business."

You came upon a wider river, the one you had been warned about. "Don't touch the water," the elf cautioned, "you will not move again."

A rope stretched from one bank to the other, tied to two trees. It was taught, and the elf-woman hopped onto it to walk across. "Allow me to help you." She reached for your arm, steadying you as you swayed.

She walked the length of the rope backwards to make sure you didn't fall, your arms in hers. She assisted your balance, letting you grip her forarms. More than once you almost fell into her chest. Reaching the other side, you continued the tale.

"She got to wondering how the patterns appeared on her walls. She searched for days, and some called her mad, for she stopped weaving and was seen looking desperately for something. It was only by moonlight that she found the creature, creating a pattern under a table. It looked at her through several eyes before returning to work. That was how we found the first small spider, and tapistry has been taught to every girl since."

"It is wonderful, that you should shed light upon an evil creature. Perhaps I can see them in some light, now, too." The elf looked thoughtful.

In Gondor, there was a popular line used by men seeking the attention of a woman. You found it ridiculous, but wondered if you should not try it yourself. "I would put your name on a tapestry, if only I knew it."

Tauriel blushed. Nobody had spoken to her so brazenly in years, yet the comment was cautious, a calculated risk. "Tauriel," she said. "My name is Tauriel." A smile crept onto her face.

You were unsure you had ever seen a smile so beautiful in your life. It was small and unsure, but it was there. "Tauriel." You rolled the name around on your tongue. 'Tauriel, Tauriel, Tauriel.'

It had been a long time since anyone had said Tauriel's name like that. Like they were tasting Lembas for the first time, and one bite made them full. You scrunched your eyebrows while saying it, an adorable action that sent Tauriel's heart fluttering.

It wasn't long before you arrived at the gates to the castle, and Tauriel led you past gaurdsmen inside. A bridge led over battling waters to the entrance. "Welcome," she turned to you, observing the awe in your face, "to the halls of Thranduil."

[vardasvapors]

galadriel + irmo?

I love Lorien and Lothlorien :) The confusions about the various transformations of the prior names of Lothlorien regarding the confusions in Galadriel’s timeline all line up remarkably well though, Lindorinand (land of singers), Lorinand (valley of golden light), Laurelindorinan (valley of singing gold)…..and then Lorien and Lothlorien are the latest versions. The earliest ones appear to refer to the Lindar, the Teleri, of which the elves who became the Silvan elves were a clan, then the middle ones appear to refer to the Mallorns that came via Aldarion, and may have been only introduced later in the third age when Galadriel moved there, but might have been introduced early in the second age as gifts she passed to Amdir when she went there after getting kicked out of Eregion, or even earlier, since she was likely cultivating a friendship with them for some time.

The emphasis on these middle names as far as Galadriel’s associations go seems to refer more to the tree Laurelin, which Galadriel was homesick for and was associated with – it’s only the very last iteration of the name, Lothlorien, that refers to the Valinorian Lorien, which was shadowy and cool and did not by any reports have mallorns. It’s a striking change but doesn’t seem to be due to any shift in the land itself, but with what the land came to mean and represent in the changing context of middle earth – the name might be a Valinor reference, but the phenomenon the name refers to seems to be just as much or more a reference to the elves of middle earth, the silvan elves’ grief that their age is passing, and they must retreat or fade or sail, and the time effect inside it:

‘Please, Treebeard,’ [Pippin] said, ‘could I ask you something? Why did Celebornwarn us against your forest? He told us not to risk getting entangled in it.’

'Hmm, did he now?’ rumbled Treebeard. 'And I might have said much the same,if you had been going the other way. Do not risk getting entangled in the woodsof Laurelindórenan!That is what the Elves used to call it, but now they make the name shorter:Lothlórien they call it. Perhaps they are right: maybe it is fading; notgrowing. Land of the Valley of Singing Gold, that was it, once upon a time. Nowit is the Dreamflower. Ah well! But it is a queer place, and not for justany one to venture in. I am surprised that you ever got out, but much moresurprised that you ever got in: that has not happened to strangers for many ayear. It is a queer land.

'And so is this. Folk have come to grief here. Aye, they have, to grief.Laurelindórenan lindelorendor malinornélion ornemalin,’he hummed to himself. 'They are falling rather behind the world in there, Iguess,’ he said 'Neither this country, nor anything else outside the GoldenWood, is what it was when Celeborn was young. Still:

Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lómëanor,

that is what they used to say. Things have changed, but it is still true inplaces.’

