Men's curse/blessing

[Eldar14]

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Do you consider men's mortality in Middle-Earth a curse or a blessing?

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[Eldar14]

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Re: Men's curse/blessing

In one of JRRT's letters to Milton Waldman, it seems as if he himself had not decided at that time himself whether it was a curse or blessing. (The letter is used as a Preface for my copy of <u>The Silmarillion</u>.)

<blockquote>Quote:<hr> &quot;The Doom (or the Gift) of Men is mortality, freedom from the circles of the world.&quot;<hr></blockquote>

One could interpret this one of two ways, that he did not know what it was by saying both &quot;Doom&quot; and &quot;Gift&quot;, or one could say that the second half clearly shows that he considered it a blessing.

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[Inziladun]

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Re: Men's curse/blessing

The word doom does not necessarily mean mortality is an evil or a curse. Doom could simply be read for
&quot;destiny&quot;. There is an interesting quote from The Silmarillion,in which Elves are speaking of this to the Númenorean King Tar Atanamir.
<blockquote>Quote:<hr> The Eldar.....cannot escape,and are bound to this world,never to leave it so long as it lasts,for its life is theirs. And you are punished for the rebellion of Men,you say,in which you had small part,and so it is that you die. But that was not at first appointed for a punishment. Thus you escape,and leave the world,And are not bound to it,in hope or in weariness. Which of us therefore should envy the others?<hr></blockquote>
It is pretty telling (the word escape is used twice).

Those who will defend authority against rebellion must not themselves rebel. </p>

[Gilthalion]

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Re: Men's curse/blessing

Quite so!

For example, I am doomed to be hated for my handsome countenance! <img src=wink.gif ALT=";)">

Is this a blessing, or a curse?




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[Aldaron]

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Re: Men's curse/blessing

Gilthalion,
Your 'handsome countenance' might be a blessing now, but believe me, it will fade. Perhaps not turn to a curse, but we all grow old.

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[GandaIf The White]

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Re: Men's curse/blessing

I think that you would have to know where the spirits of men go before you could count it as a blessing of doom. And, unless you can get Manwe or Mandos here, I dont think you can. <img src=smile.gif ALT=":)"> Unless you are talking about Beren..

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."</p>

[The Watcher in the Water]

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<img src="http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/posticons/bluepal.jpg" align=absmiddle> Re: Men's curse/blessing

I'm not too sure about this but isnt there a passage in the Silmarilion which states something along the lines of mortality being a gift to men yet Morgoth/Melkors stories and lies made Men come to fear it. Actually now that i think of it this might only have related to fear of night... Great - now i'm all confused <img src=ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

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[Telchar]

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<img src="http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/posticons/bluepal.jpg" align=absmiddle> Re: Men's curse/blessing

For those interested in this topic, I deeply recommend that you follow this link:

http://www.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=8&t=000085pub12.ezboard.com/fthebarrowdownsthesilmarillionproposeddraftcanonst udiesandtheories.showMessage?topicID=85.topic</a>

And especially read what Voronwe has written on the subject <img src=smile.gif ALT=":)">

Anar kaluva tielyanna!</p>

[Eldar14]

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Re: Men's curse/blessing

I just read the linked page and all of the posts, and I've been convinced that it always has been a blessing to men to be able to die (Not to mention how crowded it would be if they didn't die <img src=smile.gif ALT=":)"> )

I already pretty much believed that it was a bittersweet blessing, but now I think it is an entire blessing.

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[Maglor68]

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Doom of Men

Both as a real person and within the context of Tolkiens writings I am a big believer that death is a blessing. I kind of like the deal Elros got however. Enjoying a nice long life, getting to do everything he wanted to accomplish and then choosing the time of his death.

- Maglor

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[Manwe]

I think that it's a blessing and as Gandalf says about Smeagol ( free translation from swedish ): '...He don't ages, dies or renews, he just live until every moment of his life is filled with pain...'.
'do you really want to live forever, forever and ever
' Alphavile, Forever Young.

[Eowyn of Ithilien]

I apologise for not reading everyone else's comments :/ I think that it's a blessing because the pain ends...and a curse because the joy ends also