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telain
Rohan
Feb 5 2013, 4:32pm
Views: 2298
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I always find discussions of prophecy, destiny, fate, doom, etc. really interesting... and frustrating! Especially with the complicating "free will" factor. Perhaps I am not the only one, but I also get hung up on the neutrality and/or negativity of the word "doom". I usually see it as "ill-fated" or even "ruinous", but sometimes I read it simply as "destined." With the concept free will I am even more unsure -- is Mandos really predicting what will happen, or is he simply saying what the rest of us reading the story are thinking? If it was Eru's intent that Arda be the home to his Children, then Is it really going to turn out well that the Firstborn are called to live with the Valar? (Especially considering relations with Melkor have, well, deteriorated, and the fact that though enslaved he is still "in the world"? I mean, you can't introduce a supreme evil and enslave him and think that will actually be the end of it, can you?) Sometimes I find the soothsayers and prophets in stories are far less enigmatic than they are cautious or practical. Sure, they usually are somewhat pessimistic, but then that it just another word for realist, right? In a sense, then I am reiterating the point about how predictable things are when people do have free will, just from a slightly surreal angle... Furthermore, I think some things are predictable, but to a certain point -- usually having to do with the scale (time and space) of the prediction involved. In our example from this chapter the scale is quite large, so the prediction can be quite vague. Mandos can know something isn't going to go well, but he doesn't have to know exactly how. The sheer number of ways it can go wrong leads one to suspend precision for a general sense "this just isn't right." Other predictions can be more precise as well because there are specific people involved (Turgon, Arvedui, Frodo, etc.,) rather than an entire group or race. I predict I will have lunch soon (very small time and space scale, so accurate prediction possible!)
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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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