But in the dimension of how this ties in with Galadriel and Irmo specifically, and not just Valinor in general, I think what ties it all together is Galadriel’s mental powers - Irmo the Vala of dreams and visions, Galadriel the student of Melian who was once of Lorien, Galadriel with her foresight and insight, and with her mirror, offering visions of what may be happening far off and what may come to pass. It’s almost certain that she knew Irmo in Valinor but something about how Lorien - the concept, the memory, the state of mind, the power, the original place, the nonspecific place, like haven, the connotations - seems to haunt her makes me think her interactions with Irmo were somewhat less formal, less finished or understood, and more jarring, or niggling, or off-kilter, than some of her more formal studies with Melian and Aule and Yavanna.

Perhaps a vivid childhood experience, sneaking into the gardens near the mingling of the lights, to see her grandmother’s body, or to ask Irmo what an ominous vision she had that none of her family could explain meant….idk, but I feel like however their paths crossed, it was incomplete, likely because back in Valinor, Galadriel, vis-a-vis the person she finally became by Lord of the Rings, was so incomplete.

[gurguliare]

notes on the valar’s debate re: finwë and miriel because whatever i guess i’m a tolkien blog again suddenly

valar present: all the aratar minus oromë and varda, but plus vairë. apparent difficulty of getting all the valar in a room is very touchingly + frighteningly provisional government. i’m not surprised oromë skipped, mildly interested in varda’s absence since varda hallows the silmarils and that’s like, the most we see her interact with an elf ever, but apparently she wasn’t as concerned with fëanor’s parents. someone write me fëanor + varda fic that isn’t primarily or exclusively about how hallowing another person’s family jewels is Illegal, thank you.

Things I Am Interested In About The Debate Itself:

aulë argues that miriel’s death (or as he wants to frame it, fëanor’s birth) was direct action on eru’s part, and that it’s therefore a mistake to talk about it as connected to the marring of arda. i love aulë’s shitty partisan tunnel vision. characterization-wise my goal for him is always to invent a melkor parallel, so, uh, belief in absolute creative control, i guess? god can always tweak his machine.

ulmo shoots back that miriel’s death CAN’T be a [thing apart from the marring] because miriel’s death has had shitty, ruinous consequences of its own, namely, it made people sad, and eru “doth not of his prime motion impose grief upon them.” ulmo acknowledges that eru is the ultimate source of all crap, grief included, but basically rejects aulë’s concept of eru acting without intermediary in a way that causes deep harm. as always, ulmo + numenor depresses me, albeit i guess not many people were left alive to grieve. between ulmo’s stance here and his speech to tuor in “of the coming of tuor to gondolin,” i think we can go past “ulmo is a rogue agent” and say that ulmo is invested in an ideal eru who may not be the same as the eru who presently exists (or, atemporally, may not be the same as... every eru who exists?); ulmo in a pinch will guilt trip god, or to take sides when god contradicts itself---not, “the contradiction must also be eru’s will and it’s our limited perspective that makes it seem evil,” but “the things i know to be right in eru are the substance of eru that i accept; the rest is a wall to be broken down, not a burden we rationalize or reconcile ourselves to.” HEAL GOD HEAL GOD HEAL GOD ulmo is, of course, jewish.*

*caveat: i have no idea what i’m talking about

yavanna backs up ulmo, which is neat---yavanna compared to ulmo is less touchy-feely, less involved with humanoids in general, so it’s not an instant association for me, but yavanna ofc also makes one of the iconic appeals-on-behalf-of-creation, which reveals a possible flaw in the design and gets a special accommodation granted: ents! here her focus is more technical (aman isn’t beyond the reach of the marring generally, and who would know better than her; everything made of matter is affected by melkor), but in a way that reveals the solid grounding for her brand of protective ardor; she’s also an engineer, though one long since resigned to the messy randomness of creation and its collaborative basis.

