Silmarillion - Chapter 07 - Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

I called the Silmarils ‘characters’, and in a sense I think that they do have that function in the book. But their role as such is not as clear, I think, as the role of the Ring as a character in LotR. The Silmarils and the Ring are interesting to compare; both are objects of great power, the desire for which causes people to commit misdeeds. But it strikes me that the Silmarils are much more passive. Whereas the Ring has desires of its own and has real agential force in bringing those desires about, the Silmarils appear to have no will, only power. Does anyone else see a connection or contrast between the Silmarils and the Ring?

Yes, I wish I had my book at hand, as I seem to recall it saying that the Silmarils had life in them. They're are also similarities between the ring making era and the setting in which the Silmarils came about, though not I don't believe that is the sort of response you are looking for. The Silmarils were created at a time when the Noldor had been learning their skill and art from Melkor. And yet Feanor went off alone and created them. The rings were created at a time when the Noldor had been learning their skill and art from Sauron, and yet Feanor's grandson, Celebrimbor, went off and created the elven set of rings, secretly.

Aiwendil, I too have made the connection between Feanor and the imperishable flame. It is also worth noting that both Feanor and Melkor are described in terms of flame or fire. While Melkor seems to be obsessed with the lack of it, Feanor possibly has too much? At any rate, I do wonder is this might have something to do with Melkor's antipathy toward the elf.

It is also surprising how the art of the elves appears to surpass that of the Valar. I believe it is mentioned in this chapter or the last, regarding the quality of gems created. But alas, I have not my book. And Feanor in particular seems to blurr the distinction between, creator and created, and challange the role of supremacy.
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Here is the quote I refered to.

Originally Posted by Of Feanor and the Unchaining of Melkor

...and he (Feanor) it was who, first of the Noldor, discovered how gems greater and brighter than those of the Earth might be made with skill.

[mhagain]

Very interesting, Hilde. Just thinking, it says somewhere (1951 Letter?) that the Elves role was to make/devise/create, and here we see Feanor as being the ultimate fulfilment of that role.

Another thought:

In Arda Marred, is it possible that everything made/devised/created is - in the longer run - doomed to cause trouble of some kind? I would certainly think so. From that perspective, the whole saga of the Silmarils can function almost as a "morality tale". Does one avoid doing anything, in the knowledge that bad will eventually come of it (as my old Gaffer would say)? Or does one accept the nature of Arda Marred and do one's best (or at least attempt to) in spite of it? Moral dilemma city!!!

Yet another thought:

Aman is often said to be representative of "Arda Unmarred". Does that make my "morality tale" hypothesis invalid, or is Aman - perhaps - not as "Unmarred" as it woulk like to be? Or did an element of the "Marring" creep in while Melkor was there?

All very interesting.

[Texadan]

I think perhaps the marring of Aman is in the Valar themselves. It seems to me that they reached a perceived perfection and crouched there. When the Children of Ilúvatar awoke did the Valar try to carry blessings and some of that perfection to the eastern continent? No, they called the elves to them and their perfection. And what did they do when the rest of the world became suddenly very imperfect? They built mountains and walled themselves in.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Originally Posted by mhagain

In Arda Marred, is it possible that everything made/devised/created is - in the longer run - doomed to cause trouble of some kind? I would certainly think so.

I had to think about that one, and though it is tempting to say that this might be the case, when I consider the creation of Lothlórien for instance, it doesn’t seem necessarily to follow that rule of thumb. Still this does seem to suggest that things created outside the original thought of Ilúvatar, no matter how beautiful or apparently ‘good’ they might be, run the risk of setting things off balance somehow. Especially, when they are created for less than generous purposes.

Perhaps the marring crept into Aman with both Melkor and the elves. The agent may very well be linked to pride inherant in both.

Texadan, I wish I could respond to your last post, as I don’t think that the Valar intended to totally ignore the rest of Arda. I need to bring my book to work more often, so I can back myself up!

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Originally Posted by Texadan

I think perhaps the marring of Aman is in the Valar themselves. It seems to me that they reached a perceived perfection and crouched there. When the Children of Ilúvatar awoke did the Valar try to carry blessings and some of that perfection to the eastern continent? No, they called the elves to them and their perfection. And what did they do when the rest of the world became suddenly very imperfect? They built mountains and walled themselves in.

Ok, I don't think that this string of passages directly relates to your evaluation of the Valar's behavior, but it does soften the edges I think.

Originally Posted by Valaquenta

“Nonetheless Ulmo loves both Elves and Men, and never abandoned them, not even when they lay under the wrath of the Valar.”

Originally Posted by Of the Beginning of Days

“And in that time of dark Yavanna also was unwilling utterly to forsake the Outer Lands; for all things that grow are dear to her, and she mourned for the works that she had begun in Middle-earth but Melkor had marred.”

Originally Posted by Of the Beginning of Days

“And Oromë tamer of beasts would ride too at whiles in the darkness of the unlit forests....”

This curious bit immediately precedes the move to Aman. A benevolent motive perhaps. The emphasis is mine.

Originally Posted by Of the Beginning of Days

“In the confusion and darkness Melkor escaped, though fear fell upon him; for above the roaring of the seas he heard the voice of Manwë as a mighty wind, and the earth trembled beneath the feet of Tulkas. But he came to Utumno ere tulkas could overtake him; and there he lay hid. And the Valar could not overtake him, for the greater part of their strength was needed to restrain the tumults of the Earth, and to save from ruin all that could be saved of their labour; and afterwards they feared to rend the Earth again, until they knew where the Children of Iluvatar were dwelling, who were yet to come in a time that was hidden from the Valar. ”

This is all well and good before Men showed up, when Melkor was causing his mischief, but what about after Melkor was chained, and later when Men arrived? Might the mighty ones still have been enjoying their prolonged breather?

