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galadhremmin · 3 years ago

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We have derived Caranthir liking the Dwarves (and vice versa) because apparently, Finrod succeeds in every field Caranthir fails, and at this point it's clear this derives from the in-universe writer of the Silm and his own biases. Think about it: "Dark Finwë" , a grumpy, prejudiced lordling, and "Hair Champion", most handsome, noble king, have met with the same people!! Yet the king of the first secret kingdom is everyone's friend, but the prince that trades with them regularly is not... seems sus.

Hence, Caranthir is friends with the Dwarves. (But that is just an interpretation, so you're free to think what you wish, I just have several opinions on in-universe prejudice and the almighty narrative.)

I think that 'we' might actually have been Dawn Felagund years ago. Maybe this reading existed even before that, but I doubt that-- she's been very influential in silm fandom and was long before tumblr was much of a thing. https://dawnfelagund.com/caranthir-the-slandered

I wouldn't say it's 'clear' that what amounts to Caranthir's entire documented personality derives from the bias of the in-universe narrator, though as you can see from Dawn's writing it's a reading you can argue for. There are a number of different approaches you can take to the Silm and its biases anyway. One of the few times when it's absolutely clear the text isn't telling the entire story is when it talks about the Easterlings. I've posted about this before but the recorded names are, uhh.... the ones to betray the elves are unlikely to actually have been named things like 'ugly lord' and 'ugly beard.' 'Dark Finwe' on the other hand is a documented reference to his haircolour being dark like Finwe's own; hardly a negative judgement!

I personally think Caranthir can be exactly as ill-tempered and prejudiced as the Silm paints him without becoming an unsympathetic character. If a writer cannot make a moody, deeply prejudiced man an interesting character that is a failure as a writer; there are after all enough books who manage exactly that. That is not to say choosing not to write him that way is a failure (obviously not), but it's not necessary in order to make a reader feel for him at all.

Just going by the text, I think it actually might make for a more interesting narrative to explore in fic to me. Because he does change his mind about something, and at a very specific moment; when he meets the Haladin. That is much less dramatic if he secretly been as nice and popular as Finrod, and got along with everyone all the time already. He's been raised by Fëanor, who said things like 'No other race shall oust us!' and rallied the Noldor not motivated enough by vengeance for Finwë alone by playing on their deep-seated fear of being replaced by the Secondborn. Very unlikely that had no impact. At best it has made him uninterested in humans in his area (while they're not much of a threat to ruling instead of the elves anyway). The text says they paid them no heed.

And yet! Caranthir sees how brave Haleth and her people are. He 'does her great honour.' He changes his mind and offers them lands. His tragedy to me is not that of a slandered figure, but of this deeply, deeply prejudiced person raised to distrust the motivations of human beings -- who overcomes those beliefs, offers friendship, is rejected! then extends that same trust to the Easterlings anyway... and it's those specific Easterlings, not the ones who ally with his brothers-- who betray them all. And cause the disastrous ending of the Nirnaeth. It's the 'to evil end shall all things turn that they begin well' part of the curse hitting him in the least fair way possible. Someone finally changes for the better, and the outcome is treason and destruction.

That is a very good character arc to me, actually. His aesthetics-based scorn for the Dwarves is reprehensible but strikes me as deeply Elvish, and part of his prejudices. Naugrim is too unflattering a name for them for it not to be common. His temper-- well why can't he have one? Sure there's only one recorded instance -- but that's imo because there are hardly any conversations in the Silm! Anyway I like some people with tempers well enough. Personally I think people are missing out on opiniated grouches.

Obviously the biased anti-Feanorian Pengolodh reading is a nice one, and I have enjoyed a lot of stories written based it. But it's not at all a reading that is necessary for me to read Caranthir as a flawed but sympathetic character. He can have serious faults and still, ultimately, be someone I feel for.

What I was asking though was if I overlooked any canon evidence of Caranthir being particularly, personally fond of the Dwarves; and it seems I did not. Also; there is room for Caranthir growing to like the Dwarves over centuries without an anti-Feanorian bias reading this strong, there is simply no evidence for friendship in the rather barebones narrative (I'm not interested atm because it's wildly overdone to me & I like variety).

