Post by Fredeghar Wayfarer on Mar 30, 2019 1:18:47 GMT -6
Once more I have been delving into the History of Middle-earth series. Morgoth's Ring covers some of the later revisions to the Silmarillion.
One of the coolest parts of this book is the essay called Laws and Customs Among the Eldar. This has all sorts of info about Elvish culture. Tolkien apparently intended this to be an appendix to the Silmarillion. One subject covered is the multiple names given to an Elf - the father-name given at birth, the mother-name which often contains foresight of later deeds, the epesse or nickname given later in life, and the kilmesse, the name an Elf chooses for himself. Leave it to a linguist to have multiple names for everything and everyone!
There was also info in this essay about Elvish sex drive(!), which was rather eyebrow-raising. Apparently once children are born, Elves lose the desire for physical intimacy and a husband and wife may even live apart from one another pursuing their own interests.
I can't recall where it was mentioned but this book also addressed the possibility of other worlds beyond Arda. The Elves considered that they might exist but that they would have their own stories and were thus irrelevant to the central drama of Arda. Wow, Elvish libido and the existence of alien life, two subjects I never expected to see in a Tolkien book!
A subject covered in detail was Elvish reincarnation. It's odd that this plays such a prominent role in Tolkien's mythology, given his devout Christian beliefs. Wouldn't this mean that the Elves were being resurrected thousands of years before Jesus? I'm not religious so I don't know if this breaks any biblical rules. In any case, the idea is that Elves are bound to Arda for as long as it lasts. Their spirits (fea) cannot leave the world and either get placed back into their bodies (hroa), causing them to be reborn or they enter into unborn Elvish children and start a new life. Tolkien debated whether to keep this last part since it could get awkward if an Elf regains the memories of his or her past incarnation.
Another section I really enjoyed was the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth (Debate of Finrod and Andreth) where an Elf-lord and a human wisewoman have a philosophical debate about death and and the different fates of the souls of Elves and Men. This was the most overtly religious I've ever seen Tolkien get. There are even hints about Iluvatar entering into Arda in incarnate form at some future date. Surprising to see a reference to Jesus in Middle-earth, even a vague one like this. Religious allegory was always more C.S. Lewis's style. Even so, I found this whole scene quite fascinating.
The rest of the book is yet more revised versions of the Silmarillion stories. I don't know how many of the HOME books you guys have read but I'm finding it a bit tedious reading the same stories over and over. These sections didn't appeal to me as much, though the stories are good of course.
One of the coolest parts of this book is the essay called Laws and Customs Among the Eldar. This has all sorts of info about Elvish culture. Tolkien apparently intended this to be an appendix to the Silmarillion. One subject covered is the multiple names given to an Elf - the father-name given at birth, the mother-name which often contains foresight of later deeds, the epesse or nickname given later in life, and the kilmesse, the name an Elf chooses for himself. Leave it to a linguist to have multiple names for everything and everyone!
There was also info in this essay about Elvish sex drive(!), which was rather eyebrow-raising. Apparently once children are born, Elves lose the desire for physical intimacy and a husband and wife may even live apart from one another pursuing their own interests.
I can't recall where it was mentioned but this book also addressed the possibility of other worlds beyond Arda. The Elves considered that they might exist but that they would have their own stories and were thus irrelevant to the central drama of Arda. Wow, Elvish libido and the existence of alien life, two subjects I never expected to see in a Tolkien book!
A subject covered in detail was Elvish reincarnation. It's odd that this plays such a prominent role in Tolkien's mythology, given his devout Christian beliefs. Wouldn't this mean that the Elves were being resurrected thousands of years before Jesus? I'm not religious so I don't know if this breaks any biblical rules. In any case, the idea is that Elves are bound to Arda for as long as it lasts. Their spirits (fea) cannot leave the world and either get placed back into their bodies (hroa), causing them to be reborn or they enter into unborn Elvish children and start a new life. Tolkien debated whether to keep this last part since it could get awkward if an Elf regains the memories of his or her past incarnation.
Another section I really enjoyed was the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth (Debate of Finrod and Andreth) where an Elf-lord and a human wisewoman have a philosophical debate about death and and the different fates of the souls of Elves and Men. This was the most overtly religious I've ever seen Tolkien get. There are even hints about Iluvatar entering into Arda in incarnate form at some future date. Surprising to see a reference to Jesus in Middle-earth, even a vague one like this. Religious allegory was always more C.S. Lewis's style. Even so, I found this whole scene quite fascinating.
The rest of the book is yet more revised versions of the Silmarillion stories. I don't know how many of the HOME books you guys have read but I'm finding it a bit tedious reading the same stories over and over. These sections didn't appeal to me as much, though the stories are good of course.