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#1 |
Dead Serious
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Although it's an unsolvable question, really, I'm going to be pedantic and note that that this passage still only speaks of Sauron's realm, and the forge of his might. Granted, it's a legitimate interpretation to put the source of the power in Sauron, given this context... at the same time I feel like noting that these are only references to the place... and as the thrust of my argument is that it was Orodruin, the place, that gave Sauron the power (hence, it's importance as the place of his forging). In other words, Sauron's realm is not powerful because it is his, but rather he made it his realm because of the extra power he derived from it.
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I prefer history, true or feigned.
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#2 | ||
Gruesome Spectre
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Heaven's doorstep
Posts: 8,039
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Quote:
The Tale of Years says Sauron settled on Mordor in the Second Age: Quote:
The first entry makes no mention of Mt. Doom being one of the selling points for Sauron in picking Mordor. If I had to guess, I would think he would have chosen Mordor for its proximity to realms of his enemies, and the natural defences offered by the mountain ranges surrounding it. Perhaps it was only after he conceived of his plan to trap the peoples of Middle-earth by use of the Rings of Power that he realised what an aid Mt. Doom would have been. I don't know much about metal-working, but maybe the intense heat at the Mountain somehow made it possible to make the One as potent and durable as it was. After all, there were no other volcanoes mentioned in the books that I'm aware of, and the Nine and the Seven , made in Eregion, were subject to destruction by at least dragon-fire, whereas the One couldn't apparently be harmed even by that. Here's a question, though. If there was something about Mt. Doom that gave it some sort of special potency against the forces of 'good', why didn't Sauron, or more likely Morgoth, have made use of it sooner? The indication from the Tale of Years is that there was nothing really notable about the land of Mordor before Sauron made it his primary realm in the Second Age, aside from the volcano.
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#3 | ||||
Dead Serious
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Quote:
Anyway, this question intrigues me because it allows for a whole lot more speculation. The fact of the matter is that we don't know a whole lot about what went on in the First Age in Eriador, Rhovannion, Harad, Rhûn--or anywhere other than Beleriand. To go back to those much-favoured essays in "Myths Transformed," the comment is made that: Quote:
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[i]--emphasis mine And again, shortly after, Quote:
My point in quoting here is that there is a twofold reason we do not see Morgoth or Sauron making any use of Orodruin prior to ca. 1000 S.A. Firstly, as noted, we don't see much action outside of Beleriand. Secondly, and equally importantly, Morgoth's attention was focused on Beleriand. If Orodruin had some sort of special "power"--that is to say, if there were a plan on Morgoth's part to it having a special power (rather than, say, having a vein of gold or some other especially susceptible element foaming in its lava), then this would probably date back to prehistory, of which the Silmarillion is really just a brief account, in which what Morgoth does is mediated through the Valar through the Elves. It is quite possible, to my mind, that prior to the war between Melkor and the Valar that occurred after the Awakening and Discover of the Elves, that Orodruin was used or was being prepared for something--Melkor had sway over all Middle-earth, if he wanted--but was then left "dormant" (not in the volcanic sense but in the diabolic sense) when he was taken captive for three ages to Valinor, and then never reclaimed when he returned to Middle-earth and focused his attention on the war in Beleriand. As for Sauron... why then did he take 1000 years to decide to move to Mordor? Well... that should be somewhat obvious from a glance at the Silmarillion: Sauron simply wasn't ready to start making himself into the next Dark Lord. He was also driven away into hiding by the defeat of Morgoth and the overthrow of Thangorodrim, and Sauron was never one to move out into the open before his plans were laid and well underway. I think it's more noteworthy that rather than being seen as 1000 year wait, it is significant that the first thing that Sauron did in the Second Age worth mentioning is his establishment of himself in Mordor.
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I prefer history, true or feigned.
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