That said, in my opinion making Caranthir the hidden, slandered Feanorian Finrod equivalent with a dash of Curufin's Dwarf affection is not as enjoyable as simply working with what little canon character is actually there. Because there is one (and it's not the greedy tax collector of some fanon depictions either imo)

1. To start with, wrt Caranthir as the anti-Finrod, I don't think it works that well. Sure sure dark/light, open/prejudiced, repressed/shouty, but different motivations, different locations, plus they meet very different peoples even if both are Edain-- besides, Caranthir's own older brothers do successfully ally with the Easterlings without betrayal, while Curufin (much more so than Finrod! no Khuzdul for Finrod!) is the Dwarves' Friend(tm). Also, a flawed Finrod already exists. That's just the regular edition. He has his own faults and (very different) tragic arc.

If Finrod never seems to have strong prejudices to overcome, and if he's not confrontational (which... look he's a diplomat. Make of that what you will. Pretty awkward there in Doriath, buddy!) he does have trouble facing his own complicity (he wanted to sail those ships despite the murders) until Sauron beats him to death with it. He leaves Valinor with the idea of ruling but he has to give up the crown. He's ambitious, he seems emotionally repressed, he's.. possibly paying the greater Dwarves to drive the Petty Dwarves out of their ancestral home to build a city? Oops. Depending on the version you go with in that case, of course; there's also ones where he's free of the blame of that one. Not of wanting to sail those ships and being uneasy with the guilt wrt wanting to do so despite their being stolen and murdered for though. No he doesn't kill; but he wants to use the result of it anyway, and to make it worse he is actually half Telerin.

There's also (to be fair, only for sure after the disaster of the Sudden Flame because that's the recorded instance) his guards killing random innocent trespassers to keep his kingdom hidden -- yes, that's right there in Silm, yes he's still King at the time. Beren has to wave that ring. People just seem to miss that he'd be killed without it somehow.

I think it's just too easy to reduce him to the golden perfect opposite of Caranthir. Yes he's described more positively; he's also just mentioned more because unlike Caranthir he rules an actual kingdom, the greatest and richest in Beleriand in fact; and does things that have a lot of very longterm effects, like helping B&L steal a Silmaril. They don't 'meet the same people' anyway -- the Haladin have a different culture from the Beorians which contributes to their reaction to Caranthir (and iirc their later fate).

Sidenote: Dawn's essay attributes the Green Elves helping the Feanorians at Amon Ereb to Caranthir's diplomatic skills; but why not to those of Amras or Amrod? This is the quote; 'Caranthir fled and joined the remnant of his people to the scattered folk of the hunters, Amrod and Amras, and they retreated and passed Ramdal in the south. Upon Amon Ereb they maintained a watch and some strength of war, and they had aid of the Green-elves' -- nothing here indicates it was Caranthir who got them that aid. In fact A&A are the hunters, i.e. more likely to have roamed in various forests where they would have encountered Green Elves, imo.

There's also the very desperate times to consider in which this aid takes place. This is just post Sudden Flame, and even if the Green Elves didn't like Caranthir they probably liked him better than Morgoth. Also, speaking of cosmopolitans, Maedhros allies with, yes, Dwarves (Azaghal), Grey elves, Easterlings (and you might say: Fingolfinians); even part of the remaining people of Dorthonion rally to Himring post sudden flame (that means Edain and Arafinwean followers in Himring, at least for a time), and he manages to be friendly with Felagund despite calling him a badger. ;)

Finrod is not the only other leader to forge diverse alliances, and though B&L ends happily his people mostly do not. Caranthir's not much like Finrod in any way. Not in motivations, temperament, tragic arc. That's fine. No hidden kingdom for a dragon to eat either. Finrod could probably do with being a little less like Finrod sometimes, though he's well-intentioned and likable. Caranthir loves to shout and isn't sneaky. Good for him.