nienna similarly goes pretty in-depth with a consideration of psychological as well as physical frailty; despite my jokes about nienna the neural network, she lays out a lot of theory here. ulmo gets shirty about, uh, weighting temporal creatures’ in-the-moment understanding of their own abilities above their real potential to endure; in passing he touches on the fact that the valar’s interference deffos made things worse (because miriel, given an ultimatum, of course doubled down on her decision). vairë says, no, miriel is just pigheaded. in my memory of the debate i had attributed some of nienna’s stuff to vairë---i actually don’t quite know what to make of vairë’s position, or rather, of what it adds, except that she takes nienna’s relatively external + patronizing take on fallible minds and argues instead for a kind of terrible accuracy of perception between elf souls that the valar can have no frame of reference for. (vairë and mandos in different ways both strike me as bizarrely prone to, idk, taking elves seriously---see also “If thraldom it be, thou canst not escape it,” which is brutal! but which accepts feanor’s skewed model in order to enter a dialogue with him, rather than talking over his head about how his perspective is delusional.)

i haven’t touched on manwë’s and mandos’s comments in the debate because both are interesting but fairly self-explanatory. “everything else you wrote here was self-explanatory” shh. AND NOW, onto my favorite parts of this stupid essay:

1) nienna gets the bright idea to just, stuff miriel back into her corpse, and takes it to mandos privately as though no one else needs to be consulted about this and as though all the prior objections to miriel’s reincarnation just Stopped Existing because LOOK, the body’s FINE, and i HAD THIS IDEA

2) after the rebellion they do exactly that. they just pop her back in.

Then the fëa of Míriel was released and came before Manwë and received his blessing; and she went then to Lorien and re-entered her body, and awoke again, as one that cometh out of a deep sleep; and she arose and her body was refreshed. But after she had stood in the twilight of Lorien a long while in thought, remembering her former life, and all the tidings that she had learned, her heart was still sad, and she had no desire to return to her own people. Therefore she went to the doors of the House of Vairë and prayed to be admitted; and this prayer was granted, although in that House none of the Living dwelt nor have others ever entered it in the body.

i love it. i love it so much. i love miriel standing and thinking, i love that having already had a kind of ecstatic ghost turnaround after talking to finwe, where she’s like, i will! i will come back to life!---coming back to life is still hard. she sobers up and her understanding changes again once she’s returned to the world; she gets so many pivots in two pages and it doesn’t feel silly or trivial, it feels amazing, because this is the woman who vairë thought would stay dead until the end of the world---i guess that’s the other big function of vairë’s bit, is it lets us take seriously the idea that miriel COULD have. she was feanor’s mother. and yet by some chance she relented, and it wasn’t like, break the old resolve, form a new one, follow that just as doggedly, it’s that she breaks the old resolve and ends up in this totally new, thoughtful, responsive mindset, In The Twilight Of Lorien, she has the freedom to find out and follow her own impulses at last, and if the impulse runs out she abandons it

and she gets what she wants!! although in that house none of the living dwelt nor have others ever entered it in body!

also, from when she’s still talking stuff over with finwë:

And when she learned of Finwë all that had befallen since her departure (for she had given no heed to, nor asked tidings, until then) she was greatly moved; and she said to Finwë in thought: ‘I erred in leaving thee and our son, or at least in not soon returning after brief repose; for had I done so he might have grown wiser. But the children of Indis shall redress his errors and therefore I am glad that they should have being, and Indis hath my love. How should I bear grudge against one who received what I rejected and cherished what I abandoned?’

so, 1) i suspect that ghosts’ mental processing is not exactly like living people’s, because regardless of how seriously depressed míriel was when she died, ‘had given no heed to, nor asked tidings’ is real hardcore, also i just want ghosts to not be very much like living people 2) GOD the thing about indis’s kids... i love....... the fucked up blowup of an ideal sibling relationship of mutual correction and help into this continent-wide, fairly miserable chase sequence. cleaning up after the dead. and yet miriel with the wide-angle view can’t help but see in it the seeds of what should have been and also something to be grateful for

living handmaiden miriel/ghost finwë who hovers over her shoulder while she’s weaving and asks “is that anime”/embittered single mom indis is the BEST THREESOME, qed*

*i proved nothing

[mccartneynathxzw83]

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

The author, Angus Brown, says regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) released a consultation paper on policy proposals for crypto assets after engaging constructively with many participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including Centbee.

In June 2018, I was invited to address the Sarb and it may have surprised some when I said: “The Reserve Bank is letting us all down by not providing enough regulation.” Failure to regulate creates an opportunity for public abuse and deception.

