Quote:
Originally Posted by alatar
You will want to let those who collated the NIV, KJV and NKJV. The NASV states it as "one day" and "a fourth day."
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I can see why they render it 'first', editors want consistency. It also makes it look more poetic (which it is, the Hebrew is filled with alliteration, puns and rhyme). But enough of this nerd fest.
I read somewhere once that "Poetry is more interested with truth than history".
Anyway...
Tolkien's vision of an age without the sun fills me with intrigue. I really like the idea. Middle Earth was, presumably, quite cold, at the time, though.
The Lamps raise some interesting topics, though. They are raised on mountains, yet they are fashioned by Aule. So, they are like an ultimate 'work of hands', as it were. How quickly are they thrown down? Pretty quickly. The Trees, a more 'natural' source of light, last a little longer and require Melkor to use a bit more of his cunning. The Sun is what confounds him at the last. Perhaps this is Tolkien's love of nature winning over manufacture coming through. I like to think so.