***Poll of the references of Rúmil and Pengoloð in the Ainulindalë *** - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Aiwendil · 02-19-2003, 09:38 AM

HerenIstarion: Don't misunderstand me. I think that in the ideal case, we would retain ambiguity between "flat world" and "round world, flat Silmarillion". In fact, I think that keeping such ambiguity is very good grounds for an argument against ascribing the Ainulindale to Rumil; or it would be if necessary. I've looked over the Ainulindale twice and found nothing in it that unambiguously necessitates the flat earth version. They were cursory scans, so I may have missed something. But if I did not, then there's no problem at all; we can include Rumil without fear, because the Ainulindale could either be from a flat or round world mythology.

Speculation regarding the nature of the myth and so forth is all very interesting, but I think it's unnecessary if the ambiguity holds. What do other people think about this? Is there some obvious passage that I'm missing?

02-19-2003, 09:38 AM	#14
Aiwendil Late Istar Join Date: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,224	HerenIstarion: Don't misunderstand me. I think that in the ideal case, we would retain ambiguity between "flat world" and "round world, flat Silmarillion". In fact, I think that keeping such ambiguity is very good grounds for an argument against ascribing the Ainulindale to Rumil; or it would be if necessary. I've looked over the Ainulindale twice and found nothing in it that unambiguously necessitates the flat earth version. They were cursory scans, so I may have missed something. But if I did not, then there's no problem at all; we can include Rumil without fear, because the Ainulindale could either be from a flat or round world mythology. Speculation regarding the nature of the myth and so forth is all very interesting, but I think it's unnecessary if the ambiguity holds. What do other people think about this? Is there some obvious passage that I'm missing?