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joec_34
Rivendell
Feb 26 2015, 2:43am
Post #26 of 28
(347 views)
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Assuming a Biblical reference for walking on snow: Jesus walked on water in the Bible. Snow is a form of water...so there's a Biblical precedent. Since Tolkien drew on old european concepts for elves, which (as I understand it) were somewhat mingled with diety, and Jesus claimed to be divine, this parallel seems plausible.
Perhaps you are looking for evidence though, instead of pure speculation. What is it that causes you to connect the Bible verse you quoted with the eyesight of the elves?
"Happy painting and God bless, my friend." - Bob Ross
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Elarie
Grey Havens
Feb 26 2015, 2:09pm
Post #27 of 28
(308 views)
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What is it that causes you to connect the Bible verse you quoted with the eyesight of the elves?
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I just read "Tolkien: Man and Myth" by Joseph Pearce recently and the book is basically all about the effect of Tolkien's religious beliefs on his writings. I didn't think it was a particularly well-written book, but it did give me some new things to think about and a new way of also looking at Tolkien's stories from the perspective of his Christian beliefs, along with the Norse mythology and the languages. Not that I'm any kind of expert of Tolkien - there are plenty of people here on TORN who know more than I ever will, but now that I'm a little more aware of just how deep Tolkien's Christian beliefs went, it makes me wonder more about some of the things that I just took for granted before as part of the fantasy and adventure. The clear air of Faery and the ability to see what others cannot takes on a very different meaning when you think of it as being written by someone who deeply believed that Christianity shows the world a truth that was not revealed before (that may be poor phrasing on my part, but I'm not sure how else to say it). So of course from that point of view, it's kind of hard to read the description of the lucid air of Faery in Leaf by Niggle without thinking of "For now we see through a glass darkly..." which is a pretty famous verse.
Still wondering about that snow walking, though. The idea of it being a version of walking on water is interesting, but Tolkien also mentions that Legolas doesn't leave footprints in the grass (while they are pursuing the Uruk Hai through Rohan) so I have a feeling that there is something else going on but I have no idea what.
Interesting topic, though! 
__________________
Gold is the strife of kinsmen,
and fire of the flood-tide,
and the path of the serpent.
(Old Icelandic Fe rune poem)
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Felagund
Rohan
Feb 28 2015, 2:50pm
Post #28 of 28
(294 views)
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the gift of farsight: Elves (and Men too)
[In reply to]
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I don't reckon the keen eyesight aspect is particular to Legolas - great bowman though he was. As has been remarked elsewhere in the thread, Legolas, being the only elf in the Fellowship, was Tolkien's most natural vehicle for describing the traits of his race.
This passage describes Fingon standing at the walls of Eithel Sirion, on the eve of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad:
... and he [Fingon] looked eastwards, seeking if he might see with elven-sight the dust of Anfauglith rising beneath the hosts of Maedhros.
Fingon's expectation was that his elven-sight would enable him to see some sign of Maedhros' army, hundreds of miles away. That he couldn't wasn't related to his abilities, but rather that Maedhros had been treacherously delayed.
I suspect a trawl of The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and the earlier volumes of the HoMe might reveal similar passages, perhaps in relation to people like Mablung and Beleg.
Far-sightedness seems to have been a trait of the Númenóreans too, at least before the Shadow fell on them. See, for example:
This name [Tar-Palantir / "High Far-Sighted"] Inziladûn took, because he was far-sighted both in eye and mind... [Unfinished Tales]
And:
...and at times, when all the air was clear and the sun was in the east, they [the Númenóreans] would look out and descry far off in the west a city white-shining on a distant shore, and a great harbour and a tower [Alqualondë]. For in those days the Númenóreans were far-sighted... [The Silmarillion]
This ability of the Númenóreans was directly related to the physical transformation of the Edain after their emigration to the aptly-named Andor ("Land of the Gift") - one of the many gifts that they would receive as reward for their loyalty and the suffering they experienced at the hands of Morgoth and his servants. As well as lengthened lifespans, Tolkien describes these phenomena in the lovely figurative passage below:
Therefore they grew wise and glorious, and in all things more like the Firstborn than any other of the kindreds of Men; and they were tall, taller than the tallest of the sons of Middle-earth; and the light of their eyes was like the bright stars. [The Silmarillion]
The parallel between the enhanced physical abilities of the Númenóreans and the existing physical abilities of the Elves is explicitly drawn. The Númenóreans (in general) had become "more like" Elves (in general) - including in eyesight.
Welcome to the Mordorfone network, where we put the 'hai' back into Uruk
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