2. Curufin also already exists. His love for Dwarves is one of his defining and redeeming characteristics and boy does he need them. He's daddy's favourite, a sneaky overambitious bitchy bastard who is also a talented smith and linguist, and truly considered a Dwarf friend, which is apparently exceptional. He's quite flawed; tries to help Celegorm force a political marriage, laughs with a bruised mouth, seeming to lose his mind while attempting and failing murder after first losing his own stronghold and then the city he tried to take from his cousin. He's just... a personality. Mostly a bad one! You can feel for him though, because he seems like an utter mess. Many 'i would love to study you' feelings on my part. Would hate for him to be real but also I'd pay to be his therapist.

3. And then finally there's Canon Caranthir. A difficult, prejudiced person who despite that (which doesn't at all have to mean there is no despite, the despite is what makes it juicy)

- seems to be responsible for re-establishing (large scale?) trade with the Dwarves, whatever he might think of them (and they of him) to their mutual benefit. I don't think he's greedy either. It seems like a mutually profitable situation. Access to Dwarvish goods seems pretty vital to Beleriand, and facilitating trade is a real service.

As someone pointed out in the replies, the Silm does mention Dwarvish companies travelling east to Nan Elmoth and menegroth various times, but quote wrt Caranthir says 'Caranthir’s people came upon the Dwarves, who after the onslaught of Morgoth and the coming of the Noldor had ceased their traffic into Beleriand' and 'when the Dwarves began again to journey into Beleriand.'

They stopped at some point and Caranthir's people made it happen again.

- which means he's practical. He seems like he's good at organising, and setting his own feelings aside if necessary despite his prejudice and temper (which is an achievement it wouldn't be without his, hm, everything). Also he and his people as well as the Dwarves work together well because ''either people loved skill and were eager to learn,' despite their (initial?) mutual dislike. Those aren't bad characteristics; seems like it was an exchange of skill as well as goods and possibly providing safe travel opportunities.

I don't like the 'greedy Caranthir' fanon and don't think it is even that easy support entirely with canon. 'They had of it great profit,' the text says-- both Caranthir and the Dwarves. They exchanged skills and knowledge and Caranthir seems to have helped them start trading in Beleriand again. That's hardly Scrooge Mcduck.

- Another thing we can say about canonthir (lol) is that he apparently attaches a lot of value to aesthetics (was he a visual artist? is a he a sculptor like Nerdanel? WORSE: AN ART CRITIC?! Feanorian art critic is truly nightmare fuel) and that's why he dislikes Dwarves (of all things...). Either way points to 'aesthetics' as something apparently important to Caranthir. Which makes sense given who his parents are. What is interesting to me is that this apparently DOESN'T matter to Curufin, who is a lot like Feanor in most things. That's interesting!

I've never, never seen this but I think it would be very funny to attribute his aesthetic prejudices to Nerdanel. I love her; but why should her opinions be perfect? I know she wasn't considered beautiful herself, but she's an artist. She's got to have had some strong opinions on aesthetics anyway. I doubt it's the beards; Mahtan had one as well. And 'stunted'...at least some of this comes down to the Elvish obsession with height yet again. Hm.

- eventually Caranthir overcomes what have to be some very deeply held beliefs about human beings and their place in the world, and offers what for all intents and purposes looks like real friendship, not the ruling over Men Feanor seems to have had in mind at best. He's capable of real change!

Anyway his character works just fine to me from canon, and what he achieves and the ways in which he fails are more interesting that way rather-- neither slandered Feanorian Finrod 2.0 nor Curufin 'Dwarf Fan' Feanorion without the sneakiness and murder attempts pack the same punch as a stupidly prejudiced grouchy man doing his best anyway for centuries in this stupid ugly cursed land, eventually changing for the better, opening up-- and being brutally punished for it by the Doom.

Dammit. I hope there's therapy in the Everlasting Darkness.

hm a bit long but that's what I get for trying to gather my thoughts wrt why after considering it a bit transferring Curufin's love for Dwarves to Caranthir is a bit boring to me personally. Though there are still stories that still do it very well.

#no one asked including me but there you go anyway #that's what you get when i wake up at nearly 3 in the morning and thnk. FUCK i can't sleep #caranthir

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heartofoshun · 7 years ago

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Silmarillion Questions: Tagged by @jane-ways

– thanks for thinking of me!