Money is a fundamental part of the way any society operates, and governments have controlled how it is created and used. I have spent the majority of my professional life either working for, or building banks. They are relatively fragile financial entities, as the 2008 global financial crash reminded us. They pose a systemic risk to the fabric of society, and historical bank crashes have set entire countries back by decades. Central banks were created to try and control these risks. However, like any government-run business, they have a patchy record.

We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide

I was a founding member of a team that launched eBucks.com, the world’s first bank-backed digital currency, in 2000. Our original vision was to create an entirely new digital currency that could be used to transact freely on the Internet. Years later, I was fascinated by Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper as I recognised the same spirit and intentions. Bitcoin is one of the critical financial innovations of our time.

In 2016, I took a giant leap of faith and co-founded a bitcoin payments start-up, Centbee. We provide an app that makes bitcoin the easiest way for people to pay each other.

My co-founder, Lorien Gamaroff, and I have been invited regularly to provide advice and education to central banks across the world. We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide. We have a healthy relationship with the Sarb, which has a relatively open view towards cryptocurrencies.

‘To make regular’

People often think of regulation as “establishing controls”, but it also means “to make regular”. Regulation helps to bring order to a situation, bringing the chaotic to the mainstream. Although early adopters typically have a high risk appetite, most people shy away from disorder, especially when it is associated with illegal activity.

If we truly want bitcoin to succeed, it needs to be owned and used by hundreds of millions of people. To achieve that, bitcoin has to be perceived as safe, easy to use and easily available. We must recognise that regulators as the agents of government are the gatekeepers.

Historian Niall Ferguson noted that “highly regulated” is not always synonymous with a sound and safe financial system. New regulations always have some unintended consequences as the marketplace adapts. This is not to suggest that cryptocurrencies should be entirely unregulated; rather, a call for regulation should be seen by policymakers as an ever-adapting process.

Governments are challenged by bitcoin because they have a very limited ability to control the technology. They face a paradigm challenge whereby they ordinarily license a specific product in a specific jurisdiction, and must now deal with a technology that is borderless. Not only does this pose problems to regulators attempting to provide a harmonised national policy approach across different product types and fiscal domains, but they have to address the issue of services provided across borders. The market of cryptocurrency users is a global audience.

Although some cryptocurrencies are currently viewed as alternative assets by speculators, it must be emphasised that the original vision, and likely longer-term outcome, is that bitcoin is a protocol.

At Centbee, we believe it is more fruitful to regulate apps and use cases than to attempt to control the cryptocurrencies themselves.

I am confident that a transparent and respectful approach towards regulators will help them develop enabling legislation. Regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of bitcoin.

Angus Brown is CEO of Centbee and co-founder of eBucks.com

Original Source http://bit.ly/2S0nVCz

[courtneyvbrooks87]

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

The author, Angus Brown, says regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) released a consultation paper on policy proposals for crypto assets after engaging constructively with many participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including Centbee.

In June 2018, I was invited to address the Sarb and it may have surprised some when I said: “The Reserve Bank is letting us all down by not providing enough regulation.” Failure to regulate creates an opportunity for public abuse and deception.

Money is a fundamental part of the way any society operates, and governments have controlled how it is created and used. I have spent the majority of my professional life either working for, or building banks. They are relatively fragile financial entities, as the 2008 global financial crash reminded us. They pose a systemic risk to the fabric of society, and historical bank crashes have set entire countries back by decades. Central banks were created to try and control these risks. However, like any government-run business, they have a patchy record.

We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide

I was a founding member of a team that launched eBucks.com, the world’s first bank-backed digital currency, in 2000. Our original vision was to create an entirely new digital currency that could be used to transact freely on the Internet. Years later, I was fascinated by Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper as I recognised the same spirit and intentions. Bitcoin is one of the critical financial innovations of our time.

In 2016, I took a giant leap of faith and co-founded a bitcoin payments start-up, Centbee. We provide an app that makes bitcoin the easiest way for people to pay each other.

My co-founder, Lorien Gamaroff, and I have been invited regularly to provide advice and education to central banks across the world. We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide. We have a healthy relationship with the Sarb, which has a relatively open view towards cryptocurrencies.

‘To make regular’

People often think of regulation as “establishing controls”, but it also means “to make regular”. Regulation helps to bring order to a situation, bringing the chaotic to the mainstream. Although early adopters typically have a high risk appetite, most people shy away from disorder, especially when it is associated with illegal activity.

