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Old 03-19-2018, 04:34 PM   #58
R.R.J Tolkien
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Some Clarification

Just to make sure I am not misunderstood in my op and perhaps I was not clear enough, I would like to clarify what I think might not be so clear in my op.

The First age was the Most Powerful

The first age overall had more "power" than the third and second ages. Two great examples brought up are the many dragons of the first age vs smaug as the only remaining powerful dragon in the third age. And the decline of the elves as another. As I pointed out the third age did have some examples of increase in power over the first two ages, but not enough to counter the loss of power.

Valar are the Most powerful Maiar Second

As I said multiple times in my op, the valar are the strongest creation by Eru followed by the Maiar. As a class these beings are the most powerful classes and far surpass any class such as orc, dwarf, elf or troll or any other.

What I did Argue/ The Class of Valar and Maiar are not as Drastically "Above" the Other Highest Beings on Middle Earth


I argued in my op that just because any individual was in the class of Maiar or Valar does not make them untouchable to all other classes and were vulnerable to the strongest individuals of the other classes.


Hyperbole was Used

“Tolkien uses profoundly figurative language – particularly when describing distant events in semi-legendary past.”
-John Garth


Describing the legendary nature of the sillmarillion Tolkien used hyperbole as typical of these sort of writings though based on historical events. Over long periods of history tales grow and over time exaggerated characters and beasts become more powerful than they were. Thus the legendary status of some of the first age heroes and creatures has been exaggerated.

This is common today in sports. When people talk of the "greatest ever" basketball player, or pitcher, or boxer etc over time they become legendary and we forget their weakness and exaggerate their up sides. We also tend to use language and exaggerate their accomplishments and often talk of them as beyond compare the "best ever."
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Last edited by R.R.J Tolkien; 03-19-2018 at 04:54 PM.
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