How do you think the Oath worked practically? I like to write it as magic—it sleeps and then awakens under certain in-world pressures and then it is all but impossible to resist. I think Tolkien wrote it under the influence of belief systems in the Northern tradition which considered one’s sworn oath to be sacred—to break it was the lowest thing a warrior could do. For him, it makes a great story conflict—absolute fealty to a sworn oath even if it will lead to one’s doom. He makes us love the Noldor (he does!!) and then rips our hearts out. Incomparable storytelling. But the guy is filled with contradictions. His modern, Catholic-self thought that the oath could and should be broken if in contradiction to other moral issues. (It’s a long discussion. Too long to have here.) I ask myself, how come the good characters in The Silmarillion are not nearly as appealing and attractive as the ones Tolkien wants us to judge? Accidental or intentional? Were the Valar in the right to bring the Elves to Valinor? No. The One/Eru never intended the Secondborn (Men) be left alone in Middle-earth to face Morgoth and without the aid of the Firstborn (Elves). I do not doubt the good intentions of the Valar, but they did not consider the implications of their action. And they did not consider that not all of the Elves would appreciate the trade of freedom for a gilded cage. They claimed the Noldor were free to leave, but then cursed them—leave and you can’t come back, no help from us, and unnumbered tears you shall shed—wow, harsh!