If we truly want bitcoin to succeed, it needs to be owned and used by hundreds of millions of people. To achieve that, bitcoin has to be perceived as safe, easy to use and easily available. We must recognise that regulators as the agents of government are the gatekeepers.

Historian Niall Ferguson noted that “highly regulated” is not always synonymous with a sound and safe financial system. New regulations always have some unintended consequences as the marketplace adapts. This is not to suggest that cryptocurrencies should be entirely unregulated; rather, a call for regulation should be seen by policymakers as an ever-adapting process.

Governments are challenged by bitcoin because they have a very limited ability to control the technology. They face a paradigm challenge whereby they ordinarily license a specific product in a specific jurisdiction, and must now deal with a technology that is borderless. Not only does this pose problems to regulators attempting to provide a harmonised national policy approach across different product types and fiscal domains, but they have to address the issue of services provided across borders. The market of cryptocurrency users is a global audience.

Although some cryptocurrencies are currently viewed as alternative assets by speculators, it must be emphasised that the original vision, and likely longer-term outcome, is that bitcoin is a protocol.

At Centbee, we believe it is more fruitful to regulate apps and use cases than to attempt to control the cryptocurrencies themselves.

I am confident that a transparent and respectful approach towards regulators will help them develop enabling legislation. Regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of bitcoin.

Angus Brown is CEO of Centbee and co-founder of eBucks.com

Original Source http://bit.ly/2S0nVCz

[adrianjenkins952wblr]

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

The author, Angus Brown, says regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) released a consultation paper on policy proposals for crypto assets after engaging constructively with many participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including Centbee.

In June 2018, I was invited to address the Sarb and it may have surprised some when I said: “The Reserve Bank is letting us all down by not providing enough regulation.” Failure to regulate creates an opportunity for public abuse and deception.

Money is a fundamental part of the way any society operates, and governments have controlled how it is created and used. I have spent the majority of my professional life either working for, or building banks. They are relatively fragile financial entities, as the 2008 global financial crash reminded us. They pose a systemic risk to the fabric of society, and historical bank crashes have set entire countries back by decades. Central banks were created to try and control these risks. However, like any government-run business, they have a patchy record.

We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide

I was a founding member of a team that launched eBucks.com, the world’s first bank-backed digital currency, in 2000. Our original vision was to create an entirely new digital currency that could be used to transact freely on the Internet. Years later, I was fascinated by Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper as I recognised the same spirit and intentions. Bitcoin is one of the critical financial innovations of our time.

In 2016, I took a giant leap of faith and co-founded a bitcoin payments start-up, Centbee. We provide an app that makes bitcoin the easiest way for people to pay each other.

My co-founder, Lorien Gamaroff, and I have been invited regularly to provide advice and education to central banks across the world. We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide. We have a healthy relationship with the Sarb, which has a relatively open view towards cryptocurrencies.

‘To make regular’

People often think of regulation as “establishing controls”, but it also means “to make regular”. Regulation helps to bring order to a situation, bringing the chaotic to the mainstream. Although early adopters typically have a high risk appetite, most people shy away from disorder, especially when it is associated with illegal activity.

If we truly want bitcoin to succeed, it needs to be owned and used by hundreds of millions of people. To achieve that, bitcoin has to be perceived as safe, easy to use and easily available. We must recognise that regulators as the agents of government are the gatekeepers.

Historian Niall Ferguson noted that “highly regulated” is not always synonymous with a sound and safe financial system. New regulations always have some unintended consequences as the marketplace adapts. This is not to suggest that cryptocurrencies should be entirely unregulated; rather, a call for regulation should be seen by policymakers as an ever-adapting process.

Governments are challenged by bitcoin because they have a very limited ability to control the technology. They face a paradigm challenge whereby they ordinarily license a specific product in a specific jurisdiction, and must now deal with a technology that is borderless. Not only does this pose problems to regulators attempting to provide a harmonised national policy approach across different product types and fiscal domains, but they have to address the issue of services provided across borders. The market of cryptocurrency users is a global audience.

Although some cryptocurrencies are currently viewed as alternative assets by speculators, it must be emphasised that the original vision, and likely longer-term outcome, is that bitcoin is a protocol.

At Centbee, we believe it is more fruitful to regulate apps and use cases than to attempt to control the cryptocurrencies themselves.

I am confident that a transparent and respectful approach towards regulators will help them develop enabling legislation. Regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of bitcoin.

