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Old 08-23-2003, 04:09 AM   #1
Fat middle
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The Silmarillion Ch 12: Of Men

This is a very short chapter. It’s like a stop in the story: it doesn’t narrate too much things, but the general tone is very poetical so lots of ideas are suggested in it. I’ll proceed by quoting paragraphs and commenting what I have thought about, and sometimes proposing questions for debating. Any corrections, additions or oppositions will be very, very welcomed.

Readings:
- The Silmarillion. XII Of Men.
- BOLT? (I haven’t read those two)
- Quenta Silmarillion (HOME, 5): it has slight differences with the final text that may result interesting.
- Later Quenta Silmallion (HOME, 11): I don’t think this add anything at all.
- Myths Transformed (HOME, 10) : I haven’t commented anything about it, but the cosmic change that JRRT had in mind at this point would altered the date of the awakening of Men, and other things as the relation between the Sun and the Men.

The Sun, the Chicken and the Egg.
Quote:
From this time forth were reckoned the Years of the Sun. Swifter and briefer are they than the long Years of the Trees in Valinor. In that time the air of Middle-earth became heavy with the breath of growth and mortality, and the changing and ageing of all things was hastened exceedingly; life teemed upon the soil and in the waters in the Second Spring of Arda, and the Eldar increased, and beneath the new Sun Beleriand grew green and fair.
Beautiful introduction, doesn’t it? It’s curious how with the Sun come both “the breath of growth” and “mortality”. It makes me the impression of a sudden acceleration of things that runs out of control. When the Valar came out of their blessed refuge they’d find that things had changed a lot.

Also this poetical paragraph have made me noticed that Men share their mortality (I’m not speaking of their Doom ) with the nature: animals and plants, with all the creatures that waked up and grew with the Sun; while Elves share their immortality (or long, long life but confined to this world ) with the stars, they are the People of the Stars.
Quote:
At the first rising of the Sun the Younger Children of Ilúvatar awoke in the land of Hildórien in the eastward regions of Middle-earth; but the first Sun arose in the West, and the opening eyes of Men were turned towards it, and their feet as they wandered over the Earth for the most part strayed that way.
As elves followed the light of Valinor in their marching to the West, Men follow the light of the Sun. We have always this “westward spun” mythology. We have already discussed this in previous chapters, but I think that here we can find again the light as a metaphor of wisdom or blessedness.

But, what was before, the myth or the metaphor? On the one hand, the metaphor of the light is quite unoriginal, and its relation with the travelling of the Sun could be a good basis to build a mythology, since many myths have been related to the attraction that Men have to the Sun.

In the other hand, the original will of Tolkien of building a British mythology and the nuclear importance of his dream about the ship riding the great waves from the west may be two points to argue the primacy of the myth.

Anyway, perhaps those ideas has little to do with this chapter and may result quite obscure and unimportant, but I’ve given some thought to them and wanted to throw it somewhere

Another thing I’ve noticed is that it’s only in this chapter where we are spoken about this “tradition” that makes Men wander following the course of the Sun. In other chapters we’re told that the Dark Elves spoke to the Atani about the Light in the West and so they began their wandering trying to escape from the Shadow. This is the tradition that we find in the chapter about The Coming of Men into the West and in the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth. Why two different traditions? The first one (the Sun) shows the Atani as a new beginning in Arda (the second theme of the Music), a new people with a new destiny. The second one (the Light of the Valar) would present Men as “guests” in a world made for the Elves (words of Andreth): the seek a Light as Elves, but no Valar have come to guide them, nobody has invited them to follow, and in the end they’ll discover that they cannot reach that Light. They are fooled by his Doom. Any comments?

(1/3)
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