Which Silm character do you find the most relatable personally and why? Probably Fingon. I love his loyalty and his courage. He is a real hero over and over, rescuing Maedhros alone, facing down the first dragon they encounter, acting as military commander-in-chief throughout his father’s reign. His extraordinary personal heroism and his epic friendship (or more) with Maedhros makes him incredibly attractive, but his political instincts and leadership qualities were sound also. He is said to have “resolved to heal the feud that divided the Noldor, before their Enemy should be ready for war.” While he lived, he was able to hold the Noldor together, despite differences, after their reconciliation, which he, along with Maedhros, had engineered. If you could ask one character one question (to get clarification on their motives, to ask their opinion etc), who would you ask and what? Finrod. I’d like a fully developed and detailed answer as to why he came to Middle-earth. I adore Finrod—what’s not to like—but there is not a clear enough motivation for leaving. An urge for travel and adventure? Intellectual curiosity? An attachment to his cousins? I’d like to hear it from his POV. Would you have gone with Fëanor, Fingolfin or Finarfin?I’d have follow Fëanor – the revolutionary who thought for himself and didn’t accept received-wisdom without reasoning. He fought for the rights of his people to make their own decisions and for their self-determination. By the time the Valar had released Morgoth, he had no reason to trust their judgment over his own. It’s canon that he did many things better than did them. I am inspired by Fëanor’s words, along with the 90 percent of the Noldor who left Aman: “We are threatened with many evils, and treason not least; but one thing is not said: that we shall suffer from cowardice, from cravens or the fear of cravens. Therefore I say that we will go on, and to this doom I add: the deeds that we shall do shall be the matter of song until the last days of Arda.” I’m not nearly as moved by the motivations of the others or lack thereof. Fingolfin did what he saw as his duty: not to abandon the Noldor, to avenge his father, and, originally, with perhaps a bit of ambition to hang onto the crown. Finarfin withdrew to make his peace with the Valar (and his wife’s people, whom he loved; and his mother and her people whom he revered). I do not condemn Fëanor’s brothers’ motivations out of hand, but only say that for myself he would have been the one of the three who could have lit a fire under me. What do you think was the determining factor/reasoning behind the Doom of the Noldor? Does it hold for scrutiny in your opinion? It was a threat pure and simple. There should have been no punishment at all. Quite the contrary, they should have been willing to help them out in Middle-earth, early and often. One cannot offer aid only with precise and restrictive conditions that effectively take away one’s freedom to make decision (as much the Valar argued that was not their intention). Who is the scariest of Tolkien’s characters? That light-sucking spider who scared the shit out of Melkor himself. Any other versions of a story you prefer over the version published in the Silm? I tend to like the Silmarillion the best. But I do like so many of the added details. The ones that add to backstory and flesh-out characterization. Things like Law and Customs Among the Eldar not so much. In my own stories, I had constructed an outline and written a novel and a couple of novellas before I ever encountered certain characters. So, I was not prepared to go back and re-write those. Favourite story of the legendarium and why? There are so many! I first was attracted to Fingon rescuing Maedhros and the two them reuniting the Noldor. I loved Fingolfin bringing so many of the peoples of Middle-earth together at the Mereth Aderthad, despite Thingol’s resistance. I love Fingon and Maedhros’ bromance/romance and their maintaining the military alliance that held back Morgoth for nearly 500 years. I love all of the sons of Fëanor (Curufin a little less than the rest—Sorry! I know he had a hard life—just like his father only not nearly as brilliant—poor guy!). I count Huan among the Family—what a hound! He’s the good part of the story of Beren and Lúthien—the rest is kind of a snooze for me (heresy, I know). I love Fëanor and Nerdanel—the power couple of the power people! OMG! I want to reunite them! I love Finarfin (despite him make the wrong choice about going into exile)—love his wife and his kids and his non-Noldorin preference for the Telerin names and customs. I adore Tuor—especially the part of coming to Gondor and running into Voronwë, the sea god, and the swans, and finding the armor (that’s awesome storytelling!). Of course I love Arehel and Galadriel! Dark and light. Impulse and cunning. Wonderful women, who should have had more space. I love Idril, getting her hands dirty as an engineer in Gondolin and saving so many, with a little help from Ecthelion and Glorfindel and her husband. I love Idril and Tuor’s baby Eärendil—so heartbreakingly cute—dipping into HoMe for that! I love Ecthelion and Glorfindel—the descriptions of those two alone would make me love them without their deeds. Giving short shrift here to the Sindar—but I have plenty of crushes among them also: Daeron, Beleg, and Mablung. How about Húrin saying good-bye to his wife and kid and his brass balls at the Battle of Unnumbered Tears? And Azaghâl at Unnumbered Tears: “the Dwarves raised up the body of Azaghâl and bore it away; and with slow steps they walked behind singing a dirge in deep voices.” I want to see that filmed. Last but not least, Maedhros, Maglor, Elrond, and Elros! There are so many more great storylines and so much delicious heartbreak! Almost forgot to mention how much I adore Finrod--so much so that he get’s a citation from the bio I wrote for him: “He is a brilliant, beautiful, golden icon, bigger-than-life, and shaped from the same heroic mold as all of his flame-eyed compatriots, those notorious and charismatic Noldorin Lords of the West. If that were not enough, Finrod is also a great wizard, a friend to Men and Dwarves, and loyal to his allies and closest kinsmen, even when faced with safeguarding their dirtiest secrets. While his virtues are extolled well beyond those of any of his cousins or brothers, Finrod remains just flawed enough to be sexy.” And non-Quenta Silmarillion stories? Well, there is that three-volume book about the Third Age and its outcome. Not to mention Númenor. Don’t make me chose! The latest thing you learned that made you reconsider or change your view on something in Tolkien’s world? Honestly, I do that constantly. I have to admit I get the most enlightenment from within the fandom and not from the voluminous works of Tolkien scholars I read when I am doing research for my own non-fiction ruminations. Thoughts on Fëanor not wanting to share the Silmarils after the Darkening? I have to agree with @jane-ways who said it felt “like it had more to do with his distrust of the Valar than selfishness.” And, not even Fëanor himself could replicate them for a part of his life force was spent in their creation. Nonetheless, the Valar insisted that he relinquish them. Only Aulë appeared to understand the breaking of the Silmarils would result in the destruction of Fëanor. He told his brethren: “We ask a greater thing than thou knowest. Let him have peace yet awhile.'” Of course, they ignored him, the one amongst them who understood Fëanor best.

I’m tagging @vefanyar, @himring, @nimium-amatrix-ingenii-sui @lucifers-cuvette, @ignoblebard , @grundyscribbling @imindhowwelayinjune anyone else who would like to answer!

