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08-16-2005, 09:05 AM | #1 | ||||||||||
Illustrious Ulair
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties
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Galadhremmin Ennorath
(The idea for this thread was sparked by a talk at Tolkien 2005 in Birmingham. The speaker ummed & erred a lot, so it was difficult to follow his argument. This thread idea, therefore, is made up of my own thoughts, inspired by what I heard).
Galadhremmin Ennorath Shippey translates (Author of the Century) this as ‘tree-tangled Middle-earth’ & refers to various images in Tolkien’s works. He says Quote:
Yet the Elves love trees most - after the stars - so do they really think of them as a ‘barrier’, as something in the way, an ‘obstacle’ to their vision of the stars? The image of ‘light’ shining through tree branches is a recurring one which runs throughout the history of Middle-earth. Quote:
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Galadriel’s name is usually translated as ‘Lady of Light’ but its actually closer in meaning to ‘radiient haired maiden’ Tolkien describes her hair as ‘’shining’. It shines with the light of the Two Trees, So, if the hairs are set in animperishable crystal each by Gimli, what he will end up with are three imperishable crystals, shining with the light of the Two Trees. The similarity between the Quenya & Sindarin words for ‘Tree’ & ‘Light’ are interesting in this context: Quenya Sindarin Alta = Light = Galad Alda = Tree = Galadh What we have, running right through the Legendarium, from Tolkien’s earliest writings down to his final ones, are the twin images of light shining either through tree branches or in women’s hair. Why? The hair thing is difficult to answer, but the connection of Light & Tree is easier - the ultimate, archetypal, trees in Middle-earth were Telperion & Laurelin, which shone with Golden & Silver Light. It may be that light shining in or through hair is meant to work as analogy. Every appearance of trees with light shining through their branches seems to be a deliberate ‘echo’ of the Primal trees, as is every image of gold & silver light - especially when they are mingled - as in the hair of Galadriel. So, its not so much that the branches of trees get ‘in the way’ of the stars, but rather that the two - trees & gold/silver light are a single thing, a tree of light.. Or am I completely wrong here?
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“Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects." Last edited by davem; 08-16-2005 at 09:09 AM. |
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08-16-2005, 09:08 AM | #2 | |
Stormdancer of Doom
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If memory serves-- was it not Feanor's frustration at being refused his request (of a strand of hair) that made him determined to create the silmarils in the first place? (Edit on rereading-- sorry, you already said that, more or less. ) Had Galadriel aquiesced, would we have had a happy Feanor-- and no theft, no oath, no kinslaying, etc, etc? Which would mean that the fate of Middle-Earth was turned by Galadriel's hair and her attitude about it. (Clumsily said. And of course there are many other parties involved, etc. But the fact of her refusal remains, as does the connection between hair, trees, light, stars.
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...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve. Last edited by mark12_30; 08-16-2005 at 09:19 AM. |
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08-16-2005, 09:23 AM | #3 | ||
Illustrious Ulair
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties
Posts: 4,240
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Within Middle-earth it can be explained - it was due to the shining of the Two Trees, giving light in the darkness. But its such an odd image to choose. The word for hair (Fin) crops up in numerous names, alongside so many other references in fact that one has to say that 'hair' belongs among the physical things in Middle-earth that also have a 'spiritual' connotation - stars & trees particularly. I suppose one has to speculate on the possible connection to the halo's of Saints - but then where do the tree branches fit in? In Middle-earth the relationship of light-hair-tree branches seems to be unique - unless there's some other myth or religion that makes the same connection, I can only think it was Tolkien's invention - & its such an odd sybolism... Quote:
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“Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects." Last edited by davem; 08-16-2005 at 09:28 AM. |
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08-16-2005, 09:29 AM | #4 |
Stormdancer of Doom
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He's even got ents with mossy beards and leafy, branchy stuff on their heads.
I wonder what Edith's hair was like, especially while she was dancing in the wood. Anybody know?
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...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve. |
08-16-2005, 09:44 AM | #5 |
Cryptic Aura
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 5,979
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Oh now pyrotechnic Galadriel of the movies makes so much more sense.
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I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away. |
08-16-2005, 10:07 AM | #6 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: commonplace city
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lather, rinse, repeat
Nice ideas. Something definately was there for the author, wasnt it? But perhaps its the only real physical sense we really get when we feel fairy: the glimpse of a soft blending of silver and gold as it filters through nature. delightfull
Its art imitating life in its highest sense. The wonders Feanor created captured light, back when light was Light. It all repeats itself over time, albeit to a lesser and lesser extent. But it's all congruent with the desire of the elves to capture, or recapture an icon, or an idea, or a feeling that they dont want time to ravage. |
08-16-2005, 11:20 AM | #7 | |
Illustrious Ulair
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties
Posts: 4,240
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Certainly we do see that Feanor's desire was the 'light', the radiance, of Galadriel's hair. If, as in Sam's song, the branches of trees are seen as their 'hair' then it seems that Feanor's use of the light of the Trees is a substitute for the light of Galadriel's hair - it is a 'second best'. Maybe his reaction to the theft of the Silmarils is caught up with his feelings for Galadriel? The Maedhros/Idril story springs to mind - this at least shows that incestuous desires for near kin were not wholly alien to the Eldar..... |
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08-16-2005, 01:15 PM | #8 | ||
Bittersweet Symphony
Join Date: Jul 2004
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08-16-2005, 02:01 PM | #9 | ||
Illustrious Ulair
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties
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Oh, & I also put too many 'm's in the thread title, too
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“Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects." Last edited by davem; 08-16-2005 at 02:25 PM. |
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08-16-2005, 02:16 PM | #10 | |
Regal Dwarven Shade
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold
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Anyway... There is a theory that Elves represent a more spiritual aspect of our nature and the Dwarves represent a more earthly. For some reason I have a notion that perhaps to the Elves the trees represent a part of their attachment to the world around them since the trees are rooted in the earth while reaching up toward the heavens. Thus they may be less of a barrier and more of a connection. (This is completely ignoring the rest of the above mentioned theory that humanity represented the link between the two.)
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...finding a path that cannot be found, walking a road that cannot be seen, climbing a ladder that was never placed, or reading a paragraph that has no... Last edited by Kuruharan; 08-16-2005 at 02:19 PM. Reason: additional idea |
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