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But back to the Silmarils! This is the quote I was thinking of earlier.

Originally Posted by Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

Like the crystal of diamonds it appeared, and yet was more strong than adamant, so that no violence could mar it or break it within the Kingdom of Arda. Yet that crystal was to the Silmarils but as is the body to the Children of Iluvatar: the house of its inner fire, that is within it and yet in all parts of it, and is its life.

I suppose that the word 'life' and just how it is meant here could be argued, but again notice how the mention of fire crops up again. I have come to equate fire with life. If that inner fire is life, it is interesting to note that it came from the light of the trees, and and the 'body' was made made by a non Valar figure.

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by Texadan

I think perhaps the marring of Aman is in the Valar themselves. It seems to me that they reached a perceived perfection and crouched there. When the Children of Ilúvatar awoke did the Valar try to carry blessings and some of that perfection to the eastern continent? No, they called the elves to them and their perfection. And what did they do when the rest of the world became suddenly very imperfect? They built mountains and walled themselves in.

Myths Transformed tells us that the valar attacked at the first right moment - any sooner, their action might have caused total annihilation.

Morgoth... had to be fought, mainly by physical force, and enormous material ruin was a probable consequence of any direct combat with him, victorious or otherwise. This is the chief explanation of the constant reluctance of the Valar to come into open battle against Morgoth...The whole of 'Middle-earth' was Morgoth's Ring... Unless swiftly successful, War against him might well end in reducing all Middle-earth to chaos, possibly even all Arda... the dilemma of the Valar was this: Arda could only be liberated by a physical battle; but a probable result of such a battle was the irretrievable ruin of Arda.
...
This appearance of selfish fainéance in the Valar in the mythology as told is ... I think only an 'appearance', and one which we are apt to accept as the truth, since we are all in some degree affected by the shadow and lies of their Enemy, the Calumniator.
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The last intervention with physical force by the Valar, ending in the breaking of Thangorodrim, may then be viewed as not in fact reluctant or even unduly delayed, but timed with precision. The intervention came before the annihilation of the Eldar and the Edain. Morgoth ... had in fact been weakened [by war]: in power and prestige (he had lost and failed to recover one of the Silmarils), and above all in mind. He had become absorbed in 'kingship', and though a tyrant of ogre-size and monstrous power, this was a vast fall even from his former wickedness of hate, and his terrible nihilism.

[Aiwendil]

Texadan wrote:

I think perhaps the marring of Aman is in the Valar themselves. It seems to me that they reached a perceived perfection and crouched there. When the Children of Ilúvatar awoke did the Valar try to carry blessings and some of that perfection to the eastern continent? No, they called the elves to them and their perfection. And what did they do when the rest of the world became suddenly very imperfect? They built mountains and walled themselves in.

And Raynor:

Myths Transformed tells us that the valar attacked at the first right moment - any sooner, their action might have caused total annihilation.

I don't think that the quote from Myths Transformed entirely refutes Texadan's point. For one thing, it seems to be speculation rather than a straightforward statement. For another, it concerns only the timing of their final attack on Morgoth. Texadan makes a broader point about their governance of Arda. After the Battle of the Powers, why did the Valar not cast down the Pelori and extend the bliss of Aman to Middle-earth? With the exceptions of Ulmo and Orome, and notwithstanding the quotes that Hilde gives, they appear quite insular and isolationist. I too wonder if this attitude may have been a misstep on their part.

[Raynor]

It can only be a speculation since this alternative didn't happen. However, to sustain this strategy, Tolkien also said about Manwe (same text, bold emphasis added):

Even so, and on the grounds of the stories as received, it is possible to view the matter otherwise. The closing of Valinor against the rebel Noldor (who left it voluntarily and after warning) was in itself just. But, if we dare to attempt to enter the mind of the Elder King, assigning motives and finding faults, there are things to remember before we deliver a judgement. Manwe was the spirit of greatest wisdom and prudence in Arda. He is represented as having had the greatest knowledge of the Music, as a whole, possessed by any one finite mind; and he alone of all persons or minds in that time is represented as having the power of direct recourse to and communication with Eru. He must have grasped with great clarity what even we may perceive dimly: that it was the essential mode of the process of 'history' in Arda that evil should constantly arise, and that out of it new good should constantly come.

After the Battle of the Powers, why did the Valar not cast down the Pelori and extend the bliss of Aman to Middle-earth?

I don't think that the bliss of Aman can be extended; as explained in the Akallabeth, this bliss stems from the very presence of the Valar; this extension would have meant, for one thing, that at least some of them would have to be in constant travel from Aman to M-E, or that they should be sundered from their kin for various periods of time. Even more importantly, their continuous presence on M-E would have been a challenge to Melkor's domain which he could not have ignored; as such (continuation from previous quote):

One especial aspect of this is the strange way in which the evils of the Marrer, or his inheritors, are turned into weapons against evil. If we consider the situation after the escape of Morgoth and the reestablishment of his abode in Middle-earth, we shall see that the heroic Noldor were the best possible weapon with which to keep Morgoth at bay, virtually besieged, and at any rate fully occupied, on the northern fringe of Middle-earth, without provoking him to a frenzy of nihilistic destruction.

[Elmo]

As I've said before making Middle Earth 'blissful' would have made the lot of mortals unhappy because it would have the same effect as them going to the undying lands.