#silmarillion questions #noldor lover #all the doomed elves #canon heretic

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ten-summoners-fails · 8 years ago

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For the Silmarillion themed question : 6, 8, 13, 22 and 24 :)

6. Would you have followed Fëanor?

Without any doubt orhesitation, yes; even if I saw in advance all the pain and regret it wouldcause me (and others). Personal evolution happens through trying, failing,making mistakes, falling into the darkest pits of our own mind, then getting upon our feet and trying again. Other than that, I can imagine situations where Iwould follow a real-life version of Feanor even; with my deepest personalvalues questioned every day, I admit that I often have just the mood to get upand change the world. I’m afraid of the day when I might eventually acknowledgethat I can’t.

8. Who is your favourite character from the book?(You CAN’T cheat like me, it must be JUST ONE)

In that case, I refuse toanswer this question, because I can’t choose one. It seems impossible. Either Ican say I have a dozen favourites, or I can say I have none. Those who followmy blog and read my writings probably already know that the Sons of Feanor areamong my favourites, but so is half the royal court of Gondolin, so are theinhabitans of Rivendell, and so is Bilbo Baggins (even if he doesn’t appear inthe Silmarillion).

(Most of you probablythink that my favourite is Maedhros, and maybe you could really say that; butthe truth is not that simple. Of course I, like everyone else, am sometimes„plagued” by favoritism, but I prefer to say neutral on some level and merelywrite about the characters who I find interesting. The best example for this isprobably the case of Maeglin: I don’t entirely understand him and I can’tidentify with him either, but still he continues to intrigue me, therefore Iwrite about him. Another such example would be Saruman, who literally makes mecringe, but that didn’t stop me from creating an entire thread for him in theold version of my ’A Tale from Rivendell’ series, merely because making him appear,think and act was fascinating. I like challenges).

13. A character you don’t like and why.

I greatly admire Lúthienand Beren, and I find their tale mesmerizing (no wonder it’s so carefully anddelicately handled in ’The Seven Gates’), but with all due respect, I don’treally like either of them.Especially Lúthien. To be very honest, I don’t care about her that much, andmany of her actions seem a but too „ex machina”. I mean, there’s a bit of animpression that the tale of Beren and Lúthien is set in some standaloneuniverse, where certain rules of the actual Silm universe don’t apply, andwhere several characters act in an absolute OOC manner (like Celegorm andCurufin. But that would be a long story, and it’s not like I’m defending orpalliating them, either!). Also, neither Beren nor Lúthien seems half as vividas, for one, Thingol. Or even Eöl!

However, I must alsoacknowledge that I have developed most of my way of viewing The Silm throughreading the tale of Beren and Lúthien, which has led me to create the notion of„second degree mythology” but that’s entirely another story, and I’d rather notbore you with it now.

22. If you could marry one of Fëanor’s sons whichone would you choose?

Is „none” an option? :D:D

All right, all right. Sincethey are all sociopaths on some level, I’ll stay superficial and choose Maglor,just because I picture him as the kind of lover who dresses elegantly, holdsyou the door, calls you „mlady” from time to time and greets you by kissing theback of your hand. (And he makes music). I would like that.

24. Why do you think that the race of men are theonly one that never went to Valinor besides the orcs?

…so basically you’reasking me why we have Gimli and the Hobbits going to Valinor, and never mortalMen – I mean, not Earendil-like Men, but actually „real” Men, without any Elvenblood? Huh. Are you sure you want me to answer that? OK. Let’s study some HoME,LaCE and other beautiful things together, then.

First of all, let me admitthat my independent knowledge is not very deep in this particular matter; inorder to be truly able to explain it, I would have to reread quite a fewletters and studies, which I can’t manage right now, but I’ll tell you what Ican. (And of course, my own opinion).

If we want to answer whyMen did not go to Valinor, we need to see why others did. Starting with the obvious: I see the case of Elves as a trulyunique one, and here is why.

Firstly – of all beings -,we have the Valar and maiar, beings who are more closely connected to„supernatural” dimensions of existence than material ones. Their knowledge and insightmay seem inhuman, and (especially in the case of Manwe) very close to omniscience, butthat is not the case. In my opinion, everything they know or guess in advancecomes from the impressions and sensations they’ve had during the Ainulindale,which set the frames of past, present and future and created the dimensions oftime and space. At that point, they could have had impressions on what wasabout to happen, and what was the general purpose of the Allfather (even if thevery essence, the entirety of the world’s fate remained in secret, a secret evenManwe could not tell). And when it comes to the maiar, it’s practically thesame case – only, they’re less powerful beings. Still, they have much lessconnection to the material world than other beings do, and are mostly „chained”to the eternal echoes of the Great Music, right from the birth of the world.

