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elaen32
Gondor
Mar 17 2013, 10:28am
Views: 749
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The whole "Knowledge- good or bad?" question
[In reply to]
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Can't Post
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is one which is so fundamental to much of Tolkien's work and of course to humanity as a whole. The destruction of nature for technological "advance" was a topic seemingly close to Tolkien's heart and is more relevant than ever today. I feel that he was very ambivalent- seeing the beautiful things which could arise, as well as the destructive. This translates into his, IMO, somewhat ambivalent view of the Noldor as striving for beauty,but also causing, inadvertently, great evil (due to the input of Messrs Melkor & Sauron respectively) as a result of the creation of the Silmarils and the Rings. In Arda, I feel that Eru is aware of this dichotomy, but his plan through the Music, is that the two will balance out- the fact that it takes millenia to cast out Melkor and then further millenia to destroy Sauron, would possibly be irrelevant to Eru, since he is outside of time and of Arda. Sorry if this all sounds a bit simplistic- I am relatively new to the Silmarillion and do not know it that well yet. In our own world, as you say, there are two sides to most human discovery and knowledge- nuclear science led to atomic weaponry, but also to many medical applications which save lives; the isolation and discovery of certain viruses and the development of vaccines to them v the perversion of these discoveries into biological weapons. As you say, it all boils down to choice in how knowledge is used, but it is interesting to speculate whether these real world "evil uses" would have happened in the way that they did, without WorldWar II. Tolkien despised allegory-true, but any writer worth their salt is bound to be influenced by their own world and times.
"Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold"
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Silmarilion Discussion, Chapter 6: "...and the Unchaining of Melkor" 2 of 2
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telain
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Mar 11 2013, 4:42pm
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Unleashing the beast
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CuriousG
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Mar 13 2013, 5:55pm
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how well do we really know Melkor?
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telain
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Mar 16 2013, 11:02pm
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Melkor Choice and naivete of the Valar
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Brethil
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Mar 17 2013, 1:38am
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Melkor's dark music and Nienna's healing
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telain
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Mar 17 2013, 11:34pm
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Pride and pity
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CuriousG
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Mar 18 2013, 12:49am
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I get your thoughts CG!
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Brethil
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Mar 18 2013, 1:19am
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Some thoughts on Nienna and Olorin and pity
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Brethil
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Mar 18 2013, 1:12am
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I'm always learning something new here
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CuriousG
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Mar 18 2013, 2:04am
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Clueless? Hardly!
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Brethil
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Mar 18 2013, 3:15am
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My thoughts
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Finwe
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Mar 14 2013, 7:07pm
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how did Aule get in this chapter? Oh, yes...
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telain
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Mar 16 2013, 11:39pm
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The whole "Knowledge- good or bad?" question
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elaen32
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Mar 17 2013, 10:28am
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my thoughts
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Maciliel
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Mar 16 2013, 12:30am
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Free will
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Elizabeth
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Mar 16 2013, 4:40am
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then how does this apply to the gift of men?
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Maciliel
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Mar 16 2013, 11:09am
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It's not easy for us Mortals to see it as a gift, is it?
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Brethil
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Mar 16 2013, 3:45pm
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as you've described it..
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Maciliel
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Mar 16 2013, 4:06pm
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Scratching head, flipping though text-
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Brethil
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Mar 16 2013, 4:49pm
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I think the "gift" is not connected to "free will".
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Elizabeth
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Mar 16 2013, 9:40pm
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Did not intend to imply control
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Brethil
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Mar 16 2013, 10:13pm
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Feanor is a pit of smouldering coals...
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telain
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Mar 16 2013, 11:52pm
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Hello all, my first post about Sil, but I have been following :)
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Brethil
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Mar 16 2013, 2:01am
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Late answers
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sador
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Mar 18 2013, 7:35am
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