Angus Brown is CEO of Centbee and co-founder of eBucks.com

Original Source http://bit.ly/2S0nVCz

[vanessawestwcrtr5]

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

The author, Angus Brown, says regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) released a consultation paper on policy proposals for crypto assets after engaging constructively with many participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including Centbee.

In June 2018, I was invited to address the Sarb and it may have surprised some when I said: “The Reserve Bank is letting us all down by not providing enough regulation.” Failure to regulate creates an opportunity for public abuse and deception.

Money is a fundamental part of the way any society operates, and governments have controlled how it is created and used. I have spent the majority of my professional life either working for, or building banks. They are relatively fragile financial entities, as the 2008 global financial crash reminded us. They pose a systemic risk to the fabric of society, and historical bank crashes have set entire countries back by decades. Central banks were created to try and control these risks. However, like any government-run business, they have a patchy record.

We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide

I was a founding member of a team that launched eBucks.com, the world’s first bank-backed digital currency, in 2000. Our original vision was to create an entirely new digital currency that could be used to transact freely on the Internet. Years later, I was fascinated by Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper as I recognised the same spirit and intentions. Bitcoin is one of the critical financial innovations of our time.

In 2016, I took a giant leap of faith and co-founded a bitcoin payments start-up, Centbee. We provide an app that makes bitcoin the easiest way for people to pay each other.

My co-founder, Lorien Gamaroff, and I have been invited regularly to provide advice and education to central banks across the world. We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide. We have a healthy relationship with the Sarb, which has a relatively open view towards cryptocurrencies.

‘To make regular’

People often think of regulation as “establishing controls”, but it also means “to make regular”. Regulation helps to bring order to a situation, bringing the chaotic to the mainstream. Although early adopters typically have a high risk appetite, most people shy away from disorder, especially when it is associated with illegal activity.

If we truly want bitcoin to succeed, it needs to be owned and used by hundreds of millions of people. To achieve that, bitcoin has to be perceived as safe, easy to use and easily available. We must recognise that regulators as the agents of government are the gatekeepers.

Historian Niall Ferguson noted that “highly regulated” is not always synonymous with a sound and safe financial system. New regulations always have some unintended consequences as the marketplace adapts. This is not to suggest that cryptocurrencies should be entirely unregulated; rather, a call for regulation should be seen by policymakers as an ever-adapting process.

Governments are challenged by bitcoin because they have a very limited ability to control the technology. They face a paradigm challenge whereby they ordinarily license a specific product in a specific jurisdiction, and must now deal with a technology that is borderless. Not only does this pose problems to regulators attempting to provide a harmonised national policy approach across different product types and fiscal domains, but they have to address the issue of services provided across borders. The market of cryptocurrency users is a global audience.

Although some cryptocurrencies are currently viewed as alternative assets by speculators, it must be emphasised that the original vision, and likely longer-term outcome, is that bitcoin is a protocol.

At Centbee, we believe it is more fruitful to regulate apps and use cases than to attempt to control the cryptocurrencies themselves.

I am confident that a transparent and respectful approach towards regulators will help them develop enabling legislation. Regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of bitcoin.

Angus Brown is CEO of Centbee and co-founder of eBucks.com

Original Source http://bit.ly/2S0nVCz

[ainurmoodboards]

Varda (Fanuilos Aesthetic) Varda is the Vala of stars and light, the wife of Manwë, one of the Aratar, Queen of the Valar, and the one most beloved by the elves. Her face radiated the light of Ilúvatar and she appeared in shining white fana in visions to the Elves of Middle-earth, and thus was called Fanuilos. Fanuilos is an epithet of Varda and means "bright (angelic) figure ever white (as snow)" When Melkor first began to create chaos, Varda saw his mind, and despised him. Melkor feared and hated Varda the most out of the Valar because he had been unable to control light, which Varda was most associated with. When Manwë contested with him for Arda, Varda came from the deeps of Eä to his side. During the Spring of Arda, she filled the Two Lamps with light. In Valinor she kept the dews of the Two Trees in the Wells of Varda. When Mandos foretold of the coming of the Elves and how they would always look to Varda in reverence, she took it upon herself to set new stars for the Elves to see when they awakened. For this, Varda is the Vala most loved and revered by the Elves. She also hallowed the Silmarils of Fëanor when he created them, so that any being or creature of evil could never handle them without being burned. After the death of the Two Trees, she took the remaining flower of Telperion and the fruit of Laurelin and placed them in vessels made by Aulë. Her handmaiden is Ilmarë, a Chief of the Maiar, who at an earlier stage of Tolkien's writings was her daughter. Olórin (Gandalf/Mithrandir) also served her in addition to Manwë, Nienna, and Irmo/Lorien. In Tolkien's earlier works, the characters Arien (Urwen/Urwendi), Ilinsor (steersman of the Moon), and Telimektar (the constellation Orion) are connected to her as well. In Middle-earth, she was revered by the Elves who called her name and sung hymns to her (such as the Elven Hymn to Elbereth) and perhaps answered to prayers, even to Samwise Gamgee. The very mention of her name was said to be deadly to evil spirits, such as when Frodo uttered the name in the presence of the Morgul Lord. The Valar, being divine beings below the ultimate Creator, Ilúvatar, are thought of as being the Middle-earth equivalent of saints and angels; it has therefore been suggested that Varda, in her role as the most loved and prayed-to Vala, may be an equivalent of the Virgin Mary in Tolkien's own Catholic faith.

