Why is enigma pretty much tied with maia and earth spirit... - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

jallanite · 08-19-2001, 07:48 AM

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Re: Why is enigma pretty much tied with maia and earth spiri

I believe the Tolkien's remarks about the mermaids that puzzled CT are actually easily explained.

In other notes Eärendel is befriended as a boy by either Oarni, by mermaids, or by Oarni identified with memaids. So why does Tolkien suddenly seem to break the identity? The answer is easy enough if you look at Tolkien's full note:<blockquote>Quote:<hr> 'The fiord of the Mermaid: enchantment of his sailors. Mermaids are not Oarni (but are earthlings, or fays? -- or both).'<hr></blockquote>Tolkien is here distinguishing only the hostile Mermaid in this incident and other "Mermaids" of similar type, from the Oarni who are Eärendel's friends. He means Mermaids of this sort are not Oarni".

Though "earthlings" and "fays" may be here only varieties of what Tolkien would later call Maiar, I don't see any problem with imagining spirits who were not of the Ainur dwelling in Arda, created perhaps when Eä was made, or sent later (as are all spirits of Mortals, Dwarves, and Elves, and perhaps of Ents. Tom Bombadil might be one such, as might Ungoliant, whom Tolkien almost identifies as a Maia, but then doesn't quite.

But by making Tom an "enigma" when he could have easily identified him as the first Maia to become permanently embodied in Middle-earth or some such, Tolkien was expressing his own desire to leave Tom a mystery. The Maia explanation probably just didn't seem right to him.

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08-19-2001, 07:48 AM	#1
jallanite Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 479	<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Moderator Posts: 65</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE> Re: Why is enigma pretty much tied with maia and earth spiri I believe the Tolkien's remarks about the mermaids that puzzled CT are actually easily explained. In other notes Eärendel is befriended as a boy by either Oarni, by mermaids, or by Oarni identified with memaids. So why does Tolkien suddenly seem to break the identity? The answer is easy enough if you look at Tolkien's full note:<blockquote>*Quote:<hr> 'The fiord of the Mermaid: enchantment of his sailors. Mermaids are not Oarni (but are earthlings, or fays? -- or both).'<hr></blockquote>Tolkien is here distinguishing only the hostile Mermaid in this incident and other "Mermaids" of similar type, from the Oarni who are Eärendel's friends. He means Mermaids of this sort* are not Oarni". Though "earthlings" and "fays" may be here only varieties of what Tolkien would later call Maiar, I don't see any problem with imagining spirits who were not of the Ainur dwelling in Arda, created perhaps when Eä was made, or sent later (as are all spirits of Mortals, Dwarves, and Elves, and perhaps of Ents. Tom Bombadil might be one such, as might Ungoliant, whom Tolkien almost identifies as a Maia, but then doesn't quite. But by making Tom an "enigma" when he could have easily identified him as the first Maia to become permanently embodied in Middle-earth or some such, Tolkien was expressing his own desire to leave Tom a mystery. The Maia explanation probably just didn't seem right to him. </p>