Musical instruments in Middle-earth - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Ibrîniðilpathânezel · 01-28-2008, 10:12 PM

An interesting topic, as I am also a musician and composer.

There are the Ulumuri, the Horns of Ulmo, and the trumpets of Manwe are also mentioned, as well as the bells of Valmar/Valimar. When one considers that, in the authorial presentation, the Silmarillion was presumably written by one or more Elves, then one could presume that in describing things they did not see -- such as the Ainulindale -- they would have attempted to describe it in ways they understood. Since the organ was one of the first instruments I learned to play, I was rather surprised by that particular reference when I first saw it, since it seems rather a modern instrument, compared to harps and flutes and drums and such. But after thinking about it, if Elves could learn to craft things like the silmarilli, an organ would seem rather easy by comparison.

01-28-2008, 10:12 PM	#27
Ibrîniðilpathânezel Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Back on the Helcaraxe Posts: 733	An interesting topic, as I am also a musician and composer. There are the Ulumuri, the Horns of Ulmo, and the trumpets of Manwe are also mentioned, as well as the bells of Valmar/Valimar. When one considers that, in the authorial presentation, the Silmarillion was presumably written by one or more Elves, then one could presume that in describing things they did not see -- such as the Ainulindale -- they would have attempted to describe it in ways they understood. Since the organ was one of the first instruments I learned to play, I was rather surprised by that particular reference when I first saw it, since it seems rather a modern instrument, compared to harps and flutes and drums and such. But after thinking about it, if Elves could learn to craft things like the silmarilli, an organ would seem rather easy by comparison.