But again, if one believes that Eru has foreseen all, then the discord should eventually resolve into a beautiful harmonic! And that is a comforting thought! And possibly another awakening to we know not what.

Having created a sort of psychic duvet of the Girdle of Melian, she snuggles inside, ...

However, there is the odd phrase which Frodo speaks as the Hobbits arrive home. One of the others says "It's like waking from a long dream"(or words to that effect), to which Frodo replies "For me it is like falling asleep again". I imagine that having "awoken" to the world of the spirit, via the effects of the Ring, that going back to the Shire feels even more odd to Frodo and he doesn't truly awaken again until he reaches the Undying Lands.

Melian is such a good example to explore a little further. She's already part of the "grown-ups" crowd -- wait! Maybe she so quickly abandons "her" people (her children?) so she can go back to sitting at the "adult" table.

I love this:

Quote

So, this is why she is so "out of it" for most of the stories! Makes so much more sense now. Now I have a great image in my head of Galadriel sitting at a table with a cup of tea while Melian lounges in a Psych(edeli)ic duvet musing (gossiping? How scandalous!)

So is the psychic duvet causing Thingol, et al to be in a semi-dream state? Does this state make them unprepared to deal with the outside world?

In the examples I have given, the races or individuals have a clearer view of the Real World upon waking, whether they are able to interact with the Real World through consciousness, whether they mature and gain the sense of greater responsibility in the Real World that characterizes Adulthood from Childhood, or whether they gain greater knowledge of the Real World and see things as they were meant to be seen (or some interesting combination of all three.)

But as the War in Beleriand was at the time of the hobbits' meeting some 7,000 years ago, no doubt they were not quite the same: less wise, less strong, shyer and more uncommunicable (their own language simpler, but their knowledge of other tongues very small).

Sorry... couldn't resist the wordplay! No apologies - that's what we do here!
...and it helps that Eol was out galavanting with dwarves... But you wouldn't see the value in that, would you? I can maybe see doing that for a day, or two...or a couple of decades. Maybe.

Denethor, Numenoreans and ancestor-worship! Great one. Let sleeping kings lie! Have you or anyone else read Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence? As I read your reference to the sleeping kings, I was instantly reminded that in Cooper's books one of the main goals of the Light is to Wake the Sleepers (knights) so that they can rise against the Dark in the one big final battle. Hmmm. Sound familiar? Cooper draws on Arthurian legend as well as Celtic (esp. Welsh)-- as does Tolkien--so it's not too strange that they should be similar in theme, if not in tone or complexity. I think we have a lot of ancient references to draw upon here. Arthur springs right to mind (but I think JRRT had a profound dissatisfaction with Arthur's return in the context of his own legendarium - he mentions the difficulty in Letter #154 [I think that's the one] which may be why he abandoned Fall). We have the tales of both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty: both 'asleep' (one physically/spiritually, one lost in the woods with Dwarves. Which sounds fine by me, thank you very much) and 'awakened' with true love's kiss by the Prince in their tale. I think these tales have evolved: from older versions which perhaps were addressing the line between Seen/Unseen and Life/Death metaphors, to more socially symbolic and cautionary tales in the light of advancing Christian mores and social change and the notions of Courtly Love. Another example could certainly be Vainamoinen (sorry I can't do all the umlauts, etc.) from the Kalevala. He is said to be the symbol of Old beliefs who sails off in his boat to 'rest' and will return when needed (interesting inversion here as an inspiration as he may represent the Pagan versus the Christian faith). In addition Bruinen (most excellently!!!) cited the Tale of King Heidrek and The Waking of Agantyr, in which Hervor 'wakes' her dead father to demand the family blade, cursed Tyrfing. JRRT was well acquainted with both the tales. In waking the sleeping knight: in context of the awakening metaphor and specifically Sil and the tale of Tyrfing, I think of Turin, waking with Anglachel when the time is right. So I think you have tapped into a very elemental factor I the telling of the tale - and in much of the Sil as his 'ancient' and Creation text. )And then we have Vlad the Impaler who is supposed to be just 'resting'. I'll skip that awakening party, thanks.)