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CuriousG
Half-elven
Feb 3 2013, 9:12pm
Views: 2420
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Prophecy comes up a lot in Tolkien's world, and you raise a good point about how predictable things are, in general or in detail, and if people are left with free will. Mandos can be specific when he wants to be. In Of the Sun and Moon, he says "To me shall Feanor come soon." He says that with certainty, and doesn't appear to be conjecturing that Feanor's personality is ultimately self-destructive, so he'll probably die soon somehow. Hence Feanor has no free will in the matter and is doomed to do what he does. Or I suppose he had an alternative possibility of falling off a cliff by accident, but I don't think the text implies that.
Huor's prophecy to Turgon is reasonably definitive and specific: "from you and from me a new star shall arise." That seems to mean that Earendil taking the Silmaril into the sky was 100% certain. Well, in retrospect it's clear. I had no clue on first read and had trouble keeping Huor and Huan separate.
A less high and mighty oracle was Malbeth the Seer. One of his prophecies had the sort of unhelpful ambiguity that delphic types are known for. When naming Arvedui as as last king of Arnor, Malbeth says "a choice will come to the Dunedain" determining Arvedui's fate, but of course he gives no indication what that choice will be. But when Aragorn quotes Arvedui about the Paths of the Dead, Malbeth is much more definitive that an heir of Isildur will return to successfully summon the Dead. Making sense only half the time is better than being Cassandra and having no one believe any of your forecasts, I guess.
Other predictions I perused are usually more helpful than "So it is doomed," and they often leave open an alternative. In the Tale of Aragorn part of Appdx A, there's even a marital spat between two soothsayers over who's right about the future. Dirhael doesn't want his daughter to marry a man he forebodes will die soon, while his wife, Ivorwen, foresees that if they are wed, "hope may be born for our people" [i.e., Estel/Aragorn]. Gandalf foresees that Frodo "may become like a glass filled with light" [italics mine both times], so Frodo's fate isn't sealed.
But asking Mandos to spill the beans at this point is like saying the Eagles should fly the Ring into Mordor--it ruins the story. I still want to shake it out of him, or tell him to keep quiet if he doesn't have anything noncryptic to say. On the other hand, everything seems so happy-ever-after with Melkor in jail and the Elves coming to the Blessed Realm, the pot needs stirring up.
As for deciding whether to fight evil yourself or let fate take care of it, isn't the latter what a lot of people do? "Don't bother yourself; it will work itself out."
Concerning "Orc love," I can't get past the "eww!" factor myself.
Thanks for the reply!
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Subject
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User
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Time
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The Silmarillion discussion: Of the Coming of the Elves
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CuriousG
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Feb 1 2013, 5:34am
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Brief comment from "Arda Reconstructed"
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CuriousG
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Feb 1 2013, 5:55am
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I'm enjoying seeing these brief comments from AR
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
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Feb 1 2013, 7:34pm
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As far as I remember, not exactly.
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sador
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Feb 12 2013, 9:33pm
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Some corrections
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
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Feb 13 2013, 2:41am
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Thank you!
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sador
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Feb 13 2013, 5:12pm
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Food for thought is good!
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
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Feb 13 2013, 7:00pm
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"It needed a week's answer, or none."
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sador
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Feb 15 2013, 2:04pm
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I'm always interested in what you have to say! //
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
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Feb 15 2013, 3:51pm
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birth and other questions fo Elves
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elevorn
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Feb 1 2013, 4:15pm
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>>Why do you think Melkor was nibbling around the edges of the Elves and kidnapping them a few at a time? Why not enslave them all at once? They weren't exactly a fighting force.
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Asger
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Feb 1 2013, 6:57pm
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Elves and the bad guy
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CuriousG
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Feb 3 2013, 6:31pm
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great post! I hope my answers measure up...
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telain
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Feb 2 2013, 8:34pm
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Doom and Deepness and Damned, sexy orcs
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noWizardme
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Feb 3 2013, 6:06pm
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Mandos and his secrets
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CuriousG
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Feb 3 2013, 9:12pm
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doomed by doom?
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telain
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Feb 5 2013, 4:32pm
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Valar and Elves
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CuriousG
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Feb 3 2013, 7:02pm
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Of Elves and Orcs--more info
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CuriousG
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Feb 3 2013, 7:56pm
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Answers at last
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sador
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Feb 11 2013, 12:16pm
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late thought about stars, and links to real Earth
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noWizardme
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Feb 11 2013, 2:35pm
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Oh, the next chapter disscussion HAS started...
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noWizardme
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Feb 11 2013, 2:38pm
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Middle-earth and Real-earth
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telain
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Feb 12 2013, 4:25pm
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Answers to answers
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CuriousG
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Feb 15 2013, 1:51am
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