[teiraymondmccoy78]

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

Why regulation will help grow bitcoin adoption

The author, Angus Brown, says regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) released a consultation paper on policy proposals for crypto assets after engaging constructively with many participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including Centbee.

In June 2018, I was invited to address the Sarb and it may have surprised some when I said: “The Reserve Bank is letting us all down by not providing enough regulation.” Failure to regulate creates an opportunity for public abuse and deception.

Money is a fundamental part of the way any society operates, and governments have controlled how it is created and used. I have spent the majority of my professional life either working for, or building banks. They are relatively fragile financial entities, as the 2008 global financial crash reminded us. They pose a systemic risk to the fabric of society, and historical bank crashes have set entire countries back by decades. Central banks were created to try and control these risks. However, like any government-run business, they have a patchy record.

We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide

I was a founding member of a team that launched eBucks.com, the world’s first bank-backed digital currency, in 2000. Our original vision was to create an entirely new digital currency that could be used to transact freely on the Internet. Years later, I was fascinated by Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper as I recognised the same spirit and intentions. Bitcoin is one of the critical financial innovations of our time.

In 2016, I took a giant leap of faith and co-founded a bitcoin payments start-up, Centbee. We provide an app that makes bitcoin the easiest way for people to pay each other.

My co-founder, Lorien Gamaroff, and I have been invited regularly to provide advice and education to central banks across the world. We’re extremely fortunate to be based in South Africa, a nation that has one of the most robust and innovative banking systems worldwide. We have a healthy relationship with the Sarb, which has a relatively open view towards cryptocurrencies.

‘To make regular’

People often think of regulation as “establishing controls”, but it also means “to make regular”. Regulation helps to bring order to a situation, bringing the chaotic to the mainstream. Although early adopters typically have a high risk appetite, most people shy away from disorder, especially when it is associated with illegal activity.

If we truly want bitcoin to succeed, it needs to be owned and used by hundreds of millions of people. To achieve that, bitcoin has to be perceived as safe, easy to use and easily available. We must recognise that regulators as the agents of government are the gatekeepers.

Historian Niall Ferguson noted that “highly regulated” is not always synonymous with a sound and safe financial system. New regulations always have some unintended consequences as the marketplace adapts. This is not to suggest that cryptocurrencies should be entirely unregulated; rather, a call for regulation should be seen by policymakers as an ever-adapting process.

Governments are challenged by bitcoin because they have a very limited ability to control the technology. They face a paradigm challenge whereby they ordinarily license a specific product in a specific jurisdiction, and must now deal with a technology that is borderless. Not only does this pose problems to regulators attempting to provide a harmonised national policy approach across different product types and fiscal domains, but they have to address the issue of services provided across borders. The market of cryptocurrency users is a global audience.

Although some cryptocurrencies are currently viewed as alternative assets by speculators, it must be emphasised that the original vision, and likely longer-term outcome, is that bitcoin is a protocol.

At Centbee, we believe it is more fruitful to regulate apps and use cases than to attempt to control the cryptocurrencies themselves.

I am confident that a transparent and respectful approach towards regulators will help them develop enabling legislation. Regulation can help customers and existing financial institutions gain more comfort in cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of bitcoin.

Angus Brown is CEO of Centbee and co-founder of eBucks.com

Original Source http://bit.ly/2S0nVCz