Elves, however noble and powerful,are no such creatures: their existence is strongly and inseparatablyintertwined with that of Arda. The world, initially, was meant to be perfectand functionating, but the machinations of Melkor sort of ruined those plans(well… this is a quite fascinating subject, we could argue a lot about that;recently, I had the honor to witness a lecture of a Tolkien scholar onIllúvatar’s notions of free will and free decisions, and how Melkor tried tointerfere in his plans; the question if he succeeded or not was an open one,and honestly, no one in the room could answer it at the end of the discussion.But whatever!!). All in all, Elves are bound to remain young in body (but notin spirit) and live on, as long as Arda lives. This is the manner of theircreation, and the fact that their body doesn’t age and is immune to maladies,sicknesses and lighter wounds is – in truth – no more than a biological defensemechanism (if you don’t believe me, please consult LaCE). Also (my friendnosmaeth has re-drawn my attention to this fact recently), there is not ONEline in the ENTIRETY of the Professor’s works which states that they are immortal!They simply live on, or, if you prefer, continueexisting – while Arda exists.

What does this mean?Mainly that they are f*cked. Sorry for the strong word, but really. Severalmillenia of joys and sorrows just weighs hard on one’s shoulders, and requiresan inhuman mindset (one I always have a hard time showing in writings, or inany other way. Yup. Elves are not superhumans, but entirely another race…).

Dwarves, Men and allother mortal races, however, were given the Gift of Illúvatar – death – which allowsthem to free themselves from the chaines of Arda marred, and reach directly outto the Creator when they leave the Circles of the World. This basically meansthat they have access to a sort of entire healing and absolution Elves wouldhave trouble seeking. Mortals – and especially men – were given the gift ofbeing able to purge themselves from everything wrong Melkor ever did to theworld.

So why could Frodo, Bilbo,Gimli and Sam go to Valinor? If you ask me, the privileges they got had nothingto do with their race. Mortal Men could have perhaps earned this sort of gift ifthey were Ringbearers, and the fact that no Man happened to have this role inthe history of Middle-Earth does not imply that Men didn’t go to Valinor simplybecause they were Men, or it was not the fate of their race. What happened toBilbo, Frodo and Sam was exceptional, and sort of made them leave the frames oftheir own purpose and existence. They – along with Gimli - could go to Valinorbecause they were members of the Fellowship of the Ring; and the three Hobbits,in addition, were Ringbearers. They’ve seen and endured things that could notbe healed in Middle-Earth; the Blessed Lands were the only possible cure forthe wrongs they’ve suffered, and thusly, they were given this gift. As forGimli, we could argue if his arrival to Valinor was some Galadriel-ex-machina,or was simply granted to him because of his remarkable friendship with Legolasand his service as a member of the Fellowship. Returning to Men… Aragorn andBoromir were the only Men in the fellowship; Boromir would have never gone toValinor, and Aragorn was destined to another fate.

Speaking of Men ingeneral: if we go back as far in time as the very history of Númenor, sailingto Valinor was the very thing the Valar forbid them. To explore the mostobvious reason behind this, I could very well quote the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth (from the HoME series): „Do candles pity moths? / Or moths candleswhen the wind blows them out?” – Valinor could have had the very sameeffect on Men as the company of Elf-lords did as mentioned by Sador Labadal (inthe Children of Húrin), among others: it could drain them out, diminish theirpowers too quickly, before they would be able to reach the fullness of theirown human potential. Also, one cannot have the Gift of Illúvatar and theblessings of Valinor at the same time.

Gosh anon, I could haveonly said that „Men couldn’t go to Valinor because it was not their fate”, butI wanted to draw a bit of background to it… hope I didn’t scare you off. Andthank you for asking!

#silmarillion #reaction #ask

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